The Final Installment

It's been really nice being able to chronicle the trip for both me and for you guys! I'm so glad you're enjoying the pictures and stories about our trip. Without further ado, onto the last three days!

Day seven was the one hubby was looking forward to all week. His day of scuba. The group split and took out two boats - one holding the three scuba divers in the group, and the rest of us snorkelers rode in another boat. We both started at Isla Lobos off the coast of San Cristobal Island. The divers did their check out dive there, and we did our first snorkel.

(check out the teeth on that guy!) Isla Lobos means ”Sea-Lion Island” and we did see plenty. They frolicked in the water with us and rested in the sun on the rocks.

This time, I had stopped at the tour company's shop in town and picked up a long wetsuit. I wore that under (yes, under) the shortie suit I had worn before. I was more comfortable, but still a bit cold.

Next, we headed out to Kicker Rock. The two rocks rise over 500 feet straight out of the ocean. The water was cooler and the current much stronger here. It was pretty much an open water snorkel. Especially in-between the two rocks.

I opted out of this snorkel. The coldness of the water and the current just worried me too much. The guys had a great time scuba diving there though.

They saw all kinds of fish, an octopus as well as some Galapagos Sharks.

Pretty neat. Turns out a few of the people in our group had to be brought back to the boat because they were pretty tired and the current was too strong for them. I'm glad I listened to myself and stayed put!

We then headed to Puerto Grande Beach. It was a great little protected cove on the northwest coast of San Cristobal. Pablo led us on a little mini-hike to see the sights of the island while hubby decided to stay in the water and snorkle. He managed to get some shots of a Heron stealth style coming up from the water.

He also spotted an eel!

The day ended back on Santa Cruz. There were only a few more days left of the trip and we were all starting to get anxious about the magical time ending.

Day eight took us down a volcano and up close and personal with Sea Lions. I haven't been on a bike in years (like seriously probably 7 or 8 years!) so the prospect of a high speed mountain bike down a volcano scared me a little. Before we left, Pablo showed us a great church on top of the hill made entirely of lava rock.

We all thought it must be really old, but it turns out it was built in 1999. From there you could also see Kicker Rock in the distance.

For the bike, I was lucky and most of the way was paved, and you could go at your own pace. I think I burnt through most of the rear brakes on my bike!

Not too many pics from this activity - it's hard to bike and snap photos! We biked to the beach and had a really nice break. There were tons of Sea Lions!

The babies were so unaffected by humans. They strolled right past us on the rocks like we weren't even there.

We watched pups playing and wrestling in the water for about half an hour.

After the fun respite with the Sea Lions (I could have stayed there all day watching them!)we got back on the bikes and biked the uphill back to town. We hit the hotel for lunch, then changed back into our bathing suits. More snorkeling!

This was the last snorkel of the trip, and to make sure I enjoyed it, I threw on another shortie wetsuit. That makes three total. But, I was comfortable and not cold at all. We snorkeled along the inlet of rocks. The waves crashed and the sea came through a huge break in the line of rocks. The current was crazy! I was afraid at one point I'd get sucked out to sea!

It was pretty neat. The visibility wasn't all that great, but we did hear a bull Sea Lion patrolling up and down the inlet. At one point, he swam right under us - he hit my fins! It was pretty neat. With the current and the excitement from my Sea Lion encounter, we all collapsed back on the boat. From here we headed back to Santa Cruz.

Day nine was our last day on the islands. A fitting ending, this last night we stayed in what was our favorite hotel of the entire trip. The Hotel Mainao.

It had very Mediterranean architecture. The manager greeted us and he was super friendly. The room was spacious and the shower had pressure and loads of hot water! Such a luxury! (water pressure is pretty much non-existent in the islands)

Before we left, we organized a last minute, final hike. We felt pretty special - the other group didn't get to do this bonus trip! Pablo arranged it all to fit in before we had to be at the airport to head back to Quito. So we headed to the lava tunnel.

It was amazing. We all had headlamps or flashlights, but at one point we all shut off our lights. You could not see your hand an inch in front of your face.

The tunnel was about 1 km long. Parts were really wet and slippery, with areas that had tons of rock on the ground where sections of the roof had fallen in. After a while, we finally saw the light.

It was a great way to end the trip. We piled into the taxi's and hit the long road back to Baltra.

The flight back to Quito was short and uneventful. Once we arrived, hubby and I knew there was one thing that we had to see before we left Ecuador in the morning.

The equator! It is only a short cab ride from the Quito airport. We conned some of our tourmates to take our bags back to the hotel for us, and we hopped in a cab at the airport and headed to the equator.

Time was of the essence. We had our final dinner with the group at 6. We had to shower and change at the hotel first, so we had little time to get our "errand" done. It was pretty funny. Totally reminded me of an Amazing Race. We left the cab at the entrance to the park, ran up to the equator (it was all uphill and we forgot the elevation in Quito!) stood across the line and got a nice tourist to snap a picture.

We ran back to the cab and made it just in time to dinner. Whew! Early (4am!) the next morning we packed up and headed to the airport bound for home.

Overall it was such a trip I just can't explain. Not only being able to spend time with hubby, but being in such a unique place! It was truly the trip of a lifetime!

The Middle Three

The trip continues with days three, four and five!

Day three was pretty much the longest and most exhausting day. We remained on Isabella island at our super cute hotel. This day started early - we were hiking Sierra Negra, one of the five volcanoes on the island. It was an 8 mile round trip hike, but we climbed about 4800 vertical feet.

