Day 2 - Ecuador - Galapagos 1

Our greeter at the hotel.

        The majority of Day 2 was and early flight from Quito to Santa Cruz, Galapagos and getting settled into our hotel at the island. We stayed at the Angermeyer Waterfront Inn, a homey, beautiful, and welcoming inn right at the Pacific Ocean. (see: http://angermeyer-waterfront-inn.com/)  The only way one can get to this hotel was by a water taxi, only 60 cents a person. Upon reaching the Angermeyer, my family and I were greeted by a friendly little creature right at the entrance. A large iguana, part of the "welcoming crew" of the hotel, was crawling around the floor waiting for us to arrive. The owner of the hotel sat us down and gave us fresh coconut juice while she went over information about the hotel and island. Now can anyone can get better than that? I think not! We then proceeded to our room entitled "Mockingbird." The Mockingbird residence was a perfect little island "cabin" for the four of us. Cacti surrounded the stony pathways and the environment of the entire area was dreamy for a day in December.

A giant tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Center.
You can see it's size compared to me, huge right?

          After relaxing and taking a short nap, we headed to the Charles Darwin Research Station in a local "$1 anywhere in town" taxi. Here, we walked a long trail in a blazing 2o'clock heat to learn about the incubation and raising of turtles on the island and also Darwin's Theory of Evolution. We saw the famous Lonesome George, the last known individual of the Pinta Island Tortoise which is one of eleven extant subspecies of Galápagos tortoise. George is estimated to be 60–90 years of age, and is in good health. We also saw many other large tortoises, some even 200 years old! 
          Walking two miles in the hot sun wore us out, so we spent the rest of the evening relaxing on the dock by our hotel and eating a wonderful vegetarian candlelight dinner provided by our hotel.