Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 - Today is the day!!

I flew from Quito to Baltra, my first impression of the Galapagos. The guide, Daniel, met the plane and we quickly left by bus, then ferry, then another bus to the docks and my first glimpse of my home for the next week, the Beagle. She is nearly 100' long and has room for 12 passengers, 6 crew members and the guide. The weather was spectacular, blue skies and high clouds.









The seas were calm and I got settled in my spacious cabin.









We went to the Darwin Research cabin and checked out the tortoises, esp. Lonesome George, the last of his species. He has been mated with a distance cousin, actually two and they have produced eggs! Keeping our fingers crossed. The work that they do at the Center is incredible.








We walked around Punta Ayora which is a town supporting about 15,000 people on the island of Baltra. There are many stores and at the docs the locals sell fish. We were told to get whatever we needed as there wouldn't be any other opportunities.









Finally, we left on the panga, a zodiac type boat and settled in the Beagle for the 5 hour sail to the next island, Floreana.