The morning started off like any other. Asher and I woke at seven o’clock AM and did homework. I hadn’t slept well the night before because I was feeling ill and was consequently a bit tired, but nothing extraordinary had occurred. Then, we got in a cab and drove to the airport. There, we had to wait an extra two hours because of a flight delay. This gave me time to notice the abundance of children boarding the flight. We got on the plane and landed in the Galapagos. I have always wanted to go to the Galapagos, even before my class learned about it in sixth grade, so I was looking forward to a great experience. We got on a bus from the airport and saw large iguanas out of the window, then got on a ferry. I saw beautiful fish in the water and wondrous scenery, but the family sitting next to us was classic American. I listened to them complaining about the bugs and the humidity and spitting in the water, and as we pulled up to the dock the teenage daughter said, “look how big that crab is! I hate this place already!” Ugh. We found out that Troy lost his wallet and before eating a dinner of tuna steak, we strolled the boardwalk. We saw sea lions, fish, sharks, birds, and stingrays, and we were only there for about five minutes! The next day we were meant to wake up at seven o’clock am. However, our kindle timers were so set to Quito time because of the bad WiFi at Santa Cruz Island and we accidentally wrote up at six. *Sigh*. We also didn’t realize this until we finished getting ready, eating breakfast, and getting our contacts on. Double *sigh*. Of course, we left the hotel and only a few minutes later it began to pour rain. It lasted about ten-ish minutes, but we got to watch the birds flying in the sky and a pelican near us gulp down falling rainwater. I thought this was amazing. After that, we went to a tortoise sanctuary. That is where they breed tortoises so that they are able to go into the wild and not die into extinction. We learned a lot about different species of tortoises and even saw the body of Lonesome George. He was the last tortoise of his kind and died in 2012 without reproducing. Outside, we saw tiny baby tortoises and medium teenage tortoises and enormous, and I mean enormous, old tortoises. If you’ve ever met my dog, Trixie, then imagine three of her stacked on top of each other. Plus a long neck and giant shell. They’re enormous. By the way, since I write about tortoises and turtles a lot in these posts, let me make the distinction. Turtles live and swim in the water, and tortoises live and walk on land. Simple!
After the tortoise sanctuary, we walked through a hidden trail down to a beautiful beach. There were dark black rocks, and on those rocks were dark black crabs and dark black iguanas. There were also very vivid, big, bright red crabs. It was while trying to photograph one of these that Troy fell on a rock and may have fractured his wrist.
While we were enjoying the beach, silent black iguanas would constantly sneak up on us. We would be looking for wildlife and turn around, then suddenly notice that there was one starting at us, sitting on the sand or on a rock! They’re like the cows (silent ballerinas) of Israel!
We went home after that and read and did homework for a little while. Aba and Troy planned the rest of the trip up until Israel, and Troy made us lunch. We ate crackers (because none of the grocery stores had bread) with (excellent) cheese and chicken-beef baloney! Troy also got me the best pickles I’ve had on this trip. So. Sour!!!!! Yumyumyum. We got on a water taxi and hiked to a rocky grotto. There, we swam and explored the crevices with my goggles. We saw some beautiful large fish with bright blue fins and golden eyes!
After that, we swam at a nearby beach and Asher cut my stomach with his toenails. Eww, I know. After returning and doing more homework, we ate dinner and walked the pier again, returning to do homework. In the morning, we woke up (on time) and prepared to board a water taxi ferry thing. However, because of elections, our boat was delayed and Troy taught me how to use his awesome camera instead. We finally boarded a ferry to Isabela Island. The ride was four hours long and we saw flying fish and birds and sea lions, but the woman next to Asher kept having to barf because she was seasick. When we got to the island, we drove to our new hotel and unpacked. We had left most of our stuff in duffel bags on the main island, so we only had a change of clothes and electronics (and a few of my crafting supplies). We did homework and then drove to another tortoise sanctuary. There, we learned about how invasive species are threatening the population and what conservationists are doing to help. We walked along a trail by the water on the way back and saw neon pink flamingos!
We had planned to ride bikes, but the store was closed so instead of going to the beach next to a herd(?) of iguanas we found, we stayed at the hotel and did homework. We had to get up early again the next day. We took a boat to Isabela Island and hiked the five hours up to Volcan Chico. It wasn’t really a volcano, but it’s next to a few volcanoes. We got to see lava rocks with interesting shapes and colors ranging from white, black, red, brown, purple, gold, silver, and even blue!
