The Galapagos Islands

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My trip to the Galápagos Islands was definitely one of the best things I have done so far this year and I have been looking forward to writing about it and having the chance to reflect on all that I did and saw. However it was so jam-packed that it is going to take a bit of work now, almost two months later, to remember it all in the correct order! I shall embrace the challenge as I chill out in the cooling evening air in Honduras.

Day 89 - Monday 28th November - Arriving and Las Bachas

We had been advised by the lady who ran the hostel in Guayaquil to get to the airport to fly to the Galápagos Islands in good time as there are two things that you have to do before you fly in addition to the usual pre-flight faff. Firstly you have to have your luggage screened to ensure that you are not bringing in items that will contaminate the environment on the islands. Secondly you have to pay the entrance fee and get a voucher to say that you are allowed in. Fortunately neither of these things took too long, although it wasn't immediately obvious where you were supposed to go when we first arrived at the airport. We also met a rep from our cruise company who confirmed that we were all booked on (despite the still unresolved payment issues) and gave us a sticker to wear so that we could be rounded up into the appropriate tour group when we arrived in Baltra. (Interesting fact about Baltra - during the Second World War it was a base for the United States airforce.)

Arriving in the Galápagos Islands was almost surreal. It was hard to believe that you were actually in such a unique place that so much has been written about. There were 90 people on our cruise so it took a bit of time to organise us all onto buses. In addition to other random add-ons like us there were larger groups of Chinese tourists and American tourist for whom the cruise was just part of a longer organised trip. There was also a group of doctors who had talks in times when we weren't doing activities. We left our bags for others to deal with (they had been tagged with our cabin number so they just appeared by our cabins later in the day) and were ferried to the jetty to get on small boats (called pangas) over to the cruise ship. Even on the jetty we were greeted by a sea lion who came over to see us.

The cruise ship (I'm not sure if ship is the right word because it wasn't that big - not what you normally think of when you hear the words cruise ship - and our tour leader kept on saying we weren't on a cruise because there were too many activities to do for the days to be relaxing and we would just have to recover afterwards) was soooo luxurious. Our cabin had two comfortable beds, side tables, a desk, a wardrobe and a bathroom with a shower with hot water and complementary soap, shampoo and conditioner. It was designed so that you could store your luggage under the bed. The room was serviced three times a day - including turned back the covers and leaving out a chocolate on the bed in the evening. We had two sets of towels - one for on the boat (blue) and one for activities (white). Everytime we went out to do an activity, by the time we returned there was a fresh set of towels already in the room ready for the next trip. And our cabin was the most basic - on higher decks people had suits!

On the lower deck was the dining room. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style with as much food as you could possibly want. At lunch you had to choose your supper options and this was served at about 8pm as a sit-down meal. There were cookies, coffee, tea and drinking water available all day. I ate well, especially as most days we had aperativo in the bar before supper too. The bar had indoor and outdoor seating and was a great place to watch the sunset. There was also a library with lots of seating and a tv/games room that I never used. There were two jacuzzis on one of the decks and a sun deck on top. It was the most luxurious thing I have ever done. There were two couples on board who had also got a cheaper deal in Ecuador - one younger couple from Denmark and one older couple from Israel. For most other people it seemed to be a more usual style of travel for them. Most of the people on the cruise were either our age, or more often older, with the exception of a family with young adult "children" and the couple from Denmark.

The days followed a fairly standard routine. We started with an early breakfast. There would then be one land-based activity and one water activity before lunch. After a bit of a siesta (during the hottest part of the day) there was another water activity followed by a walk. When we got back to the boat there were drinks in the bar, a briefing for the following day and then supper. On a couple of evenings there were after-dinner activities too.

On our first day we had a briefing for the day's activities soon after we arrived on the boat. This was followed by lunch and then, when the hottest part of the day had past, we got back on the pangas again for our first adventure. We went to Las Bachas beach where we had time to swim and meet some of the local sea lions. The 90 people on the cruise were divided into three smaller groups throughout the five days, and these groups were split in two again, so you ended up doing activities in groups of 15. Our group was called Boobies two - named after the birds. Boobies one consisted of the Americans from the organised tour. In our group we had the tour leader and some of his family members, some leftovers from the tour who only came out with us on the first day because they had problems walking and a family from the States. After our refreshing dip we had our first guided walk along the beach to observe the wildlife. We had a great guide who really knew his stuff. The animals I remember most from the first walk were the herons, the blue-footed boobies and the red crabs. We also saw lots of sea lions - including plenty of cubs. The main event of the walk though was going to a small lake a bit further down the beach where we were lucky enough to see a flamingo.

We walked back to our drop-off point as the sun was setting. It was a great sunset! When we got back on the boat we had time for a quick change before cocktails (and huge amounts of popcorn) with the captain in the bar. We met all the crew and had our briefing for the next day. Then it was supper time. After supper I found a book in the library which turned out to be very gripping (although a bit violent) and I finished in the week.

Day 90 - Tuesday 29th November - Santiago Island

This day started with a panga ride along the coastline of Santiago island to admire the rock formations and for bird spotting. We saw a lot more blue footed boobies. We then had our first opportunity to test out our snorkelling equipment. This snorkelling experience involved going into the sea directly from the pangas which put quite a few people off. It had been a while since I had done any snorkelling and it took me a bit of time to get used to breathing under water. (Fortunately I've had lots of opportunities to practise since 😊 ) We swam for about an hour. Our group only saw fish, whereas the others saw sharks. I was very happy just to see fish though. It felt like swimming in an aquarium.

