Every Day

Our taxi drivers didn't really know where we were headed that afternoon which was the first indication that we were in for an adventure. We found it without much trouble and pulled up to an unfinished and empty "hotel". Blue Shark Hotel was definitely an experience that I'm glad I had but wouldn't need to ever have again. Its all about the stories right? So we were greeted by a very nice but socially awkward gentleman who helped us with our bags and then told us to leave them on the stoop so he could give us an "orientation" inside. He puled up some plastic chairs which were the only furniture decoration in the place and stood in front of us to tell us that dinner would be fish and breakfast would be eggs and then said "oooook lets show you your rooms!" At least he spoke pretty good english for everyone. After grabbing our bags again, we walked to the back of the building and up a set of stairs. Its so interesting because everything was hal

The last day in the Galapagos! Ty and I wanted to get in one last snorkel and per our favorite travel agent we decided to hit up Charles Darwin beach early in the morning. We all woke up early in the house to go on our morning adventures. The girls were going to the Charles Darwin Research Center, my parents were going to hang out at the research center and the beach and Ty and I were going snorkeling. Tide was low and rocks that we swam over last time were now jutting out of the water. We put on our thickest wetsuits (that we brought) and slowly got into the freezing water. There were two older ladies who were wading in the water as well and giggled at us as we squealed at the cold water. They told us to have a good snorkel and we were on our way. It was cool to see a little closer to all the small fishes and rocks since the tide was out but we really didn't see much. We were not out for long when we got really cold and bored (when you see sharks, turtles and rays on all you

"9:30 I'm walking out of this house." I announced to everyone the evening before. I wanted to get a good start on our last full day together. At 9:30 am, I did leave the house with only a few other people (funnily enough all the parents) and we walked into town to get our snorkel gear. After the shop handed me a bunch of the same size fins that were too big and a pair of adjustable, I finally actually got a pair of fins to wear for the day. Yay! Just as we were ready to leave the shop, the rest of the gang showed up to get their gear and we said we would meet them at the ferry. On the dock we looked at all sorts of wildlife and also spotted the tiniest little baby sea lion with its mother. It was about two feet long and so adorable. The park service had sectioned off an area for them to be alone but we still had a good view from the dock. The little yelps it was making to get the attention from mama was adorable! Then everyone arrived and we were able to take the

We woke up at 5:15/5:30 am. Thats early. Our shuttle was picking us up at our place at 5:50am. Ty, my parents and I were out the door at 5:47 and our ride pulled up and the gentleman who booked our trip jumped out (the nice gentleman who didn't speak much English). Only the four of us were outside so we yelled for our companions to join us. "Ride's here!!" But sense there was only room for four per taxi, the gentleman assured us that he would wait there for the next taxi and the rest of the group so we jumped in and hoped that the rest would arrive after! Our driver stopped the truck (white trucks are used as taxi's down there) and said something in Spanish which we all assumed meant "get out" or something similar in nicer language. So we hopped out, grabbed our stuff and met our Naturalist for the day. After a few minutes of waiting for the rest of our group and thinking each white truck would be them, they finally showed up and joined us and so we

Tuesday was off to a slow start especially because of the long, exciting day on Monday. I honestly cannot remember why it took us almost until noon to get moving. We probably made breakfast, sat around and talked and slowly got ready. Its also especially hard to get 8 people out the door at an early hour lol. So before noon we all left the house to go rent snorkel gear only to find out that the place we wanted to rent from was closed. So, we had to try to find somewhere else (added time). With 7 of us needing either a mask, snorkel or both, that was a lot for this place to find. We were probably there for like 20 minutes while they went to their other location (3 times) to try to find what we all needed. I have my own mask but lost my fins in Thailand (you can read up on that in my blog, http://everydaymoad.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-lost-flipper-of-thailand.html ). It was a very sad day and now I'm crazy picky about my snorkel gear. They kept trying to give me adjustable fins and

Today was our day for adventure. Ty and Jake got up extra early to catch their dive boat and the rest of us got up a little later. We were meeting our naturalist in town at 8:30am. Our naturalist seemed like a really cool guy telling us about what we would be doing for the day. Our guide said the hike would only be 2 K which is super short for us. I was a little disappointed thinking the hike would be longer but it'd still be fun! We were also informed that we would be going to El Trapiche which is a chocolate, coffee and sugarcane plantation too! How exciting! I love the beginning of an adventure. We all hopped into a van and were on our way to our first destination, the lava tunnels! On our way, our guide was telling us the history of the towns on Santa Cruz island. And once we all jumped out and were excited for the start of our adventure! We started our walk to the lava tunnels and got distracted by every plant along the way. Our guide went and got us grapefruits, oranges

