This page shows both the birds and animals to be seen in Galapagos although see the separate page for sealions and penguins. It also shows the cruise boat and dive crew who were excellent.

For the first week in Galapagos we stayed in Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz. We dived with Galapagos Sub Aqua going out on a fast boat daily for two dives a day usually about an hours journey. On one day we stayed out at an island called Floreana where some macabre goings on once happened. Down in the southern islands the water temperature was around 16 - 18 degrees.

Just a few minutes walk from the hotel was the Darwin Research Centre although I don't think it was there when he lived there. They're breeding tortoises there and also keep a number of big ones including one called 'Lonesome George' who is the last one of his sub species. So sadly when he goes they'll be extinct.

While we were on Santa Cruz there was a fishermen's strike which caused the only road across the island to be blocked and also the harbour at Puerto Ayora so we couldn't get to our safari boat. We ended up sneaking out in the dark from a hotel that had it's own jetty - very exciting.

On the second week we stayed on a safari boat called The Daphne. This boat was pretty big and there were 16 divers altogether including Fernando and Cedric (Coyote), the dive leaders. These two guys really know Galapagos well, Fernando owns the dive centre and has been in business for around 10 years.

We immediately sailed north and moored up at Wolf and Darwin islands where we spent most of the week. The current around there is pretty strong but the water is considerably warmer - around 23 degrees.

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