Heart is beating fast. Guayaquil is behind and the vast Pacific Ocean flows underneath us. We are 34,000 ft above sea level and just 90 minutes away from Baltra, Galapagos. This is insane! By the time we land Colombia’s game will be over and we are hoping for good news.

Our last two flights have been really rocky, the air currents created by the mountains make for unnecessary excitement. We had to eat 6 granadillas, which we planned on having as snacks over the next few days, as these fruits are not allowed in the Galapagos. Garrett asked the flight attendant to please dispose of the peels in South America, very funny.

We examine the map and our itinerary once more. This leg of the trip was planned by us, no travel agent involved, so we are hoping our trip goes well. I am beyong excited and so grateful to my Heavenly Daddy for granting me this wish. I will see blue-footed boobies and swim with penguins before the month is over.

Update: It’s 5 pm local time. The good news, Colombia won the game. The bad news, our whole itinerary has gone down the drain. We had plans of going to another island today except we didn’t know transportation would be such a challenge. We were placed on an oversold boat and had to disembark when the Coast Guard boarded the ship, pretty crazy. We are now trying to rearrange our schedule and get our money back. Oy! One lesson learned today is that Galapagueños like to hussle, a lot.

The awesome news is that this place is unbelievable. The water is crystal clear, the variety of trees and birds makes this place seem like an accident of nature. We saw sea lions begging for food at a fish market, marine iguanas cuddling, pelicans walking in traffic … surreal.

Update: we were able to make some changes to our room reservations and ended up spending the night in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz. We had some caipirinhas by the water and enjoyed the view of lazy sea lions.

Today was a bit crazy for us but dealing with madness while in paradise hardly seems like a challenge. Tomorrow will bring some diving, and if the conditions are favorable, we will get to see some hammerhead sharks up close and personal 🙂