M/V Floreana

June 19 – David.  6:30 am  Gil and I, along with Teresa and Lona, the two teachers from Minn. who are also Fund for Teacher recipients going to the Galapagos, met or ride to the Quito airport.  Our ride is from Latin Roots who represents Holbrook travel in Ecuador.  Check in was interesting as you go to a Galapagos window to check in, have your check in bags x-rayed and sealed, then you go through normal check in where you turn in your bags and get your boarding pass.  The flight was long and uneventful with one stop along the way except for the landing on Baltra  Island.  Strong cross wind.  The pilot got a round of applause for the successful landing.  We went through a process similar to customs but we were entering a national park that is a protected area.  They were making sure we weren’t bringing in illegal items that might contaminate the Galapagos.  We were met by our guide Fabian and bussed to the boat, the M/Y Floreana, secured our luggage and went to see giant tortoises at a ranch in the highlands on Santa Cruz island.  Santa Cruz is one of the islands in the Galapagos populated by humans.  The tortoises looked like huge rocks peeking out of the tall grass.  We saw about 8.  We then went into a partially collapsed lava tube that was actually two lava tubes, one above the other.  It reminded me of Ruby Falls.  We the returned to the boat and made a long night cruise to our first stop.  End of Day 1.