Day 42 – A short hop

My head hurts! They’re pretty generous with the rum in the bars over here and I may have drank a little to much. Luckily we had nothing planned for the morning and I awoke just before lunch. Sausage and mash would have been perfection but fish and rice was good enough.

After eating we headed to the tin airport and waited for our plane. This has to be the only commercial airport where I’ve not seen cameras; mind you it didn’t have windows either! When the plane it arrived we had to load our own bags and play musical chairs to balance out the weight. I lucked out with a seat just behind the pilot, close enough to be able to fly the thing myself. Taking off provided superb view of the town and blue seas out to Isla Tortuga. From there to San Cristobal the scenery was hidden by cloud but at least the flight was smooth.

Leaving our things in the hotel we were driven through town to the Galapagos Interpretation Center. There walked around the displays learning about the islands natural and human history. It could have been boring but taking the time to read revealed an interesting history and an uncertain future. In short the islands once were better off without man now they need man to help maintain their future.

From the center we wandered down to the beach and sat among a group of sea lions. Quite a sight to see man and animal sharing the same space without any bother, all just enjoying the sun and sea. It got better when, feet away from me, as a mother sea lion left the water to feed her two cubs. I really enjoyed just sitting there and taking it all in. I’ve never been so close to animals in their natural environment that don’t feel threatened by humans.

Our evening meal was interesting as we first stopped to pick up a “guest”. Turns out our guide has a girlfriend on the island (he doesn’t live on this island by the way) and we got be part of one of his dates.