Sunday morning we got up and decided to go for a snorkel at the Charles Darwin Research beach before our friends joined us in the afternoon. Ty and I were the only ones with our own mask and snorkel but my parents had swim goggles. Heres the beach at low tide (you can see the high tide mark) but just as beautiful: It was a warm, sunny day but the water was still pretty chilly. I had my lava core (thick wetsuit type top) and was still cold! It took me awhile to get into the water and it was my first snorkel in over a year so it always takes a little getting used to. You have to breathe differently through a snorkel, long and slow breaths (I keep having to tell myself: no, you are not going to drown with your face in the water, you have a freeking snorkel in your mouth...). Immediately, we noticed the lack of corals but still an abundance of fishes on the reef. My dad stayed with us for awhile but then Ty wanted to get out further and it was just the two of us. We were exploring

Because we practically didn't sleep for two days in a row, we slept in and had a slow morning. Well, other people slept in. I was wide awake at 7:15 am and was too excited to lay in bed till 8. So I got up and did yoga on our second story patio. The sun, which was struggling to come out behind some wispy clouds, felt amazing on my skin and the warm air was exactly what I had needed that morning. I got my heart pumping a bit and then jumped on the bed to wake Ty up. "We're in the Galapagos! Get up, get up, get up!" We were waiting for our travel companions to join us for breakfast and a morning exploring the Charles Darwin Research Center, but they never came so we went off to get some of the "best coffee in the Galapagos" and slowly meander through the Research Station, hoping they would join later. Little did we know, Jake was passed out until 11am! He was sick though and needed it to feel healthy for the rest of the trip! We took our time reading the s

It was beautifully warm getting off the plane onto the tarmac. We walked to a sign that welcomed us to the first eco-friendly airport in the world. Along this long covered (with solar panels) walk, we saw volcanic rock and Darwin's finches! Getting through customs was a breeze, we even got Galapagos national park stamps in our passports! Score! When we left the airport, we again found my name on a whiteboard. This guy helped us find the correct bus to take us to the ferry and then helped us get taxi's for the ride into town. But back to the bus. We were sitting there for awhile and it was HOT. and I LOVED it. I talked with our guide for awhile in very simple, broken Spanish. He complimented me on my Spanish, however, after this trip, I am very aware of how I need to work on it. I want to take Spanish lessons! Getting to the ferry was beautiful. The Island of Baltra used to be a military base for the U.S. during WWII. It is a large flat island north of Santa Cruz (w

We woke up at 3:30 am to make sure we caught our flight at 6. Needless to say, I was tired. We had to annoyingly fly from Boston to Cincinnati to Atlanta and then Quito. I tried working my magic on the Delta associates so we could fly later in the day direct to ATL buuuut I was only able to waive the change fee, not the difference in fare which was almost $300 each. So thats why we had to get up at 3:30 am. The flights were normal and the layovers were long. I tried sleeping in the airport in the corner but it was too cold and I can't sleep in weird places like I used to when I was in college. In ATL we met up with my parents and Jake and Jean. This was the whole group for the first part of the trip. We were going to get into Quito and then try really hard to see as much as we could in our overnight layover. Then our flight was delayed an hour (now arriving at 12:30 am) and many of us were feeling under the weather (me included). This was going to be a struggle. I tried to sl

Hey all. Its been awhile and I've missed this a lot. Ive thought about writing a blog for so long but never give myself the push to actually DO it. Well here we are. This may be a rough read since its been so long. So, tomorrow Im headed to the Galapagos with a bunch of friends and family. I can't wait! I wanted a big hoorah for my 30th year and the birthplace of science seemed like a fitting place :) Ive been researching and obsessing and getting excited and hoping that Ive planned this all correctly. No amount of time is enough time to feel fully prepared for a trip like this. It'll be interesting since we are planning it all ourselves but Im sure it'll work out and be fantastic. We have an AirBnB house that is my dream vacation home! Thats really what sparked this whole thing, the house. Ive been thinking about the Galapagos for months but then I found this house and knew I HAD to have it. It was relatively inexpensive and absolutely gorgeous. Ill post pics whe