Galapagos day 2 - San Cristobal

Glorious. Incredible. Breathtaking. I could go on - this day has been every positive adjective in the dictionary - and then some. Today was a free day so Daria and I rented bikes as planned and cycled our way to sea lion beach - interesting translation considering there were exactly 7 sea lions on the whole beach! But I have no complaints: the lagoon that precedes the shallow, rocky and bright blue ocean was teeming with life. Saw loads of colourful, exotic fish - some huge - and young sea lions playing underwater from about 2 metres away. But the best surprise of all hidden in those waters was an enormous sea turtle which was perfectly happy to sit on the sea floor for half an hour while we watched in awe. The second time we saw it, another glided in and joined it briefly before swimming off again. It was a dream come true and I had exactly zero freakouts this time - I think because I could touch the floor pretty much at all times whereas yesterday I was literally out of my depth. Amazing amazing AMAZING.

Lovely, relaxing day - prep for tomorrow's 5.30am wake up to catch a boat to Santa Cruz, where we'll hopefully see giant tortoises in the wild at an ecological reserve and camp under the stars. Sweeeet. Will update on Saturday at the latest, hopefully before, All in all, having a lovely time!

Galapagos day 1 - San Cristobal

Written Saturday 5 April

You know when you step off the plane and you can smell that you're abroad? The sweet scent of heat and humidity topped up the excitement levels - which were already at a peak after seeing bright turquoise waters and white sands from the air. Bienvenido a Galapagos!

I saw my first sea lion within 5 minutes of leaving our homestay - something I've been wanting to see for years. There are so many of them, it's amazing! San Cristobal (one of the 3 main islands) is known as 'sea lion island' and for good reason - these cuties are everywhere; on the beaches, lying on benches, across the walkways...our guide says they even lie in the middle of the road sometimes! Sea lions are king here - they've even taken over a water slide into the sea originally built for kids who inhabit the island.

They are hilarious - could sit and watch them quite happily for hours! We even saw a few month-old pups (mega cute). Walking along the waterfront at night, we saw a tiny pup feeding, something our guide (Blanca) got very excited about. To do a job for 10 years and have lived on the island since you were 2 and still get excited about sea lions says it all; the Galapagos is an incredible place. I can only hope I'll be as passionate about a job one day!

The one fact out of everything I learned today that really stood out is that the islands are all tops of enormous mountains that were formed under the sea - pretty damn cool. Although very glad we arrived today and not 4 days ago when all 3 main islands had to be evacuated after a massive quake in northern Chile sent a tsunami their way...!

It felt a bit rushed today tbh when I'd rather have taken it slow, but we packed in a lot - did a spot of snorkelling in a little cove (although I totally freaked out when I saw a huge school of fish swim past my face and doggy paddled my way sharpish back to shore!). Some people saw turtles right up close while others had sea lion pups swim round them. This is also the place where I saw my first blue footed booby, one of the big 5 I want to see in the Galapagos (giant tortoises, sea lions, green turtles, Galapagos penguins and blue footed boobys).

Got taken to a nearby beach then where we watched the sunset...beautiful pics which I'll load when I get back but here's my fave:

Dinner at a local haunt and then bed at 11 - a bit more rock and rollington than yesterday (just). There are tour options for tomorrow but tbh I quite fancy a free day where I can explore at leisure rather than being herded from place to place. My roomie (Daria) are I are going to hire bikes and head to 'sea lion beach' where we're hopefully going to snorkel with them (provided I can put a lid on the freakouts). First beach day of the travels...start as you mean to go on I guess!

Quito - on route to Galapagos

Written Saturday 5 April

Even the bus journeys here are something to get excited about. I'm a big lover of staring out of windows on buses with absolutely zip going through my mind, but the landscape as we drove through Quito to the airport had me gawking out the window and captivated from start to finish. Being so high up, many of the houses are actually above the morning clouds; a stunning scenic treat which took the edge off a 4.30am start. Those a little lower down find themselves enveloped in the clouds, which form a protective blanket over these uniquely beautiful villages.

I found myself looking down into cavernous green valleys as our bus drove across a rickety looking bridge and then up at the majestic snowcapped peaks of Cotopaxi volcano. Also saw a Papa John's and a Pizza Hut which detracted slightly from the experience - however, it just goes to show that even on the other side of the world, things aren't so different.

T-minus 1 hour until Galapagos...

First stop - Quito, Ecuador

Written Friday 4 April

16 hours in the air and I finally made it to Quito!

Let the adventure begin...after some shut eye that is - 27 hours of sitting on planes, waiting in impossibly long immigration queues (I'm looking at you, America) and wandering aimlessly around airports really takes its toll. Managed about 6 hours of sleep until I got woken up by blaring hairdryers and truly terrible singing. Tried to get back to sleep but both of these equally outrageous things to be doing at 7am continued on their merry way, so I masked truly terrible singing with more of the same, getting ready to 1D (guilty pleasure) and making it out the door by half 9. Despite the BBC weather forecasts in the past few weeks heavily hinting I would need a waterproof, umbrella, wellies and enough wood to build myself an Ark, I was met by...SUN! Unfortunately I didn't realise quite how hot it was until I got back to the hostel...

It buuurns! Forgot that at high altitude the sun would be beaming mega hard...a dumb mistake with super sexy results. Come and get me boys! Naaat. There was lightning in the evening but no rain and it was still really warm - quite a weird combo but very cool to witness. Had been worrying about the wet weather for weeks but as one of the girls in my tour group said, if you worry about the weather you'd never go anywhere - so true when just one country has so many different climates.

Quito is eye-poppingly pretty - very green with loads of parks and plazas and lots of nice buildings, including the Basilica, which is gorgeous and reminded me of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia (one of my fave buildings) a bit. (Pics taking forever to upload so will put one of this up when I'm back.)

It's also one of the hilliest places I've ever been to - will never complain about hill starts again after visiting here; the terrain is SO steep in some places. Makes for some great panoramic views though - if you can make it up the stairs to these spectacular viewpoints. After about 10 steps I thought I was going to pass out - some may credit my famed and distinct lack of fitness, while I might argue it was more the altitude (apparently it can really slow you down and Quito sits at 2,800 metres above sea level. To put this in perspective, London is about 25 metres above sea level!). Anyway, puffed out, boiling hot, bright red and feeling about 90 years old, I finally made it (this is why I'm not trekking the Inca Trail in a few weeks) and here was my reward.

After all that exertion, I decided it was about time for a nap (90 year old woman syndrome strikes again) and then met my Galapagos tour group, who all seem really nice! Some from Toronto, Norway, Germany, Russia and weirdly one Londoner who's moving to Chesham in the summer...unbelievably small world. Went out for a steak (would have gone traditional but turns out that's guinea pig and other weirdo things) and was in bed by half 9 on a Friday night. Rock and rollington. Leaving for Galapagos flight at 6am tomorrow, wah! Can't wait - absolute dream destination and we'll be there this time tomorrow!

The weirdest thing is, I haven't felt nervous at all since waking up to catch my Heathrow flight. Really enjoyed walking around town on my own today and felt safe pretty much the whole time, people are really friendly :)

Right, the clock has struck 10, deffo past my bedtime. Over and out.

Ready to go!!

17kg! Boom!

Looks (and feels) about ten times heavier though, got a lot of love for whoever invented wheelie backpacks!

T-minus 13 hours to take off :)