We flew in on LAN on the redeye and were really glad the Adventure Life staff recommended a direct flight from JFK and suggested that for such a long flight we upgrade to Business Class. The seats were terrific and the airline staff treated us like royalty. The plane had great down blankets and pillows and we slept well.

We arrived at our hotel …

We were met in the morning by a very nice and articulate Adventure Life representative who took us to the airport. He walked us through all the paperwork and luggage inspections required to get Galapagos. He made a lot of suggestions that were very helpful - such as purchase a couple of bottles of wine at the Duty Free Store. It was really …

We had a great breakfast out on the deck overlooking the port. We were joined by sea iquanas that were sunning themselves on the deck around us. Grey pelicans swooped and caught fish in front of us. We suddenly heard loud barking and realized a mother seal and her cub were lounging on another part of the deck, while another seal seated himself on …

In the morning, we had a good country breakfast at the same restaurant as the night before with good fresh butter, yogurt, cereal, fruits and eggs.

Afterward, we climbed aboard our Chevato to make the trip to the Peace Asylum. Qwan told us that these open vehicles were named after female goats because they could go anywhere and because of their …

We were introduced to our new guide Igor the night before we left for our hike to the Sierra Negra. We boarded our Chevato and started the long ride with only three other hikers and our hotel representative. It was a long and scenic ride up twisty mountain roads.

We arrived in a drizzle and I thought- What dumb Americans - we are the only ones …

We met Igor early to board the Chevato to take our morning excursion. After a short drive through town, we stopped at a quarry to see the flamingo. There were several of these beautiful birds along with some ducks that were unique to Galapagos.

We then drove toward Love Beach and had to stop abruptly because Iguanas were using a rope across the …

After our boat returned us to Santa Cruz, we checked in and were amazed at the terrific room at Adventura. We had a beautiful, private balcony that overlooked the Port as well as a room that was luxurious (to us).
We sat on the balcony for a good while, watching the brown gulls swoop and marveling at the little fishing boats.

We elected to take …

We were happy to find the same Adventure Life representative meeting us that took us to the airport when we got off the plane from Balta. He drove us back to the Grand Hotel.

We had a good night at the hotel and then caught the shuttle back to the airport. Things went smoothly getting on our LAN flight - we were again provided complimentary …