Galapagos

Probably everybody who went to the galapagos  will agree with me that it is a very special place on this planet. How amazing is it that darwin understood that already when he was only 26 years old....respect for our friend!!!
I decided to go with a good quality boat. Not because i wanted to enjoy luxury but because i wanted to be sure that the guiding would be of the best quality. Obviously this costed me a bit of money but it was wortwhile. And beyond a very knowledgeable guide i also got the luxury...and eventhough it was not needed for me, i definitely know how to enjoy it. A cabin for myself with airco and a private bathroom (strong hot shower), very good breakfasts, lunches and dinners. And the boat was a sailingboat!!!For the wilsons amongst us this would have been very passive sailing, but i enjoyed it a lot. We were with 11 passengers from which the youngest was 32...... and the oldest 82. Initially that was a bit of a disappointment but i soon realized that it was actually very relaxed and as long people can still laugh because of my stupid seal imitations i' m kind of happy....yes i am that easy!!! 
Every day was kind of full with activities; early breakfast, morning walk on land (difficult to walk in water), snorkeling.....yes in the water, lunch, sailing, afternoon walk and afternoon snorkeling or swimng and after a shower break time for dinner. And after dinner we were all so tired (not only the 82 yrs old on the boat) that drinking a single beer, stargazing or watching a bbc documentary about galapagos was all we could do before we went to bed. At night the sea was sometimes rough during navigating but i do thank pharmaceutical companies for developing motion sickness pills......and the drowsiness is a great side effect at night. Pity that i only realized that when i took one night an extra dose at 4 o clock, which was still working the next morning...what a shitty day was that......
So what did i see......obviously the animals on the pics, but my preference was defintitely the swimming with sharks, turtles, pinguins, marine iguanas and last but not least the sealions. I know it sound ridiculous but i felt really connected to these animals when i was playing with them for half wn hour under water ( i must have been a saelion in a previous life....... or drank too much in this one) It is incredible that you can actually interact with wild animals in their own habitat. 
To please Taco i obviously need to mention the amazing birds on the galapagos. I did enjoy them but i need to disappoint the people that expect me to be able to tell the difference between all 13 different species of finches. I however do know now how the mating dance of the blue footed booby goes.......also very interesting :-)
Coming back from my cruise i was spending two days in the main village of the islands. Plan was to dive and surf but the first did not happen because of lack of availability on the short term. So i was soooo sad that i had to surf for two days.....not!!!!!! I saved a lot of money and i will have many dive opportunities later. And surfing on the galapagos is also something special; walking for 3 km through the national park to then reach a perfect beach and enjoy some pretty good waves, was a very good alternative. If you want to see the beach ( sorry did not have camera with me) google for tortuga bay on galapagos....and you will find 
Now on my way back to quito to leave for colombia tomorrow.