Galapagos Islands!
We are pretty much at the equator. We started our Galapagos trip 3 days earlier than planned by heading to the island of Santa Cruz for a rest before our 8 day boat trip around the islands. It is remarkable to be here - all the strange creatures around the town that come right up close to you - iguanas, pelicans, bright colourful crabs and tiny cute little birds - and we haven't even begun our boat tour yet!
We were so pleasantly surprised by our stay here in the town of Puerto Ayora. We found good, cheap accommodation; coconut juice and a fantastic supermarket where we can even stock up on our ziploc bags! The water here is crystal clear - even in the harbour. While one half of the isalnd is quite tropical, the vegetation and the landscape around the town is so unique - black lava chunks make up the crust, covered by a striking and haggard mix of different cactus species dispersed between almost Savannah-like scrub.
Johan considered hiring a surf board until he realized it costs US$30 for the day. We headed to the beach called Turtle Bay this morning while Ecuador was playing against England and had a truly stunning site all to ourselves (and the surf was not good today so Johan was very chuffed with himself!). We got up close to marine iguanas (only to be found on these islands) which thrilled Janine. The rest of the time was spent lazing in a protected cove where tiny birds came hopping over us as we watched sting rays and giant turtles swimming and a pelican hunting overhead.
Culture Shock: We noticed many good condition white double-cab bakkies (pick up trucks) driving all over the town and thought it odd until we realized that these are the taxis in Puerto Ayora!
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