Where Wildlife and Humans Peacefully Coexist!

I slept in today until I was ready to get up.  I didn't need to be ready for anything other than checkout at 9:30.  I was ready long before that, but then I had a few hours to kill before time to check in to the airport for my flight to San Cristobal.  So, I checked out just before 9:30, leaving my bags in the reception of the hostal, as Edith had suggested.  Then, I hung out at the bar a little bit until I got hungry, when I splurged on waffles and hot tea at the Pan y Vino gourmet restaurant.  Splurged on a $12 breakfast.  Waffles, eggs, fruit, juice, and hot tea.  It hit the spot.  I hung out there for a while using their internet and listening to some college students talking about their classwork and some of their professors.  It didn't sound like they were part of the Notre Dame group, but they could have been.

Then I went back to the bar to hang out and watched some iguanas on the beach and in the bar.  Edith came down and I told her about a ruckus that happened in front of my room last night. She said she'd have to check the cameras and could hopefully take care of it just by talking to the parents, but that's not the kind of thing she can have happening in front of her hostal, so if she has to involve the authorities, she will.  At 12:30, she called a taxi for me and took me over to the reception of the hostal to get my bags.  We chatted until the taxi got there.

It was $5 to go from my hostal to the airport.  When I got there, I went right up to check in.  They weighed my bags.  I was about 1.5 kg over what I had paid for, but they just waived that off as no problem.  A couple of German guys were in the airport, too.  Their tour guide delivered some food to them, and they started eating just as we started boarding, so they closed it up and boarded.  We were actually flying in the tiny little plane on the tarmac!  There were four passenger seats, two and two facing each other, and two seats up front.  We had three passengers and the pilot, so two empty seats.  The pilot gave us our preflight briefing while standing outside, then closed the door and went around to his seat, and we took off.  I was fascinated watching the instrument panel the whole flight.  It was pretty awesome!  When we landed, I asked the pilot what kind of plane it was.  He said it was a Piper Seneca II, from the 1980s.  It was a really smooth flight.  I've flown some pretty small planes before, but nothing this small!  The guy from Liepzig's phone and watch were also an hour off (just like mine), but the guy from Koln's was right.  Curiouser and curiouser!

The Isabela airport

Our plane and the pilot loading luggage that we carried out to him.

This picture was taken from my seat in the back row.  I was fascinated watching all the gauges.

Our plane, a 1980s-era Piper Seneca II

When we landed in San Cristobal, they didn't really care about our passports, just wanted to know we still had the Galapagos entry page and examined our bags to make sure we didn't have rocks or animals or other things we weren't allowed to remove from the islands.  The guys from Germany went into a little gazebo to finish their lunch.  I headed to the taxi stand.  It was a whopping $2.50 to go from the airport to my hostal.  

I got checked in, plugged in my phone (with the whole transformer/surge protector thingy - need the surge protector, but not the transformer here) and let Alethea know I was here.  She closed up the office and met me at the hostel.  Then we walked to Playa Mann.  That is one incredible beach!  The sea lions and the people coexist quite well together.  No people are chasing the sea lions, though the sea lions did chase off a couple of people!  There were lots of babies.  

This little guy saw a hole a couple of kids were digging and was very interested!

He went in and out of that hole several times.  You can see from the little girl's face that she was kind of getting tired of him interfering with her play, but she didn't reach out to pet him or try to scare him away or anything.

He was just adorable looking up from the hole with people playing in the water just feet behind him.

This other little guy came running toward us.  I did end up taking a few steps back, but he veered off at the last minute.

If you're close to some that are seeming like they want your spot, you give it up.  Close is fine, but when they're on the move, you need to watch them to see what they're going to do.

Lots of mommies and babies on the beach.  It is pupping season.

This was a rare sight - this year's and last year's babies both nursing.  Usually, the mother will refuse to nurse the older baby, saving all the milk for the new baby who needs it more because the new baby can't hunt yet.

This family didn't even seem to notice this baby waiting for mommy to come back from hunting.

We walked along a bit of a boardwalk to the lighthouse.  

Yellow warbler (?)

I finally got a decent (not good) shot of a blue-footed boobie in flight!

Eurasian whimbrel with a young Sally Lightfoot crab in its beak

Alethea told me about how they teach the kids in school about conservation and leaving the wildlife alone.  On our way home, we saw some stray cats that she has told the municipality about already, and she's hoping they will catch and neuter them soon because they kill the native wildlife.  Kitty cats are an invasive species here, so cats and dogs MUST be kept inside or on leashes to protect the native wildlife.

Alethea walked me around to the malecon and back to my hostel.  We took a detour to go by the dive shop where I'll meet them tomorrow for my kayak and snorkle tour.  There's a huge lobster statue at the fishermen's pier.  We all know how I love statuary!

To the left of the fishermen's pier is another beach full of sea lions where we'll launch the kayaks in the morning.  Again, it's pupping season, and there are lots of young pups left on the beach while Mom goes out to get some nourishment for herself.

After this beach, the malecon stretches all the way to the Navy base.  I took a few shots of this beauty, and then Alethea walked me back to my hostel.  We walked past a tienda with some really good looking fruit, so I got a pear to have before dinner.  I have liked what Alethea put together for me and all of her little extra touches, and after meeting her face-to-face, I'm even happier that I decided to work with her instead of putting everything together myself.  I certainly could have done it, but my body is apparently really liking the ability to rest and relax instead of spending all of my down time trying to get the next activity set up.