La Y

I met Emily whilst waiting for the ferry to Isla Isabela, the youngest inhabited Galapogos island, with active volcanoes. We had a newer ferry boat with an upstairs. I moved upstairs out of sheer excitement and she moved upstairs/downstairs/upstairs/downstairs and finally upstairs while she consulted friends, fellow travelers and Google to see which was better for seasickness. I had taken triple dose of anti-sea sickness tablets by this point so couldn't care less.

I arrived at my campsite Campo Duro expecting to share my tent with a random and have giant tortoises strolling by. However, I was the only person at the campsite which was quiet, calm and beautiful . They normally take tortoises aged 5 from the breeding centre and keep them at Campo Duro for 4/5 years; they had recently released a batch of 25 to the wild, so there were only 2 small ones left. Young tortoise shell is soft which makes them vulnerable to predators which is why they are protected for so long before being released.

I hailed a taxi to leave and some random man stopped. I still have no idea if he was a taxi, and at some point in the ride, prepared to attack him and run. Luckily, he took me to my hostal because I couldn't have fun very far... The road was flooded by sea water due to extra high tides connected to the full moon.

Came across adorable 3 month old puppy chained, without being walked, no games or human interaction. Genuinely very upset but whilst thin, he is not skinny enough to get rescued by the authorities. I have been giving it cuddles and snacks and the owner was a bit miffed when he caught me. It costs around £2000 to repatriate to UK so not a realistic option and, there are so many others here, it's horrible to see.

Isabela has a small population of pink flamingoes so I walked around in the heat looking for them. After 3 locations, I was eventually rewarded with close ups and surprised to see some were actually orange!

It's a full blue moon, the seas are particularly rough and the beaches red flagged, I walked along the shore (rather than swim) collecting plastic bottles and bags and feeling partly saddened and partly virtuous as my arms became full.

Met Vanessa (from Santa Cruz) and Emily for drinks by the beach, then continued to eat with Emily.... An inspiring female hockey coach in the USA. She bought me churros for my birthday which was really sweet of her. Vanessa is a photographer and travel blogger from up north, who has relentlessly and mercilessly teased me about being old, my hair in general and looking like a butch lesbian aka a d**e. To be fair, she has a point. I have been blessed to meet some real fine gals on this trip to add to my collection of (weird and) wonderful friends :-)

I visited Los Túneles but the boat ride there was terrifying.... The high waves on the open sea in a small boat.... Even the guide was nervous. We saw the sharks in the caves which is generally safe if you don't stress them out. What stresses them out? I hear you ask.....well, obviously getting too close, but also swimming fast and splashing. Of course, in this group, there is always one, I call him/her, The Splash Dickhead. They are generally annoying, reducing visibility, disturbing the sea bed, scaring away the wildlife.....but with sharks they can go from annoying to dangerous.

We did see several white tip sharks basking, baby black tips, a Moray eel,
1 penguin and a jelly-like large sea horse. On the return journey, which was still like a thrill ride, The Splash Dickhead puked and the wind blew it onto my wetsuit which I was wearing.

I had a sneaky snorkel at Concha de Perla and swam alongside a 4ft marine iguana and finally saw a giant manta ray with a 6 foot span..... Followed by more drinks on the beach with the girls.

I visited Las Tintoreas, which is close to the bay with a small colony of penguins. We unexpectedly came across large swimming (not basking) white tip sharks in a narrow channel, it was scary being so close and one came towards me and then under me by no more than 50 cm. I was terrified remembering Jaws the movie and even more terrified The Splash Dickhead may strike at the wrong time.

More drinks with the girls.... Well there is nothing else to do in the evening :-)Read more