Guayaquil

After a couple of hour's flight we were in Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, for one night as the flights from Galapagos are known for delays and cancellations. 

Until a few years ago Guayaquil  had a dreadful reputation for crime and pollution and tourists were warned to avoid it but since 2000 a new mayor has done an awful lot to clean the place up - there is a large police presence on the streets, a lovely malaçon and it is without a doubt one of the cleanest cities we've ever visited. 

They're very fond of statues and monuments too, this one is actually a whispering gallery (yes we tried it and it worked - amazing)

I don't know who copied who - Amsterdam or Guayaquil or maybe there are loads all around the world!

We were staying at the Grand Hotel which backs on to the cathedral and curiously uses the back wall as part of its pool area.

Just round the corner to us and opposite the cathedral is Parque Bolivar which has the unique attraction of being home to a colony of tame tree iguanas (hence the lovely sculpture by the hotel pool).  

There are probably a 100 or so iguanas here, some green, some more biscuit coloured but of course they are so well camouflaged you don't notice some at first and then you realise.

Although they look so fearsome they are vegetarian and this lovely lady makes sure they're well fed by selling bags of lettuce.

They seem quite content to stay within the small park (approx. 100m²) but apparently if any are found wandering the streets, the residents quickly put them back in the park - they are very proud of them.

This one we spotted down on the river bank making a good bid for freedom.

As it turned out we didn't need to allow for flight delays but we're glad we had a day in this lovely city and much preferred it to Quito.  Mid afternoon we transferred back to the airport for our 6:45pm flight to Heathrow via Amsterdam.  Unfortunately I was ill as soon as we got on the plane (probably something I ate in the lounge) so didn't make much use of KLM's unlimited hospitality but I did have a good long sleep.

Each passenger gets a little Delft pottery Gin House which is rather a nice touch.

For some unknown reason I'd booked our connecting flight to Heathrow with a 6 hour gap and when I tried to change it before we left, KLM wanted £250 each so I didn't bother. However we only checked our luggage as far as Amsterdam and then asked again and got changed onto a flight leaving in 1 1/2 hours at no charge - result!

And that's our trip over, we're so glad we've done it now as it was so tiring and maybe too much in a couple of years.

Galapagos 10 - North Seymour

Our last day in the Galapagos and I'd really been looking forward to visiting North Seymour as it has one of the largest Blue Footed Booby populations and also Frigate birds. 

What I hadn't realised was that we would have only one hour here and we'd land at 6am; it doesn't get light much before that and typically we woke to heavy grey skies and drizzle - I was not best pleased.

Boobies mate for life and we saw lots of cute displays of affection; their famous foot waving, giving each other sticks as presents, displaying.  Unfortunately I didn't get one single shot I was pleased with; poor lighting, rotten backgrounds etc. and some I just cocked up by clipping beaks or wings - but here's a selection

They were named Boobies by the Spanish (bobo = idiot) because they couldn't believe they didn't fly away.  It's still the same, you can walk right by them and they just look at you.

Same with the frigate birds, they were too far away and the backgrounds too distracting.

I'm happy to have seen them, as we often say "it's not all about the photography" (or maybe we'll just have to go back and to the other half of the islands!)

Back on board for a 7am breakfast and then off the boat at 8 to get to the airport.  Whilst waiting at the landing stage for our bus we saw the only wild land iguana of the trip - another one to tick off.

We said our goodbyes at the airport as we were only flying to Guayaquil whereas most of the others were going on to Quito.

Galapagos 9 - Santiago & Bartolome

This morning we visited Santiago, the fourth largest island and a favourite for pirates and whalers in days gone by.  It was a wet landing but an easy one so no danger to the cameras.

Once again the walk was very fast and not particularly inspiring but we did see a few things along the way.

Female Lava Lizard

Galapagos Painted Locust

Finch of some kind, plenty around but hard to see as they are rather plain.

This rock formation is known as Darwin's Toilet as it fills up and empties just like a toilet (really needs a video to show it)

We then arrived at Fur Seal Grotto where we'd been told we'd see a "colony" of fur seals - we saw two very dozy ones (they are nocturnal).

Interesting lava formations

Yet another lizard, more Sallys and Imps (sorry!!!)

Heading back to the boat for some more snorkelling (double dose today am and pm - phew!)

Whilst we were having lunch the boat moved a short distance to Bartolome, one of the younger islands famous for Pinnacle Rock and the beautiful landscapes

Heading off for our last snorkelling session.  

Our masks have been absolutely brilliant and I would recommend them to anyone.

Pity I can't say the same about the waterproof camera.

The lovely view of the bay was rather marred by the moored Anahi

So when we headed out in the panga I asked if we could go in front of it but sadly I couldn't quite get the same angle 

On landing we then climbed the 335 steps up to the top for some glorious views (it was a tough climb even with the steps and boardwalk and I dread to think how hard it must have been before they'd been built).

Sadly the weather wasn't kind to us when we got to the top.

The group - a great one

Ivan or Gilbert coming to collect us (I never could work out which one it was as they used to wear scarves over their faces, presumably because of the diesel fumes).