All packed. Everything is charged. Can’t believe it’s almost time.

The day is finally here. Breezed through security. Time for breakfast and a cup of coffee. Just a little over 2 hours till will be boarding the plane for first leg of trip. Next stop Fort Lauderdale.

Half way there! Great flight, lots of room, seat empty next to me and an open snack bar!

Made it to Quito. So did my checked bag! Now just waiting for the kids to make it so we can go to the hotel and crash for a few hours before starting the next part of the adventure.

Kids made it to Quito. Crawling into bed for a couple of hours before heading back to the airport to start our Galapagos adventure.

All checked in, through security and now chilling in the Diner’s VIP Club thanks to Athena.

After taking off for the islands, we need to make a pit stop in Guayaquil to drop off and pick up passengers. Spent abut 40 minutes on the plane there.

Finally on the islands. Got our bags, with one little hitch, Athena’s was sniffed by a dog and pulled out. A bag of shampoo had opened and a little gotten out. We are greeted by our guide who will help us get on a bus that will take us to the channel where we catch a short boat ride where we get in a truck and drive to another port where we took a 2 hour boat ride to get to Isla Isabela.

Once we arrive at Isabella, we are picked up and taken to our hotel, Casita De La Playa. We are all loving the fact it sits right on the beach.

After a bit of clean up, it’s time to go in search of dinner. We walk down on the beach, kids check out the water and I took pictures of them and the sun setting.

As we walk down the beach toward a restaurant, we com we come across a bar right along the beach, called Iguana Lounge. There were iguanas just hanging on the side of the wall, cute tables scattered throughout the sand, a hammock, and a slack line. We decided to have a drink there and watch the sunset. Bubba gave the slack line a try.

Then we went off in search of food. Found a cute little restaurant. After eating and chatting for a bit, we went back to our rooms to crash. Tomorrow morning, we go hiking.

Started the day with a nice breakfast at the hotel with a beautiful view. Then we were picked by our tour guide for a volcano hike.

It took about 40 minutes to drive to the Volcan Sierra Negra which is part of a Galapagos National Park. Not sure how many meters we walked, the round trip took us about 4.5 hours. We stopped along the way to take pictures of plants, birds and the crater from different angles. Had a boxed lunch at Joboncilla area of the park. It was beautiful and so quiet.

After our hike, we went back to the hotel. I enjoyed a much needed shower. Then some time was spent hanging out in the kids’ room while they did homework and I downloaded pics from the day.

The day ended with a walk downtown for dinner. Another great day!

Another great day of adventures. Started out with a nice breakfast on the patio at the hotel. Then we were picked up for a boat and walking tour and then snorkeling.

On the boat ride, I saw my first blue footed booby. Also as some stingrays and sea turtles. Then we docked and got off at Isolte Tintoreras. Here lived the marine iguanas. They were everywhere. While there we also saw a baby seal and crabs.

Snorkeling time. Almost didn’t do it. Felt very claustrophobic with the mask and snorkel in my mouth. But after a few minutes, I was so happy I did. Got to see stingrays, sea turtles, starfish, a seahorse and other types of fish. Had a wonderful experience of coming in contact with a sea turtle. It was at the bottom and Is as right over it trying to take a picture or video. Next thing I know is it is coming up toward me. It swam right by me close enough to touch. Amazing!

When we got back to the hotel it time for a shower then go in search of lunch. We were all starving.

We ended our time on Isabela with a sunset walk on the beach.

This day starts early, 5:20am catch taxi to the dock to take the Neptune back to Santa Cruz where we will finish off our adventure

As soon as we get to the hotel, we are treated to breakfast. After a quick freshen up, we need to get ready for our first outing. This one doesn’t last long. What was presented as a short easy walk was not turning out to be so, and it was getting very hot. We cut it short because we really wanted to go to the Darwin Center and this was probably the only day we could do it. We were all so happy we made that decision. The Darwin Center was very cool.

Then we went back to hotel to drop off some things and then went in search of lunch. On the way back to the hotel we did some souvenir shopping and got stamps for the postcards ($67 for 20, yikes)

After lunch we were picked up for a ride out to a turtle ranch. Once we get there, there was a tunnel to check out. The kids went through the whole thing and rode to the end and met them. The entrance was narrow and low. Then we drove out to the ranch. This was so cool, there were tortoises everywhere. You could walk among them and take pictures.

Dinner and getting ready for tomorrow’s adventure rounded out the night.

