Capturing the Moment

  Me and David in the Santa Cruz highlands. It was pretty amazing to be surrounded by these giant, ancient reptiles. Santa Cruz Island is the commercial hub of the Galapagos Islands. While the island is relatively undeveloped, the main port town of Puerto Ayora does boast 30,000 people. There is a road going for 42km straight across the island from Puerto Ayora, which connects to the airport on the next island of Baltra. This is also the home to the famed Charles Darwin Research Station, where young giant tortoises are raised through their vulnerable early years, before being released into the wild at the age of ten. Marine iguana enjoying the sunny day. Many backpackers, who can't afford to go on fancy expedition cruises, will use Puerto Ayora as their base of activities. The town is filled with hotels and hostels, restaurants, and tour operators. I saw advertisements for ferries to other islands, snorkel day trips, and even surf trips, as I walked around the waterfront. But I did...

  Dragon Hill in the background of another beautiful Galapagos Island landscape Today was a big day on our exploration of the Galapagos Archipelago. We crammed three different adventures into our day, with a hike and a snorkel on Rabida Island in the morning, and a hike to Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island in the afternoon. The landscapes were stunning, and the snorkel was super fun. I spent most of the time underwater, freediving with sea lions, big schools of fish, and an elusive nurse shark. And it all started off with a bang as our zodiacs took us in for a shore landing on the most beautiful red sand beach. Beautiful red sand beach Another shot of the red sand next to the green bushes. Beautiful cliff view from our Hike Not only did we get a scenic hike in on the lava rock coastline, but there was a pond full of pink flamingos just inland from the red sand beach. We spent a while just watching the flamingos feeding in the shallow water. I think a lot of the guests onboard were s...