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 some rocks when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, squealed (in extreme excitement) and shook Ty SO hard. It was a little black-tipped reef shark!! I wanted to follow it and at one point was swimming right over it. I LOVE swimming with sharks! They're so cool! It was hard to keep up without my fins (those buggers are fast) but I did for awhile and then turned around to finish exploring with Ty.
We were exploring the crevices in this one rocky structure when I saw something swim, out of the corner of my eye, very near my head. I picked my head out of the water to see a Marine Iguana just chillin in the water. It did not care at all that it swam mere inches from my head. I pulled on Ty (we both wanted to see these amazing creatures swimming) and again got real excited and followed the guy. He/She kept their distance from us and was wondering why we were following it. It kept looking back at me as I swam behind it for a short distance. Its cool to see their bodies swimming like a snake does; in an S shape, the iguanas legs tucked into their body.
So far two slam dunks on this beach snorkel!
On our way back in, we found Jake who had borrowed my parents goggles and was hanging out on a rock. We went to go by him and along the way found a large female green sea turtle! She was just taking her time floating around but by the time Jake joined us, she noticed a crowd and was outta there. Its amazing to watch them glide through the water so effortlessly. And its adorable when they turn their heads back to look at us like "why is this weird thing following me?! Stoooop!" haha
By then I was cold and completely satisfied with our short snorkel. Its hard NOT to spot wildlife down there. Its absolutely everywhere!
Then it was time for us to head back to the house as our friends would be joining around noon. They had some hiccups (like getting on the wrong bus... oops) so the plan was to meet them. Out of nowhere though, I got a small migraine and decided to lay down and pass out. about an hour later, it was a good thing that I stayed back because the girls showed up at the house without everyone else! My migraine was in its ghost stage at that point (those of you with migraines know exactly what I'm talking about but for those who dont, you feel run down and a little loopy but no headache) so I was able to greet them with big hugs and show them around the house. Not long after, people came back bearing lots of delicious fruit from the fruit market. Honorable mention, the pineapple which was the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. my mouth is watering thinking of it now and I dont think pineapple will ever be the same...
After the girls arrived and got settled, we decided to grab a quick lunch el chocolate on Charles Darwin ave. The sandwiches were cheap and not bad. After lunch we picked up my parents, who found a 3-4-1 margarita bar with TVs showing football, and we all decided (slowly, cause theres now 8 of us to figure things out) that we wanted to walk down the piers for the girls, like we did our first day.
There was no disappointment here as we saw sea lions passed out on benches, marine iguanas of all sizes sunning themselves, groups of fishes, birds fishing and the icing on the cake- a group of stingrays flying through the water. We watched them circle the dock many times. They looked so beautiful and majestic gliding through the waters with the sun sparkling over their skin. I wish I had my phone to take a picture!
After spending way too much time exploring and chatting on the pier, we decided to go to the grocery store. After walking around for what felt like ages, we were finally in line to buy our dinner, some wine and some other small things.
On the way back we wanted to make some plans for the rest of the week so we stopped in at one travel agency to do a trip in the highlands the next day. Ty and Jake were going to do a dive and discover dive the next day so we wanted to do something fun too! After much talking and discussing, we came upon an understanding that we would do lava tunnels, a hike to cirro crocker(highest point on the island) and half moon (a sunken volcanic crater). Sounded like a great day.
Many of our first evenings included long discussions with travel guides and wandering around Charles Darwin street figuring things out. Those nights got long and tiring but were necessary! Just and FYI for when you visit! Which you SHOULD!!
So, we did a lot of walking around to figure things out but we all ended up together at the house and cooked a big family meal of quinoa and garbanzo beans with cheese. It was fun to have everyone there drinking Galapagos beers and chatting. It was everything I wanted for my birthday vacation (which turned out to be 4 of our birthday vacations lol).
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 some rocks when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, squealed (in extreme excitement) and shook Ty SO hard. It was a little black-tipped reef shark!! I wanted to follow it and at one point was swimming right over it. I LOVE swimming with sharks! They're so cool! It was hard to keep up without my fins (those buggers are fast) but I did for awhile and then turned around to finish exploring with Ty.
We were exploring the crevices in this one rocky structure when I saw something swim, out of the corner of my eye, very near my head. I picked my head out of the water to see a Marine Iguana just chillin in the water. It did not care at all that it swam mere inches from my head. I pulled on Ty (we both wanted to see these amazing creatures swimming) and again got real excited and followed the guy. He/She kept their distance from us and was wondering why we were following it. It kept looking back at me as I swam behind it for a short distance. Its cool to see their bodies swimming like a snake does; in an S shape, the iguanas legs tucked into their body.
So far two slam dunks on this beach snorkel!
On our way back in, we found Jake who had borrowed my parents goggles and was hanging out on a rock. We went to go by him and along the way found a large female green sea turtle! She was just taking her time floating around but by the time Jake joined us, she noticed a crowd and was outta there. Its amazing to watch them glide through the water so effortlessly. And its adorable when they turn their heads back to look at us like "why is this weird thing following me?! Stoooop!" haha
By then I was cold and completely satisfied with our short snorkel. Its hard NOT to spot wildlife down there. Its absolutely everywhere!
Then it was time for us to head back to the house as our friends would be joining around noon. They had some hiccups (like getting on the wrong bus... oops) so the plan was to meet them. Out of nowhere though, I got a small migraine and decided to lay down and pass out. about an hour later, it was a good thing that I stayed back because the girls showed up at the house without everyone else! My migraine was in its ghost stage at that point (those of you with migraines know exactly what I'm talking about but for those who dont, you feel run down and a little loopy but no headache) so I was able to greet them with big hugs and show them around the house. Not long after, people came back bearing lots of delicious fruit from the fruit market. Honorable mention, the pineapple which was the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. my mouth is watering thinking of it now and I dont think pineapple will ever be the same...
After the girls arrived and got settled, we decided to grab a quick lunch el chocolate on Charles Darwin ave. The sandwiches were cheap and not bad. After lunch we picked up my parents, who found a 3-4-1 margarita bar with TVs showing football, and we all decided (slowly, cause theres now 8 of us to figure things out) that we wanted to walk down the piers for the girls, like we did our first day.
There was no disappointment here as we saw sea lions passed out on benches, marine iguanas of all sizes sunning themselves, groups of fishes, birds fishing and the icing on the cake- a group of stingrays flying through the water. We watched them circle the dock many times. They looked so beautiful and majestic gliding through the waters with the sun sparkling over their skin. I wish I had my phone to take a picture!
After spending way too much time exploring and chatting on the pier, we decided to go to the grocery store. After walking around for what felt like ages, we were finally in line to buy our dinner, some wine and some other small things.
On the way back we wanted to make some plans for the rest of the week so we stopped in at one travel agency to do a trip in the highlands the next day. Ty and Jake were going to do a dive and discover dive the next day so we wanted to do something fun too! After much talking and discussing, we came upon an understanding that we would do lava tunnels, a hike to cirro crocker(highest point on the island) and half moon (a sunken volcanic crater). Sounded like a great day.
Many of our first evenings included long discussions with travel guides and wandering around Charles Darwin street figuring things out. Those nights got long and tiring but were necessary! Just and FYI for when you visit! Which you SHOULD!!
So, we did a lot of walking around to figure things out but we all ended up together at the house and cooked a big family meal of quinoa and garbanzo beans with cheese. It was fun to have everyone there drinking Galapagos beers and chatting. It was everything I wanted for my birthday vacation (which turned out to be 4 of our birthday vacations lol).
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