The hike was pretty easy, but it was very beautiful. I simply fell in love with the vegetation! Along with the invasive guava trees, there were tiny indigenous flowers everywhere. I know, you think I only liked them because they were tiny, but aside from that, they were actually lovely! There were also cacti in full bloom and snails on trees!
The view from the top was great and we got to see some lava tubes, which was a unique experience. On the way back, before we boarded the boat we had to wait at the dock. We saw some Mantras, sea lions, and even penguins in the water! While we waited, we overheard an American boasting about how “there was no Russian-American collusion”. I also learned that the man had transferred from being a soldier to being part of the Air Force in 1987 and retired in 2007. Along with this extensive knowledge about war, upon seeing an Ecuadorian soldier he pointed out, “that guy looks like a Marine, but he ain’t!”. This is what the world has come to, so I’m just glad he wasn’t in our boat. There was a person in our boat, however, who kind of ticked me off. Aba liked him, though. He and Troy sat on opposite sides of the boat, and both claimed that they had done the calculates right and would get the shade. Guess what? Troy won! I can’t even describe how proud of him I was. I know of seems like a stupid thing to get excited about, but I already thought the man was rude and Troy was right! My Troy beat him! I started this blog and included Troy immediately, but I never really explained how much we all love him. I really felt that gush of love when I felt the pride. When I wasn’t sure who would win, I kept thinking ‘he has to win, he has to win, please let him win, please let him win…’ I’ll just finish by saying that I was immensely proud of my Troy. When we got back to Santa Cruz, Troy went for an X-Ray on his arm and found out that it was fractured. Now he has to wear a splint. I had finished all of my homework the day before, so I worked on my own project while Asher did his Language Arts. He wrote an amazing poem that I want him to put on the blog because it’s so good. The next day we had to get up early yet again. A bus picked us up and we took a water taxi boat to our boat for the day, The Senorita.
Once aboard, we got to know our fellow passengers. Then, it felt like a gay cruise. Besides Aba and Troy, there was a young lesbian couple from New Zealand and a gay couple from Israel, I’ll get back to them later. It was a two-hour boat ride from Santa Cruz to Bartholomew Island, but it was beautiful. We hiked for about half an hour and saw a great view of some of the surrounding islands. Only a limited number of people are afforded to go onto Bartholomew, so we were very lucky to have been there. After that, we changed into our bathing suits and went snorkeling at a nearby beach. It was phenomenal. There were fish of every shape and size and in colors that I never would’ve thought existed naturally. Neon orange, yellow, blue, turquoise, green, purple, pink, lime, and more! We saw stingrays and mantas and sea snails and sea slugs and starfish and fish buried in the sand. We also saw anemones with crabs and fish in them! Right before I left, I saw a shark. A big shark. I did some research and later found out that it was a white tipped reef shark. Its conservation status is ‘near threatened’.
After a tuna lunch on the boat, at headed back to the island. Asher and I slept again, but Aba woke me up and we saw at least one hundred dolphins swimming next to us! It was wonderful!
We went to dinner with the Israeli couple I mentioned earlier and their Israeli friend Rachel. They live in Tel Aviv and brought us nuts from Israel! We had a really nice dinner and we told them about the blog (hi!). By the way, I forgot to mention that the men’s names were David and Ofer. Yep, Ofer. Is it like the Israeli version of Steve??? In addition, David taught me my first Hebrew pun!: In Hebrew, as in English, one would say that they go out for coffee. Have you ever heard of Nescafe? The pun is that if you say you go in for coffee, the word for to go inside is le-hee-ka-Nes. Get it?! (Don’t mind me, it’s funny in Hebrew)
The next day’s boat ride only lasted 45 minutes, so we got to sleep later into the morning. Coincidentally, the lesbian couple from New Zealand that we had met the day before was with us, too! The previous trip’s boat was a lot nicer, but it was okay. Our first stop was on an island called Seymour. This island is known for its abundant wildlife, especially concerning birds. We saw blue-footed boobies, red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, puffy red frigate birds, and pelicans. We also saw yellow land iguanas.
After Seymour, we went snorkeling at a nearby beach. However, it was horrible. There were almost no fish and everything was very grey. I did see a spotted orange eel and two giant purple sea sponges, but other than that there was nothing good. In fact, the waves were large so we kept getting hammered onto the rocks.
