April, 2010: Here we are arriving in the Galapagos. Dave and I flew to the mainland of Ecuador, where we met up with my sister Maret and our family friend Dave (so we had two Daves on this trip!) After arriving on the island of Baltra from the mainland, we then took a ferry across to Santa Cruz.
Once in Santa Cruz, we checked into our hotel and then hopped on a boat to start checking out the islands and wildlife. 
One of the most famous animals on the Galapagos is the blue-footed booby seen here.
Santa Cruz served as our home base, but we took boats out every day to check out the other islands. Here we are arriving on the island of Floreana. This day was the most fun of the entire trip!
As we explored the island, we came across this. Doesn't it look Easter-island-esque? We asked our guide and he said that they don't know the history of this in regards to how old it is, who made it etc. But it sure was fascinating in the middle of absolutely nowhere on this remote island.
And of course the main reason why many come to the Galapagos... the Turtles!
We also saw tropical penguins.
And we were able to visit the Charles Darwin Research Center, where the most famous (and oldest) turtle in the world resides. He is the last of his species, so once he dies, this particular species will be extinct. They have tried everything they can think of to get him to mate with similar species, but have thus far been unsuccessful.
Verdict: Yes, Yes, Yes. This place is so exotic that it just has be seen and experienced in person! We visited four of the 58 islands and it was just such a cool experience to feel so far removed from the rest of the world. In the same breath, I was surprised to see that Santa Cruz was a built up town. There were hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. However, visiting some of the other islands, you truly felt that "there are no other people as far as the eye can see" feeling and that was neat. I was pregnant with Baby #3 on this trip, so no scuba diving for me, but my sister and our friend Dave went and they said it was amazing!
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