Ecuador-Thursday, December 22nd: Isabela, Galapagos Islands

It was hard to decide what to do on Thursday.  Isabela is the largest island of the Galapagos, but a lot of it is not easily reachable.  There was so much we wanted to see and explore, but had to decide what was best with the time we had and our budget.

We ended up deciding we needed a more relaxed morning to give the kids a bit of break.  After breakfast at the hostal, we walked the beach from the hostal to the lava tunels (about 2 miles each way).  We had enough time to do it at a slow pace and explore along the way.

Ethan spotted an eagle ray in the water, which was fun to follow on our way down the beach

Preston insisted on stopping about every 10 feet to quickly build and destroy a 'morro bay rock castle'.  

Which gave us plenty of time to explore wildlife along the way

James loves the iguanas best, it is fun to see them walking along the beach and swimming in the water

I love the sally lightfoot crabs.  The bright color on the black rock is such a great contrast.

a side trail for a quick stop to see the green pools

We made it to the tunnels.  It was hot and humid again even a short distance off the beach. 

the landscape is crazy with dessert cactus on one side of the road and mangrove forests on the other

but every different view is gorgeous

Preston was tired that morning and prone to easily screaming.  He enjoyed a break on the walk back going for  piggy back ride

which gave us time to play at the beach in front of our hostel for about an hour before needing to head back to the docks again.

After changing clothes we headed back to the docks to catch our boat back to Santa Cruz.  Going between islands requires every bag to be rechecked to make sure there is no cross contamination between islands to keep them all in their natural state.

The boat ride back to Santa Cruz went well.  Some dramamine helped everyone fall asleep quickly and not get sick this time.  This boat was slower and took 3 hours to get back, but was not crowded so at least we all had room to relax.

Everyone had a big appetite for dinner.  We stayed out at the docks on Santa Cruz after dark to see all the sharks that like to come at night.  There were quick a few circling and chasing their dinner which was fun to watch.

Ecuador-Wednesday, December 21st: Isabela, Galapagos Islands

Wednesday was another boat trip.  This time to Isabela island, which is over 2 hours away.  It ended up being not as enjoyable of a boat experience as the day before.  The boat was full to capacity, loud, Preston got sick and I wasn't feeling great myself...but, we made it.  And it was worth it.

After dropping our bags off at the hostal we took a very hot and humid walk through the flamingo estuary to the Tortoise hatchery.  The animals kept things interesting enough that we could forget about how hot and sticky we felt.

With it being mating season for the iguanas, we got to witness a lot of males fighting.  

They would push each other off the rocks and bob their heads to claim their 'king of the hill' status.  

The tortoise nursery has different types of Galapagos tortoises from around the island.  It is interesting to see how the shapes of their shells evolved after being separated.

And to see how tiny they are to start off.

After our walk, we were thankful to cool off in our air conditioned room for a few minutes before our bus picked us up for our Tintoreras tour.

We went on a boat to the outcropping islands off of Isabela. It is so strange to see penguins at the Equator with crabs and iguanas by their side. 

We walked along the lichen covered volcanic rock to see the spot that the sharks like to hang out.

This sea turtle appeared to have a bite taken out of its shell.

After exploring the island we went into the water for more snorkeling.  This sea lion was very friendly and kept swimming circles around us.

And we got to see more sea turtles swimming with us also, as well as many kinds of fish and chocolate chip sea stars.  The penguins jumped in also, but they were too fast to try to swim with.

We headed back to find some dinner and enjoyed listening to the ocean that night while we slept.

Ecuador-Tuesday, December 20th: Santa Fe, Galapagos Islands

Tuesday we had arranged to go on a boat tour to Santa Fe Island for the day.  

We first stopped at a beach on the side of Santa Cruz island.  We took a walk through the mangroves, saw a lot of animals and played in the very fine sand.

We then went over to Santa Fe Island.  They took us along side the cliffs to spot the nesting birds: Blue footed boobies, lava gulls and flightless cormorants

We then got to jump in the water for some snorkeling time

We went to another side of the island where we got to see the baby sea lions and jump in for more snorkeling.  The water was so clear.  There were many kinds of fish, and also sea lions, eels and sharks to swim with.

Preston surprised me with how interested he was with snorkeling.  He rode on my back while we swam and would push my head under to make sure I could see the fish he was spotting.  He also loved sitting in this spot of the boat to be in charge of the ladder.

The boat tour included snacks and lunch.  Bananas, bread, crackers and jelly for snack and ceviche, rice and plantain chips for lunch.

Before heading back to Santa Cruz we got to do some fishing.

Ethan was so excited for this part, and he was beyond thrilled that he was able to catch this yellow fin tuna.  

When we got back to the docks the sea lions were hanging out on the benches.  Brielle made one mad as she accidentally bumped it while she passed by.  It started barking and chasing her.  She was terrified in the moment, but later thought it was funny and ended up getting a sea lion necklace charm as a reminder of the experience.

We walked down to the fish market before heading to dinner.  It is quite an experience to watch pelicans begging for the scraps.  At one point the worker was straddling the sea lion as she was cutting the very fresh fish for her customers.

In trying to find another recommended restaurant (it turned out they had moved locations) we found this place to eat for the night.  They were closing soon, but agreed to feed us. Preston was very happy to get a vegetable soup that was somewhat like the broccoli cheese soup he was requesting.  We enjoyed the empanadas and were surprised by the freshness of the pasta toppings as they were blending James' marinara sauce and Katie's basil for the pesto. 

Ecuador-Monday, December 19th: Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands

On Monday we flew over to the Galapagos. It's only a couple hour flight, but quite a feat to get through everything to make it.  There are extra baggage checks with all bags being locked to make sure nothing extra is added and then once landing on Baltra island we took the airport bus to the water shuttle to get to Santa Cruz Island and then a 45 minute taxi to get to the other side of the island where Puerto Ayora is (the main city where we were staying.)

We stopped at Los Gemelos (the twin craters)

and as we were driving we saw a lot of tortoises right along side the road.  Katie pointed some of them out that were in a field of cattle.  Brielle hadn't yet seen them and told Katie "Umm, those our cows." 

We hit the ground running, trying to fit as much in as possible.  We dropped off all the veterinary supplies at the clinic, dropped our bags off at home and walked down to the docks.  We caught a water taxi over to Angermeyer point where we walked to Las Grietas.

The board walks were all new since James had been there 3 years before.  We loved swimming and cliff jumping.  The water was a bit chilly, but nice and clear.  It's a mixture of salt and fresh water.

The walking path to and from Las Grietas is very pretty.

It takes you right along this salt lake and the Alemanes Beach.    

After not eating since the airplane that morning, everyone had worked up quite an appetite.  We stopped at the store for breakfast food first.  We then found a yummy restaurant on Kiosk street.  

The restaurant that had been recommended to us wasn't open on Mondays, so we picked another that looked good. The mango juice tasted like dessert.  Ethan tried a hamburger with a fried egg on it.  Brielle had a taco--she and Preston especially loved the rice and beans.