Puerto Ayora, Ecuador, South America

I had a pretty great day after a terrible night’s sleep. My bed in the hotel was really creaky, so every time I rolled over it made a noise and woke me up. That was annoying. So I asked this morning if I could change rooms and got a room with a much quieter bed, so I’ll sleep well tonight. I had breakfast at the hotel, that was just okay, and then I headed out to the police station. I tried to get the police here to write me a police report for my things that were stolen in Banos, but the officer I talked to wasn’t sure if that would be possible. I was told I would have to come back at 3pm to check with the police chief, so I left there for the day.

I met up with Raz and we headed over to Tortuga Bay. It was a nice walk for about two miles to get to the beach, and it was well worth it. The beach was absolutely stunning! Perfect powdery sand, crystal clear water, and the sun actually made an appearance once we got there. We walked another 15 minutes down the beach to get to a cove where the water was calmer and you could actually go swimming. Between the two beaches was what appeared to be some dead wood on the sand. It wasn’t until we got about 30 yards away that we realized what it was, they were marine iguanas. They are all black in color, and they were sunning themselves on the beach. They tend to climb all over each other, so it was just a mass of black from afar and didn’t appear to be alive. Well they were definitely alive.

I got some pictures of the iguanas and then we headed over to the cove. I didn’t feel like swimming, but Raz jumped in for a quick swim. A guy came down the beach and told us that there was a small shark coming toward Raz, so he might want to watch out. I followed it down the beach, and when it finally got close to people, it went back out into the deeper water. We only had about a half hour to spend there and then we had to head back into town. We got back with enough time to go for a quick lunch, and then I had to go back to the police station. Unfortunately, I got back there only to find out that they would not be able to help me with the police report. They said it was because it was outside their province, but I don’t really know.

I met up with Raz again and we walked over to the Charles Darwin Research Station. It was a nice little walk through a nature reserve and we got to see a few giant tortoises and some land iguanas. It was pretty nice. While we were there we met an Italian girl named Eleonora, who lives in New York and is traveling around the Galapagos Islands for about ten days. We all went into town together and it turns out she is staying at Hotel Espaí±a as well.

Raz and I had to go to the dive center at 5:30pm to try on our equipment for tomorrow, and then we met up with Eleonora for dinner. She had been recommended a place called Garapata, and it was excellent! I had chicken with pineapple sauce, and some passionfruit pie for dessert. I was definitely full after that meal, and we all headed home to get some rest. All three of us are diving tomorrow, so that means a 6am start for all of us. It’s going to be worth it though!!