Our Galapagos Adventure – Part One

Amazing, incredible and like something out of time, we just returned from our Galapagos Islands adventure full of great memories, tons of pictures and maybe just a bit exhausted.  It has taken me a few days to even begin to put this together for you and I am really not sure the best way to share the adventure, so I will just start at the beginning, probably breaking this into two blogs. If you can read it on a screen bigger than a phone, you will enjoy the pictures much more.

You will recall that both Jackie and I are wildlife biologists and that I was a naturalist and park ranger early in my career.  Jackie taught biology to middle schoolers and natural selection and evolution were critical elements of that teaching.  So a trip to where Darwin first observed and later wrote about the process of natural selection was somewhere between bucket list and trip of a lifetime for us.

Quito, Ecuador

The Galapagos Islands are located 600 miles west of the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Island.  To start our journey with Celebrity Cruises we first flew from Atlanta to Quito, Ecuador – in the foothills of the Andes mountains.  Nearly 10,000 feet elevation. Once off the plane and with our collected bags we were met by Celebrity hosts and driven to our grand hotel, the JW Marriott – a drive that was about an hour on some very crowded roads.  A nice welcome, with arrival drinks and warm hand towels, and we were soon in our room checking out our goodies.  We each had a medium sized backpack and metal water bottle, compliments of Celebrity, that would be used for the cruise excursions.  We had some health and declaration paperwork to complete for the flight to Baltra, but the next day would be an excursion around the city.

The included breakfast buffet was a gorgeous spread of fruits, cheeses, pastries, omelets – I made sure to try the dragon fruit, papaya, cherimoya, golden berries and other fruits.  Cruisers were divided into smaller groups of 10 – 12 with a guide and by 9am we were on our bus headed into Quito.  The city sprawls across hills and canyons and is divided by tunnels running through the hills.  We headed into the older Spanish Colonial section first, reaching a hilltop with a huge metal sculpture of the Virgin Mary slaying a dragon – with views of the city and surrounding volcanic mountains. One nice touch was an earpiece we each wore that was connected to our guide, so we could easily hear everything that was said as we walked about.

Deeper into the UNESCO section of the city we began a walk along the crowded streets, filled with sidewalk vendors of all sorts and stalls of fruits, vegetables, cooked meats, candies, crafts – just a wild scene.  Each tour group also had an extra security guard who kept an eye on any locals who might be too eager – but we had no problems.  Our first stop was one of the many Catholic churches – decorated in an amazing Baroque style (which meant every surface had to be decorated, mostly in gold leaf).  We also visited the St. Francis Monastery, just off the large central square that was filled with performers and more vendors, some who had beautiful woven scarves of Alpaca – eager to show you all the colors and designs.  Inside the monastery was a beautiful courtyard, but of course I had to check out the monk’s brewery, which was more museum than active brewery, but they did serve their beer in a tasting room.

We kept walking around the bustling streets, into the square with the Presidential Palace and then to another monastery for a delicious lunch buffet served in the courtyard.  Back on the bus and an hour’s drive later we were at a museum park that sat on the equator.  We were told that the traditional equatorial marker just a block away (and quite crowded and fancy) was originally set by French explorers but more accurate GPS put the location where we were standing.  There were several demonstrations of the odd behavior of the Equator, such as no drain swirl on the Equator, but clockwise or counter clockwise just three feet to either side.  Tried to balance an egg on end (couldn’t quite do it) and we of course had pictures straddling the line. 

The museum had some historic shelters and artifacts to explore and after being treated to a chocolate tasting I chased down a fancy hummingbird and yellow bird (not sure of the species) in the shrubs and then it was back on the bus and an hours drive to the hotel.  A lot of traffic, even with some hefty public transportation – bus stations in the median of the roads, trolleys and double and triple section buses.  A quick moment at the hotel to freshen up and we were off again for dinner out.  We had a really delicious meal – yellowfin tuna appetizer, most of our table had a big veal shank, I had beef hind (like a pot roast), followed by a dessert selection.  Back at the hotel we had to repack our bags and take them to the lobby, keeping only our backpacks.  A requirement for the flight to Galapagos was having all bags checked and certified so nothing biological is introduced to the islands.

