Galapagos Islands, Kev part 2 & the kids

For part one of Kev's blog, see the previous blog.

27.9.2025. What are we gonna do today? Schoolwork!! Kids love it, they ask me all the time. Dad, can we do schoolwork please!! We dont wanna go do fun stuff involving fish and snorkels and hiking and ice cream and interesting new foods. There was too much pressure and I caved. I allowed them to math it up. Mel on the other hand had a pretty bad migraine and spent a good portion of the day in bed. The kids did well with their work and in the afternoon I took them down to the beachfront. There's a little playground there they like. We walked down and noticed tables and marquees set up. What's all this then? Ooohh there's a beer tent and some food places. I resisted for a while, but once again I caved. I went and got a beer. Oooh 3 beers for $10, yeah I'll be in that. I took a selfie with a stout and sent it to Mel. Who then said they still felt terrible, but was on their way. There were two beer tents, both from local Galapagos breweries. Some food beers, the stouts. Some less than good beers, IPA's, blerhg. Anyway, I tried them all, as you do. Mel had a couple and maybe started to feel better. There were a couple food tents as well. The kids went and got themselves some sushi and Mel and I got some lobster things. The ceviche was very good. Not sure why they didn't do this last night during the lobster festival. The first tent I went to was iguana rock breweries and they had really fun looking shirts. Unfortunately they didn't have any for sale, and the guy wouldn't sell me his so I missed out. We wandered back home, had a shower and watched a movie before bed.
28.9.2025. Breakfast, blog, pack and have one last visit down the shore front. Got some money out of the wall, came back and had some dinner before bed. On the move again tomorrow.
Kev

On the 16th we took a plane from Quito to the Galapagos (yay), when we landed, we walked out of the plane and on to the path of the run way and guess what we saw, Iguanas. We then took a bus to a place where we could get a taxi (boat) to another island, and in the meantime we saw some more iguanas. When we got to the other island (which was called Santa Cruz) we took another bus to our hotel, we put our bags in the hotel and then we went down to the beach where we saw some, wait for it, (cue flashy lights), sea lions. We looked around a bit more and then we went to a restaurant, I had some steak and then we went home and went to sleep.
On the 17th we did school work in the morning and then in the afternoon we went down to the beach with some snorkel gear and we practiced a bit because tomorrow we were going to go snorkelling, then we did some shopping. We then saw a ceramic garden that was free so we decided to have a look, and it turned out to be worth it, there were lots of cool stuff. After that we went to a pub got a few drinks then went home and slept.
On the 18th we went on a tour to Santa Fe, it’s a little island that you can go snorkelling, the first place we went snorkelling at, we saw some fish but half the way through I got too cold and went back to the boat. On the second one I didn’t go in, I was too cold (I now highly regret it), mum and dad saw seals in the water (I wish I came). On the third one we could see turtles, I wanted to see them so I braved the cold and went in, it was really cool there were lots of turtles, we saw to males have a small fight, and then after that we went back to the hotel and we went to sleep.
On the 19th we did school work and then we went out to a tour agency where we booked a couple of tours, and when we got back to the room, we did some more school work and then we put our shoes on and we went to the tour place where we met our tour guide because the first tour is today. We went to a tortoise breeding centre, when we got there, there was some information about Charles Darwin and that he was the first-person brave enough to publish a book about evolution (everyone else was to scared because evolution went against the church). When we got to the tortoises place we found out there where a lot of them, we looked at lots and figured out they could live to up to 200 years. We kept going and we saw ones that were born in 2025, they were less than a year old, after that we went to a restaurant where I got a really nice meal that had lots of meat, it was yum. After that we went to the room and went to sleep.
On the 20th we went to see giant tortoise again (this time they were in the wild) it looked really cool, there were lots of them, some of them where like a metre long. We looked around at them a lot and then we went to see a big crater that was made by a big gas bubble in the earth, we walked around on a path and we saw some birds, they were interesting, after that we went back to the car and went to the room, watched a movie and then went to sleep.
On the 21st we just stayed in the hotel and relaxed, we did a little bit of school work and then played on our computer a bit, after that we had dinner and went to sleep.
On the 22nd we took a ferry to Isabela, it took 2 hours to get there but when we got there we went on a tour to see some lava formations. We took a boat to another part of Isabela where we got off and walked around, we saw pointy lava rocks and some iguanas. We kept walking until we got to a channel that had lots of sharks in it and it was pretty cool, after that we went down to the boat and changed in to swim suit and then we went snorkelling, we saw lots of fish and a couple of turtles. After that we went to the beach and had dinner there. We went to a restaurant where I got my first octopus and it had garlic sauce. It was very yummy and I would happily have another one. We then went to the hotel and went to sleep.
On the 23rd we took another tour to go on a hike up to Sierra Negra volcano, it has the second biggest caldera (opening at the top) in the world, we hiked up for a while, but before I tell you that I will tell you some information about the volcano. It is still an active volcano and the last time it erupted was in 2018, the caldera is 10 kilometres long. When we got up to the top it was an amazing view and there was lots of dried lava, after that we hiked down the other side to get to another little volcano called ‘volcan chico’ it was a long hike. We could see down into the volcano, it was a long drop, we looked out at the land scape for a while and then we went down and hiked all the way back, it was very tiring, after ages we got to the bus and they drove us back to our hotel and we went to sleep.
On the 24th we went on another boat over to a place called los tunnels, we went snorkelling there and it was really cool, we saw turtles and lots of puffer fish, there was also sharks and a stingray, I also saw a 11 to 13 centemeter long sea horse. It was cool. We then went over to a place where we could get up on the rock and look around. When we were up there the guide showed us some nests that had baby blue footed boobies in it and one of them was born yesterday, they were tiny. After that we went back to the boat and then we went back to our hotel and then we went to sleep.
On the 25th we did some blog and then we walked around a bit then at night we went to a restaurant and then we went home and slept.
On the 26th we took a boat to St Christobal where we were going to see a big crater but when we got there it was raining so we skipped it and kept going to a beach. At the beach there were lots of sea lions, we looked around and then went to a tortoise breeding centre where we saw some baby tortoises and it was really cool. this breeding where centre was different from others because they weren’t in separate pens, they where in one giant pen. After that we drove back to the crater to see if it had stopped raining but it hadn’t stopped so we went to down to a nice little restaurant with the guide and we had some food. Then after that we went to the boat and came back to our hotel and then we went out to the town square because there was a festival called the lobster festival, there was a beauty contest but I barely paid attention I just looked at the cool floats and the dancers. After that we went home and went to sleep.
On the 27th we did school work or a while and then in the afternoon we went down to the beach where me and Emma played on the playground trying to find each other, it was fun. After that there were little stands that had food so mum and dad had some beer while me and Emma ordered some sushi. After that we went home and went to sleep.
On the 28th we didn’t do much we just stayed in our room and did blog and then, in the afternoon we went on a walk on the pier and then when we came back we went to sleep.
Andrew (10 years old)

