Tuesday. The bus to our next destination was not going until 6pm so we decided to make the most of the day and go on a horse ride to the Mandango mountain. We choose Holger's Horses to take us as so many people had recommended him and we were so pleased we did. The horses were absolutely lovely and in great condition - the best horses we have ridden so far. I rode a horse called Tornado (appropriately named!) and Roland rode a horse called Chocolatay.
Considering Roland had not ridden horses that much before our adventure, he is now starting to get the hang I of it! I think we may have a jockey in the making :-)
Now, I used to ride horses quite a bit about 20 years ago and I can honestly say I have never been tested as a rider as much as we have been on this trip. And this horse ride was another example! Tornado liked to go fast and as soon as I gave him a little squeeze he went for it. Whether it was on dirt roads, speeding round corners, on narrow rocky paths, 45% inclines up a mountain or foot wide paths on the edge of the mountain, he went for it (and I didn't look down!)! And so did Chocolatay when he was behind Tornado! Roland experienced his first real gallop - on the edge of a mountain and enjoyed it - there was a look of 'oh my god' on his face when he finally came to a stop behind me!
Holger's family live in the mountains and during a rest stop he took us to one of his farm houses. This is where it got all traumatic for about 5 minutes. Roland managed tread on a poor little kitten as he dismounted his horse! Poor thing! I quickly picked it up and nursed it better - after it let out a massive kitty yelp. I almost cried! Anyway the kitty soon forgave Roland and followed us up the mountain to get some great views of the valleys below.
In the evening we ate in an outside restaurant area where we had a delicious fish dinner!
In the evening, Roland managed to completely surprise me by organising a romantic dinner at a posh restaurant to celebrate Valentines day - with the help of Galapagos Alternative. I was very happy to have an excuse to dress up and enjoy a few cocktails without thinking about the budget! The dinner was also very yummy!
On Saturday we toured South Plaza Island. The main highlight for us was watching the large sea lion colony and spotting a mixture of land, marine and hybrid iguanas.
Sunday. We had an early start to make our way to Isabella Island.
Now this was more like it! Paradise! This is what we imagined the Galapagos to be all about! We had a ´free day´ today so as soon as we checked in at The Wooden House we grabbed some snorkel gear and headed to Concha de Perla. I had the most amazing experience of playing with a sea lion here! Absolutely amazing!
Afterwards, we walked along the 2km beautiful beach to soak up some rays and then headed out with Jasper for an Island tour visiting some flamingos, a turtle breeding area and the wall of tears.
In the afternoon we went on a Bay Tour of Isabela (Las Tintoreras) and swam with marine turtles and rays for the first time! Superb! We also saw a couple of Galapagos penguins as well as nesting Iguanas!
After our fun snorkeling, we went back to The Wooden House and enjoyed our last evening with a few drinks and a lovely dinner.
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| Kitty came with us up the mountain |
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| The kitty forgave Roland |
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| Roland feeding the chickens some corn |
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| First time I have held a chicken! |
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| Our guide |
Wednesday. We arrived at the RERe Bed And Breakfast in Guayaquil at 6:30am and we were both very relieved that we could have an early check in - we went straight to bed!
Once we felt a little more human we explored the main tourist attractions of the city and in the evening we went to a locals haunt to indulge in deep fried fish goodies.
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| Las Peñas - lovely neighbourhood |
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| We stayed here |
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| On the water front |
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| Lighthouse on the top of the Las Piñas hill |
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| Plaza in the centre of town |
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| Iguana park ... |
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| ... there were loads of iguanas there! |
Thursday to Wednesday. This has to be one of the highlights of the trip so far. On Thursday we flew to the Galapagos islands! During our 6 day adventure we visited 3 different Islands; Santa Cruz, South Plazas and Isabella. The whole trip was organised by Galapagos Alternative - who did an excellent job ensuring that we didn't have to worry about a single thing during our adventure. We even had our own personal taxi drivers who carried our bags for us! A real luxury after 4 months roughing it!
Santa Cruz was the first Island we visited and we stayed at Mainao Inn for 3 nights. Much to the surprise of Roland and I, the main town was quite touristic with lots of restaurants and tour agencies. I think we both thought we were going to be the only ones on the island.
Our fist trip took us to the highland area on Santa Cruz. The main attraction for us here was to see the giant land turtles. They were HUGE! I really didn't expect them to be this big! Amazingly you could get right up close to them - you could hear them breath! Amazing creatures - I have now become slightly obsessed with them!
We also walked through massive lava tunnels and saw sink holes caused by collapsing lava bubbles.
Santa Cruz was the first Island we visited and we stayed at Mainao Inn for 3 nights. Much to the surprise of Roland and I, the main town was quite touristic with lots of restaurants and tour agencies. I think we both thought we were going to be the only ones on the island.
Our fist trip took us to the highland area on Santa Cruz. The main attraction for us here was to see the giant land turtles. They were HUGE! I really didn't expect them to be this big! Amazingly you could get right up close to them - you could hear them breath! Amazing creatures - I have now become slightly obsessed with them!
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| Admiring the giant turtles having a bath |
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| This one is over 150 years old! |
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| Didn't quite work out ... |
We also walked through massive lava tunnels and saw sink holes caused by collapsing lava bubbles.
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| Roland inside the lava tunnel |
In the evening we ate in an outside restaurant area where we had a delicious fish dinner!
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| Local fish market/ restaurant - with waiting sea lions and pelicans |
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| We ate the red fish - cant remember what it was called |
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| The outside restaurant area |
Our tour on Friday took us on a bay tour of Santa Cruz and Las Grietas.
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| Leaving for the Santa Cruz bay tour |
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| First snorkel photo! - didn't sea much fish :-( |
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| Las Grietas |
After the tour we walked to Tortuga Bay Beach. The beach was gorgeous with loads of iguanas roaming about!
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| This is the only cactus in the world which grows like a tree |
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| Marine Iguanas on Turtle beach |
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| Very chilled out Sea Lion |
On Saturday we toured South Plaza Island. The main highlight for us was watching the large sea lion colony and spotting a mixture of land, marine and hybrid iguanas.
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| Galapagos Gull |
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| On the way to South Plaza Island. |
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| Galapagos Shark!! |
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| Mum, Dad and baby |
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| Sea lion colony - most of them are in the pool area |
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| Each cactus had its own Iguana - waiting for the flowers to fall off |
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| Blue Footed Boobie |
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| Beautiful view from South Plaza Island |
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| Pregnant Sea Lion |
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| A Sea Lion, an Iguana and a Gull - cooling off under the cactus |
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| On the way to Isabella |
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| Didn't expect to see Flamingos!! |
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| Checking each other out! |
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| View point on Isabella On Monday we had the morning to ourselves so we decided to spend it chilling on the gorgeous beach! |
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| Graveyard on Isabella |
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| Bliss! |
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| I beat this crab to its hole - just so I could take this photo! |
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| Its a hard life! |
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| Penguin, Booby and a Pelican |
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| How many can you spot? |
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