It has been a while, too long actually, my excuse....Galapagos. I fell in love with the place, I fell in love with the people, I fell in love with the superb diving, with the Bongo and much more. I left the islands just in time to make it to Colombia without being deported from Ecuador!!
It is one of the few places while traveling, where I knew I was lucky to be in at the time I actually was there and not after leaving, which is normally the case when being on the road for a while.
Enough nostalgia. I think you get the point. Diving. Well I definitely have a favourite spot, Gordon Rocks ¿Why? An eroded crater with 3 rocks sticking out of the ocean. Forming the rest of the carter are 4 pinnacles reaching depths between 6 to 18m. A sandy bottom fills the middle of the crater to a maximum depth of 50m. Then picture this, 10 minutes into the dive, we have a good 15m visibility. I get everyone to hold on to rocks due to currents while i stay on the sandy bottom at a depth of over 35m..sshhhh. We spot a school of hammerheads 
which before we know it are surronding us. At the same time a dozen massive eagle rays glide by. From the other side a couple of manta rays glide over the eagles followed by a big school of cownose rays. Add to this a couple of turtles, a marbled ray and thousands of fish. Easily my best dive ever. Floreana and North Seymour are the next best sites. 
On land the highlands the free spirited Galapagos turtles, massive males poor females hehehe, roam around freely and steal the spotlight. Isabella the largest island is a tranquil and perfect hideaway from the too many beers and more at the Bongo Bar. Blue footed boobies, yes birds named boobies how cool is that. Boobies that fly, blue boobies, boobies you can stare at..yes yes ..heheh Frigates, massive sea birds, pelicans, flamingoes all become a common sight on this amazing part of the world. 
The bird with the blue feet is ..have a wild guess ..yes a Blue footed booby. The last couple of pictures are from the beach in Isabella. We were staying in the top suite in the last picture, amazing views of the beach and a spell that captures you straight away not to leave the terrace.
Raffa, Humberto, Elisa, La Maria...Carolina, La Paola, Gorgie, ... At the shop, Gustavo, Emilio..
So no wonder that after this being on the road again was harder than usual. Guayaquil seemed like a shit hole, Cuenca the colonial city of Ecuador made me long for the ocean. Puerto Lopez was a breath of fresh air. I got there in the middle of Whale season. So I shopped around for a trip to see the humpbacks, all promising to spot whales and not only, to see them breach, all showing pictures and quotes from satisfied gringoes as proof. Suspiciously I booked one and the day after I was on the way to spot the whales. We didn t see one whale, we spotted a group of over 20 graceful humpbacks, jumping out of the water like crazy, I mean seriosly it was a spectacle like I have never seen before. My little faithful Ixus again with the proof.
Last pic is fragatas going crazy as fish is being brought to land from the trawlers in Puerto Cayo, Puerto Cayo also being the place where I saw the graoup of whales compared to 3 humpbacks in Puerto Lopez, a useful tip for anyone heading this way.
I am now in Quito, a pleasant city meeting up with some friends,..but that and more is for another blog.
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