19 July - Day 45: Welcome to San Cristobal!

Spent my last night in Santa Cruz and headed for Isla San Cristobal. Decided, upon the advice of another traveler, to take two mareol pills (for motion sicknes). I guess I would rather be passed out than hanging overboard. The boat was smaller than I expected, seating around 15, and went fast. The open choppy water freaks me out! The dark swells have past significance for me, why else would I have such intense fear? Another piece of advice was to sit in the back, so I did. A guy traveling with Lead Adventures joined me for the boat ride. He is not doing the volunteer work here because he has heard some horror stories. He shared information about bed bugs, dirt, cabins with screaming kids, damn, not more crap! I guess it´s good to lower my expectations now.

The boat ride was 2 hours and I was very cold the entire way, but at least had fresh air. I managed to keep in the little lunch that I ate. It was hard to socialize over the sound of the motors, so I just did a bit of meditation exercises to keep my mind focuses. There were stretches where I couldn´t see land in any direction - I really don´t like that!

We arrived in the capital of the province of the Galapagos - Porto Baquerizo Moreno. It´s cute. Quaint. Has a completely different feel from Porto Ayora.

The hotel here seems nice. It has a/c which I can´t imagine ever needing, a little heat would be nicer, a TV, and a mini fridge, and as far as I can tell - no rats. I wish I´d had this place for the past couple of nights.

The other traveler and I headed to find some food and chit chat. I´ve got to get used to eating alone again...

After dinner we walked along the port area and there were 100´s of sea lions sleeping on the beaches. I tried to get a few shots, but my camera isn´t very good with night shots.

Tomorrow I head up to the highlands. Cross your fingers that it´s not as bad as he heard. I am there for 3 1/2 days... I guess we´ll soon find out.