It's hard to stay out of the gutter, when you need a ladder to climb from the street to the curb, and a rowboat to reach the hotel's front door. And all Maria did was cross the Equator into Costa Rica
April 27th – Otavala, San Antonio Ibarra and Cotocachi Thought that vacations were supposed to be restful! Ernesto right on time as usual and Tom was late as usual. We stopped after about half an hours travel at a shop where a little ol gramma and grandpa make and sell figurines and ornaments of bread [...]
April 25th – Quito Another long travel day. We seem to spend a lot of time sitting in airports. At least this time on the Guayaquil stop we got to avoid the Ecuadorian fire drill and were allowed to stay on the plane. Back in Quito late afternoon. Too late for shopping. Dinner at restarante [...]
April 24th – Plaza Island to Santa Cruz Island El dia ultima. Que lastima. Our last day of diving, and last day on the Aggressor II Albatross. The crew has been great, especially the panga (dinghy) drivers. They were always watching for us, always concerned with our welfare, and always quick to pick us up. [...]
April 23rd – Roca Redonda Did I say small? Roca Redonda is real tall, but real tiny! As Frederico observed, “a small rock in a big water”. Can I spell scary? Frederico also astutely commented to me, “I have dive every site in islands. But HERE I am always especially careful.” Where the current hits [...]
April 22nd – Darwin Island Awoke to a cloudy, dreary day at Darwin Island. Have been traveling since 0300 from Wolf. Darwin is another island, like Wolf, that is inhabited solely by birds. There are trees and greenery visible on the flat top, and the sides rise vertically 350 feet from the sea. On the [...]
The islands that inspired Charles Darwin's theory 
Ria hopes she brought enough clothes for her 3-hour tour, when the weather in the Galapagos Islands starts to turn as stormy as Gilligan's Island. 
Wee-Cheng is the only creature that didn't come to the Galapagos by accident. The gay tortoise is another matter. 