Galapagos Santa Cruz day 3

We had booked a last minute 3 night cruise in the Galapagos and were instructed to meet at Baltra airport today so we checked out and took a 45-minute taxi ride to go to the North side of the island. 

From there we took a quick ferry across the channel and then a quick bus ride to the airport where we waited for an hour only to be told that the boat was in Puerto ayora, where we had stayed last night.We got back on the bus to the channel and crossed it and waited for the rest of the clients to show up.

We had a plate of rice and chicken which was delicious. We talked to a Canadian family again. They were headed back to Toronto but had a 12 hour layover at Guayaquil. 

When the other guests arrived we boarded a small bus to take us to a hacienda outside Santa Rosa where we had a nice lunch. There were so many Galapagos tortoises roaming around the grounds. They were not owned by the hacienda but they just roam around that part of the island. We were told by the guides that 30 years ago you would have to really look for the turtles but their protection has allows their population to flourish. 

We met the other guests on the boat, of which there are 15. They are from France, Holland, Sweden, Italy, and the US.

Lunch was chicken breast or tuna. The food was great. We went on a stroll on the grounds with some rubber boots. The tortoises were massive. 

After a couple hours in the heat we went to a lava tube and hiked through it. It was well lit.

Then we headed to Puerto Ayora where we bought some refreshments like Gatorade and soft serve ice cream.

We took a dinghy to the boat, the Monserrat. We removed our shoes after they sprayed the soles with alcohol and got a welcome snack and drink and sat in air-conditioning briefing room. It was bliss.

They gave us a briefing of the ship and we were assigned our cabins and brought our luggage down and had our mandatory muster drill with lifejackets. We have air-conditioning in our cabins too and the rooms were in the bottom forward area. We have our own bathrooms too.

We had a briefing for tomorrow and then met the crew and had a few minutes before dinner. We went to the top deck to look around.

Dinner was delicious. We had a cauliflower soup, spaghetti with a choice of Bolognese, Alfredo, or pomodoro, and a simple dessert of whipped cream with chocolate. Dd unfortunately started to feel seasick so he didn't eat much. 

It was already past 8 pm so we went to get ready for bed.