The climb started out very foggy and chilly. We walked up the volcano, then circled around the crater. It was so foggy you couldn't even see into the crater. Lucky for us, the fog lifted for just a bit - enough to see the vastness of the crater.

(if you look to the right in the picture you can see the walls of the crater). As we hiked, it was really dusty. A lot of the tour groups use horses to get up to the top. They make a mess of the landscape. Being a more environmentally friendly and active tour, we hiked up. It didn't prevent us from getting absolutely covered in dust though. The mist gave the dust a nice place to land and stick. (Hubby has a pair of socks from this hike that just will not come clean!) Pablo told us that as we circled the crater, as we approached the northern side, it would get sunnier. He was so right.

We stopped for lunch before venturing onto the lava fields. We were actually going to walk on lava that was from the 1979 eruption! The most recent eruption was in 2005. Pablo showed us some video of that. Incredible. We sat and ate under a huge, beautiful tree - the perfect lunch stop. As we continued on in our hike, the landscape got more and more barren the closer we got to the lava field.

The land started looking more and more like a scene out of Star Trek.

The formations were beautiful. There were many different colors depending on what element (iron, sulfur, etc) was concentrated in the area we were in at the time. I never knew there were so many colors on a volcano! The hike was long and hot. We saw fissures, giant caverns and amazing formations. But when we got to the top. Wow.

The view was just incredible. The wind was whipping so fast that it was hard to stand up. Pablo had us sit perfectly still and not talk for a minute. Hearing the wind, the birds - it was such a serene and other-worldly experience. Truly amazing.

As we hiked down, all dust covered and exhausted, I thought a lot about just being on top of an active volcano. Scary and exciting all at the same time! The hike ended about 5pm. A very, very full 9 hour hike! We all collapsed in our rooms after a long, hot shower. Sleep came very early for me!

Day four - New Year's Eve arrives! The day started out early (again!) with a boat ride to Las Tintoreas island. It is named for the White Tipped Reef Shark that resides there. On the way, we saw lots of Sea Lions lounging about in the sun. I just couldn't get enough of them. They are so much like dogs in their behavior! We also saw some fisherman exhibiting very Sea Lion like behavior....

When we got onto the island, the landscape was very stark and harsh looking.

This island is so unique and contains such biodiversity, it has been adopted by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. It turns out this island is home to many, many baby marine iguanas.

They were pretty darn cute - and they were everywhere! You had to look where you stepped. We walked among the sharp, jagged lava rock to a really neat channel. There, we saw the islands namesake.

It was amazing to watch them just swim up and down the channel so close. We also saw a rare octopus that was cruising for some crabs. Watching him hunt was very neat - sneaking up on crabs and just barely missing catching them. They are quick! There was so much life on this island! Baby sea lions in the shade, more marine iguanas and frigate birds flying above. Amazing. So much to look at and take in!

After we left the island, we went snorkeling on the other side of the bay. My first time.

I was a little freaked out at first, and the water was a little chilly (about 70 degrees) but there was so much to see! Schools of fish, pretty fish, even a puffer fish! Hubby tried to get him to puff up, but no luck. It was fun. My hands and lips were a bit purple when I got out, but I was glad I got to see what lurks under the surface!

Our next stop was the Tortoise Research and Breeding center. (as if you couldn't tell by the sign)

Here, they have a group of tortoises that were airlifted during the 1999 eruption of Sierra Azul.

Next up was the very somber Wall of Tears. It was built in 1950 by prison inmates living on the island in a Penal colony. In order to keep them tired and quiet, the guards had them build a wall out of the lava rock. The wall is huge.

This wall is often not included on tours because it is part of the islands more dark history. Originally, it was used as military installation which operated during World War II. The situation grew worse and the colony ended up turning into something like a concentration camp. In 1950 a guard forced the people of the penal colony to build the wall. There was an uprising in 1958, and a prisoner used a yacht to escape to the mainland. After the world heard about the wall and the treatment at the colony, the government shut it down and stopped sending prisoners to the islands.

The day and year ended with a night of flames and fun. New Years eve was definitely eye opening! There is a tradition that families build effigies called Años Viejos(Old Years) then burn them at midnight. It represents people, places and events of the past year being burnt away and starting anew. They pile them in the center of town as well as burn them on the street.

(note the guy pouring the big can of gasoline all over them!) The stuff went up in flames so fast and so hot - it was insane! The flames were really high and kind of scary! As we walked around, the streets looked a bit like a war zone.

We managed to stay up until midnight thanks to a little nap before hand. It was a great night!

Day six was all about the water. We hopped on a boat and left Isabella and headed to Punta Cormorant off the island of Floriana Island. It was more open water, so it was a bit colder, and a lot choppier. We did get to see Sea Lions up close though!

I managed to make it the entire time, though I was really cold. We then got back on the boat and headed to Espanola Island - another island we never set foot on, but snorkeled off of!

By late afternoon we arrived on San Cristobal. There was a large greeting committee.

The port was really pretty and packed full of boats. This is the capital of the Galapagos, and one of the oldest islands. Not quitting early, we headed over to the Interpretive Center. It has a great history of the islands, as well as a really neat releif map showing both underwater and land topography. We concluded our visit with a sunset hike up Frigatebird Hill.

Once there, we were met with a beautiful white sand beach, and plenty of sleeping Sea Lions.

Another full day drew to a close. The first day of the new year! Every day I was learning tons and seeing things that I had only seen on TV. I didn't want it to end!

Next up: Scuba, sea lions and the equator!