Off to the Galapagos!

Where in the world can you say with a straight face, "I love *boobies!" and no one looks at you funny? Where in the wild can you swim with, be kissed by, and lay on the beach two feet away from a sea lion? Where do you have radiantly turqoise blue water and sparkling white sandy beaches filled with sea lions instead of people? In the Galapagos, that's where!

We left for the airport at 6:30am. Dad was still not feeling well by any stretch of the imagination, but he was more determined than I was that he was going to the Galapagos. Our flight was at 9:30am, which became 10:30 or later. During the wait, Dad was either laid out on the seats or sitting up looking white and miserable. To say I was worried about him is a gross understatement. We boarded the plane and after a stop in Guayaquil to pick up more passengers, we arrived at the Baltra airport in the Galapagos Islands. We then boarded a bus, then a ferry boat, and then another bus, which took us to the port where our boat the Golondrina, was docked. It was a small boat, 8 crew and 16 passengers.

When I thought that I'd be taking this trip on my own, before Dad agreed to join me, I booked a low-to-mid budget boat. Knowing what I know now, and knowing that Dad was going to spend nearly three days on that cramped little bunk bed, I'd have booked something bigger and nicer. But hindsight is 20/20. After leaving our bags and having lunch, we went to the Charles Darwin research center where we saw lots of turtles and some iguanas. We greeted Solitario Jorge, or Lonesome George. And some baby turtles.

Dad was so tired he could hardly stand up, but he was a real trooper. After a mini-nap at the research center, we set out for our return to the boat, but it took us awhile to find a taxi, so we walked more than we should have. Arriving back on the boat, Dad went to bed and was there until the next morning.

**More about boobies later!