Dreaming of the Galapagos

How to describe the indescribable? This journal is an attempt to share one of the most peaceful, interesting and engaging vacations we have ever had. We spent 11 days in the Galapagos, and this essay describes some of the highlights. We chose Galapagos Travel (Galapagos Travel website) because of their emphasis on eco-travel, education, and longer trips. Ask for Debbie in the US office, who is terrific and astonishingly helpful. Our tour featured a tour leader in addition to the naturalist guide provided by the Parque National Reserva Marina. We rose early (5:30am) so that we could be the first group on the islands and ended each day with a short 30-minute lecture on some aspect of the islands, either the animals or the geographic history. It is an extremely fragile ecosystem, so I just want to urge or beg anyone who decides to attempt this adventure to please do your best to leave no trace. The Galapagos has recently been listed on the Seven Natural Wonders list, and it truly is an enchanted place.

Quick Tips:

Galapagos Travel was a wonderful tour company; we just can't say enough good things about them. Do not try to do this rough (meaning no guides). It is very risky to sail through these waters, and you need an experienced captain and crew. I saw some of the ships that promise a cheaper deal, and believe me, you do NOT want to be on them.

Also, try to go on a longer trip. The shorter trips all go to the same places that are near the airports, and you really miss out on some of the more exotic and remote locations.

If at all possible, please try not to book a trip on the bigger boats (with 48 passengers or more). These ships have a very bad effect on the ecosystem and animals and should be banned from the Galapagos Islands IMHO. Do your part and try to avoid them.

Best Way To Get Around:

Gotta be on a ship! You could potentially stay on San Cristobal in one of the fancy hotels and do day trips, but you would really be missing out on this experience.

We boarded the Coral II in the early afternoon on the first day, excited and a bit nervous to sleep on a yacht for 10 nights. However, we soon settled into a nice rhythm at sea and actually missed the motion after our trip was over.

The captain and crew worked extremely hard to make sure we were comfortable and having the trip of our lives. We didn't expect the food to be as good as it was. We dined on fresh fish, filet mignon, and chicken, as well as started with soups and ended with desserts at every meal. We didn't reach for a single Powerbar in our stash the entire time! One crew member, Jose, was assigned as our waiter, and he was very attentive and a nice guy to boot.

There were two cooks, one waiter, the captain, and about six other crew members. These guys worked nearly 24/7. They were driving the boat at night, picking us up in the zodiacs (see picture) to transfer us to shore and back and for snorkeling, and in general just making sure we were all safe and well taken care of.

The ship was 100 feet in length. Our cabin was a moon cabin, located at the top of the boat, so it was a bit larger. We only had 10 passengers, but the boat can handle 16. I think it could be a little bit crowded with 16, but we felt very comfortable. The room was clean. The bathroom took some getting used to (as it is small, which is normal for yachts), but we did have our own private bathroom. There was a common area on the main deck and an upper deck in the back, as well as space to hang out at the front of the boat, which I did during one of our day cruises between islands.

I wish we could have stayed on the ship for a longer time. We are not used to receiving such royal treatment. If you book with the Coral II, you will not be disappointed!

The night before, our guide, Samuel, told us to prepare for a challenging snorkel. We would snorkel through a lava inlet past a series of bays. At the end we would climb out of the water--wearing fins--and walk about 10 feet into a small cove. We would then get back in the water and snorkel around the outer edge of a cove. He advised us that we could only whisper, as there might be sleeping sea turtles, which we wouldn't want to disturb. It sounded pretty great to us, but we had no idea of the Blue Planet moment that was waiting for us in the cove.

After a zodiac cruise early in the morning, we returned to the boat and got ready to snorkel. Samuel had us drink hot chocolate wearing our wetsuits before the snorkel to warm up internally. He is a wise, wise man. We climbed on to the Zodiacs and set off for shore. We went into three different inlets before Samuel found the one he was looking for. I dipped a finger into the ice-cold water--this was going to be cold! I was the first one in. It was 59 degrees according to Samuel’s watch. At first the cold was unbearable, but Samuel had us tread water until our bodies got used to the temperature. Even with wetsuits (which are absolutely necessary for the Galapagos in September) we were cold. We soon set off for our careful snorkel through the maze of lava. We swam purposefully without pausing to admire the fish or coral we saw along the way. And then we reached the end and it was just as our guide had described.