A note about the altitude and preparation.  We took some prescribed medications to help with oxygen uptake and were sure to keep well hydrated.  The regimen of pills was started the day before arrival and the day we left.  It seemed to help, but you still found yourself taking a big deep breath every so often.

To the Islands

Another delicious breakfast buffet (mmm, good coffee), then boarding buses to the airport – still in our groups, which did make it easier to meet some of our fellow cruisers.  The flight to Baltra on the islands was 2 hours, arriving with beautiful weather.  Much fuss was made about having the entry QR code on your phone to pass immigration, but it worked out fine.  We identified our luggage, which was brought to the ship for us.  Another short shuttle to the dock where we boarded the zodiac rafts for the first time and made our approach to the ship (with a brief visit to our first blue footed booby sighting on the rocks and lots of frigate birds circling overhead).  We are in the tropics now!

The “Welcome Aboard” greeting was wonderful, with the captain and all key crew shaking hands and welcoming us aboard – warm hand towels, champagne and an escort to our suite.  There a bottle of champagne, cookies and chocolates awaited us as we were shown how to operate the lights, the infinite veranda and shown the stocked mini bar. We had a few minutes to explore the ship before lunch at 1:30.  There are only two floors of suites for the 100 guests, the dining room and lounge/bar deck, upper deck with grill, bar and hot tub and the marina deck where your wet gear is and where you board the zodiac tenders.  Oh and there is a very small pool – like hot tub size.   

There was a 3:30 muster drill and a 4:00 briefing about the options for the next day’s excursions and how to connect to Wi-Fi.  Information overload.  Doug chose a long walk and snorkel off the beach for the morning, Jackie the short walk and beach snorkel.  For the afternoon we chose the tender ride along the coast followed by deep water snorkeling.  By 5:00 we were being fitted for snorkel gear, fins and wetsuits.  Snorkel gear was placed in numbered mesh bags and hung on hooks that corresponded to our suite number, wetsuits on hangers also numbered to our suite.  That was a fun exercise slipping into wetsuits that might have been a bit small, exchanged and then zipped up for proper fit.  These were short sleeved, mid thigh wetsuits, although we also brought some dive skins (essentially long tights and long sleeve UV shirts).

But wait, there’s more on this first day scramble:  A presentation about the ship followed by a champagne welcome toast.  Dinner, finally, at 7:30 and then back to the suite to unpack and hit the sack.

Morning Excursion

Monday was our first day official of the cruise, begun with a delicious buffet breakfast and followed by our tender assignments.  Boarding the tenders was a routine that we had to master.  First you had to have just the right things in your backpack – water bottle, reef safe sunscreen, towel and change of socks and shoes, depending on wet or dry landing.  Then you grabbed your mesh bag if snorkeling, put on a life jacket, THEN your backpack over that, carrying the mesh bag to your tender and handing it off to the crew.  Grab the rail as the steps bob up and down and then step carefully down, taking your place along the canvas floatation.  Zoom, zoom and we were off to the shoreline.

This was on Santiago Island, at Puerto Egas and a wet landing.  That meant you wore water shoes to step off the ramp at the water’s edge of the beach.  It also meant that to hike you needed to quickly change into your dry hiking shoes, leaving your water shoes on the beach.  The hike was amazing.  Beautiful weather in the mid 70’s – we were greeted by a pair of Galapagos Hawks on shore.  And what else?  How about some of Darwin’s finches, Galapagos mockingbird, frigatebirds, pelicans, lava herons, Galapagos doves, and … large land iguanas and little lava lizards among the cactus and scrub, fur seals, sea lions, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs … wow.  Just right there, up close and personal, as if they were posing for you.  Lots of pictures taken, of course.  Other birdlife spotted included the elusive (to me anyway) yellow warbler, oystercatcher, yellow crowned night heron and lava gulls.  You can pretty much preface every bird or animal with “Galapagos” or “Lava” … maybe “Darwin.”

