Isla San Cristobal to Quito

The last day in San Cristobal we had intended on snorkeling. I left it till later in our trip because  my water in the ear issues. Due to the storm and big surf  still crashing on the malecon we changed our plan. The main port is closed and only the surfers hit the bonus round. We did a walk about checkin out the clean up jobs and repairs to the malecon. All the shops and restaurants on main street (Charles Darwin Street) are closed due to a transformer blowing up. So glad we weren't booked on a boat trip and Steve got his awesome dives in the day before at Kicking Rock. He raved about his experience hangin out with sea turtles and seeing various species of sharks etc... We stumbled upon a little resturant bar just off the main street and decided to have lunch and enjoyed  some great soup and seafood! We noticed a sign pr

omoting live music and there was even a keyboard! Steve inquired if they would be playing that night and did his funny pantomime that he too plays piano! So later that evening we went to check it out! They played great latin music including Santana and later Steve was invited to play and did a few solo tunes then the guitar player joined in for a fun jam. What a lovely bunch of people! It only took three days to become enamoured by this island and friendly inhabitants.

Caught our plane, airports just 5 minutes from town, one hour flight to Guayaquil, rechecked our baggage, another one hour flight to Quito, and a 45 minute taxi ride back to Hotel Inca Imperial. The taxi locked all doors for safety and even waited until we were safe inside before he drove away! Once inside the staff recognized us we were greeted with familiar smiles! They hooked us up with a nicer room and two beds, more room for sleeping. In many countries we've discovered that the matrimonial rooms are usually a double size bed!

We completed our shopping mission buying mostly alpaca  made artisan crafts. Even had to buy an xl suitcase to bring the treasures home!
For our last night we went to a favourite restaurant in the Mariscol district where the young chef remembered us from over six weeks ago.

Now we're winding down, packing up and reminicing about the fond and sometimes not so fond memories! Starting with cool wet rain forests in the Andes mountains, to the hot humid beach towns, the historical sites in the colonial cities to the spectacular Galapagos islands. The nature is quite diverse and the people are also diverse leaving us with mixed sentiments. Adios and thank you Ecuador!

Stormy night!!

Lucky for us to have checked out of hostal Casa Blanca, too pricey anyways, and into hostal Mabell, better price and off the malecon. We woke up in the middle of the night feeling hot after losing power and air con. Early in the am I walked the two short blocks to the malecon and was shocked by the mess. High waves pounded the sea wall damaging beautiful brick work and lava tile work mostly in the main pier area!  The poor sea lions were displaced from their onshore neighbourhoods and tired from what must of been an exhausting night!! People were out in en masse surveying the damage and taking pictures just like yours truly. The locals were already hard at work cleaning up the mess, sweeping, stacking bricks. and cleaning up wash in debris. By the time I picked up Steve to see the mess the clean up was in full swing.  I witnessed two boats in the harbour get swallowed up by the sea! Lucky there weren't any apparent injuries.

The male sea lions live for 15 years while the females live for 20! The males have a harem of females, like a few of our sects.  It's hard to say if the sea lions and pups were really exhausted as most of the time they simply eat or relax anyways. Without a good grasp of Spanish it wasn't easy. This is only my perception! We usually see the pups with the herd but today quite a few barked while lost! :-(

San Cristobal is easily our most favourite island in the Galapagos, the people are so welcoming and friendly without prejudice.

We are grateful for all the work that goes into keeping this part of paradise pristine and precious, may it remain serene for generations to enjoy! The Galapagos is a costly place to see, however worth every cent or shall we say every yankee greenback!