Here’s a few things Ben and I did while hanging out in the Galapagos Islands after our cruise…
 

Volcano Tour – By Horse

I’m no fan of horses. I guess it’s because I had a bad experience as a kid, but still I just don’t see the point. I’d rather walk than put my life in the hands of a strong-minded animal. So naturally I was disappointed when I learned that the only way to see the huge active volcano on Isabela Island was on horseback. But I really wanted to see the volcano, so I convinced myself that I could do it.

Long story short, we both survived and it was worth it. The horses were very tame and we didn’t have any problems, although I was completely terrified the entire time.
 

The volcano is called Sierra Negra, and it’s a huge crater that is constantly letting off steam. It’s actually the largest active volcano crater in the world (one crater in Africa is larger, but inactive).
 

After seeing Sierra Negra, we hiked to another active volcano called Volcano Chico. This one doesn’t look like a volcano at all, it’s more of a general area of volcanic activity. We walked around in lava fields with cool-looking cactus, and enjoyed great views of the rest of Isabela Island.
 

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An Evening in Isabela

Our first night on Isabela, Kristina, who worked at our hotel, took us around town. We ended up at a cool bar with a wall full of iguanas. Lucky us we also happened to be there right in time for a few games of volleyball!
 

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Isabela Bay Tour

We took a tour of the bay near Puerto Villamil, which is gorgeous with clear blue water, black lava rock, and green mangroves.  We saw a billion iguanas, a few penguins, one blue-footed boobie, and then went snorkeling with sea turtles and a big sting ray. After a hike around one of the islands, we returned to find a sea lion hanging out in our boat. I think this happens a lot, because the boat owners seem to be a bit disgusted with the sea lions. But I got a kick out of it.
 

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Tortuga Bay

One day in Puerto Ayora we walked to Tortuga Bay, which is a large beach 40 minutes outside of town. It was fairly uneventful, except for some amusing iguanas on the beach. If you got too close to them, they’d start to run which looks pretty funny with their short legs.
 

These cactus trees are all over the Galapagos. The cactus evolved to grow into tall trees so that the giant tortoises and iguana wouldn’t eat them.  I’m not sure the photo captures it accurately, but they look really cool.