Goodbye, Ecuador

Arrived at the Grande Plaza hotel in Quito this afternoon and were thrilled when we received warm towels, champagne, and special drinks for the girls upon check-in. Thought they only did that when you arrive at 1:00am!

Photos show glimpse of girl's afternoon snack and view from our balcony.

We walked around a bit, and returned to enjoy the hotel. Dinner was pre-arranged and paid in advance--booked through Columbus Travel. Fingers were crossed that it would be okay.

It was fantastic! We had a wonderful evening and are again thankful to Uncle Dan and Susan for making this trip possible.

Learned that Picassa and iPads don't mix. Plan to upload additional photos to Picassa this weekend.

Last snorkel and hike

Forgot the camera on the final, fabulous snorkel. You'll just have to trust us that swimming with sea lions, seeing amazing fish, and simply being in the Galapagos Islands is a blast!

After snorkeling, we had a short time to shower and head out on the final hike. Girls decided to lounge on the ship, but David and I didn't want to miss the hike.

So glad we went! We saw our only flamingo! Morgan caught a boat with her friend, Valentina, so she was with us to see the flamingo. Unfortunately, she failed to heed our guide's advice about "don't step in the mud". Oh well, it washed off.

After the flamingo sighting, we walked to another part of the island and observed turtle nesting grounds. Learned about how rough it is for sea turtles to survive their trek to the ocean, and what's waiting for them when they get there. Really makes me marvel at the many sea turtles we met this week.

We all had a special feeling being on a beach in the Galapagos for the last time. Kids played games. Everyone took lots of photos, and we had a great time standing on the shore at one end of the beach watching sting rays in the surf.

Tomorrow starts at 7:00am and we land in Quito, Ecuador. We get to stay at the fab hotel that night and leave early Tuesday for the trek home. Don't want to jinx it, but it can't possibly be as arduous as the trip here.

Sunday swim with sea lions

We have two snorkeling events today, so I opted to relax on the beach while David and girls snorkeled. Want to have a dry wet suit for this afternoon. They thought the 70 degree water was comfy.

Young sea lions actually approached them playfully and hung around. One had a rock he was picking up and dropping as though he was a puppy with a ball! I could see the sea lions, as they were close to shore and sometimes came out on the beach or nearby rocks. Report was this was one of the most magical experiences ever.

After swimming, teens built a sand castle on shore, but we had to leave before the masterpiece was perfected. A bit like this trip!

Sunday morning post

Beautiful day. Our last full day here.

We begin with a boat ride to a beach where we walk up to a lookout platform. Then return to the boat to see sea lion colonies along the shoreline.

So many baby sea lions learning to swim! Incredibly playful, leaping out of the water.

We even see a bachelor colony populated by defeated males who retreated after losing battles to be the alpha male of a colony. They'll gather their strength and try again.

We see blue-footed boobies diving into the ocean. Impressive!

Next we stop at another beach and visit a "post box" where tourists write postcards without postage and other tourists pick up any mail they can personally deliver in their hometowns.

The closest address to us is So Lake Tahoe, and we decide to leave that for someone closer. Cute idea, though. Some people in our party take postcards for delivery in Wisconsin, MA, CA and elsewhere.

Saturday night fever

We weren't thinking much about the advertised Ecuadorian musicians after dinner, but they and the dancers were fantastic! We had so much fun listening to the music and dancing.

Will include a still shot. Video on Facebook.

Saturday afternoon beach

This was one of the most enjoyable segments of the trip. We went to a beautiful beach which took some hiking to get to.

We went out in kayaks, with Madeline preferring to hang on to the back of our kayak. Our guide told us where we could find sharks. I asked whether it was safe for Madeline to be in the water with sharks and our guide told her to be nice to them.

We paddled over to the shark area and gave Madeline the underwater camera with instructions to photograph them, but the water was too murky (or we set the settings wrong), so we didn't get any useable shots.

There were four 4' sharks resting in the sand and they didn't bother Madeline at all. She is convinced they are harmless from her experiences at Catalina Island. I would have been nervous. She denies bravery.

We also saw sea turtles, marine iguanas, etc.

Saturday lunch

Last night, Morgan made friends with a group of 14 year-old girls. One from Ecuador, two from Panama, and two from Newton, MA who didn't know each other before this trip.

We had built-in down time at lunch and the kids played soccer in the rain, played pool, and cards.