Santa Cruz has one of the best diving sites on the Galapagos Islands. Therefore, we spent 6 days on Santa Cruz in total so Eva could tickle off some items of her bucked list. Instead of being green and packed with animals the area around Baltra airport (where we arrived) is very dry and reminds of the moonscape (with cactuses though). At our arrival we were shocked. But after taking a bus, a small boat and a bus again the landscape changed. With every meter the bus drove further to the south of Isla Santa Cruz the vegetation became more green. The first two days we slept in long, explored the area around Puerto Ayora and learned about the magic of the islands: sidewalks are used by marine iguanas for sun bathing, sea lions are lying on the docks (and benches), pelicans are flying around and get fed by local fisherman. Animals are extraordinary fearless; The whole atmosphere on the island made it a perfect stay. While Eva was diving, Niels further explored the island (including the highlands, the Darwin Station and a beach in the north).

Marine iguanas at the beach

One of our new friends – We never though we’d love sea lions

Pelicans are everywhere on the islands – especially where the fisherman are 😉

This animal gave Charles Darwin the idea for his theory of evolution: Darwin’s Finches

A Galapagos tortoise (the next post will just be about them!)

Sally Lightfoot Crab – bright red crabs which are way bigger than they seem on the pic

A wonderful coloured lizard which only moved away when Niels nearly touched it

Some harbour and Port Ayora impressions

During day time this is a normal street. At night time it’s a lively, cheap place to have dinner

Sometimes the Galapagos Islands reminded us of Cuba: hardly anything to buy besides long life goods.

Las Grietas – it’s said that there are white tip sharks, we didn’t see any though.