On the 16th we took a plane to the Galapagos. Then we took a bus then a boat then another bus to a station near our place. We found our place then we visited the city. We saw tortoises, sea lions and iguanas. Then we had dinner.
On the 17th we did schoolwork in the morning and played at the beach in the afternoon. We practiced snorkelling as well. We saw a few fish. Then we walked in the city. Did shopping. Then we saw the ceramic gardens. There were cups stuck to the wall. Paintings. There were some flowers as well. Then we went to a bar and played games.
On the 18th we had a tour in Santa fe. We went snorkelling. We saw fish, sea lions and turtles. It was really cold. It was really fascinating to see how all the animals moved. Seeing the turtles was very interesting. It was scary at some points. I did not always feel safe.
On the 19th we did schoolwork in the morning. Then we went to a place where we booked tours. Then we went to a place where we saw baby tortoise. They are so cute. They were in a breeding centre. They were breeding tortoise to make sure they did not go extinct. It was interested to see tortoise. Did you know? Tortoise’s shells get smoother as they age. The tortoise’s shell is actually a bone. If the shell is punctured it will never seal. There are two types of tortoises, one is the saddle back tortoise and the other is the dome shaped tortoise. Then we had dinner at a restaurant. A dog kept coming up to us. I decided to call him pie.
On the 20th we saw giant tortoises. They can live up to 200 years. We also saw big craters. They were surrounded by trees. When we were walking around the craters, we walked through some clouds. We also saw lava tubes. We went into the lava tubes and there were quite a lot of plants.
On the 21st we did blog. we had a lazy day.
On the 22nd we took a ferry to Isabela Island. We did a tour. We saw lava formations, sharks and iguanas. The sharks were in a tunnel thing and there were a lot. We also went snorkelling. I held on to dad every time I went snorkelling because I was not comfortable. In the evening, we had dinner at the beach.
On the 23rd we hiked up Sierra Negra volcano. The Sierra Negra volcano has the second biggest crater in the world. Even if the volcano is called active, its last eruption was in 2005. The easiest route of reaching the volcano is by hiking the 5.5 mile trail. You can do it on foot or horse back. There were flowers and plants, and I think it looked really nice. The were also crystals on the ground. I could imagine pixies just living there. It was beautiful. In the evening, we played on the beach.
On the 24th we went snorkelling again. We saw sharks, stingray and fish. Then we saw baby blue footed boobies. They were adorable. They could fit in my palm. The first baby we saw looked like it was dancing. Then we took the ferry back. Then movie night.
On the 25th we did blog.
On the 26th we took a boat to San Christobal Island. We walked along the beach when we got there. We saw a lot of sea lions. Then we went to a tortoise breeding centre. We saw some really small ones. They get kept in a small place for about three years and then moved to a bigger place until they are about five or six. Then they get released because it is very hard to break their shell. Then we had lunch in town. We went back to Santa Cruz. In Santa Cruz there was a festival that lasted three days, so we went to see the ending of it. There were dancers, people on cars trying to get the name miss lobster. They all had fake lobsters on the back of the car and were dressed nicely. It was a beauty contest.
On the 27th we did schoolwork in the morning. Mum had a migraine. Then we spent the afternoon in the town, and me and Andrew played on a playground. Mum and dad had a few beers. For dinner, me and Andrew had sushi. Yum.
On the 28th we did blog. Tomorrow we are going to Quito which is on the mainland of Ecuador. See you there.
Emma (9 years old)Read more