Las Tunas & Galápagos
Traveling to San Cristobal, diving at Kicker Rock and many, many sea lions.
June 17, 11:55
It is sunny! We all thought that cloudy season was here to stay, but I am so happy we were wrong. We have a clear blue sky!
It feels like vacation. Like one of those vacations my family and I used to go on when we were little and went to Italy or France. Like those days where we went to the beach to just do nothing until we got hungry. Then we would eat and then do nothing some more.
June 18, 16:34
I am still living in the happy buzz from yesterday. It was such a feel good day. A morning of doing nothing by myself on the beach. An afternoon with Mike on the motorbike passing through small coastal villages. An amazing sunset and then a swim in the ocean under the colourful sky. The day ended while stargazing laying on the beach in Las Tunas. And I am not even talking about the perfectly ripe avocado on toast and the amazing scrimp ceviche.
But today feels equally good cause I got to talk to my mom, dad and two of my best friends. I made plans with my mom for next year fall to travel throughout the States with a van! She even talked about it with her boss to see if she could take three months off. And she can, so that means it’s probably happening! Crazy!
Motorbike ride at the coast, yeah baby.
June 19, 16:24
I left a message on the wall of the hostel before I left…
And now I am on the bus to Guayaquil, to catch a flight tomorrow morning to the Galapagos islands! I’m super excited cause it feels like a vacation while traveling. And after a month in the same place I am happy to ease into traveling like this again. Because after the Galapagos a new adventure is happing (at least I think): traveling from the coast in Northern Peru all the way to the coast in Brazil, through the amazon. Basically from the west of the continent to the east, on the widest part. And there is not much info you can find online so I’m gonna figure it out as I go. It’s gonna be interesting but I’m really happy this is my plan.
June 20, 15:35
We arrived, went for a walk and the first thing we saw were sea lions! So many! And just laying there. Living their lives. The funniest animals too. The noises they make are so gross. It’s like they are all hungover, the way they move and sound. We named one Greg; he was the life of the party yesterday but has a really rough time today. He sounds like he is about to throw up. The other sea lions just need to stay away from him cause he needs to be alone in his misery.
Not Greg, but a more photogenic cutie.
June 21, 22:18
We are on vacation. And today is all about doing nothing. So Mike and I did exactly that until we finally left the house to watch the sunset and look at the sea lions. And then the best thing happened; we decided to go out for a ‘luxury’ diner. I mean 25 dollars for a diner is very luxurious while traveling. Sushi as an entree and then maybe the best tuna steak ever. What a day.
Sunset at San Cristobal, Galápagos Islands
June 22, 17:35
Diving day! (with Aquaventures Dive Center)
The first dive was in between two rocks (kicker rock) and what a dive it was! It started in a sort of under water cove where the current took us all the way to the end. We saw hammerhead sharks, black tip sharks and one small Galapagos shark. Then different rays, so many turtles and a lotttt of other smaller fish. Especially the moment when Demi and I sat on our knees on the ground and three hammerhead sharks swam right next to us, maybe at two or three meters distance. I am pretty sure one shark even looked at me from the side.
Then the second dive we again saw some sharks, which was great! But what was really amazing was the school of fish. Thousands of fish! We swam through them so it got all dark around us. We could barely see anymore cause they were with so many! Our guide was maybe one meter away but so many fish were between us that we almost couldn’t see him anymore. It was such an amazing experience! And we played with sea lions. Or they played with us actually, cause they love to scare humans by swimming so close to them that we have to move back. It’s just so funny!
Happy faces after diving.
June 23, 13:10
At the moment I am sipping coffee on a white beach overlooking the ocean where sea lions are playing in the water. We just went snorkeling for a bit and in about ten minutes we have to go get our luggage to go to the ferry that will take us to Santa Cruz - the diving island.
Sea lions at San Cristobal, Galápagos Islands.