In the afternoon we were dropped off on a different part of the island to do some more snorkelling - this time from the beach. This was my favourite snorkelling that I did in the Galápagos because we got to swim with turtles. It was amazing to see them so close to. Again there were lots of sea lions lazing around on the beach, not bothered about the presence of the humans. There were also some cool rock formations. The walk took us past large cacti and tiny lizards as well as the usual collection of sea lions, pelicans and iguanas. We saw lava flows and rock pools. Some of the rock pools filled up and drained away quite dramatically with each wave. We got to see a huge variety of birds which unfortunately I have forgotten the names of. We had yet another great sunset.

Tonight was sushi nights in the bar during happy hour. After supper, the professional photographer on board gave a short lecture with tips on taking good pictures, many of which we all duly tried to put into practise the next day. We then had a trip up to the sun deck to learn about the stars we could see. The guides had the most amazing lazers that went miles up into the sky. I stayed up on deck for quite a while with an American couple and the photographer learning the photographer's names for the stars. It was a very funny evening and the best on the trip.

Day 91 - Wednesday 30th November - Rabida Island and Bartolemo Island

Today started with a walk along the red sand beach. This was the day to spot Darwin's famous finches. At the end of the beach was a small lagoon where we actually saw some green leaves on the trees. (Most of the trees we saw on the trip were leafless and we hardly saw any flowers at all. Apparently in the wet season the green appears.) The walk continued inland past more large cacti and up to some great views of the beach with the boat in the background. On the other side of the island the sea was the most amazing blue colour at the bottom of red cliffs. By the end of the walk it was really hot. Fortunately we were able to get back into the water soon after for another snorkel from the panga. I decided to hire a wetsuit for the rest of the trip so that I could swim for longer without getting too cold. This time we were dropped off at one end of the cliff faces and swam to the other end. I saw some sting rays and great starfish that looked like cookies. I missed the sharks again though. The morning was topped off with a quick dip in the jacuzzi.

In the afternoon we had the chance to go snorkelling with penguins! (Probably the only place in the world you can swim with penguins because the water isn't too cold.) However it wasn't very easy to swim with penguins because they swim fast. I did see them on the rocks and I was in the water while they were in the water but I can't say that I saw any swimming alongside me. After this we walked up to the most famous site in the Islands. From the viewpoint you can see the main Islands in the archipeligo. The walk also went past many volcanic craters and we learnt more about how the islands are formed. A busy day was topped off with a panga ride along the coast where we got a much better view of the penguins. The only problem was that as soon as the sun went down we were attacked by mosquitos.

Back on board it was bar-b-que night on the deck by the bar. A little appetiser before the main event. While we were waiting for the food to be served we had a great view of some sharks swimming by the boat.

Day 92 - Thursday 1st December - Genovesa

Today we visited an island at the top of the archipelago. (We had crossed the equator the evening before and sailed all night. This is the only island where you can see the red footed boobies. Actually you can see all three boobies on the one island - red footed, blue footed and Nazca. To get on to the island you hadto climb up a staircase. The island was a bird-lovers paradise. There were many other species of bird as well as the boobies. We even got to see an owl. The red footed boobies are my favourite so I have lots of pictures! After the walk we went for a panga ride along the coast line and got to see even more birds (and some seals and sea lions). Matthew and I had decided to do some kayaking for our water activity rather than more snorkelling. It was quite an easy kayak which was probably just as well as neither of us are very experienced. We went back along the coastline with the tide. It was nice to do something different.

After lunch we had the opportunity to listen to a talk about Darwin and his time in the Islands. I discovered I knew very little about the subject. The woman who spoke was very knowledgable and passionate, but the post-lunch spot is never an easy gig and I did lose focus a bit!

Next it was time for our final snorkel and walk. It was probably the least interesting snorkel, but I did finally see sharks and another ray. Many people decided to sit the final walk out, but they missed out. As well as yet more red footed boobies, we got to wade through an inlet where they were more rays hiding. Back on board, I watched the sunset from the bar deck and then wear our final briefing, which included a presentation of the photos taken by the professional photographer.

Day 93 - Friday 2nd December - San Cristobal

This morning we had to say goodbye to our cabin and the rest of the boat. The luxury was over 😞 However we felt very fortunate to be having an extra night on the island. Everybody else was flying to the mainland that lunchtime. Fortunately there was one more treat in store. We went to visit a giant tortoise sanctuary. We were told that some groups only see one tortoise in the whole time (not including the babies in the nursery), so we were extremely lucky because we kept on seeing more and more. We had the advanta of being there at feeding time. They're very impressive animals.

We had been told that we would be dropped off at our hotel, but our guide forgot. He kindly paid for a taxi for us from the airport, but it turned out that it really was just down the road. The town we were in, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, is the capital city of the islands, but it is very small. It only has two main streets and no Internet cafe! After we had settled into the hotel, we went into town for some lunch and then took a hot walk to a discovery centre about the Islands. Fortunately the centre was covered and really interesting. It covered all the history of the Islands and the current situation. After another hot walk back to the hotel and some recovery time, we set off once again to find a beach where I had read that we would be able to see some land iguanas. Unfortunately this turned out to be misinformation, but there were lots of sea iguanas and yet more sea lions. The day was capped off with a sunset cocktail before supper.

Day 94 - Saturday 3rd December - Return to Quito

Our flight back to Quito was at about midday. I had had grand plans to get up early enough to walk to the viewpoint at the end of town, but they amounted to nothing in the end! Instead I just about got up in time to go into town to buy some souvenirs before we walked down the road to the airport. Here we ran into the guides from our tour who had come to collect the new tour group. It would have been so amazing to join them but sadly our Galápagos adventure was at an end.

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