Ecuador

Arequipa was gorgeous though I was sick for a lot of it....stupid Bolivia bugs. Anyways, I did manage to see some gorgeous churches and monastaries that had some interesting history. The Place des Armes what my favorite part of the city and I ate there most meals.
A few days later I flew to Quito, Ecuador to meet my friend Sina. Unfortunately we couldn´t get a flight out to the Galapagos right away so we had a day to kill. We stayed in Old Town for one night, near the beautiful plaza. Hiked up a hill to this huge gothic monastary and climbed to the top of the tower, great mirador of the city. Saw a colonial art exhibit and went inside the most beautiful church in Ecuador which was covered in gold and had two famous paintings of hell and judgement day.
Yeah we get to the Galapagos! Spent the first day mostly touring around the little town Puerta Ayora on Santa Cruz and organizing the next 8 days. We went surfing at Tortuga Bay and both got horrible sun burns!! But wow the waves were so big....we did pretty well and were catching them on our own...not every time mind you, but it is so thrilling when you do catch it. The sand was white and felt like powder and had a few marine iguagnas wondering around.
The next day we started our cruise which took us to South Plaza, Santa Fe, Espanola, Floreana and a few other spots in between. We saw so much wildlife! I think it will be weird to be on a beach now where I am not laying next to sea lions! Also saw lots of marine and land iguanas, flamingos, penguins, birds - mating dance of blue footed boobies, paradise, alcatraz, hawks. I could not believe how close you could get....especially the birds, they really just did not care about your presence at all. Loved the sea lions - the pups especially are curious and like playing with you while you snorkel.
Did a lot of snorkeling at each spot and saw tonnes of tropical fish, star fish, rays, turtles, a huge shark, dolphins! Our boat was pretty nice and we got a great last minute deal. There were 11 of us on a 16 passenger boat so it was perfect and we had a guide with us the whole time. The food was great and the other passengers were entertaining.
A few other highlights were the lava tubes and post office bay where mail is delivered the ´´old fashion way´´....developed in 1792. Any postcards addressed to near you you take back and hand deliver or put a stamp on when you get back.
Anyways, that is a short overview of the cruise. We still have a few days left before we head to Peru so I will keep applying the sunscreen and hope this red turns to a nice brown by the time I get back!