Once we arrived, we boarded another bus for the short ride to the pier, where we would hop a little boat to take us to our next floating hotel for the next 4 nights, the M/V Corinthian . While on the pier we experienced one of the neatest things of our trip, hundreds of birds, frigates, blue footed boobies and pelicans, diving in formation for food. Like bullets into the water. What a sight to see! Jim captured it on video and it came out great. No real way to describe it.

      Once aboard the Corinthian we had a delightful buffet lunch, beef, chicken, curried shrimp, salad, fruit, and french fries. Once the boat was gassed up and more supplies put on board, we departed for a short ride and then boarded the dingys for a closer look at the shoreline and some lagoons. It was so exciting to actually be here. What a privilege! They only permit about 60,000 people a year to visit the islands, compared to about 60,000 a week in many tourist locations.

      Our first stop was a resting area for the blue footed boobies and a chance to see them close up and personal. Their feet are a bright powder blue, looks like someone hand-painted them. They were awesome! Dozens of them on the volcanic rock. For the next 90 minutes or so we saw sea turtles, speckled rays, 2 of the much rarer golden rays, yellow finches, white tipped reef sharks, jumping sardines, a lava heron and more diving birds. Red and white mangrove trees lining the shore with their numerous roots coming down from branches into the water, creeping further and further out.

      It was very windy upon our return, but hot and sunny on the boat trip. Will be needing lots of suntan lotion on this portion of the trip. Also got fitted for fins and wetsuits earlier today for the snorkeling outings. Water temperature is about 75º but we felt wet suits would still be a welcome addition.

      The cabins are small, but nicer than the Flotel. Jim and I have one of the largest cabins, quite the piece of good luck. The little sun-visor I bought is a life saver. The other hats blow off too easily and the sun is very bright. Dinner consisted of beef and fish with potatoes and veggies. They only partially cook their vegetables and the food is not as creatively prepared as it was on the Flotel. During the night, the boat moved about 7 hours, starting around midnight, to get us to our next destination. Lots of rocking, slept great!

7/21 - Friday
      7am wakeup call, 7:30am breakfast. 8:30 departure for Genovesa Island (Tower Island). Wet landing at Darwin Bay, tons of frigate birds and swallowtail gulls and red footed boobies. Also the majestic boobies. The swallowtail gulls are beautiful, grays and whites with big black dove eyes surrounded in red, they use it for night vision as they are nocturnal feeders. The red footed boobies are so unique, powder blue bills and bright webbed red feet. They nest in the trees, while the blue footed boobies nest on land. We saw several mocking birds, a yellow warbler, and had the rare opportunity to find one mating frigate with the bulbous red neck puffed out. Frigate mating season is usually over by late June, so this was most unusual. We had to see it through binoculars as it was quite a ways away, but great to see, none-the-less. Birds were mating and nesting everywhere. Lots of babies. The young stay put for up to 11 months, relying on their parents for food. They are not able to fly until they get their full colored red feet.
      We also saw a handful of colorful crabs, a half dozen or more marine iguanas sunning themselves to prepare for their dives, and sea lions. Two small sea lions and one larger one were frolicking in a tidepool pond and were totally delightful to watch, great energy.

      Time to snorkel!! Jim went to the deeper waters with 3 others in the dingy, a few went back to the ship, and the rest of us stayed at Darwin Bay to snorkel. The water was fairly warm, but I used my wetsuit anyway. Very windy. Saw some great fish, the parrot fish remains my favorite with its beautiful coloring. There were angel fish, sheepshead fish, yellow tails, striped fish, big fish, small fish, etc. Also, one of the sea lion pups came within 5 feet of me and stuck its cute little head up. After about 60 minutes we headed back to the ship to shower and have lunch, rice, salad, chicken, spinach lasagna, and fruit.

      After lunch there was another hour video on The Galapagos and then we headed out again to Prince Phillip's Steps. Saw tons of masked boobies, lava herons, marine iguanas, tropical birds (all white birds with 2 long tail feathers and bright red beaks), swallow tailed gulls, a few blue footed boobies, fur seals, sea lions, large billed ground finches, lava morning glory, storm petrels (they are the smallest seabird in the world, related to the Albatross, which is the largest seabird in the world), frigates, 100+ marine iguanas in a group, lava cactus, and a masked boobie regurgitating food to her baby chick.

      We always return around 5:30pm to have time to clean up a bit, enjoy happy hour, and then we eat at 7:30m. Appetizers are always waiting when we return, popcorn, empanadas, or dried banana/plantain strips.

7/22 - Saturday
      A combination of the least exciting and most exciting day! The morning walk on Bartolome was mostly barren moon crater. A few lava lizards, a few birds and a few plants. This was our geology lesson and there was constant comparison between the Galapagos and the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian Islands are 32 million years old for the oldest island and 5 million years old for the youngest. The Galapagos are 5 million years old for the oldest island and only 1/2 million years old for the youngest. Talk was all about the mantle (center of the earth, burning liquid) and the moving plates forming all the connected underwater mountains of which the islands are the tips.

