EC Amazon & Galapagos Day 10
EC Amazon & Galapagos
Day 10 - Friday, December 12, 2008 - Fly to Quito--Transfer to Hotel--Farewell Dinner
The morning started early because we left the ship today. Breakfast was at 6:30 and by 7:00 we were hiking on Las Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz.
Although it was still early in the day, the sky was cloudless and the sun was hot reflecting on the white sandy beach. Danny told us more about the two kinds of lava here on the islands and this organic beach formed from the remains of shells and other sea creatures.
We went on this excursion to see flamingos but there were none today. We did see Darwin’s finches, cattle egrets, a blue heron, black neck stilts, frigate birds, yellow warblers, an oyster catcher, and many pelicans diving for their breakfast.
The best discovery was the tracks made by the green sea turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. We also saw several abandoned nests with the small rubbery egg shells still visible. Danny told us that the greatest enemies of the turtles are the feral pigs that are so damaging to wildlife here on the islands.
At 8:15 we made our way back to the wet landing site and Danny tried to contact the panga crew to come and pick us up to take us back to the boat. He was not able to get a hold of them by the walkie-talkies for about 15 minutes. They finally answered our call and came to pick us up from our last walk on the islands.
Once back on the Tip Top III, we washed the sand from our feet, cleaned our shoes, and finished packing for our departure. We made a quick tour of the galley and the bridge to get a better idea of the inner workings of our ship.
We said farewell and thanked our captain one more time and said goodbye to the crew. We motored a short distance between Santa Cruz and Baltra.
There was a bus waiting for us to take us on the 10 minute ride to the airport. Our flight to Guayaquil was delayed because of a landing gear mal-function so we had plenty of time to visit the many little souvenir stands and shops.
Gennie took our passports to be stamped with the Galapagos National Park Stamp and then we cleared security at 11:50 and entered our gate area. There was quite a bit of confusion and conflicting information, but when I spoke to the gate agent, she assured me we were waiting in the right line for the right flight.
At 1:00 they called our flight and we boarded our AeroGal, Boeing 737-200. We were fortunate to sit in seats 1 C & D so we had plenty of room for our legs. The flight crew served us a light lunch and then Gennie worked on the journal and I was able to sort a few of our thousands of photos.
Our stop in Guayaquil was just about 35 minutes and we were not able to leave the aircraft. We took off and landed in Quito without incident and Antonio met us as we came through the arrival gate.
We collected our luggage, found our new driver Edwin, and went back to our hotel; The Reina Isabel is like home to us now! We organized our clothes to be laundered and then got our bags ready for the next leg of our journey.
Our dinner tonight was at the hotel and we were able to meet Antonio’s family. Four members of our group; Chuck and Colleen and Rosemary and Melina will not be going on the post trip to The Devil’s Nose Train Trip and to Cuenca so we said goodbye to them at our Farewell Dinner.
It is great to have internet again enabling us to catch up on our mail and have a video chat with our son in Austin, Texas. Technology is something we surely have taken for granted until we do not have it!
I tried to get caught up posting the journals, posting four of them so we will be all up to date before we leave Quito in the morning for the southern part of Ecuador.
Accommodations: Reina Isabel Hotel - - - Meal: B, D
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Comments
Green Sea Turtle Tracks
Sally Lightfoot Crab
Blue Heron
Galápagos Airport
Antonio and Family
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