Today was our last day on Isabella Island, and we certainly made the most of the day. Today was the only day on this trip so far where we were allowed to sleep in a bit. Our tour guide was scheduled to pick us up from our hotel at 11:00am, so we had some time to relax first thing in the morning.
Days like today are exactly what we had in mind when we booked our trip to the Galápagos Islands. Swimming with some of this islands most iconic animals was an absolute joy and an experience that none of us will soon forget. Same can be said of visiting the Giant Tortoises the Galápagos Islands are known for. Seeing these gentle giants is an experience that will stick with us forever.
Today was our first full day in the Galapagos Islands, and it was sort of a mixed bag of good and not so good. Our plan for the day was to hike up to see the Sierra Negra volcano, which is still active, in the morning and then spend the afternoon snorkeling in Concha Perla.
We spent the afternoon exploring Puerto Ayora, which was very neat. They had some really cool shops to explore and some nice restaurants to eat at. We ate lunch at a little restaurant and then did some shopping and took some pictures. We got to see a lady cleaning some freshly caught fish and a sea lion waiting beside here ready to gobble up the scraps. That was really neat to see.
Well, we made it this long without any travel issues, but today our luck ran out. We didn’t hit any major snags, but today was a lot more eventful than any of our other travel days thus far. Luckily, the airline we chose to fly is fantastic and made what could have been a very stressful day just eventful.
The past few days have been one of the most amazing adventures I have had traveling. I would say it ranks right up there with our safari adventures in Tanzania. I don’t think I can find the words that accurately reflect how amazing Peru has been.
The city of Cusco is now one of my favorite cities I have visited. It is such an amazing city. After spending the day exploring the city, which I wrote about in yesterday’s journal entry, we got up very early today to begin our adventure of exploring Machu Picchu.
My favorite place we visited was undoubtedly the Plaza de Armas. The Plaza was absolutely stunning, with beautiful flowers, trees, and walking paths crossing thru the center of the plaza. There is also a lot of great things to see surrounding the plaza. With the Cathedral on one side of the plaza, the Compana de Jesus on another, there is no shortage of beautiful sights no matter where you look.
After taking some time to explore the coast, and do a little bit of shopping along the way, we saw some some people paragliding and decided to give it a shot. I thought the views of the city and the coastline were spectacular from the ground, but those views were nothing compared to what we saw from the air. If you have never gone paragliding before, I would strongly suggest you give it a try. It is such an amazing feeling to have the wind grab you and just lift you off the ground and into the sky.
We depart for Peru and Ecuador tomorrow and I wanted to give you all a quick update and let you know that I will be posting journal entries throughout the trip, then will be writing comprehensive visitor guides and posting videos when we return. I am beyond excited about this trip and cannot wait to share this adventure with you!