February 10-17, 2016

8 Day Galapagos Cruise

Day 1

I arrived on Baltra Island, Santa Cruz mid-day and met up with the rest of the cruisers. There was one couple from Switzerland, two couples from Australia and a mother and son from the UK.  We all hopped on a bus and went off to the highlands of Santa Cruz to a farm area where Galapagos tortoises like to hang out.  We saw several cute guys and we think one cute lady.  The females usually only go to the highlands during mating season and the mating season had just ended.  We also saw some cute ducks and yellow warblers (one of Darwin’s finches).  After the tortoises, we went to explore a lava tube and also checked out some giant craters on the island.  We used the rest of the day to get settled in to the Millenium, our catamaran.  That night the cruisers hung out on the back of the boat with flashlights.  When we shone them on the water we could see sharks circling as well as sea lions.  There were also a couple of pelicans hanging around…we named them Polly and Peter.

Day 2

We started Day 2 early in another part of Santa Cruz and this is when the sea sickness started.  Luckily, we started the day with a hike on land and then snorkeling. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much from this day because I spent most of the day nauseous or lying on the sun deck so I wouldn’t feel nauseous.  The rest of the days were better, I think I got my sea legs (kinda), but I had very little appetite for the rest of the trip. This was actually great because I ended up losing a bunch of weight!!  We did see some cool things on Day 2.  I think the most exciting thing was when we went snorkeling and 10-12 sea lions got in the water and swam with us.  They love swimming full speed right at your face and then diving down at the last minute.  An absolutely thrilling and magical experience.

Day 3

We went to visitor’s center in San Cristobal where we learned about the interesting history of the islands (lots of pirates, prisoners, abuse of people, land and animals, and one murder). Marianne and Peter, the very sweet Swiss couple and I became travel buddies and enjoyed ice cream and soda at one of the restaurants.  Caroline and Guillermo, a Swiss/Italian couple joined the cruise.

On the other side of San Cristobal at Isla Lobos we went snorkeling with a sea turtle and sting ray. There were many sea lions as well. I lost part of my snorkel gear and Guillermo was nice enough to dive and get it for me.  Yeah, I’m a spaz…whatever.

We then hiked Isla Lobos. We saw a mom and baby sea lion that found each other with kisses and burping (I think I have a video somewhere). There was a blue footed boobie waiting for us. The island was very rocky. Sue, the older English lady, was amazing and walked the whole distance. We had to stop when we got to the area with high tide. We explored the trees and found a frigate bird with it’s chest inflated. We also saw many baby sea lions, crabs and dead sea urchins.

At night, after dinner, Marianne & Peter (Swiss couple), Charlie & Sue (mom and son from UK), David (Australian guy) and I went up to the sun (or moon) deck to see the moon and stars.  It was a clear and beautiful night.  We ended up having a very memorable sing along.  David knew the lyrics to all the songs we were singing but didn’t want to sing. Charlie sang us Redemption song.  Marianne, amazingly knew of every song we came up with and had a beautiful voice.  I contributed Dream a Little Dream of Me by the Mamas and the Papas.  We also attempted Bohemian Rhapsody…it was magnificent!

Day 4

We had a wet landing in San Cristobal and everyone got soaked. We hiked Punta Pitt, a dry mountainous landscape with a green sand beach. Saw many red footed boobies nesting here, some with young. They were a bit hard to see because they nest on the sides of the cliffs in trees.  We also saw many black iguanas. The area had beautiful views of the ocean.
In the afternoon, we went snorkeling across the way near a rocky outcropping. The island was surrounded by Frigate birds. Cute sea lion played with us the whole time. The sea lion bull was also in the water, scary and slow. While snorkeling we saw zebra fish, parrot fish and a small sting ray.

After lunch we all took a nap on the sun deck.  The sun deck was awesome.

Later around 2PM we took a long hike on Galapagena. It was very hot and we had to trudge through swamp water because it had rained. We saw a different breed of tortoises here that were smaller than the Santa Cruz ones. We got back to the beach a bit before sunset and it was beautiful. We were a bit frustrated with the guide…the hike was very difficult and he left some of the older, slower folks behind.

Day 5

Given how the previous day ended, we had a mellow day on the other side of San Cristobal. In the morning we found a sea lion chilling on the back of the boat, many pictures were taken.

During the day we went to a gorgeous beach. I walked down the beach though some lava rocks to explore. There were, of course, sea lions, many crabs and iguanas. Charlie, from the UK, pretended to be a sea lion and I pretended to be an iguana (I used the sarong Margaret gave me as my tail). It was very flattering. I found a little lagoon where little colorful fish were swimming. After our leisurely walk we went snorkeling. Saw a larger sting ray, many beautiful fish and get this, more sea lions.

