Ah, the Galapagos, home of lots of bizarre, and often beautiful, creatures, land of ridiculously rough seas that make everyone on-board sick, bastion of Galapageno separatists. You were an unforgettable experience, and one that need not be repeated.

Getting to Ecuador was bad enough, with a TWELVE HOUR delay in the San Jose, Costa Rica airport, and then another long layover in Panama city, but we made it to Quito, capital of Ecuador, all the same. Better late (VERY late) than never.

The next morning, after waking up at the leisurely hour of 4:30 AM, we headed to the airport to catch the flight to the Galapagos. There’s not much to say about that; it was flight. There was a loud and annoying American next to us who wouldn’t shut up. This, unfortunately, is a consistent theme. Joyce and I are beginning to understand why everyone always says that Americans are so noisy and ignorant.

The only means of travel within the islands of the Galapagos is by ship, and the government restricts how many people can go onto any one island at a time, thereby restricting how big a ship can be. Ours could house fourteen passengers, and seven crew members. The crew was great; so friendly, knowledgeable, funny and helpful. Plus, the cook made REALLY good food! The downside of this – at least for Joyce – was that the crew only spoke Spanish. This was a consistent theme throughout Latin America:

People speak only Spanish + Joyce doesn’t speak Spanish = Joyce is really annoyed

Anyhow, the reason you go to the Galapagos is for the wildlife, and we saw lots of it! Here were the highlights of the trip:

-There are Sealions EVERYWHERE! They’re big; they’re small. They’re loud; they’re asleep. They want to chase you away; they want to lie right in front of you, as though to say, “you want a piece of me, bub?”

-The iguanas, of which there are three kinds: Marine, land and hybrid (a mix of the marine and land…complicated, isn’t it.). The marine iguanas actually swim in the ocean and eat the seaweed out there, but if they stay out too long, they freeze, and die; they are, after all, cold-blooded. The land iguanas eat pieces of the massive prickly pear plants that grow all over all the islands. They’re very slow, until you see them fighting over a piece of prickly pear; then the fire gets lit in them. The hybrid iguanas are disappointingly similar to the land iguanas; they look a bit different, but that’s it.

-The blue footed boobies. Yes, their feet are blue, and yes, they’re actually called “boobies.” The most amazing thing about boobies (we couldn’t help but to laugh every time we said it either…) is the way that they fish. They start out in mid air, and then dive bomb, straight down, hitting the water and bouncing back up a moment later. Apparently, only one out of three attempts is successful, so it’s hard to be a boobie. Plus, every time they dive, they scratch their corneas slightly, as they don’t close their eyes when diving. So, if they live long enough, they’ll eventually go blind. To see a whole bunch diving, go to: http://youtube.com/watch?v=i3yVnmQjiS0

-The albatrosses. Dude, these are some cool birds. They’re ridiculously big, they only come to land for a few weeks a year, and they choose a mate by doing an insanely awesome and funny-looking dance. Check out an example: http://www.youtube.com/v/YcZqI08qvqA&rel=1 We saw them do this dance, and it was totally amazing!

-Flamingos live in the Galapagos. And, did you know that they’re born white, they turn pink because of the pigment in the shrimp that they eat? I didn’t know either. They stand on one leg here too.

-Finches, of course. Like Darwin, we saw lots of them. Unlike Darwin, we did not kill and stuff them for study. There are tons of finches, of all different kinds, but they’re all really small (just in case you didn’t know what a finch was.).

-Of course, the giant land tortoises. These are some neat animals, and it’s even neater to see them fight over territory, as what would take two seconds for any other animal takes two minutes of slow-mo neck-reaching, agonizingly slow biting and fleeing. The most famous of the these tortoises is Lonesome George, the last of his species, who is housed with two females of a slightly different species, in the hopes of keeping some vestige of his kind. He, however, has no interest in mating. Even tortoises don’t like you when you’re desperate.

-Our boat, the most fearsome beast of all! Joyce got sick the first night, and I got sick the second (well, Joyce did that night too…). Plus, lots of other people on board also got sick. No one tells you this, but the Galapagos islands have some of the roughest waters in the world around them, and every time the boat heads anywhere, it’s REALLY rough. Plus, just to add to the fun, Joyce and I had a room under the deck, where there was no fresh air and it smelled of Diesel. Mmmmm, Diesel, nothing settles an upset stomach like that fine smell!

All and all, Joyce and I agreed, we would have rather watched the National Geographic special; we were disappointed.