We were up at 6am for a ride to this nearby mangrove area in the zodiacs. It’s a nursery area for sharks including hammerhead sharks. It was a glorious still morning and a real highlight.

We got great pictures of 2 herons up in a tree.

For the bird enthusiasts with good cameras it was a perfect setting.

We didn’t see any sharks to start with but there were a number of quite large turtles. Then we saw some baby white tipped and black tipped oceanic sharks (we had Kay in our boat and she is a marine biologist so a great resource, especially when Jacinto was in the other boat). Then we saw some baby hammerheads sharks, 2 different types of sting rays and lots of other fish, both in the water and jumping. The water was quite shallow close to the mangroves and you could see to the bottom especially when the motor was off. There were all these little waterways through the mangroves that it would have been great to go down but probably unwise without first checking width and depth.

On the way back we saw a turtle frenzy suitable for R18 on the Discovery Channel.

It was a quick breakfast and then off the boat and into a bus for the ride to the airport. Kim and Melanie, Jodie and Kay all have another 3 or 4 days on the Daphne as they had booked the full 15 days. I was very envious. They will have almost a completely new crew and new guide as our crew gets a 3 week break before rejoining the boat for 6 weeks. It’s a pretty busy life for them during the season. They have long and disrupted hours and little or no private space, although they use the lounge in the evenings.

We had a quick breakfast back on board and then it was off to shore for our transfer to the airport. There were 9 of us leaving the boat and all 9 of us were going back to Quito. The airport at San Cristobal is ok. It has some souvenir shops and a cafe where they do a pretty good flat white, complete with palm leaf pattern. The flight to Quito was again via Guayaquil which is a small coastal city on the mainland. We sat on the plane while other passengers came and went. No food other than banana chips and coffee. The flight to Quito also came and went quickly. There was a transfer from Intrepid waiting for us and it was back to the Cartuja Hotel.

Mike and I got a room upstairs facing the road, complete with sun porch. It was spacious and very comfortable.

We had arranged to meet the others for dinner at 6 and 7 of us set out for the square with all the restaurants which is about a 10 minute walk away. Meriel (the doctor) had got a recommendation from the hotel and we walked a further 3 blocks to La Achiote, which is a traditional Ecuadorian gourmet restaurant. Seeing there were 7 of us, they shooed the promotional film crew out of one of the private rooms and set us up there. Soon we even appeared on their promotional film, which they hope will air on tv! Stars in the making – and it got us a free pisco (sp?) cocktail.

The food and service was amazing. We shared a couple of bottles of red wine with the group and each had something different and yummy off the menu – except for dessert. Meriel, Mike and I could not resist the marinated figs with warm cheese and cape gooseberries. Totally yum.

The restaurant people were very anxious that we intended to walk rather than taxi and made us put bags etc under our coats. It was all fine and there were 7 of us, but the entertainment area was really humming when we went back through and I wouldn’t have wanted to be there on my own or even with just Mike. Disturbingly there were quite a number of kids of about intermediate age whose job it was to stand on street corners and sell cigarettes. People would drive up and get a packet. Goodness only knows what else they were selling.

As always it was sad to say goodbye but hopefully we’ll hear from some of the group along the way. Nigel and Pam set off for the Amazon and then Buenos Aires and then a cruise to Antarctica via the Falkland Islands. They are away from home for 2 months in total. Pam will be in her element photographing all the bird life and Nigel loves capturing the landscapes.

Mike and I had a very early start so it was final packing when we got back at 11ish. I was very disappointed that we didn’t book longer on the boat and would be keen to return to the Galápagos Islands again.