In the afternoon, we went out to Sleeping Lyon rock, rode around it and then snorkeled through a channel between the rocks. It was quite terrifying. The current was very strong so you couldn’t see much unless you were right against the rocks. Once we were out of the channel, we saw a sea turtle and many sea urchins and anemones. There was also beautiful orange coral.

That evening the crew went to town in San Cristobal to party we stayed behind and played cards and drank wine. Also talked about religion a bit with Marianne, Peter, David and Caroline.

Day 6

We went to Espanola, the oldest island. We were supposed to have a dry landing but the tide was too high so we had to improvise and go up on the rocks. We saw a dead sea lion on the beach, a big female. We also saw tons of marine iguanas. The iguanas on Espanola have different coloring. They have more red because they eat red algae. The older/bigger ones also have green on their heads and backs. We hiked from the beach inland. There was a lot of lava rock but smoother because of the age of the island. We stopped to see the area where the Albatross land during mating season. Unfortunately, the mating season for the Albatross had ended so we did not see any actual Albatross. We did see a lot of lava lizards. They are bigger on this island. We hiked to the other side of the island where there are cliffs and saw tons of iguanas hanging out together. We also saw a bunch of Nazca Boobie colonies with their young. I felt like I was in a documentary. They are not afraid of humans so they let us get very close. We saw 2 hawks and again a lot of sea lions.

Following the hike, we went snorkeling in deep water near a small island. This is very rare, we saw more sea lions! Water was a bit murky but I saw a sting ray and many colorful fish including parrot fish, hieroglyphic hawkfish, trumpet fish, and swam with a large school of tuna.

In the afternoon, we headed to Gardener Bay. On the way, while relaxing on the deck, we noticed four Frigate birds using the wind from the boat to help them fly. They’re pretty lazy, those Frigate birds.  Gardner bay is a beautiful and serene beach. Sea lions were resting with their pups. There was also a lagoon where the pups were playing.  I walked the beach and saw sea turtle tracks and nests. There were several in one area. There were also iguanas, oyster catchers and other birds. We hung out at the beach for a while and watched a sea lion puppy looking for its mama. He didn’t find her while we were there but I’m sure he found her eventually.

That night we tried to recreate our sun deck sing along but I was not feeling well so I took sea sickness pill and went to bed.

Day 7

The last island we went to was Floreana, another old island.  We started the day with a hike on Floreana. We saw Galapagos Flamingos in a stinky lagoon.  They have adapted to life in the Galapagos.

On the other side of the island was the most amazing part of this trip for me, a sea turtle nesting. I was able to get great video (will need to figure out how to upload here). We also saw a dead sea turtle :-(, circle of life I guess.  In the surf we saw a bunch of sting rays eating. There were also coconuts washed up on the island but for some reason they don’t grow there.

In the afternoon we went snorkeling off the coast of Floreana and saw a white tipped shark, trumpet fish, needle fish and many other colorful fish. I also saw a strange olive green starfish and bright green coral. Oh and you won’t believe this but sea lions were swimming with us.

During lunch a Frigate bird sat on the winch arm of the boat and got a free ride.  I told you they’re lazy!

After lunch we went to Post Office Bay to swim with sea turtles. I saw one before we got in the water but none after. It was too murky. While there, we saw some kids pull up in a dingy to play soccer near the beach. There was a field. This area is called Post Office Bay because there is a “post office” where people leave their post cards for other people to take home if they are going that way.  This method of communication was used by explorers back in the day.  Darwin was here!!  It was cute.

During the evening we headed back to Santa Cruz.  On the way we saw whales, dolphins and Albatross hanging out in the ocean.

Day 8

On the last day we got up very early and went to the Darwin Research Center in Santa Cruz. Saw saddle back tortoises and giant iguanas at the research center.

Following our tour, we all said our goodbyes and I flew back to Guyaquil.  I decided to stay at a nice hotel and recover from a week on the open ocean.

The whole experience was absolutely amazing.  The scenery and wildlife were breathtaking and the company was delightful.  I’ll need to come back someday to explore Isabela island.

I’ve added some of the pictures from the trip but these are definitely not representative of everything I saw and if you know me, you know this isn’t even 1% of the total number of pictures I took.  Unfortunately, it takes a really long time to upload pictures and I’m having technical difficulties with Lightroom/Photoshop.  I’ll post more if I can.