Blogs from Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 102

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos January 13th 2005

Caleta Tagus - Isabela Punta Espinoza - Fernandina Last night was the longest part of the cruise as the Xpedition sailed around to the far side of Isabela island, to Caleta Tagus (Tagus Cove). Isabela is the largest island in the Galapagos (this is where the Sierra Negra volcano started erupting a few weeks ago). Not many Galapagos cruises come this far due to the distance. Tagus Cove is where many of the passing whalers left graffiti on the rocks that can still be seen. This was another good climb up to the peak above Darwin Lake, a flooded volcanic crater. Afterwards during a Zodiac ride around the bay we saw more penguins and blue footed boobies and a flightless cormorant, then we saw some dolphins! We snorkeled some more and saw several green sea turtles ... read more

Crusing the Galapagos

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos January 12th 2005

Bartolome Island

hauteboy

Las Bachas - Santa Cruz Bartolome - San Salvador This morning was one of the few opportunities to go scuba diving, I opted to do this instead of swimming on Las Bachas beach. One of the local dive companies came out to meet the boat, there were 5 passengers diving today. It was quite expensive at $120 for a two-tank dive. The water in the Galapagos is also surprisingly cold for it being on the equator, 50 to 60 degrees is normal! They provided full 5mil suits with hood and gloves. We would be diving off of Daphne islet, a wall dive with an opportunity to see hammerheads. I had never used a hood before, and had problems with my mask leaking once underwater, so my first dive was spent mainly clearing my mask! The second ... read more

Onboard the Xpedition

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos January 11th 2005

Charles Darwin Center

hauteboy

Puerto Ayora - Santa Cruz Cerro Dragon - Santa Cruz This morning the ship headed for Puerto Ayora, the main town in the Galapagos; it lies at the opposite side of Santa Cruz from the airport. Over 20,000 people actually live in the Galapagos, and you can use the Internet here. There were two activities this morning, the first one visiting the Charles Darwin center and viewing the tortoise raising area and Lonesome George, a 180+ year old tortoise, the last of his subspecies. The other activity was going to the highlands of Santa Cruz and seeing the tortoises in their natural habitat. It was supposedly raining today in the highlands, so we opted for the Darwin center. We would be returning to Puerto Ayora on Saturday, so there was a second chance to go to ... read more

Onboard the Xpedition

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos January 10th 2005

Playful sealion

hauteboy

Kicker Rock - San Cristobal P. Baquerizo - San Cristobal Punta Suarez - Espanola It was an early start to the day for us as we had signed up for the early morning activity, a Zodiac ride around Kicker Rock. We were on the lookout for more blue footed boobies, sea lions, Sally Lightfoot crabs, etc. However it was a bit of a letdown after the amazing introduction yesterday afternoon. Afterwards, we went snorkeling, this turned out to be a blast! There were several sealions in the water with us, they'd come up and blow air, then dart away before coming back and looking at us. It was hilarious! During lunch, we cruised to the next island, Espanola, the southernmost island in the archipelago. Our destination here was Punta Suarez, on the western tip of the ... read more

Galapagos!

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos January 9th 2005

Land Iguana

hauteboy

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 ... read more

Heaven on Earth located off the coast of Ecuador

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos November 7th 2004

Mr. Iguana - King of Galapagos

russ

This diary is dedicated to all my fellow animal lovers and tree-huggers out there, I've just spent almost the last two weeks admiring Gods handywork out in the Galapagos Islands... that place is amazing! Snorkling with the friendliest most playfull sealions just about everyday, with the ocasional tortoise, shark, pinguin or manta-ray glyding past for a look, then exploring endless islands with differant colored beaches, cactuses, volcanoes loaded up with wierd birds and Iguanas - and eating fresh seafood for pretty much every meal... I had a fantastic time, and as per usual I was blessed with fantastic company for the whole time I was there. Maria-rosita inparticular, la pasé spectacular mientras estaba contigo y te extraño un monton, besos :) I did a 4day cruise because it was all I could find at short notice, ... read more

The Galapagos Islands!

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos October 17th 2004

Galapagos

PeteSarah

Ok bods, probably one of the more interesting ones I hope - if you like wildlife and beautiful islands, that is. So we departed Quito on friday 8th October so this is where I begin. Friday - getting there Flight to Galapagos Baltra Airport via Guayaquil, uneventful. Guayaquil looks a bit swampy (Ecuador´s largest city - Quito is the capital but a bit smaller), so quite glad we´re not stopping there at any point. On arrival at Baltra airport we took some cool pictures of the mysterious-looking volcanic island-rocks. Paid the $100 dólar park entrance fee and met our guide, the rather more senior and charismatic than expected "César", to take us to the good ship "Amigo". We took a bus for 5 minutes to a canal (the bit of sea between Baltra island and Santa ... read more

Galapagos Islands Adventure

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos May 29th 2004

Galapagos Islands

m1941426

I was assigned by the company I work for to an audit in Colombia and Ecuador for 2 weeks, and the work was going to end a day before my 30th anniversary. I didn´t know if I was going to go back home to celebrate it with my friends and family, since I didn´t wanted to spend that day alone, so I thought... if I am going to be away from home on my birthday, I need to do something amazing, and that was the moment when Galapagos Islands came to my mind. I had one the the most incredible experiences of my life during that trip.... read more

Archipelago of Colon aka Galapagos Islands

South America » Ecuador » Galápagos May 1st 2004

farrell

Ok, random trivia. The Galapagos Islands are officially named the Archipelago de Colon; they are part of Ecuador and sit 960km off the Ecuadorian coast. They are also about 90% national park. The only way to walk on the islands is with a Park Naturalist/guide. These islands were the inspiration for Darwin’s Origin of Species. The islands are famed for their vast array of wildlife, much of it endemic. (Pick word I learned). The islands are most famous for the Giant Tortoises that are found there, but I think the birds provided a more spectacular show. But I get ahead of myself. I still had to get there and that was an adventure in and of itself. I was currently some 900 nautical miles away in Panama. (One nautical mile is about 1.15 statute miles … ... read more

Brief history of Ecuador

The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Colombia and Venezuela). Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A b...more history

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