There comes a time when one just needs to rest. This hit both of us on this day. We took a speed boat back across the water to Santa Cruz - an exponentially better ride than getting to San Cristobal. We liked San Cristobal better anyway, so it was a little bummer to leave.
After two hours on the water, we got to our gguesthouse, ate across the street at this super Eco friendly place with chairs made of trees, and then we passed out. We slept for a few hours, with the World Cup on of course, and then we were hungry again. So we went to town, ate while watching the last game of the day, walked around town a bit, and then went back to our room to sleep.
One thing that is cool about Santa Cruz is all the birds that are right in town. It's kind of fun watching all the pelicans and sea lions begging for fish as the fisherman bring in their daily catch.
Galapagos Day 6
This was our last full day on the Islands, so we needed to make it worth it. We started with Tortuga Bay. We had to walk in for about 40 minutes to the first beach. It is really a beautiful place. White sand, blue water, and it was a super nice day. But there were a lot of waves, so not a great snorkeling spot. We walked down this incredibly long beach to a lagoon type area where they said the snorkeling would be better. Well, the water was very calm which makes for great swimming, and we did see a lot of marine iguanas on the beach, but we couldn't see anything under water. Eventually we just walked back. FYI, Tortuga Bay requires at least two hours of just walking.
We rested and ate for a little bit - it was hot hot hot. Then we headed over to Playa Estrada. To get here, we had to take a water taxi - about 5 minutes - and wall a short path past several really nice hotels. The tide was out, but the water was great. We were surrounded by mangroves, so we saw several different kinds of birds, including a great blue heron. And the snorkeling - we saw two different kinds of rays. Pretty awesome!
We sunbathed and enjoyed the beach for a while before heading back to shower. We had a nice dinner, and we went again to watch the birds. They were extra active, but we didn't have our cameras because it was so dark anyway. But imagine pelicans flying right over your head.
Galapagos to Guayaquil
Our first stop was the post office to send off post cards for all the parents. No more, though, because it costs $2.50 of stamps per post card from the Galapagos.
Then, the airport. Well, a taxi the edge of Isla Santa Cruz, then a ferry for a 10 minute ride across the water to Isla Baltra, then a bus to the airport. And then we landed in Guayaquil. It's a good thing we're doing this blog because a lot of this stuff becomes a blur. We took a cab to the bus station to get our tickets to Piura, then we made it to our hostel. This was another great one. Super Eco friendly, good organic food, really nice staff. They even provide filtered water in your room. Manso Boutique Hostel. Good part of town, close to the airport and bus station, DirectTV with English channels, and great WiFi. It was kind of cool to be in Ecuador when they beat Honduras. Lots of horn honking.
The next morning started early again. We had a bus to catch. We decided to skip Mancora and go straight to Piura, Peru. We were a little worried about the border crossing after hearing horror stories. But ours was the only bus there, so it was actually quite easy and relatively fast.
We traveled through a mountainous desert that got more and more dusty the further we got from the ocean. We even saw a couple crop fires. Slowly the foliage got thicker and greener, and we suddenly went from the "countryside" to downtown Sullana. About 30 minutes later we exited the bus in Piura. I make it sound quick, but we were on the bus for about 11 hours.
We checked in to our hostel and planned our next two days in the city. More later!
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