Santa Cruz, the Galapagos

Hello Writers!
6/19
I traveled from Portland, Oregon through Houston, Texas to Guayaquil, a city on the coast of Ecuador.
6/20
I arrived about 4:00 am, went to a hotel and slept for two hours, then got up and went to the airport to fly to Baltra in the Galapagos. A bus ride to the dock for a boat ride to Santa Cruz, and a taxi ride brought me to Puerto Ayora. I rented a small apartment at the Casa del Lago with a a huge bottle of drinking water, a refrig in the kitchen and patio with plants that overlooks the pila, the outdoor stone washing tub. There´s just a short walk to the dock and shopping areas. Cyber cafes sit next to restaurants, tour boat offices, and souvenir shops with carved wooden turtles, silver jewelry, and shirts with sharks, tutles, and birds.
6/21-22
The ocean here is the most incredible turquoise. I walked out on the dock and saw a baby hammerhead shark swimming by the pier. The tide was out and red crabs gingerly picked their way from rock to rock by the dock, skirting marine iguanas sunning themselves in groups, clinging to the rock walls of the pier. A trip through town produced a bakery where I bought sweet rolls; a supermarket where I got milk in a small box, coffee--in spite of growing coffee here, everyone seems to drink powdered Nescafe--and sunscreen that is essential in this sun; a vegetable and fruit market where I got red grapes from Chile, an avocado, tomatoes, a ripe pineapple and fresh green peas, shelled for cooking. In the evening, I walked around the town, not needing a coat or shirt. It rains during the night and the sound of the rain on the tile roof wakes me for a little bit. I got caught in the rain at the bakery on Sunday morning and shared a taxi home with a woman and her baby who live across the street. Great luck!!