During Carnaval, the students from my university as well as those from the other university here took a trip to the Galapagos with our program, IES. It was one of the most beautiful weekends I have ever seen, and it was one trip I will never forget!
The first day, we landing on the island of San Cristobal where we went to lunch at a local restaurant and took in the beautiful scenery on a short hike over the volcanic rocks. We went to a small museum where we learned from our guides a little about the history of the islands, and then we relaxed on the beach with the sea lions since the change of altitude and climate was quite exhausting (the one thing everyone was looking forward to the most!).
The second day, we woke up quite early in the morning, gathered our things, and we headed out for a day in the boat as we ventured to our next island. And yes, they checked every single one of our bags each time we left an island. Unfortunate for me, I had to practically sit on my suitcase again to get it to close after they got done digging through my personal belongings. That day, we spent snorkeling and sun bathing for the most part. It was beautiful! We saw everything from huge parrot fish and blue seastars to Galapagos sharks and huge sea turtles. And then there were the sea lions who were not scared of us in the slightest. One actually swam right up next to me and touched me! I also saw my first blue-footed boobie. We ate lunch on the Floreana, the least populated with only about 200 residents. That's where I saw a penguin! Penguins were the one thing I wanted to see while I was there, and my wish was granted. Then we headed to the island of Isabela where we all visited a turtle santuary, showered, ate dinner, and headed down to the beach for a Carnaval celebration with music and dancing.
The following day, we hiked one of the volcanoes on Isabela that recently erupted in 2005. It was a long hike of 8 km for some while others took the even longer hike of about 10 km. However, it was worth it because it was a beautiful view! Besides, I survived my first ever real hike! After we hiked, we headed to the hotel to gather our things, and we set out on the boats again to head to our next island, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is one of the most populated and generally receives the most tourism. When we arrived on Santa Cruz, we all ate dinner and then headed out for a little night on the town and visited some of the shops.
Our last full day in the Galapagos, we spent the morning at the Darwin Center where we had the opportunity to learn about things that pose a threat to the species in the Galapagos, such as wasps, and the projects that are currently going on to preserve the islands. We also got to visit the most famous turtle, Jorge, who is the only known turtle of his species. He currently has 2 girlfriends, but they are having a hard time trying to get him to reproduce. He was HUGE! Then, after lunch, we headed to a private farm. On the way, we stopped at the Gemelos ("Twins") which are two craters, one on each side of the road. However, they aren't real craters. In fact, they are actually points where lava tunnels naturally caved in. Then, on the farm, we were actually able to walk through a lava tunnel which was amazing! (even though it did include crawling on our hands and knees in the mud!) Then we saw some of the giant turtles in their natural environment and even took pictures in some real shells.
Our last night, we headed out on the town to celebrate Carnaval with the people of the Galapagos but to also celebrate the 21st birthdays of two girls within our group. We had an amazing time, and we were quite sad to be returning to the noise, smoke-filled Quito after being in the very calm, care-free environment of the Galapagos. While it was beautiful to be in the Galapagos and an experience I'll never forget, I felt like I was at home while I was there because it was so warm and I was so close to the beach/coast. It was the first time I was really missing home which made it even harder to come back to Quito. Beautiful is definitely an understatement!

