30th October - Galápagos Day 1

Five AM start today. Krys's snoring wasn't too bad. Nothing like Bob!

"The shower was sooooo good" and the breakfast buffet pretty good. It was a bit different as you can imagine in Quito. Roast chicken and choclo (big sweetcorn) being the main dish.

Flight to the Galápagos takes 3 hours with a mandatory stop (40 mins) in Guayaquil to refuel. There were 2 latinos on the flight and the rest were gringos.

We finally arrived in Baltra - the home of the Galápagos airport. Baking hot on the runway as we got off. Weather so much better than the drizzle we left in Quito. We went through immigration and paid the park fee of $100. After a bus a ferry to get to the island Santa Cruz and a 50 min coach ride we arrived in Puerto Ayora on the south coast of Santa Cruz. The geography changed quite a lot from North to South. It was blue sky and desert-like in the north (the earth is dark red, similar to Iguazú) and then became more lush and cloudier as we headed south. The coach was silent, everyone photographing the landscape.

We got on our dinghy and headed for the boat "The Gap Adventurer III" - our home for the next 4 days. The water is crystal clear and we saw a myriad of bright orange crab on the quay and some small lizards.

I am rooming with Krys again. Cosy room but has all mod cons including air-con. I gave him the bottom bunk, I didn't fancy that load shifty above me for 3 nights!

Lunch was spag bol and salad - tasty but wouldn't say the portions were great. Krys looked traumatised. We also met some others on the boat who were staying on. A Danish guy called Kennet and a couple from England. Now, I know on tours you have to be patient but I did find the English couple irritating from the off. He is a retired shop designer and picked faults in the boat, the food, the service etc. From this point on I will refer to him by a fictitious name. Any name chosen at random. Something like "Eliot". You'll hear a lot more about him soon.

After lunch we went back ashore to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station. CD spent 10 years writing his Origin of Species on the islands. Our guide was called Tony and very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna of the islands. We saw marine iguanas sunbathing (they are the ones that look like dragons on all the nature programmes) and giant tortoises - sadly the infamous "Lonesome George" was viewable from a distance and was sulking. The eponymous character is 110 years old and is lonesome because for 20 years they have being trying to find him a female mate of the same species but have failed thus far. There is a big operation at the station to revive the tortoise population which has declined over the years. Who knows, maybe my next job will be to work there.

I was impressed by the strict park rules in the Galápagos. You can't eat, you can't drink, you can't smoke. There is no litter. Ironic that the Galápagos is governed from Quito which has all of the above.

On the way back from the station we saw a fish market - there were scores of frigate birds trying to get a bite of tuna. These are the birds that puff their red chests out to attract a mate (see pictures). They are so much bigger than I imagined. Much bigger than the seagulls you see on the coast in Britain. We also saw blue-footed boobies from a distance dive into the sea to catch fish.

Popped into the supermarket on the way back to the quay to buy contingency Pringles in case dinner was on the small side.

When we go back to the boat we had a beer and waited for dinner while the sun set in the background. For dinner we had beef stew. It was indeed on the small side, the last in the queue got juice and no meat. The protestations being led by Eliot. We had instantly forgettable conversations during the meal. This trip won't be remembered for stimulating company. Most of the people either work or have worked in IT. Went back to the cabin after dinner and munched on Pringles and read my book. I took a Mareol in case of sea-sickness but as we left Puerto Ayora the water was quite calm.