Flying to the Galapagos

Today is the day that we fly out to the Galapagos! As an Anthropologist by education I have studied Darwin and the Galapagos Islands for years. I was excited to head out to the islands to witness the famed variations for myself. As our plane was descending on San Cristobal I was in awe that I could see Kicker Rock (one of the most recognizable islands in the archipelago) out my window! We found out this morning that the ship we would be on for the next week was called the Letty, one of three sister ships, and our guides were waiting for our group when we arrived to the islands. Once all the travelers were accounted for, we loaded onto a bus for a short trip to the San Cristobal highlands and a tortoise reserve. As we climb the little altitude of the island. We ended up driving into a cloud. That was the first indication of how diverse these islands would be: within just a few miles we went from a warm sunny day to being completely surrounded by mist! The reserve was a low impact path through a dense cloud forest area; we spotted our first tortoise through a few branches and it suddenly became a fun game to see who could spot what animals! There were several bird species around and we spotted a handful to the giant tortoises, so all and all it was a successful first stop!