Samuel had us climb out of the water, holding hands, and inch our way across to where the inner cove was. That was the only time I regretted the long fins we had brought with us, as it was very tricky to walk across the lava with them, particularly holding hands. When we arrived at the small cove, only 40 feet across, we eased into the water and immediately saw that it was a good day for sea turtles. We swam around the outer edge slowly in a counterclockwise direction. And, to our left, as we swam we saw more than 50 turtles who were very curious about our arrival. They swam along side us and beneath us, and in general seemed to fly through the water as we watched. The only sound you could hear was the occasional "sigh" that each turtle made as it came up for air.

We circled the turtles three times before Samuel signaled it was time to leave. I could have stayed for hours watching the turtles glide through the water, easily evading each other and us. Even the most agnostic among us was moved by this place. It was truly a bit of Galapagos magic, and we will never forget our snorkel with the sea turtles.

Our first island (after landing on the human-inhabitated San Cristobal island and heading for our ship) was Espanola. At 5:30am, our tour leader's voice wafted over the speaker system "Buenos Dias, campers. It's 5:30am and a beautiful day in the Galapagos. Rise and shine!" By 6am, we were all at breakfast, and by 7, we were setting foot on the pristine, white beach at Gardner Bay. I don't know if it was because it was our first stop or what, but we instantly fell in love with this place. We were greeted by dozens of sea lions lolling about on the beach, as well as mocking birds searching for water. We saw the famous cactus finch, marine iguanas, sally lightfoot crabs, ruddy turnstones, yellow warblers, oyster catchers and our first sea turtle.

We were stunned that the animals let us stand so close to them. Many of the sea lions had just had little baby sea lions (some within hours of our landing), and it was fun watching the baby sea lions learning how to walk and bleating for their moms.

We walked along the beach for about 2 hours before our guide called us back down to the Zodiacs to return to the boat. After a quick break we prepared for the first snorkel. I didn't expect to enjoy snorkeling so much, but in my wetsuit and fins, I felt as graceful as a sea lion. That is, I felt that way until one flashed by me in the water. Wow they are fast and infinitely more coordinated that we were! They had fun swiming among us, and dive bombing our masks. I tried to catch one on camera, but they were usually too fast... you can see a glimpse in one of the shots below. The water was crystal clear (probably because it was so cold), but we really enjoyed the first snorkel.

After the snorkel we had lunch and a quick break before our next shore venture. From Gardner Bay on Espanola we headed over to Punta Suarez, also on this island, but a totally different kind of landing. Here we walked a long a rocky trail, and saw our first blue-footed booby up close and personal. We also saw the Nazca boobies and marine iguanas nesting. We passed by a blow hole and encountered the enormous waved albatross. Wherever we went along this trip, we were accompanied by frigate birds. These are not nice birds, however. They merely scavenge food from other birds, and do no hunting of their own. Despite that they are beautiful birds to watch fly through the air.

We were taken with the savage beauty of Espanola. It was desolate because it is the dry season, but with the dark stones and white bird droppings everywhere, it also had a wild and magical air.

We left our hotel in Quito and boarded the first plane on Aerogal to Quayaquil, a short 30-minute flight through the Andes (unexpectedly beautiful!). Although Air Galapagos is not perhaps as organized as Tame Airlines, we did arrive safely in the Galapagos Islands on San Cristobal after a 1.5-hour flight from Quayaquil. We descended over the ocean, past a few islands, and landed on a very short runway. We entered the airport, paid our $100 per person park fee, and met our guide, Samuel Quiroz, who gathered our bags and ushered us to a waiting bus for the short ride to the dock. Guides are assigned by the National Park Service, so we felt very fortunate to be with Samuel, who definitely knew what he was doing. Within an hour we were sitting on our yacht, the lovely Coral II. And so our adventures began.

After a delicious meal onboard, we headed for the shore and explored Puerta Baqueriza Moreno, a small town with a museum, T-shirt shops, and even Internet café. We were eager to return to the ship, however, and settle into our cabins. The ship rocked us gently to sleep, and with the help of Dramamine, I had no sea sickness at all. Around 3 in the morning, we heard the engines hum and the ship set sail for our first stop, Espanola Island (see journal for in-depth description). On Espanola, we saw our first sea lions and mockingbirds. We also saw our first booby, the famed blue-footed booby. I would never have thought anything living on land could be that color, but they certainly are blue!

Our guide, Samuel, was very knowledgeable and seemed to be deeply passionate about the Galapagos. He also took very good care of the entire group and helped the passengers who had less-than-sure footing on some of the rougher terrain. It is so rare in life that you meet someone who loves their work so profoundly and is able to share their passion with you eloquently, but Samuel was just this kind of person. We were fortunate to have him as our guide, and hopefully he will remain a lifelong friend.

