Galapagos Islands
June 20-27, 2010
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Three days before we left on our month-long trip to South America,
we still weren't sure if we were going to go to the Galapagos or not,
since it's so expensive, and the planning a bit daunting. Without a
doubt, the best way to experience it is a cruise (as opposed to land-based),
and it's heavily regulated, with a relatively small number of boats. We had
emailed Robin from Sangay Touring,
recommended by my friend Eu-jin, to keep an eye on last minute deals.
As it turned out, there was more than a 50% off deal on the
Galapagos Odyssey luxury yacht
(5-day tour), and we couldn't resist. By the way, Robin was great
throughout!
Day 1
We only had 6 hours in Quito before we had to fly to the island of Baltra (one
of the two airports). We met up with the boat crew, waited for all of the
passengers and quickly made it onto our boat. It was amazing. I never thought a
boat could be so luxurious! Hardwood floors throughout, we had a king size bed,
a dresser, desk, and a bathroom with an amazing hot shower. Everyone was really
friendly, too!
The first destination was Bachas Beach, where we saw a lot of sweet
crabs - they were shockingly colourful. And of course birds, iguanas,
and a few flamingos! It was just a taste of everything we would see
in the coming days. The afternoon chilling on the boat was appreciated
too, as we were pretty spent from the travelling.
Day 2
It was a rough night. Since the islands are quite far away, it often takes
6-8 hours of travelling to get to the next one, and the travelling is done
at night, so when you wake up, you are already in position to explore
the next place. Sounds great on paper! Sadly, the seas were very rough,
and sleeping was next to impossible at first. Our bags, chair, and other
loose items were sliding all over the place all night, and you couldn't
sleep on your side, as you would just roll over. (The following week, another
tourist boat actually capsized due to a large wave, and a tourist died!) And
then there's pulling and dropping the anchor... it's all a matter of getting
used to it, of course - by the 3rd night, we slept like babies.
We got up really early... like 5:30am early - not that we slept at all anyway.
We hiked to the top of Bartolome Island, before the heat... the views were
great, and the geology of the islands really interesting. Melissa and I ran
down and up a second time while the rest of the group was coming down, as we
were already going stir crazy with the level of inactivity. You are only
allowed to be on the islands with a guide, and you are not allowed to
walk past the marked areas, for fear of damaging the environment - which
is a good thing, as the first settlers abused the islands severely. The dinghy
took us back to the boat, and after a snack we went to the south beach, from
where we did the short hike to the north beach. There, we saw a couple of
Galapagos sharks cruising the waters, and a lot of sea lions (some of them with
attitude!) The rest of the morning was spent snorkelling around the point.
Lunch and a nap were followed by Santiago Island - Sullivan Bay. This part of
Santiago was formed only ~100 years ago, and it was interesting to walk around
and explore the extremely young half of the island.
Day 3
On this day, we were supposed to hike around the Sierra Negra volcano on
Isabela Island. We made the long drive to it, but it was raining heavily,
so the park was closed... oh no! We went to a tortoise sanctuary instead,
which was very neat. There was some time alotted to check out the little
town too, and a neat point where lots of penguins can be found swimming.
In the afternoon, we went snorkelling for an hour somewhere, as well...
sea turtles and cool fish were the highlight! After snorkelling, we
went for a hike at the White Tipped Reef Shark Canal. No sharks, but
thousands of cute iguanas - had to be careful not to step on them!
Day 4
On the fourth day, we went to Santa Cruz Island, and visited the Darwin
Research Station in Puerto Ayora. We got to see the famous
Lonesome George (history)! As well as other giant tortoises,
iguanas and birds.
After some time in the research station, we did a hike in the Highlands, and
then explored the town, which is the largest in the Galapagos Islands
(population over 10,000) - Santa Cruz is one of the few inhabited islands. The
afternoon had snorkelling in the program, as usual, and we enjoyed the last
night on the boat, star gazing from the top deck.
Day 5, 6, 7
We woke up next to Leon Dormido (sleeping lion rock), and circled around
it while enjoying sunrise. Afterward, we continued to San Cristobal, where
we visited another research station, and the tour officially ended.
Most people flew back to the mainland from here, while we stayed on the
island for 2 more nights - we finally got to sleep in and enjoy a more
relaxed, non-regimented schedule. Highlights included amazing food,
some beautiful and desolate beaches, and an afternoon of sea kayaking
(which was actually a bit spooky due to a crappy rental kayak and
strong currents!)
Day 8
We walked around Quito for a few hours before flying to Lima, and then
La Paz, Bolivia, for the next part of our trip!
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Airport sign |
Waiting in the terminal |
The crazy fancy room in our ship |
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The toilet seat should have been facing the other way for a better view! |
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Our first encounter with blue-footed boobies: minutes after getting off the ship! |
I <3 boobies (a popular t-shirt slogan in the Galapagos, too) |
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These guys were everywhere |
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About to get splashed! |
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These guys are pretty cool. |
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Very blurry, but it's a puffer fish! (Those guys move too quick) |
A baby heron |
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An iguana with our boat in the background |
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Sunrise on day 2 |
Turns out that a sea lion liked our deck for the night |
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Our boat as seen from our hike to the top of the hill |
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Crazy cactus thing |
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The beaches on which we spent the rest of our day |
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Cool underwater crater |
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We chilled out on this beach and snorkelled all the way around the rock - lots of cool fish & a couple of penguins! |
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The north beach, on which we later saw galapagos sharks and tonnes of sea lions! |
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The sweet crater barely visible from this angle, and our boat in the distance |
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The sweet rocks by which we played all afternoon |
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The sea lion is still chilling on our deck |
Suffered some battle wounds, it looks like |
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Walking through the forest, on the way to the north beach |
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There's a fin! |
Hard to see, but this is a Galapagos shark! |
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More cool crabs! |
About to get splashed |
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The north beach, with the hill we climbed earlier in the morning |
The whole gang, around a poor sea lion that didn't make it |
These guys define lazy (and perhaps a bit spoiled)! |
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The lizards eat the bugs that harass the sea lions, so they happily live together! |
This guy was giving us some attitude |
Splattered on a rock next to the sea lions, there was this guy |
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He wanted a passport photo. |
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Then we went for a walk on this 120 years old part of the island |
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All the boats in the distance |
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Unfortunately, rain |
No Sierra Negra today: they closed it due to the rain |
Introduced species :) |
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Mangoes |
The turtle sanctuary |
Lots of these guys |
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For scale |
A look of determination |
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That one guy was feeling left out |
So he joined in on the action! |
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This guy was only a few weeks old! |
The transformation |
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These guys were rescued from a volcanic eruption 100? years ago - hence the warped shells. But still alive! |
Curious |
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Penguins on land. White bellies + black rock = hard to take pictures |
Blue-footed boobies |
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Iguana hangout |
These guys look ancient |
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Coming out of the woodworks |
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This guy needs some bodywork on the shell |
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A humongous dude trying to hide in the grass |
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In the wild |
Say Ahhhhhh |
Snack time |
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He thinks he's hiding |
Going into a cave |
On Santa Cruz island |
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Morning acrobatics ended up badly |
The famous Lonely George! |
Diego, a man of different fame |
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Big bite |
Land iguana, much bigger than the marine one |
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Sleeping lion rock |
Nice place for a sunrise |
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We spent the next 2 days in San Cristobal |
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Sunset on a nice beach, 30 minute walk from town |
Sea lions soaking in the last few sunrays |
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Rowing around a little lake/park seemed to be a popular weekend activity in Quito |
As well as biking |
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There was some sort of heavy metal party in the main square (loud!!) |
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