On the plane back home after spending a week in Montanita. What a party town! It is definately for the hippy/surfer dude, but not for old farts like us that don't like staying up past midnight! We are both in need of a good nights sleep given that it was very noisy here we were, i hope we get that on the plane now. Problem being that it's going to be afternoon local time when we get to London in 5 or 6 hours so jet-lag is very probable!
As i know i have said before, both Jo and I are very ready to get back to the UK. I for one miss everything i had around me in my flat that gave me my creature comforts.

Well i guess thats it! South America - tick! I am sure there is a lot of other places we could have visited (Chile, Columbia, Buenas Aires - to name but a few), but given the time and money constraints i am sure that we have experienced South America to its fullest.

I still don't really know what i have got out of this trip yet, but what i do know is that it will become more apparent to me as life goes on i am sure of that!

Ciao!

Here we are in the internet cafe in Montanita. This town is a real beach-bum/surfer-dude area and really quite bustling, yet relaxing.
We are gonna have a great week here to wind down and reflect for a bit.
Our trip is almost at an end!

The Galapagos photos should now be up (hopefully - i am uploading them now) - and what an amazing trip. Look through the photos. I am sure anyone out there will agree. I know the Galapagos is part of Ecuador and so technically should be in that gallery, but it really deserved a gallery of its own.

Well, it was. We swam with white-tipped sharks today! And i don't mean we sawthem a mile off and said we swam with them, i managed to touch a few of them on thier fins as they swam past! We entered a lava lagoon hich basically looks like a river with lava rock banks just off of a much larger lake sized lagoon. This river had 10 sharks (I counted them) swimming back and forth along this river bed. Billy (our guide) said that they were harmless to people so both of us felt confident enough to go in with them. It was amazing again. Imagine swimming next to a shark whilst its staring at you in the face? Quite incredible. We are going to have a short siesta now before heading back out at 14:00 in order to see Flamingos.
The fun never stops!

On the plane on the way to Guayquil. It's been a most amazing experience. I'd like to think that the photos taken have done justice to the views we have been treated to. Galapagos was truely amazing. Time went by so quickly probably because so much was crammed in to such a small space of time. We spent the morning of our last day saying goodbye to the sea-lions by snorkling just off of 'sea-lion island' . There were about 6 or 7 pups there to see us off by playing with us in the water.
Just one more week to go now before heading back to the UK. Both Jo and I could go sooner to be honest. Both of us are missing home now and we think we have stayed here long enough.
Anyway, the plane is decending now, and i am sure this will be the last entry before i get all this in to an internet cafe.
See you all soon!
H&J

It's a snorkling day!
We got up this morning to hike around another island called Rabida for a few hours before snokling around it's coast. Not as much to see this time as last time, but its always fun snokling nevertheless. Just as i was typing then, i looked up and saw 3 sea turtles around our boat where we are currently anchored (we set sail at lunch time to get to this island now). This is really encouraging for our next snorkling spat in 20 minutes since we don't see sea turtles that often and when we do they don't stay up above the water long enough to get any good photos.
All looking good!

Oh dear. We set sail at 23:30 last night and continued on until 06:00 this morning meaning that the boat engines and the constant swaying have kept us both awake. Jo and myself have hardly had any sleep only my body is used to sleep deprivation and Jos isn't. Shes not a happy girl. To add insult to injury, we are off of the coast of Isabella and the sun is still nowhere to be seen.
Still, heads up for another amazing day i'm sure.

Spent the day just off of Santa Cruz. Not that interesting today. There is kind of an excuse though. We have 5 new members aboard our boat that have started thier cruise today. It is for that reason we have stayed harboured and spent a further day here. Not that we have done nothing today, but the previous days have been far more eventful. The morning was spent visiting the Darwin centre (named after the almighty) where the greatest of effort is made to conserve the various species of animals in the Galapagos via whatever means necsessary. In visiting this center we encountered many different types of giant tortoise including the affectionately knon 'Lonesome George'. This is the last of its kind of this particular type of tortoise (there were 14 types, 3 are now extinct and when George dies, there will be only 10). However George is only 40 years old or so, and since they live to a grand old age of sometimes between 200 and 300 years old, he is very 'lonesome' indeed. We then went to another enclosure where we were allowed to come in to contact with some giant tortoises that were extremely tame (and curious!). The photos show me and one of them sharing a slow banter.
From there though, the day started to get a bit samey. The afternoon was spent observing giant tortoises in their natural habitat, but to be honest, once you've seen one giant tortoise, you've seen 'em all. When all they do is eat, hide in thier shell and poo, they are not the most exciting of creatures (Jo says the little ones are cute though!).
Tomorrow should be better. We will see Flamingos, snorkel with white-tipped sharks, and hopefully spot some penguins. Looking forward to that. I love snorkling. Especially when the waters are this warm!

Wowsers!
What a day so far!
We just went swimming with sea-lions!
This is just an incredible experience. First we went on to an island called Santa Fe by landing on the small beach. This beach had hundreds of Sea-lions on again like yesterday, difference being that these ones were even more tame than the last. As you'll see from the photos, they were not afraid of us even stroking them. The ones that let us were barely a fe months old so they were very playful. Then we went searching for Land Iguanas on the main land. These guys were much bigger than thier sea-faring counterparts but very similar in stature. We caught one chewing on a cactus too which was quite surreal to watch. It looked like a scene from Jurassic Park! We were told that the land Iguanas were becoming extinct too, so i guess we were lucky to see the ones that we did.
The next hour afterwards though was truely an experience of a lifetime. Donning our snorkel gear we then went back to where we saw our sea-lions and swam right next to them! I can't really put in to words the amazing sensation it was that both Jo and myself felt. They were as playful as puppies, graceful as fish and just as happy as we were to be in the water. Its just a shame we couldn't be in there any longer. Wish i had a water-proof camera to preserve the memories and perhaps give those reading an idea of what it was like. Maybe you'll just have to come to Galapagos and experience it yourself!
We are now currently sailing over to another island part of Galapagos in order to see the Giant Turtles (of which the Galapagos is named after), but not before we have another one of these amazing meals our chef rustles up for us every day!

Well, here we are in the Galapagos. Absolutely amazing. We have taken so many shots with the camera since everywhere we look there is an amazing view of either stunning wildlife or ocean scenery. The crew are proffesional and courteous and the boat is luxurious with very tasty food cooked for us 3 times a day. Neither of us could have asked for a more satisfying time here around the Galapagos. The pictures tell the story much better than i do as usual too. This is just day 1! We have 7 days of this left to go!
Our guide is also very good. He is quite funny and very experienced. He talks about each view and animal with such passion that it is difficult not to be interested.
We are also travelling with 10 other people, most much older than ourselves and from a variety of different places in the world, but very good natured people that means enjoying ourselves with them is not difficult.
We set sail last night at 00:00 in order to get to our first island that we visited today (Espanola). Just finished seeing all the wildlife and we about to go for a quick swim round the other side of the island before having lunch.

This really is the life.

OK...

I am writing this in the cafe and not online just to let everyone know that although this is the end of our excusion with our tour operators, we are still traveling further around the Galapagos islands. This may mean that i don´t have access to the internet whilst we are in the middle of the ocean! Therefore, i shall do my best to upload all that i have written and all the photos that i have taken when we get back.
We are due to get back on to the mainland on the 18th of May, but we will not be near a big city like Quito, so i am guessing that it could be a few days from then still before we can get settled again and i can find a cafe.
Until then, enjoy the blog, photos or the online music collection!

Back soon all!