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Published: August 14th 2008
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O.K, so we have finally made it to the the Galapagos Islands. After a rather lengthy delay on Tame Airlines and what at best could be described as optional security and barely controlled chaos at the airport we arrive to find out we have missed the first full day of our tour! Not exactly a great way to start but we are sure the next day will improve. We participate in what at the time I think is one of those stupid muster drills, where you take your life vest put it on and agree on a meeting place. Well, I will NEVER EVER COMPLAIN about this again. On our second to last day I was woke up from my afternoon nap by frantic spanish calling all hands to put out a fire. The message was repeated. Eric was working on the computer and I immediately told him to get his life vest, he thought I was nuts and not in any hurry to do anything. Next the announcement came in English that we were to get our life vests and proceed to a central location in a calm and orderly manner and this was not a drill. Still no word
about the fire. So we do and a roll call by name is taken. It was all things considered, very organized. After about an hour we were told everything was O.K and we could go back to our cabins. I later asked one of the officers and was told that there was a fire in an engine and there was all of the compressed gas next to it. Hmmm. our room is two floors directly over this, I wonder if they are moving this gas permenantly? I have to hand it to the crew of the Galapagos Explorer II, the whole process was organized and orderly and calm.
As far as the Galapagos go, they are an amazing collection of diverse islands, primarily volcanic, that are for the most part uninhabited by humans (although there are a few islands which do have humans). Ecuador strictly controls how many visitors, enforces manditory guides and even tells you where you can and can't go. Even with all of that and the fact that you are visiting 1% of the islands, the oppertunities to interact and see the animals in their natural states are bountiful. We saw breeding turtles (in the ocean),
mating alabatross, nesting pelicans, boobies and their young and newly born sea lions. For the most part, excluding that sea lion who chased me down the beach (that bugger was fast), the animals don't really care about the people who intrude on their space and pretty well ignore you at least on land. In the ocean and while snorkling is a whole other story. The sea lions play with you, grab your flippers, blow bubbles in your face and nip at your wet suits. I got nipped in the side, Eric was nipped in the..., well, let's just say it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen and I am lucky I didn't drown, I was laughing so hard. Galapagos is the only place I can think of where someone calling out "shark", generates a crowd of people swimming after the shark, as opposed to running for shore. It is a place where you can swim with the sea turtles and pose with the penguins and giant tortoises. Primarily inhabited by birds and reptiles and sea mammals, the Galapagos, is in short, like nowhere else on earth. Every turn yeilds a new suprise from flightless cormorants, who
have adapted to swim and fish better as opposed to fly, to marine iguanas who also have evolved into excellent swimmers. It is a place where dramatic landscapes are juxtaposed against beautiful animals, creating something truely needing to be seen to be believed.
Since words can't adequately discribe the surreal beauty, I will leave you with some of our pictures. As you can see, I was a little partial to the sea lions. The blog didn't publish all of the pictures.
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Rachel
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My husband and I went on the same boat. The crew was expetionally courteous. They treated us like royalty. How did you guys find out about the tours? We went through www.galapagos-inc.com and they booked everything for us. If you ever go down that way again, you should check them out. Isn't it amazing how tame the wildlife is? We had an amazing time and it looked like you guys did too.