RTW North to South: Feliz Navidad

MS - Féliz Navidad from the Galapagos! What an incredible opportunity to be able to say that. Chip, Ken and I had an early start yesterday. We headed to the airport at 6:30 AM for our 9:20 AM flight. That flight was delayed multiple times and we ended up leaving after Noon. We arrived at the Baltra airport after a 1 hour and 50 min flight. Immigration was a look at our passport and a collection of $100 per person for the National Park fee. This was after paying a $20 fee in Quito to go to the islands. Baggage is serious business. Ours was x-rayed and inspected on the mainland and then x-rayed again in Baltra after confirming that we were not bringing in produce or chickens. We then loaded onto a bus after throwing or bags below and rode for 10 minutes on sharply curved roads to a ferry. The ferry was passenger only where your luggage was hucked on top of the roof. That was a 5 minute ride across the canal. After disembarking and waiting for our luggage to be hucked to the ground, options were two-fold: another bus or a pick up truck taxi. We opted for taxi to escape the chaos and we knew it was a 45 min ride.

Our hotel is nice. A very romantic room for three! One double bed and two twins. There is a pool and a breakfast is included. We headed out on foot to explore the town of Puerto Ayora. We found amazing wildlife almost immediately. We have seen iguanas, lizards, crabs, pelicans, frigates, sea lions, sea turtles, black-tipped sharks, an eagle ray, and at least 3 of the 14 types of finches found here. We turned in early (like old people do) and called it a night by 9 PM but only after discovering a tasty ice cream treat of chocolate fudge, surrounded by banana ice cream, coated in a chocolate shell. I may have had two.

Today we were up by 7 AM. We had the standard breakfast that I've seen since arriving on Friday. Coffee, watermelon juice, sliced fruit, eggs with ham and veg, sliced cheese, "granola" (really macerated, similar to sawdust) and a pitcher of pourable yogurt. Today also included a deep fried surprise of potatoes and cheese that looked like a jalapeño popper.

We walked into town again to kill time until the rest of our group was to arrive at 1:30 PM. Not much was open as it was Christmas morning. The local fish market however was and it was a sight to behold. Freshly caught fish of many varieties and some locals cleaning it all to order for people. They were surrounded by animals trying to steal a taste including a sea lion who acted more like a dog and scored most of the fish skins when the fish were cleaned.

Returning to our hotel about 12:30 and found out that the rest of the group would be delayed as we were the day before and wouldn't be arriving until around 4 PM. A guide had been sent to start our tour so off we went on foot to Tortuga Bay. We clocked almost 20,000 steps today. There we saw our first Blue-footed Booby (insert childish snicker here) The guide was very knowledgeable and shared history of the islands as well as information about the birds and animals. He gave us a through run down on what to expect on the boat the next few days and where to eat tonight.

Headed out early tomorrow and will meet the rest of our group and go to the Darwin Center. Should be interesting... Merry Christmas everyone! Pictures to follow soon.