15th April 2013 - the day I handed in my Masters dissertation! It took an hour and a half to print, and looked rather thicker than I expected but I suppose that can only be a good thing! It seems very strange to have finished it, after so long. Strange in a good way though, and from the moment I handed it in, all I could think about was my upcoming trip and after two frantic days of packing, Tanya and I were finally at Heathrow very early on the morning of the 18th of April.
What a whirlwind start to our trip we were in for. Just two nights in Quito before flying out to the Galápagos Islands. It was somewhere I have always wanted to go, and it certainly did not disappoint! Within hours of arriving on the first island we visited (San Cristobal), we had seen hundreds of sea lions lining the water front, which you could walk right up to and take pictures very easily of and we'd been snorkelling with amazing fish, more sea lions and several giant sea turtles!
On the second day, we took a boat trip first to Lobos (sea lion) island, then to Kicker Rock, named for its boot-like shape. From here, many went snorkelling again and saw much sea life such as rays and sharks! Three of the group, including myself, took the opportunity to go scuba diving. It was truly amazing to see so much up close (and even just to be diving again- it had been almost 7 years!). Highlights included a sea lion spiralling straight up in front of me, a ray, Galapagos sharks, which are quite small, white and black tip sharks. In an amazing moment, a white tip shark about 1.50m long swam by just a few meters in front of me. My heart was in my mouth, it was nearly as long as me!
We moved on to Puerto Aroya, on Santa Cruz island. This is the most populated island, with the largest town. Here we visited the Darwin Giant Tortoise Breeding centre, which had been the home of lonesome George before he passed away just a short time ago. As we were walking through town, we passed a fish market which, understandably, was popular with pelicans, sea lions, marine iguanas and a beautiful blue footed booby! We also happened to be there on International Earth Day, who head celebrated in the town with a music festival and dancing!
The lat few days we spent on Isabella Island which is a newer and therefore more volcanic island. Much of the island is volcanic black landscape, like a black moon surface. We hiked up to Volcan Chico. There have been eruptions here within the last 7 years. The views were incredible, and a little surreal! Back on the coast, we did some more snorkelling, saw Galápagos penguins and many more blue footed boobies. Evening and afternoons were spent on the beach, surfing, sleeping in the hammocks and having cocktails from the friendly beach bar.
It was a place I did not want to leave! I could stay there in the hire sand for months! In fact, we all liked it so much, a few of our group are going back now! However, Tanya and I have decided that funds are too tight - and there are many more places we are itching to see! We have spent the past couple of days back in Quito sightseeing and resting. We saw some lovely churches in the old town, and went to the Middle of the Earth (along the equator line). We are thinking of heading to the coast tomorrow to soak up some more sun and sea.
Hope you have enjoyed first post! I hope to keep it up as much as possible if you want to keep up with what we are up to :) I am trying to add photos, but I can only put ones from my phone, so they are limited!
Love Emma
