Sandboarding in Huacachina, Peru

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Sara Gons

After a short ride on PeruHop from Paracas, we arrived in Huacachina mid afternoon. Most of the travelers on the bus followed the recommended schedule of immediately joining a tour to the sand dunes and then they would depart the following morning. Keeping to our slower pace, we planned an extra night which allowed us to push the tour to the following day. Because Will was still recovering from being sick, this really worked in our favor.

We grabbed a room at PeruHop’s recommended hostel, Casa de Arena Lodge, and tried to relax before finding dinner. We were immediately uncomfortable in our room due to a strong stench of paint fumes. We noticed an employee was spray painting the banister outside of our room and the gaps in the window were inviting the fumes into our room. Continue reading →

Scuba Diving with Sharks in the Galapagos, Ecuador

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Sara Gons

We ended the Galapagos tour onboard Darwin Yacht before 10am in the town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. We had a rough plan of staying in town for a few days to go scuba diving and then wanted to head to another inhabited island for exploring on our own. While walking the main street in town, we stopped at several scuba diving shops which all seemed very similar. We decided to focus on finding a place to stay and use wifi to research the different dive companies. I’m glad we did because several of the companies have very negative online reviews stating that safety was compromised. We found the top rated company, Tip Top Dive, which turned out to just be a training center but they recommended that we dive with Scuba Iguana. We signed up for a trip to Gordon Rocks leaving the following morning.

Gordon Rocks is known for schools of hammerhead sharks and we were excited for the possibility to see some. We had about an hour ride to the dive site in a small speed boat. We first stopped at the Plaza Islands where we did a short dive to test our equipment. We were excited to learn that we would be in small groups with only four people per dive master. During the briefing for the dives, the dive masters informed us that they wanted to maximize down time so offered to share air with the first person to run low but that it was only an option, not a requirement. Neither Will or I considered this a safe practice but did not feel pressured to participate. Continue reading →

Still Touring the Galapagos, Ecuador – Day 5

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Sara Gons

Day 5: Santa Cruz

Large tortoises at the Darwin Center

We packed our bags, had an early breakfast, and headed into town for our final excursion. We visited the Charles Darwin center where they focus on preserving the native species of the Galapagos. Most of the efforts are on rehabilitating the giant tortoises that used to dominate almost all of the islands. During the whaling times, the tortoises were killed for food and oil and then their habitat was threatened by exotic species introduced by humans. The changes made such an impact on the population that they almost went extinct. After watching the tortoises in the center, we said our goodbyes as the five day tour ended. Some people headed to the airport while the rest of us headed to town. Will and I planned to stay in the town for several more days for exploring the Galapagos on our own.

Watching blue-footed boobies fish in Puerto Ayora Bay

Selfie at the Darwin Center

Message of conservation at the Darwin Center

Large tortoises at the Darwin Center

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Cruise Highlights

Still Touring the Galapagos, Ecuador Day 4

Posted on November 23, 2015 by Sara Gons

Day 4: Floreana

Post Office Bay

Darwin again cruised through the night so we awoke to breakfast with views of Floreana. Our first site was Post Office Bay where a post box stands to carry on a tradition from the 1800s. The waters surrounding the Galapagos were used for whaling and this beach on Floreana became a spot for leaving communications to be transported back to the main land. In keeping with the tradition, tourist are encouraged to leave a post card and hope another friendly tourist will ensure it makes it’s destination. Will and I left a postcard for his parents (which we learned was hand delivered in Pennsylvania only two weeks later). After sorting through hundreds of cards sitting in the box, Will and I found two that we can had deliver in Florida when we return for Christmas.

The rest of the morning was spent snorkeling at a rock formation called La Corona del Diablo (Devil’s Crown). The area was surrounded by reefs with large schools of fish, sea turtles, sea lions, and white tip sharks. We were also excited to see our first colony of blue footed boobies nesting on the rocks.

Flamingos in Cormorant on Floreana

In the afternoon, we went for a walk on the island in an area called Cormorant where we saw flamingos. Luckily, a group was resting directly adjacent to the path so we could get excellent views of the beautiful bird. We also visited a beautiful beach not suitable for swimming because it was lined with stingrays lurking in the surf (stingray city as Billy would call it). That evening, Darwin headed north to Santa Cruz where we again had dolphins gliding off the bow. This time, they were doing rolls and jumps creating a large splash. It seemed like they could hear us cheering which encouraged their tricks. We anchored off the main town, Puerto Ayora, for our final dinner onboard Darwin.