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14th June 2013 - up early to get a taxi to the airport. Left the hostel at 6:15am as reception said it would probably take an hour and half to get to the airport... 45 minutes later I was at the airport... I guess it don't hurt to be early but a little more sleep would have been nice. Got my tourists transit card and then had my bags scanned for the Galapagos customs to ensure i didn't bring any foreign bugs into the islands. They were fairly relaxed about it compared to the grilling you get every time you enter australian customs. Checked in and then made my way to the gate for the 2 hour wait. The airport is new only a few months old so it has free wifi and place to charge my phone which helped the time pass quicker. The flight was due to start boarding at 9:20 with a 9:45 departure. It was 9:45 and we were all still waiting at the gate. There was some confusion as the one screen said it was boarding and other said it was closed. Managed to eventually get it worked out that they were combing a flight to Guayaquil with ours to San cristobal. So we boarder and left almost an hour late. It was only 30 minutes flight to Guayaquil where we landed and left off several passengers. The rest of us just waited in out seats for maybe 20 mins to refuel and load a couple more people. The flight is fairly empty. I have 3 seats to myself which is great but am to excited to lay down and sleep. About 30 minutes before landing in the Galapagos the crew came through the cabin and sprayed all the carry on luggage with some sort of bug spray. Is apparently non-toxic to humans but made most of the people in board cough.
Landed and am so excited to be here. Walked through the line for foreigners and then payed the entry tax. Went to collect bags which was fun. It was just grab them off the back of trailer been pulled by an old tractor... A lady at the door then checked to make sure that my bag matched my ticket. Walked out and asked a couple that were leaving if they had any hotel suggestion, but had been cruises so no. Walked towards town and asked at a couple place there prices and then came to Casa de Laura which I had read about online. They had rooms for an ok price and I didn't want to keep walking around with my luggage looking for a place, so took it. Went out for a walk along the forshore. It is great to be out in the warm weather walking around. It is siesta time so a lot of things are closed. Came across dozens of different sea lions. They are just laying around anywhere... On the rock, footpath, benches. Made my way towards a place that should do laundry. $1 per kilo and ready tomorrow morning, I think. They didn't speak any Spanish so will see. Went back to hotel and picked up laundry and then walked it back to the place to drop it off. If something has been lost in translation then my bag maybe 4kg lighter...
Just enjoyed walking around the town.... More is open now and there are dozens of tourist shops selling endless amounts of souvenirs. Spent some time watching two young sea lions playing in a rock pool. They were blowing bubbles to each other and then would come up for air and what seen liked laughter and then go back to blowing bubbles... Was awesome. Wrote on the postcards and had to laugh as then brought the stamps and after putting six stamps on them, most of the writing was covered by stamps...
Watched the sun set over the harbor and then went to find food. It is early only 6:30pm so a lot of places aren't even open for dinner yet but I am hungry so ended up eating a burger but it did come with a fresh made banana smoothie.
Walked along the boardwalk and back to the room for an early night after a long day.
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