This is a farce. We have been back for weeks. Lo siento.

Well, by this point most of you must realize that we are in fact, back in the good old US of A. It seemed a bit anti-climactic to blog about our adventures when we are back and have talked to most of you, but for the sake of posterity, I am going to do it. The mind is a constant sieve.

When we last left you, we were meeting my family in the Galapagos Islands. To say it was a good way to end the trip is the understatement of the year. It was the coolest place I have ever been (and I have been to some places). We spent 10 days there starting off in Quito for a few days before the fam arrived. We stayed at a great little hostel called the Magic Bean and enjoyed a blackberry margarita nearly every night at the Mexican restaurant next door. We took a little morning trip to the equator. That's right, we stood on it. There's a line and everything. It's called Mitad del Mundo and it's about an hour bus ride from the city. We were tired of buses, but we pushed forward. How could you be thisclose and not want to have one foot in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern? You would have done the same. I know it.

Once everyone arrived we spent a day at Otavalo Market and then flew to the islands. We spent about eight days cruising around to all of the islands seeing the most incredible sites ever. Words here, no matter how well put, are not going to do it justice so check out the pictures we have also posted. I think you will think they rival the salt flat pictures. We hiked on lava formations, saw scorpions, snakes and a ginormous whale skeleton. We jumped off the boat into shark infested waters (really), enjoyed afternoon snacks provided by Jairo, our favorite waitstaff member, watched many sunsets over the ocean and spotted very rare species with our benovelant tour guides, Orlando and Alexis.

I cannot say enough about the wildlife we saw. Remember that I worked at an aquarium for four years and generally was surrounded by fantastic sea creatures for 9-12 hours a day. We snorkeled every single day and on any given day we found ourselves snorkeling with sea lions, sea turtles, penguins, white-tipped reef sharks (i did not like this), giant sea rays, marine iguanas and tons of colorful fish. The draw of the Galapagos for many people is that the animals found there are absolutely unafraid of you. A penguin came up behind me and nibbled on my fin. That same penguin tried to take a bite out of Matt's arm. A sea lion swam up (I am not exaggerating) about two inches from my face before diving out of the way. They love to play with you and I think if ring-a-round-the-rosy could be taught to them, they would willingly participate.

Why aren't they afraid? Basically because they have never been threatened or injured by humans. The islands and about 40 miles of water surrounding the islands are protected by the Galapagos National Park and becuase of that, word has spread in the animal kingdom and animals all over the world are flocking to the islands for sunshine, kind humans and to evade the IRS. There are plenty of animal species that could not and should not survive and thrive there, but they do. Flamingos, being one example. We saw the insanely huge Galapagos tortoises and met Lonesome George who is the most famous animal in the world. He is the last surviving male Pinta Tortoise on earth (or otherwise) and if he dies before he makes some babies, the species will be extinct. The only problem is that if there are any female Pinta tortoises alive, no one can find one. No pressure George.

It was a pretty surreal experience and one I would certainly recommend to those of you who thought our 36 hour bus riding-goat eating-spanish speaking-four days without showering-backpack carrying-border crossing trip was not exactly the definition of vacation. We know you're out there, and it's okay, we love you anyway.

Check out the pictures and stay tuned for the aftermath of what happens when you take a six-month trip during the Super-Duper Depression (it's officially worse than the Great, right?)

Up Next: We start paying the consequences.