The airport at Baltra, in the Galapagos, is very small, and once the tourists had been bused to their expensive tours, we were left with the locals to be first bused to a ferry where we saw pelicans and seals, then onto a bus terminal just outside the main town Puerto Ayuora, and finally in the back of a pick-up to a hotel. With us, the first room we see is always the best. At $30 for a/c, hot water and the promise of breakfast, it was a good deal.

Despite the hot weather and getting up early to catch the plane, we decided to vist the Charles Darwin centre, and were rewarded by being nearly the only people there. The Giant Tortoises are the highlight here, with "Lonesome George" being the star attraction in this breeding centre. We witnessed some of these huge creatures trying to mate, which was hilarious as they are so clumsy and slow, with the females just getting bored and wandering off.

There are several sub-species of Giant Tortoises, which have evolved differently depending on which island they live in, such as longer necks if they have to reach higher for food, and less protective shells if they have no predators. Lonesome George is the last remaining Pinto Island Tortoise. After he is gone, this-sub species will be totally extinct. The scientists are ever hopeful that he will mate, but up to now he has never displayed any sexual interest in the females he lives with. (We have since seen a video taken by a guy on our trip, of "Lonesome George" mating, which has got the research center very excited as it is the first time in 25 years.)

We found one of the many cheap but excellent restaurants. We had been led to believe that Galapagos is expensive, but not at all. We booked onto an 8 day trip on the Free Enterprise, a 100 foot yacht, for $75 per day including all food and a guide. It was a bit of a lottery but it turned out to be a good choice, the food was great, the crew were really friendly and very helpful if a tad silly at times! It all went very smoothly.

On the first part of our route we saw a Minky Whale, which boded well for our prospects of seeing more animals. Our route incorporated Baltra Island, closest to Santa Cruz, where our Galapagos experience all began. From here we moved on to Santa Fe, lots of green turtles here bobbling about, then onto Isla Espanola, and Isla Floreana near the Devil's Crown, where we did some pretty amazing snorkelling with sea lions, unfortunately we did not get to see shark here, but they hang out in this area a lot. On this same island there is the infamous Post Office where you can post your cards to loved ones (if you are organised! Definitely not us, as we forgot to bring our cards!)

As for the rest of the route, we continued on to Santa Cruz and the Darwin Centre, home for Lonesome George. From here we did Sullivan's Bay, excellent for snorkelling. The landscape here is beautiful, you can see the other islands quite clearly from the vantage point at the summit, and it`s just like a lunar landscape in places.

We got to swim with Green Turtles, for such hefty creatures they do move so gracefully through the water and so fast when they want to! The sea lions are just so curious and want to play with you all of the time, they come right up to you and blow at you! It was just wonderful, we got to see all kinds of fish, sting and manta rays too.

Towards the end we also got to swim with three fat Galapagos penguins and then on our last day of snorkelling, we saw a White Tipped Shark, so graceful and fast in his domain. All in all, a fabulous time made even more special as we were lucky to spend the time with some really great people on the boat and we got a bargain all round. It has definitely been one of the highlights of our entire trip and adventure away.

This travelogue was originally published here