Last day in Galapagos

Got up early again without the alarm clock and took our customary beach walk before breakfast. After meeting Richard, we took a water taxi out to a small boat carrying our ocean kayaks- we went out along the coast again- to the Charles Darwin monument. We got in our Kayaks and followed Richard up the coast. The water was rougher than along Santa Cruz and definitely rougher than Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, but we quickly learned to maneuver our double kayak perpendicular to waves. We saw sea turtles and sea lions swimming along side us. After loading the kayaks back on the boat and heading back- I couldn't believe how far we actually kayaked- several miles. We had lunch back at the hotel and then headed up to the San Cristobal highlands for a hike to the only fresh water lake. We watched a frigate circle and dive repeatedly to take a bath. We picked wild blackberries and saw more finches. Another tortoise breeding center ended the afternoon. We made it back to town in time for the parade by the local school children honoring the various countries of Central and South America. After dinner we went out to local bars- and I probably drank a little too much- but the surf instructor who was born in the Andean rainforest and spoke perfect English was just too interesting.