It’s the day I have been waiting for, off to Seymour Island to see the blue footed boobies.

Had breakfast at the hotel, then was picked up by a bus to go for about 40 minutes to where we would take a dingy out to the larger boat for the 50 minute trip to the island. After just a few minutes, Bubba came down to tell me we were passing a rock with boobies on it, I was able to get a good picture. Then I went up on deck for the rest of the ride.

When we got to the island, there frigates soaring in the sky above us. Our guide talked to us about the different types, how to tell if male or female and if young or old. Then we started our trek. We came across sea lions and land iguanas. Then we came across a boobie on a rock. He was laying down so we couldn’t see his feet. Walked a bit farther and the guide asked if anyone had binoculars. There was a pair. He spotted a boobie sitting on a log in the distance. Once I knew the area, I was able to find him and get a picture with my camera. Then we continued are walk where we got closer to him. More pictures. Then it was time o start the trek back to the boat. Along the way, we came across a boobie sitting just off the path. We took turns sitting on a rock near him and took pictures with him.

We get back on the boat and it up is all set up for lunch. They served us tuna, rice, veggies and watermelon while we made our way wack to an inlet on Santa Cruz Island only accessible by boat. Here we did a wet landing, walked along the beach toward where the flamingos could be. Unfortunately, there were none. Back at the beach where we started, I took a little dip in the ocean. Took some selfies and tried to take pictures of fish but they were too small and too fast.

Then it was time to take the dingy back to the boat to start our trek back to the hotel. Got back, took a shower then went to OMG Coffee next to the hotel for a coffee and a brownie. The kids went to study and have a beer. Meet them later for dinner down by the fish market.

Night ended with getting ready for outing tomorrow and bed.

Early start to the day. Going by boat to Bartolome Island.

After a 40 minute drive to the canal, we board a Zodiac that will take us out to the same ship we were on yesterday. We had breakfast on the top of the ship while starting the hour and 50 minute cruise to the island. While on the way to Bartolome, we passed by another island shaped like an inverted bowl. The captain took us around the island where we saw frigates, blue footed boobies and another type of booby (starts with an m).

When we get close to Bartolome our guide tells us what we will be doing. There are 350 steps to take to get up to the top of the volcano to have a beautiful view of the pinacle. Then, after we come back down, will go back to the ship to change to get ready

Travel day. Time to leave this beautiful place and start the trek home. Will be spending the night in Quito so we can get up in the morning to go visit the Equator.

After arriving at the airport, we took a taxi to Old Town Quito to our hotel, Hotel San Francisco. After cleaning up a bit and changing into warmer clothes, we walked a bit for dinner. Ended up at La Purisima. Had a wonderful meal of beef tongue and au gratin potatoes. For dessert, we had beinetes (?).

Back to the hotel to get packed up for trip home and the next day’s adventures.

Had breakfast at the hotel, then just hung out till our driver came to pick us up. It was a nice set up, he will drive us to the two different equator sights and wait for us, and when all finished will drive us to the airport. Don’t have to worry about our bags.

First stop is the true Equator as determined by GPS. This only recently happened in 1998. Here we learned about less gravity on the equator, the _____? force and also some about the cultural. The guide ended with telling us about shrunken heads. We did some experiments to show about the leased amount of gravity and balanced an egg on a nail head (certificate to prove it).

Then we got back into our taxi to drive a short distance to visit the park area of the first known spot of the equator. This was figured out by triangulation. Here we took many photos (including with out our Tehya shirts on and me with my Jaeger Reid hat on. Ended our visit there with an amazing lunch. I had churrasco(?).

Back to the airport for everyone to go home. We were going to hang out together in the Diner’s Club area, but it was too early for me to check my bag so I couldn’t go through with the kids. We hung out at Johnny Rocket’s until it was time for them to head to gate.

I am just going to hang out till I can check my bags. Then get through security so I can repack my carry on so get down to one bag carry on then pick up big bag in customs in Florida.

On the last leg back home. Hard to believe yesterday I was standing on the Equator.

This was an unbelievably amazing trip. Definitely want to go back to visit the other islands. Also, want to go on another adbpventure with the kids. Maybe even just a trip back to Chicago and home to show them around there.

Have things to work on to finish off the trip:

* add locations and pictures to Journo, plus rewrite entries as needed

* create an album of photos

* have a photo book made of best pic that highlight the trip

* Create a collage of animal face closeups