Biking down-hill

The day began as usual with breakfast at 7:30am followed by more art creations in the sand. The real kicker was heading south, down the side of a volcano. On the ride up I thought: "This won't be bad...these slopes will be pretty slow." Man was I mistaken! Speeding down the roads was nearly uncontrollable at times. Sometimes the road would be covered with cracks aside from the constant rubble on the road, and anyone would think as i did: "This time I'll go flying for sure." The decent took about 4 hours in total. The end was the most gruesome up-hill, down-hill combos. By the time we all reached the beach my legs were about to give out involuntarily. Although it was an exhausting ride at the end, the exhilaration and the landscape views during the decent were completely worth it.

Waves and Caves!

Yes, today was my first time surfing! It was amazing. Aside from the total wipes outs, I got two really good waves which I rode till it ended. At one point a sea lion joined the group in our surfing adventures. Later on after lunch, the group went cave exploring. the cieling looked like it was covered in gold. after treking through the wet, slipery, and moldy rocks we emerged in a beautiful rain forest. My sister arrived today as well. She had a more pleasant boat ride to Isabella island than I did. The day proceeded on as usual later on with dinner followed by relaxation and writing this blog. Good night.

The Wall of Tears

Today was a little less adventurous than swimming with sharks and penguins but it was full of breathtaking views. We made our way over to the the wall of tears or Muro de lagrimas today. According to the locals and history, the wall was built by prisoners for prisoners. They were supposed to be building their own jail. If I'm not mistaken some hundreds of prisoners watched by 10 police officers.... The prison was never finished and the portion that was built took four years to build. The whole route of this tour was surrounded by beautiful landscapes and beaches to walk up to. Later I went to the beach behind the hotel with Dru and we proceeded to write a message in the sand for those who did not come and make sand sculptures of turtles and tortoises. Over all it was another amazing day in this almost-paradise island.

Marine Life and Tintoreras

First off, I wanted to make a correction... there are sea lions here not seals. Onto the adventures of the day! This morning was a Marine life banaza! We began by taking a boat tour around some islands spotting sea lions, blue-footed boobies, penguins and pelacans. Later we jumped into the water to snorkel... The penguins joined us shortly. We spotted tons of colorful fish, a ray, a sea cucumber, and the highlight were the Tintoreras. Also known as the White tip sharks, they were being lazy hiding under some rock crevices. I managed to scare one out and I swam around desperately trying to keep up. The Adventures continue!

First Impression

As the plane landed on Baltra (one of the islands of the galapagos) I saw dry lands.... I thought "this better not be all of the islands." To my pleasure it wasn't. Taking a bus ride, then boat, and then bus again I saw dry lands turn green,then almost jungle like, and back again. At this point I was still disappointed. Later on as we traveled to the Charles Darwin center I thought "maybe this will be it." It was still not quite it but I liked it a little better. The real surprise came when I saw the red chested Frigate birds flying over head. I thought I wouldn't have been able to seen them at all. The surprises kept coming when I saw a Blue-footed Booby diving into the water not too far from where we were eating our lunch. After the "sicking yet beautiful" 2 1/2 hour boat trip to Isabella Island I realized it was totally worth it. Seals laying on boats, penguins in the water, more seals flopping up the beach, and all in a beautiful dim light setting. I was relieved to see the galapagos were what I thought they were. The next day I got face to face with a Marine Iguana... he didn't mind. The Galapagos so far is living up to my expectations.