Back at the black sand beach our group caught up with Jackie’s group and we changed into our wetsuits and snorkels, struggling to put on the fins, naturally, and slipping into the cold water (57 degrees!)  But oh what a beautiful reef.  Fish all around: yellow-tailed surgeon fish, king angelfish, parrot fish, blue sea stars, chocolate chip starfish and something we later identified as a Galapagos sea cucumber. As we were having fun watching the fish we were suddenly joined by a very playful and curious sea lion.  I mean so close he practically bumped into you – but no, he skillfully swam around and under you.  How special and what fun.  I did get video.

Time to slip off the fins, pack up the mesh bag, don our lifejackets and backpacks and step into the tender for the short trip back onboard.  The arrival routine was to take off backpack, lifejacket, wet shoes and wetsuit and then plunge/rinse the shoes, wetsuit and mesh bag in designated buckets to rinse off sand, salt and bacteria.  Hang up wetsuit and bag on proper hooks, rinse yourself off under warm shower and hand in towel – oh and beep yourself back onboard with your seapass card.  One deck up you were greeted with spiked hot chocolate and some small sandwich bites or brownies – what a nice reception.  Time for drying off, changing, catching lunch and just a bit of time before the next excursion.

Afternoon Excursion

By 3:30 the ship had arrived at Rabida Island and we were set for the afternoon activity.  We chose the wildlife tender ride with beach snorkel, so it was the whole wet landing routine again.  Dive skins, wetsuits, wet shoes, mesh bag, lifejacket, backpack, beep your card and off in the tender.  

The rocky shoreline was filled with wildlife:  a rare albino pelican, the infamous blue footed boobies (stop snickering), herons, swallowtail gulls, Nazca boobies and plenty of sea lions, fur seals and pups.  We landed at a red sand beach this time and saw flamingos on a small pond behind the beach. Our snorkel was with some of the same fish and another playful sea lion who kept swimming circles around and under us, sometimes leaping out of the water just for fun.  We were the last tender back to the ship and had to quickly shower and change before the wine and cheese gathering at 6:30.  This was also where we learned about and signed up for the excursion choices for tomorrow and got to mingle with the captain and crew (the captain was always out and about with us).

We were invited to join new friends Ena, Al, Andy and Kristy for dinner on the top deck under the stars.  Delicious meal and yes, you could see so many stars at this black sky location with little onboard light interference.  We had a final nightcap and off to bed.

Is It Only Our Second Day?

Overnight the ship moved to Isabela Island and after another delicious breakfast it was time for our first excursion: wildlife tender ride in Elizabeth Bay at 9:30.  From the deck while watching earlier tenders head out we saw whales later identified as minke whales, with sea lions swimming with them.  This was an amazing morning, as our tender moved quietly into a lagoon of mangrove trees and we started spotting EVERYTHING at once.  Look on the left, there is a green sea turtle, oh and another.  There are two sleeping on the bottom … oh, there go three spotted eagle rays and under them is a stingray.  On the mangrove branches were sea lions resting and arguing and a few others swimming around.  On your right is a group of golden cownose rays swimming past … oh look, a Galapagos penguin is zipping around, popping up and then circling back around.  There were flightless cormorants nesting in the branches and on the lava fields.  Our tender got so close we were just feet from the nest – pictures galore. What a morning!  

