We Are Your Friends

Wednesday 3 March
Isla Isabella – Isla Santa Cruz, Galapagos Islands

It was a very early start, even by Galapagosian standards. We queued in the dark for the boat back to Santa Cruz. It was the same boat that we arrived on, but this time with a more manageable number of people. But the sea was rough. One of the conservationists was sick. She was having a tough time.

Once we’d arrived back in Puerto Ayora it was pretty funny. First I bumped into the Americans who were next to me in the hotel the first time around, and then I kept bumping into the conservationists. It felt like I knew half the town.

My non-English speaking driver picked me up again and took me to what I discovered to be Tortuga (Turtle) Bay. It was two beaches, one long, flat, deserted, with a few iguanas for good measure – this is the Galapagos after all – with a few waves coming in from the sea. The other was smaller, with crabs and calmer water for snorkelling. I had about two hours to kill on a deserted beach. As I didn’t know we were going here I didn’t have any swimming trunks. But, hey, you make so with what you can, so I swam in my pants. Of course, halfway through my swim I bumped into the conservationists again.

Anyway after that I had a quick lunch and then it was off to another boat trip to look at more iguanas and sea lions. But you know, I’d kinda had my fill. You’ve seen one iguana... Tomorrow it was back to the mean streets of Quito.