Author Archives: Sara Gons

Touring the Galapagos, Ecuador – Day 2

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Day 2: Plaza and Santa Fe

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Darwin Yacht anchored off South Plaza

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Male sea lion barking to show aggression over territory

After an early morning journey, we woke to breakfast with views of the Plaza Islands. The islands were a beautiful red desert with crystal clear waters in between. Our group went for an early morning walk passing sea lions, iguanas and crabs. Billy again sat us down to give us information on the area. He explained that the iguanas were in the processes of gaining color for their mating season so we would see them with varying degrees of yellow on this island. Billy also took the opportunity to describe sea lion habits and the different situations that make them aggressive. He said to be alert when swimming with them and that he would rather swim with sharks (information that would have been useful the previous day)!

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One of the few iguanas on Santa Fe eating cactus

Darwin arrived to Santa Fe in time for lunch where we had another wonderful meal (not going hungry on this tour). After letting the food digest, the group headed out on the dingy for an hour snorkeling in the beautiful water. We saw large schools of fish, sea turtles, a sting ray and even a sea lion. Early evening, we went for a walk on Santa Fe where we found a beach full of sea lions, a Galapagos snake, and watched an endangered Santa Fe Iguana eat cactus.

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IMG_6436 Sally lightfoot crabs and sea lions greeting us on the island
FullSizeRender13 Land iguana
FullSizeRender15 Land iguana gaining color for mating season
FullSizeRender16 Sea lion relaxing on South Plaza
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IMG_5735 Darwin in Plaza Islands
FullSizeRender19 Santa Fe Island
FullSizeRender22 Will had to go explore before the group's scheduled activity
DCIM100GOPROGOPR5428. Will found more fish under Darwin
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IMG_6434 Sea lions on Santa Fe
FullSizeRender29 Nursing sea lion
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FullSizeRender25 Santa Fe
IMG_6435 Galapagos mocking bird, finch, snake and land iguana
FullSizeRender26 Cactus forest on Santa Fe
DCIM100GOPROGOPR5513. Selfie with a four hundred year old cactus
DCIM100GOPROGOPR5516. Largest cactus in the Galapagos
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Touring the Galapagos, Ecuador

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Flying near a volcano on the way to the Galapagos

We arrived in Quito‘s airport bright and early for our 8:00 flight to the Galapagos. Thankful the tourist agent gave a complete description of the special process because signs were lacking, we got in line for the extra Galapagos check and processing before checking-in with the airline. The two flights on LAN were uneventful but it made us wonder if stopping in Quito was necessary. There are rarely direct flights from Quito to the Galapagos and upon arriving in the Galapagos we saw that any traveler could just show up, make their way to town, and grab a hostel (contrary to needing a guide for everything as we had heard from family members).

Exiting the airport, we found a tour guide holding a “Darwin Yacht” sign Continue reading →

Getting Adjusted in Quito, Ecuador

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Basilica of the National Vow

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Firetrucks in MIA

We said our goodbyes and headed south from Philadelphia with a stop in Miami. The two hour layover was plenty of time and we were excited while boarding for the final leg. Unfortunately, the airplane had an unforeseen issue shortly after takeoff. When the pilot informed the passengers that we would be returning to Miami, Will and I looked out the window and noticed the flaps were still down so we assumed that was the issue. The aircraft had a normal approach and landing. Right after touchdown, we were greeted by about ten firetrucks with bright flashing lights. Continue reading →

Paradise in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

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Night train selfie

We were on an overnight train from Brasov, Romania to Zagrab, Croatia. As we rode away from the Transylvania mountains into rolling fields of farms, the sky lit up in a fire of color and the moon danced above the horizon. The beautiful evening ride turned into another hot night of trying to sleep. We were again assigned the top beds in the six person couchette sleeping room and although the the AC worked, the air blowing from behind the window curtain never circulated up to us. We arrived in Zagreb tired and ripe. Next, we needed to grab a bus to continue to our final destination which was still about two hours away. We decided to track down a post office to again try to lighten our packs full of souvenirs. Although there was some confusion about boxes, the cost to send things home was much more reasonable than what we found in Romania.

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Arriving in Plitvicka Jezera – guesthouse is almost 3 km that way

The bus ride to Plitvicka Jezera was unremarkable but really made me miss traveling on trains. We read online that the regional busses stop at the two main entrances to Plitvice Lakes National Park so we ere surprised when the stops were a small hut on the side of a busy two lane road (which would be considered a highway by many countries in the world), surrounded by woods. We exited at the second entrance and started walking the three kilometers down the highway to our guesthouse. The walk was making me nervous because there wasn’t a shoulder and it’s hard to watch traffic when my pack cuts down visibility. We decided it would be best to hitchhike if possible. A few minutes later, Continue reading →