Linda's Place: Part Two: A Dream Comes True- Hip Hip Hooray, I'm on my way!

I can't believe I really have this ticket in my hands!
Galapagos: Here I come!
The Galapagos is about 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador and takes a little over an hour flight time. Dad slept most of the way, but I'm too excited to close my eyes. My nose is pressed against the airplane window and I'm anxiously awaiting our arrival!
Taken from the window of our plane, these photos are my first glimpse of the Galapagos Islands. Instead of a sanctuary for a myriad of animals, it looks more like a military test site for nuclear blasts. Pretty desolate, don't you agree???

The plane taxied past these "shacks" on the way to the terminal. Despite the desolation of the scenery from the airport, I could feel the excitement building in my heart! I knew I was on a great adventure and I couldn't wait to get off the plane.

All visitors to the Galapagos Islands need a visitors pass. This $100.00 pass allows you to visit the Galapagos for a 3 month period of time per calendar year. The number of people and the amount of time they can spend there is strictly regulated. Here's my official card issued by the Ecuadorian Government.

After working our way through immigration and the Galapagos Parks Service, we traveled by bus about a mile up the road to a pier where we were taken by Zodiac to our ship. The park benches at the pier were already occupied, so we all remained standing while we waited for our turn to board the Zodiacs! .....
...Well, everyone but one person remained standing.... Mmmmm?? Could that be Lafe??
Yup! Who else but Mr Gregarious would make friends with the sea lions on his first day back to the Islands!
Here's a photo of our ship...Our first view of our home for the next week... It was a cloudy day but our spirits were up! Everyone knew great things were about to take place! Once on board ship, our suitcases were brought to our staterooms while we participated in the obligate emergency drills. Dad and I had staterooms immediately across the hall from each other. The next three photos were my state room... This is the most economical "solo" room available. Small, but perfect size since we spent very little time in our rooms.

Following are a few shots of the ship.... It was one of the largest ships touring the area, accommodating 96 passengers... Small by most cruise ship standards.....

This cruise was a National Geographic-Lindblad company; All the naturalists who conducted our excursions were highly educated and trained. They were mostly Ecuadorian born and spoke excellent English. No visitors to the Galapagos Islands are allowed to explore the island without a certified guide. Our guides were filled with exciting and interesting information. Here's a few photos of them...............

The shot below is me and Fausto, one of the guides. Fausto was not only a font of knowledge on land, he was a great snorkeling guide. He always made sure to point out exciting and unusual animals. This shot was taken at the end of our trip, in the Galapagos Airport.

Here's a shot of Dad with some of the Naturalists. They all loved dad. They soon learned he'd lived in Ecuador before and he spoke excellent Spanish. In fact, he surprised the naturalists from Guayaquil with expressions used only in Guayaquil. He was somewhat of a 'celebrity' among them.