

The start of a journey-take off from Guayaquil.

Landing on the private airport island of Santa Cruz- definitely smallest airport I've ever been to.


Since we landed fairly late into the afternoon- not really planned very well but neither was this entire last minute trip- we only had time to explore the town of Puerto Ayora and go out to eat. The town has a main street filled with plenty of overpriced touristy food but if you wander away from the malecón, you can find a crap ton of street food for 1/3 of the price but just as good!! On the left is pictured a classic parillada (BBQ) with a mix of chicken, steak, and seafood. On the right is this fish (no idea what its called) that is sold in almost by every street vendor.


We started off the day finding a place to book a tour for the next two days. While wandering around, we found PLENTY of gift shops, the Charles Darwin exhibit and these cool colorful walls…

El Malecon – The Boardwalk


Marine Iguanas

SEA LIONS!!!


Playa de los Perros – Beach of the Dogs

La Loberia- The Lion Den



After visiting La Loberia, we made our way to canal de tiburones (canal of sharks).

Before going on our full day snorkeling tour of Pinzon Island, we stopped by a fish vendor that was cleaning and cutting freshly caught fish. The smell attracts tons of sea lions and pelicans.


The boat ride to the island was about an hour. This is one of the smaller, unknown islands and it really doesn't have much as for land exploration. However, when booking the tour we were told by many different people that this island has some of the best snorkeling in all of Galapagos. What is considered the "best island" changes from season to season, as the animals have a tendency to migrate and never stay in one place.


Tortuga Verde



Tiburones

Lobos Marinos


After Isla Pinzon, we took a half hour boat ride back to Santa Cruz were we stopped at one more snorkeling spot before heading home. Sadly, we saw no wildlife here but we did have free time to snorkel and free dive. We also swam up to a nice beach, took our snorkel gear off, and went on a hike to one of the most beautiful beaches in the Galapagos. However, we had to run across sharp, black, burning hot rocks in order to get there. Definitely worth it though!!!
🏖THE END🏖

I hope you enjoyed my short curation of pictures from my time in the Galapagos. It was a short two and a half days, but in the small amount of time I was there I was able to see a myriad of different wildlife and scenery. It's truly a stunning place to visit in the world, and just one of the many natural wonders Ecuador has the offer.