      We climbed about 370 steps to the summit for a gorgeous panoramic view of many islands and the famous Pinnacle Rock. Even Charles made it to the top! Very windy, very beautiful. Claude's hat blew off and Dora went over the edge to retrieve it (service, above and beyond)

      Since we had a few delays getting started and since we had to be back to the ship by 11:30 for the 3 hour ride to St. James Bay, there wasn't any time to snorkel, so we just walked to the other side of the island, hoping to see sharks or rays, but didn't get to see anything. We did get to see penguins playing in the water, they are the most northernly known penguins in existence.

      Once we arrived at Santiago (St. James Bay), we immediately headed out to snorkel. This is the island of the rare fur seals. We didn't see many of them, but we did see lots of sea lions with many newborn pups nursing. The snorkeling was the best and after our hour was up, Jim, Jane and I convinced Dora (our guide) to let us continue while the others did their hike. So many fish, not really anything majorly different from what you could see elsewhere, but tons of them, especially in schools.
      Orange fish, red fish, white fish, silver fish, striped fish, angel fish, parrot fish, sheepshead fish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, anemones, etc., etc. Saw many larger marine iguanas on the rocks. Only saw one sea lion swim near us, but he didn't stop to play. Our absolute highlight was toward the end when we spotted the giant 3-4 foot sea turtle in shallow water above the rock shelf! He slowly swam off the shelf and into deeper water. So graceful and beautiful& and so close! Fantastic sighting! Took many underwater photos.

      Felt completely exhausted when done snorkeling, breeze was cool, but made drying off fairly quick. Returned to the boat for dinner. After dinner we watched about 1/2 of Jim's video and then went to bed. My throat was a bit scratchy and my right ear wouldn't clear, despite eardrops. Jim finally found the ship's doctor to give me something for my throat and he also found Charles, who had some lozenges. At 3:30am the ship departed for the 4 hour cruise to Santa Cruz for our next day's outing. Was doing much better by morning.

7/23 - Sunday
      Dry landing on one side of Santa Cruz, home of the much larger land iguanas, large, heavy looking a kind of yellow/orange in color on the males. Probably 15-20 pounds. Saw 6 of them on our walk, but most were quite far away. Only 1 was fairly close. Also, just after disembarking, by the blackish lagoon, saw a single pink endemic flamingo, a rare sighting apparently. More salmon colored than pink. Saw endemic cotton plants in bloom, yellow and turnong pinkish when fertilized, yellow warblers, black necked common stilt birds, white cheeked pintail ducks. Some brown finches and some mocking birds.

      Upon arrival at 3pm we disembarked for a 4-hour cruise to our final destination in The Galapagos, Puerto Ayora, home of the famed Darwin Research Center and the giant 600# tortoises. It was kind of like going to a zoo, only just to see the turtles. The Research Center is respected around the world with all their work on evolution, natural selection and preservation of the species. The staff is comprised of international scientists who perform biological research and conservation projects. We started with the baby turtles, gestation is about 4 months and they lay about an average of 12 eggs (8-20) at a time and then abandon them. They do this several times a year. The babies were still quite small, even at 2-years old. Then around 3-4 years, they move to the next pen where they learn to crawl over rocks, drink water and eat food. They live to be about 120 years old. We then tried unsuccessfully to locate Lonesome George, the last one of one of the species. Each turtle, when ready, is put back on the island it originally came from, so that the evolution process can continue.

      We then walked into one of the corrals that had 6-8 large tortoises in it that used to be pets. Lots of photo opportunities with these huge animals with the elephant like feet. Darwin's theory of evolution came about after noticing all the different ways the birds and animals adapted and evolved to their surroundings.

      We wrapped up our time on this island walking a mile or two to the little town of Puerto Ayora, strolling by the local souvenir shops, small hotels, and homes, absorbing the local color. The other islands belonged to the animals, this one had to be shared with humans. Gobbled up more gifts and remembrances to take home and then headed back to our floating hotel for our final night in this magical place. Happy hour, dinner, and shared experiences with our new friends.

7/24 - Monday
      Early arousal and our final meal on board before heading back to the dock at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno for the short bus ride back to the airport. Got one last chance to stop at a little town near the airport to do some more shopping. Unfortunately, our flight was delayed several hours waiting for the plane to arrive. Just hung out at the airport, shopped their little shops there, watched another video on the Galagapos and basically passed the time. Didn't get back to Guayaquil, Ecuador's port city, until almost 5pm.

      One last outing prior to our return to the states. John spearheaded guiding a group of us, who obviously had shopping in our blood, to a local gift shop and then to a huge market about 10 miles away similar to the Otavalo Market, only indoors and not as inviting. Still managed to find more last minute deals, Jim especially scored on more tagua pieces and I finally got my one tagua find, a beautiful toucan. When we finally returned to the hotel, another Colon Hilton, we ate dinner and then headed back to our rooms to pack one more time, trying to get everything to fit without breaking.

7/25 - Tuesday
      Took 8:35am flight back to Miami and said our good-byes. Everyone headed off to find their connecting flights and it was the first time it felt that our adventure was really over. We had just witnessed the mysteries of the two-million-year-old Galapagos Islands, an experience that has courted the hearts and imaginations of Lord Bryon, Darwin and countless others, including our small group of happy, contented explorers!