After our morning on the island, we went snorkeling and I discovered a new passion. I have never felt as graceful as I did in my wetsuit (the water is cold because of Antarctic currents!) and fins. I think I could have snorkeled for hours! We snorkeled nearly every day, sometimes twice. If you go, be sure to invest in the wetsuits, as I can’t imagine snorkeling without them!

From Espanola, we went to Santa Cruz and the town of Puerto Ayora, one of a few populated islands in the Galapagos, where we saw tortoises and land iguana breeding areas and had a wonderful dinner at Narwal restaurant in the highlands (see my journal on Santa Cruz for more details about this day!). On day 4 we found ourselves on Floreana. It seemed that with each island, we were greeted with something even more beautiful and barren, yet teeming with life. (If you haven’t read Beak of the Finch, I highly recommend it for a great and easy to read description of how science has been tracking evolution. And it’s all about the Galapagos!) On Floreana we saw a flamingo lagoon and chased humpback whales in our zodiac boats as we returned to this ship in the morning. In the afternoon, we climbed the Baroness’s window to look out over the whole island, which was covered in white trees, dormant because of the drought. The landscape was eerie but beautiful.

Day 5 started a little shaky as the rough waters had many of us opting out of a whale-watching trip as the Coral II headed for Isabella island (the sea horse-shaped island). Luckily the captain changed our plans and we headed for Puerta Villamil for another day with tortoises and a trip up to the highlands on an open-air truck through a cloud forest. The land near the ocean was covered in lava, and each house in the outskirts of town seemed to be tucked in between lava flows. I’ve never seen anything like it. We persuaded our affable guide to let us hike up to the Sierra Negra Caldera, which erupted 3 weeks later! (We were sorry to miss the fun!)

Day 6 began with a trip up the western coast of Isabella and stopped by a secret spot to snorkel with sea turtles. I could tell you the name of the cove (which is not on the map), but I promised I wouldn’t…

See my journal entry for a few more details and some incredible pictures about our sea turtle snorkel. After the snorkel, we took the zodiacs through a mangrove bay and saw nearly as many sea turtles as we had just seen in the cove. We also saw one of the four types of mangroves. From Isabella, we scooted over to Fernadina island, where we saw the biggest marine iguana alive (or so we imagined). You could easily picture dinosaurs roaming the earth after seeing that thing. We also saw and fell in love with the flightless cormorants performing the sweetest mating rituals. It's amazing what seaweed can do for a relationship. And we climbed over some old lava flows and looked at lava cacti. It was yet another achingly beautiful island.

Late that afternoon, we crossed the equator and enjoyed drinks and appetizers on the deck with the captain. I also got the chance to steer the yacht, which was fun. Day 7 saw us arriving at Tower Island, after a 12-hour night journey north up around Isabella’s tip and then to the east to Genovesa Island, or Tower. We climbed Prince Phillip’s step to find red-footed boobies standing on the most barren rocky terrain we had seen yet. We also saw a short-eared owl and some nesting frigate birds. Later that day we saw some nesting swallow-tailed gulls and a lava gull.

We were suddenly sad to realize this incredible journey has only a few more stops. Day 8 took us to Santiago Island, where we saw fur seals, the Galapagos hawk, and lava grottos with bridges connecting parts of the beach over the ocean. The end of the day we headed for Rabida island, a beautiful red-sand beach where there weren’t many animals, but we climbed to the top for a breathtaking view of the surrounding seas and a sunken caldera.

On Day 9, we climbed 365 steps on Bartoleme Island for another amazing view. We went for a snorkel and saw stingrays, penguins, and dozens of cardinal fish in crystal-clear water. In the afternoon we saw inflated frigate birds trying to attract the attention of females who were not interested.

Finally, we reached day 10, which was essentially our departure day. We started the day at Kicker Rock, and our captain showed us his prowess by steering the yacht between the rocks as the sun rose. I could only imagine how explorers must have felt when they stumbled across these rocks in the middle of the ocean. So beautiful and inviting, and yet completely resistant to human inhabitation. They called these the enchanted isles, because the ocean currents are so strong, the boats sometimes shift with the currents, and the islands seem to move. We found them to be enchanted for entirely different reasons. We were within inches of birds and animals that were largely oblivious to our presence. The water was clean, the air was clear, and we were far, far away from the harried lives we lead back in the US. I found myself relaxing deeply and savoring every minute of each day. I don’t know how or why we were so fortunate to be able to travel to this place, but I sincerely hope I can return one day. In the meantime, we will support the efforts of the naturalists and non-profit groups working to preserve the tranquility of this natural wonder.