Day 3 in Paradise

After a breakfast empanada and a delicious milkshake, we visited the fish market! Fat seals and pelicans begged for fish leftovers and couldn't get enough :)

Afterwards, we headed towards Tortuga Bay, a wonderful bay with a beautiful sandy beach! Passing countless cacti, lizards, and iguanas (of which there are four different species here in the Galapagos), we reached the beach after about 30 minutes. Passing the rather stormy bay with high waves - perfect for surfing - we finally reached the idyllic Playa Peninsula.

Nina immediately rushed into the water, which was surprisingly warm for this time of year (winter). After a little sunbathing, I decided to go for a snorkeling adventure in the rather murky sea. Just as I was about to jump into the water from the cliffs, I was surprised by a small baby shark leisurely searching the reef for little children ;) It was no bigger than 40cm, so I decided to take the plunge into the water. Unfortunately, snorkeling was unsuccessful due to the sand - which stretched across the entire bay - causing the water to be too churned up. Complaining at a high level ^^.

We then enjoyed the dreamy beach a bit more and made our way back to the hostel.

After a short breather, we got into a taxi. This time, there were no surprises and our taxi driver, Manuel, was very friendly and taught us a bit of Spanish. Our first stop was a freely accessible turtle farm. We got very, very close to the animals and could watch them eat and poop. :)

Next, we headed to the longest lava tunnel on Santa Cruz. The tunnel was initially quite large and then became narrower and deeper.

After this little tour, we decided to visit Los Gemelos, two enormous inactive volcanic craters full of impressive vegetation!

The biodiversity here in the Galapagos is indescribable! Cows, chickens, donkeys, and horses also find their place here alongside turtles and iguanas!

Then it was time for us to go to Puerto Ayora.

Like every day, fresh fish (~$10) was on our menu. A full stomach makes for a good night's sleep :)

Goodnight!