January 17, 2001

The day we had all been waiting for had finally arrived. Often called the living laboratory of evolution the Galapagos Islands offer a unique natural history experince. Here wildlife is unafraid of human visitors.

Arriving at the airport the day was drab and damp. Flying first to Guayaquil, Ecuador's largst city, from the air it looked like the area was in a state of flood.

Soon we were flying over the ocean. The Galapagos National Park Service is the governmental agency responsible for the management of the Park and access to the area is carefully supervised and regulated. Filling out forms and searching for the first sign of the islands occupied our time. We landed on our desert island and were sorted out. Soon we met our new guides.

Leaving the airbase after a short drive we were greeted by sea lions and loaded into a panga for our trip to our yacht — the Eric.

Following our introduction in the lounge we left the Eric and headed for the beach on Santa Cruz. Ashore we were divided into two groups and began our beach exploration. The first critters to show an interest in our arrival seemed to like the sand and the rocky shoreline .

On our way to a lagoon we saw evidence as to why the area in called Turtle Cove.

But the sun was starting to set and following a quick dip it was now time to return to the Eric.

Index — Ecuador & the Galapagos