It's hard to believe that we are in the capital of Ecuador. Frankly, before looking into a trip to the Galapagos I never really thought about spending much time in Quito.

I'm so glad that we made the decision to come a few days early and spend time exploring the capital city and the beautiful towns and countryside outside of Quito.

In fact, …

We wake to a wonderful buffet breakfast that includes those things you could find in the USA but also some of the local breakfast treats from Ecuador. You won't leave hungry.

The staff is most accommodating and lovely to work with. There is no language barrier since all speak excellent English.

When we go outside to meet our van. I notice …

This part of the journal encompasses two days.

Our first adventure was zip-lining (the natives call it "the canopy." This was the first time for all of us, so this was a "real" adventure.

The part of the adventure we weren't expecting was the 50 minute - muddy path - uphill hike - to the beginning of the zip-line. After …

After an exhausting day (the day before), we all slept well at our hotel last night. The next morning our guide picked us up to take us shopping. We had a new guide this morning and his name was Daniel. Once again a charming, good-looking, informed and articulate gentleman. There were 10 of us and we all fit into a comfortable van.

Our first stop …

We all had a well earned night’s sleep and a delicious breakfast the next morning. Did I mention about the breakfast at the hotel? Even though it was considered a continental breakfast, it was much more than that. Rolls, danish, fruit, coffee, tea, meats, cereals, eggs made to order and much, much more adorned the breakfast bar.

Off to …

Over the next few days we visit many of the islands in the Galapagos, but of course not all. That would take an unusually long trip. Depending upon whether you do the four-day trip or the week trip, you of course, will see more of the islands.

What I will try to do is give you a taste of what to expect on this marvelous journey to a hidden …

The ship we were on is the Millennium. It is a catamaran, which is a double-hulled vessel. Because of the two hulls, the ship moves through the water very smoothly and except for an occasional choppy sea the ride was very nice.

There were 12 crewmembers on the millennium. The captain, the first mate, two engineers, two cooks and the rest were …

Every day was a different island. Every island had its own unique look and its own particular inhabitants. Every island had a bird population, although some of the islands had many more birds than others. I wish I had spent more time studying the birds and writing down their names and descriptions. I did however take many pictures and even if I …

Two of the most interesting animals you will come in contact with in the Galapagos are the iguanas and seals.

Iguanas

The iguana was one of the most interesting varieties of animals on the face of the earth. Upon seeing your first iguana you will be both shocked and amazed at the same time. Initially, their ugliness takes you by surprise; …