On the move again

Hello! Sounds like a lot of you really enjoyed the Galapagos post. That's awesome! We enjoyed reading all the feedback. Thank you! As we mentioned we've been in Guayaquil for the past week. Guayaquil is a large port city. There's water everywhere with lots of channels but its a nasty brown. Very similar to the color of our wonderful Galveston Bay, but probably a bit worse. The great thing right now is that we're staying in a nice hotel (thanks to our timeshare) that's located across the street from the mall, the cinema and next door to the casino. Our sleeping pattern this week is much different from when we were on the cruise. Instead of a 6:30 wake up call, we sleep in till about 10 & than slowly move around till noon, hey that's when the food court at the mall starts serving grub. We usually crash around 1 a.m. That's what happens when staying next to a casino. Unfortunately, we've been donators this go around. Not a lot but definitely donators. I really shouldn't say "we".... since I'm the one that sat down at the table a few nights w/ Bob observing (& advising of course). Bob hates to lose money and gets frustrated with the way people play. They do play very differently here. Differently & very poorly. I don't think the folks that I played with ever read a book on Blackjack strategies. I get upset too but I'm not playing with big bucks so, I'm able to enjoy it more than Bob. We went to the movies (yes, in english) to see Pelham 123, visted a few sites around town and pretty much just relaxed this week. Today we're moving north of Guayaquil to a beach town called Manti. We've been told that its a great town with beautiful beach and clear blue water. Our bus ride will only be 3 hours so we plan to leave around 1:30 p.m. We'll have internet and be able to keep in touch with everyone. My Dad wanted to know if the Galapagos was all about the wildlife and lava islands. "We're there any towns with people, restaurants, and shops?" I guess we didn't touch on that much in our blog. After our cruise, we stayed 4 more days in the Galapagos, mainly so Bob could get in some dives from the island of Santa Cruz. We spent one xtra night on San Cristobal, where our cruise ended, since the boats to Santa Cruz only left in the a.m. We caught the 2 hour ferry the next morning, grab a pizza at 9 a.m. (Bob thinks I'm crazy) & than walked around for bout 20 mins checking out hotels till we found one that met our needs. The island isn't that big but it does have the largest population in the Galapagos. Santa Cruz was a great island. It had some nice restaurants, galleries, beaches and tons of souvenier shops.

A view from the ferry as we approached the dock.

This island was very artsy. There were tons of galleries filled with art work or jewelry.

The structures were really nice.

This is a hotel.

Most of the hotels were small and had tons of character.

In the middle of town was the this little fish market. Boats would come by early in the morning

with the fish and lobster caught.

Table full of Lobster. They were so nice looking. If only I had a kitchen to cook in.

I do miss cooking. Haven't cooked a single meal in 3 months.

Pelicans hung around in hopes to get some scraps.

Even the sea lions were begging. Check this out. This sea lion was up on her hind flippers and smelling all the fish being filleted.

One afternoon we ventured to a beach called Tortuga Bay. To get back to this beach we had nice 45 minute walk. The first beach we passed was a "surfing" beach. Although this was not surfing season; the waves were strong as well as the currents. So, they advised us to continue walking to the more calm beach.

Snorkeling was pretty much non-existant off this beach but we did see some small White Tip Sharks swimming in the shallow waters. They were babies and we're told they are harmless. I have a toe ring which can be shiny and reflective in the water so I was a little concerned that a fish or shark may find it appealing, so I did my best to keep my feet out of the water while floating on my back.

The area is famous for some great dive sites.

The water was very cold so he was covered head to toe in a wetsuit.

Cap, gloves, foot booties and a thick wetsuit.

He swam with Hammerhead

& White Tipped Reef Sharks

Saw tons of fish

This is a Scorpion fish. I think it's pretty cool looking.

Also was able to get close to a Manta Ray

Sometimes I wish I dove but then again I see some amazing things when snorkeling. Maybe I'll consider getting certified when we move to the island of Guanaja. Diving is huge on Guanaja and the reef system there is part of the 2nd largest in the world, the same reef system that Cancun, Cozumel & Belize enjoy. 1st of course is Australia.

That concludes our wonderful time spent in the Galapagos and my best effort to catch you up on our current whereabouts. We're looking forward to our time in Manti and we'll let you know how it is.

Take care and lots of love,

Bonnie & Bob