2019-06-02 Swiss Hotel, Quito to Baltra Island Airport to Las Bachas Beach, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Our first flight leaving Quito Airport is with Avianca to Guayaquil on the coast of Ecuador

The port city of Guayaquil is the second largest city in Ecuador and the stepping stone to the famous Galapagos Islands and beautiful coastal beaches

It is not long before we are in the air again and flying into the Galapagos Islands

From the air we clearly can see the Endemic with it’s dark navy blue hull. We will be spending 8 days and 7 nights aboard the motor vessel

Arriving at Baltra Island Airport, Galapagos Islands

Another eight Australians will be aboard the Endemic for the first four days

There are several other motor vessels taking guests on cruises around the wonderful Galapagos Islands

The Endemic is a reasonably new boat that has 8 cabins with a maximum of 16 passengers

We first met James and Amanda from America in Quito when we were collected from our hotels to take us to the airport

The rest of our group of 16 passengers board their tender to be taken out to the Endemic

Staff on the Endemic are ready and waiting to help everybody aboard

We are shown to our cabin which looks very comfortable

We check out the rest of the boat …… there even is a jacuzzi on the top floor

As we move from Baltra Island to Santa Cruz Island a bird decides join us on the beginning of our cruise

The Galapagos Petrel is a critically endangered bird …. this one did not seem to have any fear of boats

Once the Endemic was safely moored off Santa Cruz Island we all boarded the tenders for our first excursion ashore to Las Bachas Beach

Beside the beach we spot our first iguana

Nearby another cool iguana waits patiently for the last piece of old skin to fall off!!

Another popular place for the iguanas is around ponds and waterway

At first it was hard to see these marine iguanas as they blend in perfectly with the rocks they are resting on

After a couple of hours ashore and most of us having a very early start this morning, we were looking forward to getting back to the boat

Brandy Alexanders for starters tonight!!!!

A delightful tomato based soup was served next

Delicious light dinner ….. serve yourself smorgasbord