When I told the kids that tomorrow they don't have to be up until 8 the excitement was evident. Yes, we are tired.
We started out this morning with a 5:45 breakfast and then onto the boat to leave Santa Cruz. We were off to see the capital of the Galápagos and our last island, San Cristobal.
First stop: La Lobería beach, where sea lions (sea wolf in Spanish!) hang out by the beach and we snorkel. Ahead of time we were told how the water was really really cold and we needed wetsuits. Some of us sprung the $5 for it while others decided to brave the elements. When we got to the beach our Floridian counterparts were freezing! We decided that pshhh, we have way colder water in Monterey and went for it.
Some of us saw so many turtles. At one point, three different people in three different locations yelled "TURTLES!!!" so I know we didn't just see one that kept moving around ;).
We headed back to the hotel for lunch and then off to snorkel. If you are counting, we've snorkeled three times in the last 24 hours. Not a bad way to live.
Before the walk to the beach, we made our way through the Centro de Interpretación where we read about how the islands were formed, who lived here first and how tourism is affecting the nature. I thought the museum was well done. Informative but not overbearing, interesting and very accessible to the students.
When we finally made it to Playa Mann, we needed those wet suits! The water was cold cold cold but we got rewarded with swimming with sea lions and turtles, fish galore and nice rock formations.
Hungry? Hello, food carts! We may have gone a little nuts trying every single item available. Grilled banana, chicken on a stick, sausage on a stick, corn (you guessed it, on a stick!), empanadas, ice cream and slushies.
Since we stayed so late eating everything in sight, the sunset was starting. We sat on the beach watching the sun go down as many sea lions hung around us.
Back at the hotel lobby, the kids started watching the game I probably shouldn't mention and then decided that they better move to their room as to not get too passionate about the events in the main lobby.
Once the sobbing subsided, we went on a night walk to the pier area. Because someone of us got burned, farmacia for aloe was necessity #1. We found the aloe, had ice cream, and didn't get back to the hotel till 10:30.
Trivia night was by the pool tonight and the kids won calendar bookmarks, pencils from the Darwin Research Center and local bracelets. I love doing trivia questions, especially when students get into it!
Tomorrow we have a free morning and then a flight to Quito. Our Galápagos adventure ends but the memories we made here won't be leaving us for a while.
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