Day 2 – Galapagos bound! This morning we got up at 0400 to catch our plane for San Cristobal Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Our bus made exceptionally good time to the airport (no traffic on Sunday mornings before dawn!); the ride was approximately one hour. We easily made it through security and boarded our plane. Upon arrival to San Cristobal, we had the pleasure of standing directly in the hot sun for an hour waiting our turn for customs. At least, John had the pleasure. Amy sat on the ground in the shade of the building until it was our turn to go inside (being pregnant has its benefits!). John swears the Galapagos Tourism Board is conveying the message that they only want each tourist to come and bring his money ONCE! Amy would argue that the sea lions, which greeted us at the harbor as we were going to board our boat, were pretty good ambassadors for the islands and balanced out the customs experience.
After getting settled into our cabin and having lunch aboard our yacht, the “Letty”, we were off for our first land hike at the San Cristobol Interpretation Center. There are 19 tourists aboard our boat and we have 2 dedicated guides, so our tourist/guide ratio is very favorable. After a brief orientation at the Interpretive Center, we broke into two groups and strolled through the lovely sanctuary. We saw several species of birds (Blue Footed Boobies, Galapagos dove, Finches), sea lions, and one intrepid land iguana.