Summary Day 3

3/17/13 We loaded the bus at 5:15am to head to the airport.  The drive to the new Quito airport takes about an hour and a half.  We stopped briefly along the way for some coffee and a view of Cotopaxi volcano.  The volcano towers over 19,000 feet in altitude.  From there it was an hour and a half flight to Guayaquil on the pacific coast.  It is the rainy season here and as we approached the airport we could see hundreds of square miles of fields and homes underwater.  Apparently, it is normal for this time of year.  Another hour and a half later we arrived at Balta Isand, took a bus to a ferry to transfer to Santa Cruz Island.  We crossed Santa Cruz to our hotel in the town Puerto Ayora.  We spent the remainder of the day at the Charles Darwin Research Center where we learned about many of the different conservation efforts under way on the islands.  We also had a chance to meet some of the local inhabitants.