Good bye Galápagos

The morning was interesting for Mr. Kolehmainen and I. Two more of our students came knocking on our door with the same symptoms as our previous one. After giving them some medicine and Pedialyte, we were able to conclude that the culprit of the stomach bug was the black berry ice cream they have been eating at the gelato place close to our hotel. At least we knew that this would only be a 24hr thing, they just needed to plow through this travel day. Not ideal for resting. 

On our way back to the Baltra airport, we made a stop at the Gemelos. These are two huge holes caused by volcanic activity in the island. It was impressive to see. 

The airport is in a different island so to get there is a process. First we need to bus to the hardbore. 

Then we put all of our luggage on top of a small ferry that will take us across a little channel to the other island where the airport is.  

After crossing the to the other side. We all grab our luggage, put then on another bus packed with passengers and ride for then minutes to the airport. 

We finally made it back to Quito where we stayed at a small charming hotel called Sierra Madre. What a beautiful place. Decorated in a rustic style and incredible paintings made our stay there cozy. Not very good wifi though. Oh well, a chance to sit back and enjoy the moment. 

San Cristobal Island

During our third day in the Galapagos the group took another speedboat to a different island.  This time the destination was  San Cristobal island. I was not able to join the trip because one of our travelers came down sick with a stomach bug, and I had to take good care of this particular student.
Here is the side story of that:
The night before the San Cristobal excursion, I got a knock on my room around 11:30pm. It was one of my students informing me that they were suffering from stomach aches, and light headedness. I then asked more questions to try to understand better the illness. Mr. Kolehmainen and I concluded that it was some kind of stomach bug but could not identify the source of it. It could not have been dinner because no one else got sick from it. We all went back to bed and suddenly around 4:30am there is another knock on the door. Unfortunately, there were more symptoms, now diarrhea and vomiting was part of the equation. For sure now we know it was a stomach bug and we controlled the diarrhea with some medicine.
The morning came and this student was in no conditions to go to San Cristobal so I stayed back and made sure to stabilize the situation and start the recovery process. After much rest and some pedialyte, things got much better, by noon the worst had past this student was well on their way to recovery.

So, I don't much specifics about the day at San Cristobal. In fact, the pictures below are courtesy of Cate and Gabe.

I do know that there was some hiking involved. In fact, I was told that they sun was brutal and the UV index was really high. 

I was also told that the snorkeling this day was even better. The students said that they were chasing after some marine turtles and that there were some sea lions swimming along them. 

After the San Cristobal trip we all met back at the hotel. Our sick student was back up and running for our night exploration of the city. We all hung out, walked down the boardwalk and experience the city lights.  

Isabella Island

Today we made our first excursion to Isabella island. It was an early wake up call because we had to be in the peer around 7am to catch our speed boat. We were all ready with our bathing suits, sunscreen, cameras, and our snorkeling gear. 

I wish I could say that our two hour boat ride was a smooth one. Unfortunately, at some point, the back of the boat seemed to be a picture from the Gettysburg battle. Seasickness got the best of our kids and many were in rough shape. We finally made it to the island where the marine iguanas, the friendly sea lions that were hanging out on the beach, and the blue waters made us all feel better. 

After hanging out with sea lions and iguanas, we borded a "Chiva" and it took us to a lake were we fotographed flamingos. We learned that the flamingos get their pink color from the keratin found in the food they eat.

The Chiva then took us to the Isabella tortoise center. There we experienced the operation that has  been put in place to breed, develop and release tortoises into the wild.

Lunch came next followed by the best part, snorkeling. We had an amazing and fun time. 

After so much activity, and a lot of fun, it was time for our return. I made sure that Dramamine was a must on the way back,  and judging by the picture above, it worked wonders. 

Travel day to the Galápagos

First I want to apologize for not updating the blog but the bandwidth here at the island is not big enough. Know that we have been having a blast. Anyways, here is the update. 

We woke up very early to head to the Quito airport to fly to the Galapgos. It was around 5am that our day started and once at the airport, our flight was delayed. The group took it well, we spent our time playing cards and hanging out. We finally were in the air Galápagos bound after a one hour delay. 

We landed and when the airplane gate opened I felt back in Puerto Vallarta. The humidity intense and the ocean breeze ever present. 

We made our way to the peer where we took a little ferry to the other side of the island where our bus awaited. 

After getting to the other side, we loaded our bus wich took us to see the tortoises. We got out and explored the area and came face to face with some that were 100+ years old. It was amazing.

Soon after that we made it to our hotel where we had some lunch and then made it to the Charles Darwing Research Center. 

Our guides explained to us the unique evolutionary traits of the different tortoises, marine and terrestrial iguanas. 

After our time at the center. We made it to the beach where we enjoyed the sunset and swimming in the Pacific.