Galapogos, here I come...

Arrived at the Galapagos after a long set of flights and waiting. My layovers to Quito weren't bad. The problem was at Quito. Three flight arrived at midnight, and by the time we cleared customers, it was after 1 am. Since I needed to be back at the airport at 6:30 am for the Galapogos flight, I decided to stay at the airport. 

I found a couple of restaurants open, one of which was a coffee shop. Buy a cup of coffee and you get a seat (in this case loveseat) for as long as you want along with access to free WiFi. There were lots of people asleep on chairs and the floor in the waiting area before ticketing.  The big thing seems to be to bring a big blanket? open sleeping bag? not sure what, and then pack 4-5 people on it to sleep.  I did get some sleep on the flights, but needless to say, tonight is going to be an early night.

There is a couple who came early like me (everyone else shows up Tuesday).  They went through a different airport than Quito,  and did the same thing I did with skipping the hotel (although with no restaurant or WiFi option).  They too saw groups of people sleeping on a "blanket" on the floor.  Must be the thing down here.

So we arrived at the island of Baltra.  After a bus ride, ferryboat ride, and car ride, ( the Galapagos' version of planes,  trains,  and automobiles), we arrived at Santa Cruz island and our hotel, the Hotel Red Booby.  I have heard of Nasca booby and blue-footed booby, but not a red footed booby.  I will have to see if it's real or made up.

The other couple here early is Matt and Rosie from Milwaukee.  They are really super nice.  We walked around town for a while and then grabbed dinner. If we had not stopped on our walk to take pictures, the walk would have lasted 10-15 minutes.  As it was, we got intrigued by the sea lions on the piers, iguanas on the sidewalk and piers, and my favorite, the red crabs on the black rocks and sides of the piers.  I didn't have my good camera with me on the walk, so didn't get a great picture of the crabs.  As I got closer,  they just kept backing away, and finally I had to give up on getting close.  Some were really strong shades of red (I liked those best), and most had a yellow head and really pretty sky blue color under its head - although a few were only white (boring!).  After the walk we grabbed dinner at a streetside restaurant.  i had the best lightly bread fish I've had in a long time.

So a little about the Galapagos, then I'll go since I have to be dorm to breakfast at 6 am tomorrow to be on time for our boat ride to Isabella Island.

So the islands...first I was surprised how many islands are inhabited (5 of the 19) and how meant people live on the islands (30,000 combined). The current inhabitants' relatives only arrived in the last 90 years.

Along with the islands, there are more than 40 islets.  The oldest islands are 4-5 million years old.  All were formed by underground volcanoes, and the land mass hidden under the Pacific ocean are much greater than above water.

After observing how animals on the islands adapted uniquely, not just from the mainland, but between the islands, Darwin came up with his theory of evolution.  (I can't wait to see some of these animals.)    In the 1950's, the Galapagos Islands became a national park. Now more than two times the population will show up each year as tourists (including me).

Animals saw today: sea lions, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs.