Galapagos

Our flight from Denver to Quito, Ecuador was early in the morning. Adi & Tamara, our friends from Switzerland, took a lot of our spare stuff to Switzerland. Therefore we can travel much lighter, thanks. We had a short stop over in Miami before we arrived in Quito. Our Spanish has to improve though, but we do have time the next few weeks.

Following day we flew with Nick, our Guide from New Zealand, and other tourists to the Galapagos Islands. Our group was really good. Lisa and Helen from England were lovely, also Koemi from Japan and Boris from the States. Our first stop was on San Cristobal Island. Soon after lunch we went for a bike ride. After that we got good information in the Interpretation Center.

Next day we visited Islas Lobos (Sea lion Island), were we observed a lot of Sea lions very close. It is amazing; those animals do not fear humans. Also, there where Iguanos (lizards) and Blue Footed Bobbies (They really have blue feeds). Of course, we couldn't resist jumping into the cold water. The sea lions were so playful and they also enjoyed swimming with us. After a short boat ride we arrived at Kickers Rock, which were formed from a Vulcan eruption. The ocean here was very rough, but we didn't care and jumped another time in the ocean. And we can tell it was worth to do it. We saw a lot of rays, sharks, even hammerhead sharks. Although, we were happy afterwards, when we went in calmer sea. We relaxed a bit at the Cerro Brujo Beach and observed Sea lions, Pelicans and Lizards, which it seemed they enjoyed the quite beach as well.

We got four more people on board, next day. Especially Manolo, from Spain, was a fun person. The crossing to Floreana Island und Isabela Island was very rough. However we saw some albatrosses, Dolphins and even whales, which lightened our trip a bit.

The Wall of Tears was impressive; however it was built from convicts under extreme hard circumstances. A lot died under exhaustion or they got killed. After that we walked back to the village we stayed. On the way back we saw a lot Footed Boobies and lizards. In the afternoon almost everybody went for a kayaking tour where they could see some penguins. Helen and I spent the time with fever and stomach ache in the bed. But soon after the kayak tour more got sick, including Peter. Its not funny to share a bathroom if both are sick. It seemed 11 out of 13 (also the Crew) got a virus. Just a few could climb the Sierra Negra Vulcan next day. In Quito we heard the rest of our group had at latest problem back in Quito as well. Therefore everybody had some problem, some a bit more, some a bit less.

Luckily everybody felt a bit better and we could continue to Santa Cruz Island. In our opinion this Island is too crowded. But on the other hand to see this tortouise in there natural habitat was very impressive. Some of this huge animals are more than 100 years old (!) alt. We walked in the dark through an 800 meter long lava tunnel. It was impressive. The top crust had been cooling, while the liquid lava still had passed trough.

We went further to San Cristobal, which we like more than Santa Cruz. On the way we stopped on a beautiful lagoon where we once again jumped into the water. Again the sea lions played with us. The Macho (See lion male) was not as excited as the females and scared them of. At that time he passed Simone very close. I just can say, this was a huge one, wow. On the last day we enjoyed a stroll on the beach to a lighthouse.

The trip was absolutely perfect. We definitely can recommend this tour with Galakiwi www.galakiwi.com. Nick our guide did a good job and we like to thank him for the good time we had.

Back in Quito we all went to an Argentine restaurant and celebrated the tour. But know are other adventures waiting for us in Ecuador.