Turn up your speakers!!
early morning hike
the attacker!!!
the basking blonde's
blue footed boobie
land iguana
What a way to start the morning and end the journey on the catamaran.Once we arrived back on the catamaran the crew had our breakfast ready, immediately after that we were off to Santa Cruz highlands to check in to the Royal Palm Resort. As we approached the front desk you could feel the serenity in the air. Now it was time to rest and chill which was much needed after this very active 8 days we had on the catamaran.
Our welcome committee was waiting for us on a rock, a short eared owl, he was so calm and so bright, just sitting there waiting to be photographed.
Our few days at Royal Palm gave us time to relax and just take it all in.
Our following day we woke up and explored the Royal Palm property, there were lava tunnels down the hill from the hotel that Mike and I took a bike ride to check them out. They were dark,slippery and wet looked like Sméagol from Lord of the Rings was going to come out from behind a rock."My Precious"
walking back to the hotel after the lava tube hike, that is Royal Palm Resort in the background.
On this evening we all road to the town of Puerto Ayora and watched the Super Bowl at a restaurant called the Rock , it was the only place in this town that had the Super Bowl televised and what a game, it was in Spanish to !
On the following day Mike and I went to visit the Darwin Research Center the home of Lonesome George the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise. He has been labeled the rarest creature in the world, and he is a potent symbol for conservation efforts in the Galapagos and conservation efforts internationally. George is estimated to be over 100 years old. Attempts at mating Lonesome George have been unsuccessful for several decades, possibly due to the lack of any females of his own subspecies.
In the inhabited Islands like Santa Cruz you can explore freely just about anywhere so we walked the town of Puerto Ayora and found some local fishermen with their catch of the day, take a look at the picture with the fishermen usually it is a pelican waiting for scraps here it is sea lions!!! What a trip!
After the stroll in town we took a water taxi to Finch Bay Hotel to have lunch and a kayak Las Grietas ,Finch Bay is a fairly new Eco Lodge and the only hotel located on the beach. We lounged by the pool and had a little snack then took off on the kayak around Academy Bay to Las Grietas translated, “grieta” means crevasse or crack. Las Grietas is a place to swim in ocean water between two tall cliffs, where the earth has opened like a “crack” or “crevasse”.Local people may often be seen jumping from various levels of the cliff
These photos are of Finch Bay and our kayak to Las Grietas,
It has arrived today is our last day in the Galapagos Islands and we were not going to waste a minute of it, in fact I don’t think we wasted a minute of any day, this adventure vacation was an active one, and how do you spend the last day?? Walking on a paved path to Tortuga Bay to go to the beach, the walking path is 1.55 miles long but then the rest of the way down the beach to the end is a long way, the walk takes approx. 1 hour each way. We had to sign in and out at the start of the path with the Galapagos Parks service office, they like to have your information before you enter the area to keep a record of who enters . Tortuga Bay has a gigantic, perfectly preserved beach that is forbidden to swimmers and is preserved for the wildlife where many Iguanas, crabs and birds, and even though they do not allow swimming here the local surfers were taking advantage of the nice waves that were rolling in, it was a sweet beach break. There is a separate cove where you can swim, kayak or paddle board if you can find one, this area is located at the very end of the beach.
we are almost there, you can see the sea all the way in the back …..
After frolicking in the sea and sun we headed back to our hotel to get cleaned up for our dinner at Anger Meyer Point …
On this morning of Feb 8 we had to rise and shine to head back to Baltra and make our connection to Quito. Once we arrived Quito we all checked into the Radisson Hotel which was nice but not as nice as the JW Marriott we stayed at the beginning of the trip. This evening all of us had our farewell dinner together at Za Zu restaurant which was a Peruvian style menu and it was one of the best if not the best food we had during our trip.
The Galapagos was full of surprises and escaping from everyday life and winding down is so easy to do in the Galapagos Islands. Actually, it's nearly impossible not to forget about the rest of the world, I sure did.
When you arrive in Galapagos, you have stepped back in time to a place where the earth is almost untouched by humans and is ruled by animals. We entered a dream in which we swam with penguins, sea lion,sharks, iguanas,and sea turtles. It was like you had gone to another planet, where the terrain is arid and you tip toe past alien-like iguanas basking on the rocks sea lions resting on the beach and birds basking in the sun or keeping busy building their nest.But in reality, about 200,000 people visit the islands each year, and five of the islands are inhabited by about 30,000 people. There are about 85 other boats, ranging in size, touring the Galapagos at any given time.
It's still amazing to see purity of the islands so well maintained.
I was so impresses on the lack of litter and other damage from human traffic.
Nearly all the islands (97% of the area) are protected by the Ecuadorian government and the enforced strict rules. Rules of the islands are emphatically communicated, and must be strictly followed. Do not touch or disturb any plant, rock or animal. Don't feed the animals. Remain on the path.Disable your flash on the camera. Do not startle or chase any animal. Do not force your way through dense brush. Do not litter. Do not write graffiti.These are all things for all us us to learn from to protect our own environment. My hopes are that these rules and regulation remain because the Galapagos are a truly special place. I am sure there is a total other side to what we saw because we were there as tourist, but as an avid piscator like my husband and I we never felt like we were missing out on wetting a line. In fact I would hope they keep fishing under control and very limited to all. There should be one place in the world that animals don’t get hunted or harassed and stays somewhat pristine with no plastic, mono filament lines, ropes etc… so that generations to come can enjoy what we did.
I love you Galapagos and thank you for the gift you gave me that will forever stay in my heart!
