Hard to Describe the Galapagos Islands

I spent a good part of today trying to think of how to describe the Galapagos Islands in a way that would truly share the experience I had out in the middle of the Pacific. It was really a mix of expereinces and one I will not soon forget. Let's start with the trip itself. I knew that I wanted to go to the GI for a while. It was to be an important part of my ecuadrian adventure. Having done some research at home, I decided to wait until I got to Quito to try to book a trip to the islands. That, and I had waited until two days before leaving to buy my tickets.

The Hostel in Quito had a travel agency attached to it and they booked trips to the GI! Perfect! I had decided to do a boat cruise/tour as all sources said that it is better to do that than to be stuck on one island doing day torus and probably more economical. I thought I would like a 4-5 day tour and that would be perfect. Sitting with the travel agent we went through all different pricing. I had been warned not to go with the cheapest and that I should think of tourist class or better. I spent time reviewing itineraries and finally decided on a six day cruise. In the meantime, I had bumped into some Canadians who were going to do the same trip. Since we were three we got a discount! For all involved. next was plane tickets. I couldn't buy the tickets at the travel agency but made the reservationa nd then was sent to another place to purchase the tickets. It was a long process, seems Orbitz could have done it in a about two minutes, but...

The transportation was excellent, the ride to the airport, the checkin, the flight, the pickup at the airport, meeting the boat. It couldn't have been smoother. There are alot of restrictions entering the GI. No food is allowed and they do special screenings of your stuff. Funny though, I was able to bring water (through security on the plane and onto the islands).

 This is a place that is used to catering to tourists and wants you to feel special. The people were incredible. I finally make it onto the AIDA MARIA! This will be my home for the duration. I am sharing a cabin coincidentally with a guy that I shared a dorm room at the hostel with. A spanish guy named Ruben. With the size of the cabin, we became close in a matter of minutes. The AIDA MARIA has room for 16 passengers in 8 cabins. The cabins are tiny on this yacht, but who really wants to hang in the cabins while you are cruising through the Galapagos. Basically, three meals a day, snacks, water, and coffee/tea are provided. Drinks are extra. This is a crew that works hard to make sure that you have a good expereince. They are friendly, hardworking, and committed to your vacation. The AIDA MARIA ran on a schedule, and they were prompt. They rang a bell to remind you of meal times, excursion times, etc. They are working for their tips!

 Our naturalist guide was Eduardo. He is a guy of 22 who is at school on the mainland but was born in the GI. He is studying Naval Engineering, and works on his off time as a guide as it is a great job. After undergoing an intensive course, he started guiding several years ago. Basically each day had a series of outings. We recieved a breifing the night before of where we were going, what we would see and some basic facts. We were both walking and swimming each day and was amazing. We hiked to the highest peak in the GI and looked at the craters caused by volcanos. We followed nature paths to see animals, we swam at the beach and off the back of the boat, we snorkeled looking for sea creatures. We did it all!

 Animals: It is hard to describe how it worked. It was sort of like an African safari. We learned about which animals were on the islands (or section of island) where we were, and then we went to look for them. Some perennial favorites: sea lions, giant tortoises, iguanas were plentiful. Penguins and Blue Footed Boobies were also a regular sight, but we also got to see hawks, flamingos, sea turles, sharks, finshes, rays, flightless cormorants, and tons of other birds. These animals were not bothered by human presence. Not in the least. They didn't worry about us, they weren't scared of us, it was like being in the Kruger National Park but better, because you were out of the car and walking.

 One highlight was swimming. Gettng to snorkel around the GI was great, but one reason it was so awesome was that you could swim with the sea lions. They were always around and they liked to swim with you. They would swim within inches of your face, or body and quickly turn. if you dove down and swam under water for a while, they would too. They were all about having a good time and it was truly an amazing experience. To add to that, the sea turtles would swim by, and sometimes right up to you. They would look in your mask and then pick their heads of to breathe. Again, so close you could grab them. (of course you don't). The sharks slithered below us and then giant manta rays flapped their wings. The penguins swam by, the figates were fishing. It was pretty ideal.

Giant tortoises are pretty cool. They are slow moving but so cool. We saw a bunches of them and also visited a breeding farm. Some of the introduced animals are predators for the tortoises so they have some breeding famrs to make sure the popluations continue to survive. We were looking enough to see a mating pair as well! 500 pounds of turtle mounting a much smaller female. You should have heard the grunts. Apparently, it is the only sound they make.... We were fortunate to see a few breeding pairs of birds, sea lions (and a mother feeding a baby), breeding pairs of iguanas. Spring is a time of love even in the GI.

Some of the most stark areas of the islands were lava flows. in fact most of the islands are made up of lava flows, so you spend a lot of time walking on them. The black of the lava attracts the sun and it gets hot! We are on the equator after all. i learned that I didn't really need a back pack, that I could travel pretty light for an hour or so and sunscreen is important. I survived without being burned too badly, although my shipmates didn't fare so well! After spending several hours a day walking and swimming, we had a great dinner and briefing, followed by some card games, reading, charades, chatting. With only 16 total people, you get to know everyone really well. Having been on trips like this before, we were very fortunate to have friendly people, no complainers, and people who just wanted to expereince what the islands had to offer. I felt very lucky to share my time with this group.

 I had been worried about a bit of sea sickness as well. Proud to say that I made it through unscathed. although the ship got pretty rocky at times (again it is just a yacht really) i managed to keep my stomache in check. The food was pretty good for a small ship, and there was plenty of it. This was really a great six days of my trip. Organized, and well run, great people. What could be better? Oh yeah, learning that I paid about half of what the people who purchased from home paid. That made it even sweeter. So worth the money, time, and energy. This is a must see for everyone.