Galapagos!

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Flight: Quito to Baltra, TAME 191 (320)
Hotel: Onboard the Xpedition, Cabin 502
Yet another early start this morning as our flight to the Galapagos departed at 7:30. All the cruise passengers were milling about in the lobby of the Marriott; we decided to beat the crowds and grabbed a taxi to the airport. The domestic terminal at Quito was pretty small, only a couple of gates. There was a Celebrity representative waiting at the airport already, after having our bags inspected by the agriculture station to make sure you don't bring in any fruits/vegetables, she took our bags and checked us in; they would take care of the bags on the other end and deliver them to our cabin. The flight was on TAME on a brand new A320, an all-economy configuration. Normally, TAME only runs two flights a day to the Galapagos via Guayaquil; but they had an extra B727 scheduled today that was departing at the same time as ours. TAME and AeroGal are the two airlines that fly to the Galapagos. Our flight was to Baltra island, where most of the Galapagos cruises depart. There are also flights to San Cristobal in the Galapagos, make sure you book flights to the correct island! The service onboard was fine (better than most US Airlines now) with a decent meal served onboard. The flight was about 2.5 hrs from Quito, including a quick stop in Guayaquil. Baltra is a very barren island, it used to be a US Air Force base during WWII. On arrival, you must pay the $100 Galapagos park fee (ours was already paid as part of the cruise). The terminal is pretty basic, open on all sides as it rarely rains. The temperature was great, in the low 80's, and clear blue sky. Celebrity had buses on hand to shuttle us to the boat dock, about 5 minutes from the airport. Once there, donned our life vests and had to wait awhile for the Zodiacs to shuttle everyone onboard. We also saw our first Galapagos wildlife; there were several sea lions lounging on the dock, and didn't seem to mind or ccare that there were dozens of tourists snapping photos mere inches away! The Xpedition is one of the largest ships in the Galapagos, but only holds 98 passengers and so lacks many of the amenities in the newer megaships. However compared to most of the Galapagos boats, which only hold 8-20 people, it's luxurious. Most of the passengers were in the late 30 to 60 age range. As everyone boarded, they were handed a cool towel and fruit juice and led to the lounge. The Xpedition cruise is all-inclusive, all food and (most) beverages are covered. The captain and cruise director welcomed everyone onboard, then we were led to our cabins. We had splurged for the Xpedition Suite (cabin 502). The 230sqft blue room had two double beds, a sofa, desk, TV, bathroom and a verandah. This would be the first cruise for my wife, and my second cruise, the first was transpacific on the QEII in 1999. We explored the boat a bit, there are 6 decks, two restaurants, and two bars. The upper deck has a mini gym and sauna, there is also a hottub but no swimming pool. Lunch was served in the main restaurant, buffet style. After lunch, the cruise briefing was held in the lounge. Jaime described the ship and our planned itinerary for the next week. There are two excursions a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. These excursions were further divided into levels of activity, low, medium and high. The low intensity activity involved climbing into the Zodiac and watching the wildlife, the middle/high involved shore landings and walking, though neither were strenuous and by the end of the trip I felt I needed some exercise Each group of 10-14 people per Zodiac had their own naturalist. Shore landings were either wet or dry; there are no docks on any of the islands so you must either disembark onto the rocks, or jump out in the surf. There also was usually a few hours devoted to snorkeling. Snorkeling equipment was provided free for everyone interested, but unlike many other Galapagos boats, the Xpedition does not have scuba equipment onboard. There were signup sheets available for the afternoon activity. After the safety drill, the ship set sail for North Seymour, just north of Baltra island. Seymour is similar to Baltra, flat and dry, formed by uplifting from the sea floor. It is home to colonies of frigate birds, blue footed boobies, marine and land iguanas. Unfortunately I had made a bad mistake and grabbed rolls of already developed film for some of the best photo ops of the trip as I ran out of film two minutes after leaving the boat!!! We rode around the coast in the Zodiac and saw blue footed boobies, sea lions, fur seals, and a pelican before disembarking on a dry landing. We walked about a half mile along the marked paths (you must stay on the path!!). The paths can be very rocky, so you need a good pair of hiking/walking shoes. There were still many frigate birds on the island although it was towards the end of mating season when they migrate. Many of the males had inflated their bright red neck sacs. All the animals were amazingly tame, they didn't seem to notice that we were there at all. We saw several land iguanas, which can get up to 3' long. They are different from the more well known marine iguanas. Land iguanas are a yellowish brown color, marine iguanas are usually black, except in mating season (which it was in January), when they turn bright green and red. After reboarding the ship and freshening up, dinner was served in Darwin's Restaurant. Dinners were a full 5-course meal, almost all had freshly caught local fish. Skip the beef, it's all local as they can't import any from the mainland and it ends up being tough! After dinner, there was another briefing to go over the next days activities.

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