11.11. Galapagos here we come

We spent the short night again at Gerd's place.
Today we got up at 6 o'clock and drove to the airport. The plane took off to the Galapagos Islands at 9:00. The Galapagos Islands are located about 1200 km west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The time difference to Ecuador is one hour behind. 7 hours behind during German winter time.
We land on the island Baltra. It actually only consists of the airport and is the only one that does not belong to the national park.

Originally a military base of the Americans in World War II. The Americans wanted to buy this island and the directly adjacent island Santa Cruz from Ecuador in the 60s. Luckily they didn't sell. Otherwise, there would still be a military base here and nature destroyed.
We take the bus to the ferry to Santa Cruz and then a taxi (here they are all pick-ups 😁) to the other side of the island to Puerto Ayora.

On the way there, we visit craters, a giant tortoise farm, and volcano tunnels.

Puerto Ayora is the only town on the island and has about 12,000 inhabitants.

There probably are more sea lions living here 😁. They are everywhere.

It is also the largest town in Galapagos overall.