Saturday 18^th April 2009,

It is very difficult for yachts to move around the islands here. If you would like to sail there are different levels of cruising permits available which all must be done way in advance starting from 800USD for just 3 bays one of which we are in now. The next level up can cost many thousands of dollars for which you must take a guide onboard with you to instruct you where to anchor. Thus we decided to take a fast ferry over to Santa Cruz and then another to Isabella, the largest island in the chain.

We stayed in a lovely hotel by the beach and toured up to the islands volcano on horse back where we were able to see pretty much the entire island from waters edge to waters edge.

The wild life was amazing. We saw just about every thing the island had to show us including swimming iguanas, sharks, blue footed boobies and penguins. The amazing thing is that the penguins are the only one you will find in the Northern Hemisphere.