We sailed further round Isabela Island throughout the night, which luckily was much less rough than previous nights! We started off the morning taking a dinghy ride spotting flightless cormorants including a couple ‘courting’ and also spotted some more Galapagos penguins. We then moved further into the mangroves where we spotted several sea turtles (hawksbill and pacific) and an eagle ray.
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Eagle Ray
On the afternoon we headed to Urbina Bay for our first chance to see giant land tortoises in the wild en route however we were met by some wildlife entertainment in the form of a school of dolphins who came to put on a show beside the boat.
Visiting the Galapagos Island has been a dream of ours for the last few years and something that we had to include on our trip even if the cost meant sacrificing other parts or cutting our trip short. Thankfully we found out there were plenty of last minute bargains available if you were flexible once you arrived in Quito. We managed to secure a bargain and we weren’t disappointed. Below is a day by day breakdown of our adventures in the Galapagos……
Quito is the highest legal capital city in the world at 2800 metres (9350 ft) above sea level. It is also one of the two first ever UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites (along with Krakow in Poland). Sitting sandwiched between mountains there are few cities in the world as visually impressive as this.
After an eleven hour flight from Seoul (the longest of our journey so far) we arrive in Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). However we’d be forgiven for thinking we’d just arrived in some banana republic third world country. Seoul Incheon prided itself on being the ‘world’s best airport’, LAX is clearly the worst. After chaotic scenes at immigration, massive queues blurring into each other we then attempt to collect our bags which are now piled three high on the carousel which looks like it will buckle under the pressure. After grabbing our bags amongst the chaos we then join another massive queue for customs. You think ok, maybe they are being strict. No you get to the front and they just take the form from you and you’re on your way. Two hours from landing we finally escape LAX. Welcome to America………….
Flying into Seoul we are surprised to see this city of massive skyscrapers is surrounded by mountains at every side. The world’s second most populated metropolitan area (behind Tokyo) seems to cram is as much as possible in the little land available.
North Korea is one of the most secretive countries in the world. Ruled by three generations hereditary communist dictatorship dating back to 1950 this country has been all but cut off from the outside world since then. The last few weeks have been some of the most confrontational since the Korean War which led to the current borderline being ‘agreed’. President Kim Il-Sung has been following in his recently deceased father’s footsteps and is keen to develop a nuclear warhead. This led to sanctions from the outside world, which led to North Korea threatening to blow up South Korea and the USA and to re-declare war with the south. So probably not the best time to go for a day trip!
Jeju is an island at the very south of South Korea and is the number one spot for newly married Korean couples to travel for their honeymoon sporting their matching t-shirts as seems to be the tradition in Korea. This island is abundant with natural wonders and also some rather strange not so natural wonders. Overall its the ultimate paradise island getaway in Korea. Only catch we went there in March and it was bl00dy freezing!!