We left the snorkeling area soon and climbed over a sandy ridge. Then, we got to watch a family of sea lions. They officially have a place in my heart. They’re so lazy but so sweet and playful! We were supposed to keep six feet away from them at all times, but one came right up to me and nuzzled my knee. Asher and I call them Aquatic Trixies.
On another little hill, we found the bones of a little sea lion and a whale skeleton among other animal bones.
As we got back toward the snorkeling area, we saw a large male sea lion with a shark bite in his neck, poor guy! The guide said it was superficial, but I still feel bad. We also swam with the sea lions for a bit. After lunch in the boat, we went back to Santa Cruz and ate dinner. As we walked along the pier, we saw a group of stingrays in the water! The next day was uneventful. We said goodbye to Captain Max and drove on a ferry to the island of San Cristobal.
During the ride, a woman sitting next to Asher unexpectedly had her period and hid in the bathroom. However, there was blood on the seat and she didn’t clean it up, so no one in the cramped boat could sit there. We went to another tortoise farm and learned about how pirates used to steal tortoises as food for their ships.
The following day was our last full day in the Galapagos, and we enjoyed The 360° tour. The boat we were on was small, but it was okay. Our Natural Park guide was a real chatterbox, we could hardly understand him, but he was nice. There was a young married couple there, the wife was Asian and the husband was from London, and they seemed nice. I was talking to the husband, I think his name was Alissander, and we talked about travel and I said I wished I had seen more sea turtles on the trip. Our first stop was next to two big stones in the middle of the ocean. There, we got out and snorkeled. However, the water was very deep and murky and there were some waves, so Troy had a panic attack and nearly drowned. He froze up and went all pink and the guide and crew had to drag him back into the boat.
Asher was also having trouble swimming, so he went with them. The rest of us continued snorkeling and Troy eventually came back in wearing a life jacket, so we were very proud of him. We saw puffer fish and a giant sea turtle and a sea lion! Yay! Next, we hiked on a beach and the guide explained a bit about the islands. While there, Alissander’s wife was badgered with horse flies and she tripped and fell. She shrieked and we found out that she had gotten a small cut. Both of them started panicking and Alissander demanded a plaster (bandage), but because we didn’t have one they returned to the boat. When they returned, the wife’s leg was wrapped so thoroughly that it looked like part of a mummy.
Look at her leg!
I heard them say that when they returned to the mainland that would go to a hospital. A little while later, Alissander’s wife sounded another loud shriek. Afterward, she said, “I almost fell over backward!” The beach we went to after that was better. Though the first place we snorkeled had been filled with jellyfish and we had to leave, the second area was very nice. We saw red and blue-footed boobies as well as Nazca boobies among the other wildlife. Though we weren’t allowed to swim there, we saw a wonderful turtle in a small lake!
When we swam, we saw puffer fish and Alissander showed me a shark! We had to dive because it was resting in a cave, but it was worth it. When the others had gotten out, I swam back and met with Alissander and Asher because they were quite far behind. Then, we noticed the giant sea turtle! It was so close to us that if we had wanted to we could’ve touched it! It was amazing, and we followed it for a while before it dove down again. On the ride back to San Cristobal, the wife lay her head on Alissander’s lap like I used to lay on Aba when I was younger. Aba thinks she must have a mental issue or something.
Anyway, we were lucky again and saw more dolphins! They actually followed us quite a ways, but I’m just happy we got to see them again. In addition, as we returned our captain found an illegal fishing trap. Large nets catch exotic fish that are sold to consumers as pets. We couldn’t take the net, but the captain took the tracker so that the illegal company couldn’t find the animals and called a release crew. The following morning we flew out of San Cristobal. While we were waiting in line for our first flight, a little five-year-old boy in an orange shirt started playing with me. We had a lot of fun and he was adorable. When we disembarked, he waved goodbye! Next, we flew back to Quito. Troy had lost his wallet at the airport and they had called us, so we had to book an extra detour. Troy!! After that, we flew to Lima, Peru. on that flight, we met our friends from Israel (Rachel, Ofer, and David)! We drove to the hotel and slept.
Ella
9-3-18-13 18-1-26-24 1-14-14-6-10-4-14 8-1-23-24-1-13-10!!!!
HOW?!! 
Darwin!