Living Simple in South America!: March 2013

Hello friends and family! Well, this is being posted a little late, but better late than never.

Last month, in February, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Galapagos Islands. Needless to say, this was a "bucket list" item and was definitely something we had planned on doing while in Ecuador. We had read some books about the islands as well as watched some documentary DVD's which just made us want to visit there even more! We did a lot of research online about which way was the best way to see the many islands and all the diversity it had to offer. Dan spent countless hours talking with and emailing tour companies (many who only speak Spanish) which was a chore for him. Originally we were trying to plan to go over Semana Santa (Easter / Spring Break) in March, however Dan came across some great last minute deals on the Internet for Carnival week in February, which we had the time off from school - so it worked out great. When I say "great deals" it really was a great deal, however, keep in mind... any tour or travel to the Galapagos islands is VERY expensive. We contemplated on not going several times due to the cost, but we knew that this was a "once in a lifetime" trip for us and that we really needed to go while we were here in Ecuador, so we took the plunge and paid the $$. We decided to do the boat tour where you go on a 16 passenger boat for 7 nights, 8 days and tour from island to island. We were very excited!

We flew from Guayaquil to Baltra in the Galapagos. From the Baltra airport our tour company met us there and took us via shuttle bus to the dock where we met our boat. We took a small dingy out to the boat and waited for the rest of the guests to arrive. The water and the surrounding islands were just beautiful! We knew we were in for a great trip... but had no idea that it would be better than great!

Finally the rest of the guests arrived. We were joined on the boat by a couple from Alaska, a couple from Switzerland/Italy, a Dad and older son from Israel, a family of 4 from the U.K, a couple from Denmark, and a single girl from Germany. Then we had about 7 crew members and our Guide whose name was Johan. We were on the boat called the Guantanamera. It was a little older boat, and was not by any means fancy, but it was fine for us. Dan, Sam and I shared a triple room which has a double bed on bottom, single on top, and a bathroom with a shower, sink, toilet. Pretty basic. We had a little port hole - but could not open it. It at least gave us some light in the room and we could see land and the water. We settled in just fine. The trip included 3 meals a day, including some juice and snack once a day after we returned from a tour. Once everyone was aboard we started traveling and doing our first tours and snorkeling that same day!

Originally I was going to give you all a taste of what we did each day, however, once I was on the boat we had so much to do with our tours, and then visiting with others and taking naps when possible... I did not blog like I thought I would. So, here is a basic summary of what we did.

We went to Isla Baltra (South Seymour), Isla Santiago, Isla Isabela, Isla Santa Cruz, Isla Fernandina, Isla Rabida, and Isla Bartolome - a total of 7 islands. All of the islands seemed so very different as well. Some had lava rock - with very little (if any sand), some had both sand and lava, some had light beautiful sand, and another one had red sand. Another one had small tiny shells as it's sand. We saw so many birds that I can't even tell you how many. Most are birds only found in the Galapagos. We also saw land iguanas, lava lizards, marine iguanas (the only water swimming iguanas) found only in the Galapagos. We also saw penguins, hammerhead sharks, sting ray, eagle ray, manta ray, other various sharks, many many many beautiful tropical fish, octopus, starfish, jelly fish, an Orca (killer whale), a sun fish, dolphin, flying fish, land turtles, sea turtles, sea lions and seals, and oh my gosh... so much more! I am attaching many pictures. Enjoy looking at them. We swam, we hiked, we rode the dingy, we snorkeled, we cruised, and we enjoyed life! This trip was unbelievable... one we will never forget! The people and our guide made it a great experience and we can't thank him enough. People say that there is no place like this on earth, and after being there, I believe it. There is such a variety of life there... all in one beautiful place. We do not regret our choice to go at all!

One more thing marked off our bucket list! Now it's on to the next... The Amazon Jungle. Actually, while I am typing this, we just arrived back from the Amazon. I will be posting our pics and info from that trip in the next couple days. By the way... if you click on the pictures below they will open up bigger (way better to see them that way!).

Good day!