Back to the ship for lunch we went and while having drinks, guacamole and chips on the top deck we spotted more minke whales and sea lions in the distance.  While the ship repositioned to Tagus Cove we had time to talk with the onboard naturalists about what we have been seeing and identified a few of the fish.  I also figured out how the six zodiac tenders followed us:  they get stowed onboard after each stop.  Cables lift them up and inside the ship, stacked three high on each side.  When we reach our next stop, the ship opens up and the tenders are lowered out to the water and back to the stern, where the marina platform also lowers to the water.  Quite ingenious.  A kayak excursion was an option for this afternoon, so the kayaks were lowered along with the zodiac.  We opted not to do the kayaks, since photography would be difficult.

Afternoon Snorkel

At 3:00 we were off to do a deep water snorkel, meaning we slipped off the zodiac and couldn’t touch bottom.  This was along a rocky cliff wall in pretty rough water with current, so once in the cold water it took a moment to calm your breathing and relax.  Jackie was first in and I tried to catch up to her, but I have to admit it was a tough go – and after 20 minutes or so I was winded and got back onboard the tender.  That was ok, since from our tender we followed a group of 6 – 8 penguins swimming along the wall.  Jackie swam with 6 sea turtles, and was pestered by a pair of cormorants that got way too close. “Six feet, six feet” she kept telling them, the distance from wildlife encounters, but they seemed not to listen.  Back onboard it was the wetsuit routine, changing into dry clothes and we were back on the tenders by 4:45 for a short hike and tender ride.  The hike was up a lot of stairs to see Darwin’s Pond, a brackish inland pond.  Back to the tender and cruising along the rocky cliff we saw lots of marine iguanas, cormorants and penguins before back to the ship and the cocktail of the day: blue-footed booby.

We had our evening briefing about crossing the equator (which we will do twice this evening), choosing our activities for tomorrow and then dinner at 7:30 (the usual time).  Always a delicious meal, I opted for tuna ceviche then squid ink risotto with shrimp, squid and octopus.  Jackie had grouper, since we had sea bass the day before).  

Day 3

Wednesday we woke up with the ship anchored between Santiago and Bartolome Islands. After a quick breakfast of fruit, eggs and pastries we boarded our tender by 8:00 and were off for a dry landing at Sullivan Bay and a hike on the lava field. I remembered my geology from middle school and recognized the rough chunky  Aa (ah ah) lava and ropey pudding-like Pahoehoe lava that we walked across.  This was a huge lava flow that was a bit tricky walking over, but like a river of black mud frozen into rock.  There was some beautiful Galapagos cactus and the shoreline was crawling with Sally Lightfoot crabs.  These very colorful crabs have been all over each of the shorelines, moving fast and jumping between rocks sometimes.  

We headed back to the tender, onto the ship and Jackie got ready for another deep water snorkel at 10:00 along another stretch of the lava cliffs.  She saw lots of fish on this drift snorkel and several small reef sharks.  Once back on board we had lunch and finally some free time to relax on the top deck with more guacamole and chips, with vodka tonics.  Jackie mentioned that my hanger for the wetsuit was empty and we searched the spot for it, no luck.  The crew said it was probably grabbed by mistake and they sent two new ones for me to try (the 2X fit). With that problem solved we were ready for the afternoon excursions to Bartolome Island.  

We split up this time.  At 4:00 Doug did a wet landing and to the beach for a walk followed by snorkeling, Jackie went out at 4:30 for a shoreline tender ride.  On this snorkel around the unusual Pinnacle Rock I saw a reef shark, several starfish, including a chocolate chip starfish, lots of parrot fish and plenty of others.  Along the shoreline Jackie saw penguins and sea turtles breeding.  Back onboard the drink of the day was the Pink Flamingo before we had our excursion briefing for tomorrow followed by dinner at 7:30.  Tonight was a crab cake and a salad with grilled sea bass on top – and of course a delicious dessert.  We opted to skip the evening’s Karaoke night, grabbed a White Russian and were early to bed.

I think this is a good stopping point for Part One of this marvelous adventure.  Let me sort through my 1,000+ photos and gather my notes to complete Part Two in a couple of days.  Suffice it to say there are a few more stories and adventures ahead – you won’t want to miss them.