Galapagos San Cristobal day 1

We had a 6 am taxi to the airport, which made for an early wake up for the kids, but it would have been an hour earlier if we had parked in the RV since CoDa Vista is 45 minutes away. Plus it would have been $25 taxi ride each way, so that's why we stayed at an airport hotel. 

At the airport we have to pay $20/person conservation fee, but needed to have booked a return ticket, so I quickly booked a return flight on Expedia which is refundable if done in 24 hours. We then dropped off the luggage and went to the priority pass lounge which was not as crowded as a few days ago. 

The flight was good and stopped for an hour at Guayaquil on the coast but we didn't get off the plane. It was about three and a half hour flight to sunny San Cristobal.

We had to pay $200/person national Park fee and $100/child. No, we did not get a receipt. 

There was a customs form or online form to declaring not bringing in seeds or plants we had filled out. They checked our carrying on bags and dogs sniffed all the luggage before we could pick up our bags. Most of the passengers were booked on cruise tours. We took a taxi to our Airbnb and we were lucky to check in early. 

The Airbnb was nice and large compared to the Quito airport suites.

We cooled off and then headed out in the heat. It was Saturday and just after noon and many places we're shutting down. We walked to the malecon and realized there were so many sea lions in the water and camouflaged on the rocks and sand. There were a few iguanas and a lot of red crabs. There were a lot sea lion pups. One pup was nursing.

We found a random place to eat and had a chicken plate, plantain burger, and a shawarma for $33.

We went to walk around to look for a travel agency to inquire on prices but many places were closed. We walked back to the maleocon and watched the sea lion pups up close. We are not supposed to get within 2 meters of animals.

We ended up walking back to the Airbnb near the top of the hill, stopping at a few grocery stores.

We cooled off for an hour and headed back down, this time to Mann beach to watch the sunset with everyone else. There were sea lions on the beach and so we couldn't walk on the beach. We bought a couple sticks of grilled meats for $3.50 each and a shaved ice for $1.

We then walked back to get malecon and saw a lot of sea lions on the road and even a few on the bus stop benches. Kids were jumping off the docks and swimming. The sunset was beautiful.

We bought some soup for Christine and walked back up hill. I had to carry Dd. 

The soup came with ceviche and an amber liquid which I encouraged her to mix with the thick stew. The amber liquid turned out to be a juice. My bad.

The kids were tired and fell asleep quickly after ramen dinner.