When we arrived at the Baltra Airport, just North of Santa Crus Island, we read that you can sometimes see iguanas roaming the area around the airport; we were so excited, we had our eyes glued to the ground outside the bus. Little did we know that there were thousands of iguanas everywhere you looked in the Galapagos Islands, sometimes it was difficult to avoid stepping on them.

We spent our first day in Puerto Ayora, the main town on the islands, looking for a cheap last-minute cruise deal and finding snorkeling tours. Finally, later in the day than we would've liked we managed to get everything booked. We spent that night walking along the pier, at which point we saw pelicans, iguanas, crabs, sea lions, rays, and small blacktipped reef sharks… and that is how our whole trip went. These were the animals' islands, and we were their guests. 

Day two we went to Islas La Fe and Pinzon on a snorkeling excursion. This day was actually the highlight of our whole trip. Our first stop we saw blue footed boobies, a bird with the brightest blue feet. Next we went snorkeling around Pinzon, where we saw a number of different kinds of rays, the highlight being a giant manta ray that was at least 4m in width. It was so huge it looked like it didn't belong on this planet. We also saw white tipped reef sharks, much bigger than their black tipped cousins but equally not dangerous. Next we went to La Fe, where we saw a couple sea turtles and also had our first opportunity to swim with sea lions. When I say swim with sea lions, I mean actually swim with them. They were so curious they were coming only inches from our faces. We would dive down, and they would join us for a swim. We spent over an hour playing with them in the water.

Day three we went to Tortuga Bay on Santa Cruz Island. It's a nice sandy beach, surrounded by mangroves and volcano rock. Here we saw a school of golden rays, and we saw a shark, swimming along the surface like out of a Jaws film… We stayed on the other side of the beach. After that we went to Las Grietas, this is a swimming hole created by a fissure in the tectonic plates. You jump off a dock between two cliffs and swim down a narrow cavern. While there weren't many fish, it was still an impressive site with perfectly clear water. We spent these couple days trying the local food, which usually consisted of a lot of seafood. We tried a BBQd seafood platter with all kinds of octopus, fish and prawns, and also tried shrimp in coconut sauce, a local classic. We ate Baltra street, known famously for having the street closed down to traffic at night and the line of Kioscos (little restaurants) would set up their tables, spilling out on the street.

Day four was the beginning of our four day cruise adventure, starting with a trip to La Fe again, followed by Isla Santa Fe, famous for the best place to swim with sea lions. And we did just that… a lot of that… The sea lions in Santa Fe were fortunately and unfortunately more comfortable with humans. They got so close to us, they would hang out chewing on our flippers or trying to steal people's underwater camera. Unfortunately they try and chew more than just flippers. Fun fact, sea lions bite, and it's not just a little nibble. Trying to save her fingers Michelyn would tuck in her hand or turn around, which only resulted in getting her elbows or her but bit. Regardless, it was still an incredible experience. After our excursion we joined the other guests on our home for the next few nights, the Aida Maria. We were greeted by our multilingual guide and ate until we couldn't fit another bite.

Day five we went to Isla Floreana, South of Santa Cruise. We did more snorkeling there from a beach, where there were a number of sea turtles swimming around. You could hardly go five minutes without running into one. After that we went to a volcanic crater off the shore called Devil's Crown for some more snorkeling. Here we saw more white tipped sharks, but the more impressive thing about this spot was the sheer number of fish living around the crater. There were schools of hundreds of vibrant, colorful salt water fish all swimming below us.

Day six we went to Isla Espanola. We did a little bit of snorkeling, but the highlight of this island was being able to see the albatross colony. Having the largest wingspan in the world, these albatrosses were actually skinnier than expected. They were in mating season so we were able to not only see them mate, but saw the courtship dances that came first. While on the island we also went to sea turtle nests and were lucky enough to spot a baby sea turtle that had just hatched, though they usually only come out at night. We also saw all the predators waiting for a snack including birds flying above, and sharks waiting in the water. We actually saw a bird dive down and pick up a baby out of the sand.

Day seven was the final day of our cruise, and we spent the morning watching another courtship ritual: frigate birds, whose males blow up their bright red chests to attract the females. After that we arrived on shore at San Cristobal Island and took a trip inland to see some giant tortoises… and they were giants. They were living that the breeding centre where in addition to the giant adults, we were also able to see babies at different stages of their life. Tortoises live for so long, that it is actually expected that a couple of them may have met Darwin themselves. After this we went back to Santa Cruz to go to the other side of the islands the next morning.

Day eight we went to Isla Isabela, the island that boasts the most wildlife right in town. We managed to snag an amazing deal at a beach side hotel with hammocks hanging from palm trees overlooking the water, and with a kitchen that we used every day to cut open coconuts that had fallen and make our own cocktails in them. That day we went to a local swimming spot for some more snorkeling and enjoyed a cocktail in the hammocks (well, we did that every day on Isabela).

Day nine we went on our final snorkeling trip to Los Tuneles, where volcanic eruptions had shaped under water tunnels over time. In addition to more sea turtles, sharks and sea lions we also saw Humbolt Penguins, and a sea horse. Sea horses hide out in the murky waters under the mangroves and are very hard to see, but we managed to find one hanging out on the ground. It was much bigger than expected, probably five inches long.

Our final day on Isabela was spent swimming on the beach, watching the marine iguanas swim around, and enjoying the sun before we had to head back to Santa Cruz and back to the mainland. Overall the Galapagos Islands was the highlight of our whole trip. We had heard there was a lot of wild life, but we had no idea what we were in for. We were shocked by how many animals there were, and how comfortable they were with us. We had never expected to get bit by sea lions, go swimming with sea turtles, or accidentally step on an iguana's tail (just kidding, but it almost happened, they blend in so well!). While if you go, you are going to spend a lot of money, probably twice what you would expect, but it is a trip of a lifetime that everyone should have the opportunity to do.