I flew into Quito from Miami, arriving around 6:45 PM. As usual I had to immediately use the rest room so I was one of the last people to go through customs. I'd read in the guide books about how crazy Quito airport is with people waiting to welcome arriving friends and family. It was a madhouse! Crowds of people were waiting with signs and …

Our van arrived to take us to the airport and I met my fellow travelers. As it turned out I was the only single traveller. In addition to the Sage family, there were 2 other families, making the total on our tour 11. We arrived at the Quito airport where we met our guide, Fabricio. At first I was a little surprised at how young he looked. He …

Since we'd missed the Darwin Center yesterday we headed there first thing this morning. Our Galapagos National Park Guide showed us Lonesome George, Diego, Popeye and all their friends. He taught us about the differnces in their shells. We saw the baby tortoises in their sheltered pens.

From there we loaded into little pick up truck taxis …

Today we dapart by boat for San Cristobal. I've never had a problem with sea sickness so I did not take anything, big mistake! The water was rough, by the time we got to Santa Fe for a short stop for snokeling I was not feeling too well. I took some dramamine and jumped in the water. BRRRRR!!!!! What a shock! Much colder than Belize! After a few …

I woke early to the sound of barking sea lions from the front of the hotel and roosters crowing from the twon side. I walked along the shore in town and spent time watching and taking pictures of the sea lion colony right there. I had a private show of a se alion playing with a long stick in a pool among the rocks right near shore. Some things …

Again another great night to sleep and awakened by the sea lions and roosters. This morning we will be moving to Isabella. First we had breakfast and did a tour of the interpretation center. I had a chance to go say goodbye to my early morning stroll buddies the sea lions and finish my souvineer shopping. Then we took taxi's to the san …

Today we go horse back riding. The day is a bit cloudy here at the hotel. Fabricio warns the ride will be dusty and we should bring a bandana for our face if we have one. We took taxi's (little pickup trucks with benches in the back) to the meeting point. As we climbed the hills we again entered the Garua. We stopped a few times to photograph …

Returning from the Galapagos is an experience. We left the dock shortly after 6 AM, heading for Santa Cruz. (I was sure to take Dramamine prior this time.) Again the seas were rough, but we all managed to not get seasick. After the three hour boat ride to Santa Cruz, we got on the bus to the ferry to the bus to the airport. The airport was …

After leaving the hotel at 3 AM for the airport, checking in, going through customs, waiting in the freezing cold departure lounge I finally boarded the plane. We began to taxi and turned back to another gate, Uh Oh! That's not right. What did we forget? Well to make a long story short, our plane was broken, they could not fix it and had to fly …