We are sad it is coming to a close, but oh so happy that it has happened. The Galápagos has truly been the journey of a lifetime, but we sure have had enough good times and taken enough pictures to commemorate it. Needless to say, we have had quite a busy past few days once we left Santa Isabela, our first destination on the Islands. From there we headed to stop #2, Santa Cruz, the central and most populous island with about 12,000 residents.
After we spent the morning boating our way over to the island we dropped our things off at the hostel and headed on over to Tortuga Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches we had ever seen. We spent the afternoon playing on the beach and swimming in the calm waters of the bay. On the second day on Santa Cruz we made our way to The Charles Darwin Research Center, where we got a chance to not only learn about some of the conservation initiatives going on, but also were able to see some of the endangered turtles and other reptiles that are bred at the site so that they can someday be released back into the wild. Though our stay at Santa Cruz was brief, we had a blast, and were excited to go to our final destination on the Galápagos.
Once we made it to San Cristóbal Island we were excited to get going with all of the great water-based excursions we had planned on our final Island. We kicked things off by taking a boat out to Kicker Rock, an amazing natural structure that is the site of some legendary snorkeling. While our guide led us around the rock and through the channel in between we were able to take in all of the wildlife we saw, which included sharks, sea turtles, and sting rays. After the excitement of the morning we ate lunch en route to a private beach where we were able to relax, enjoy the sunshine, and take in the fact that we were in a place void of the mark of human beings.
Today we grabbed our snorkel gear and wet suits two more times as we had a day full of undersea exploration. Our first stop was Sea Lion Bay, which definitely lived up to its name. We spent the morning swimming among about a dozen friendly sea lions who did not hesitate to come and play around our group. After a nice lunch we went to the bay where Charles Darwin made his first landing on the Galápagos Islands in 1835. Here we swam among still waters that were home to sea turtles, dozens of types of fish, octopuses, and more sea lions.
The past week has been full of adventure and tomorrow we head back to Quito for our last full day in Ecuador together!
– Jaimie & Blake