Galapagos Adventure

 I recently returned from a complete bucket list/dream vacation to the Galapagos islands and wanted to capture as much information as I can as well as share some of my favorite pictures.

A friend and I booked through Natural Habitat Adventures and while they were on the pricier side, they are the official travel partner of the World Wildlife Fund and had 2 naturalists for 16 total guests which is a great ratio (Galapagos mandates 1 naturalist per 16 guests).  

We flew into Quita via Houston and the trip there was fairly unremarkable except for the fact that the plane had an aborted landing in Quito - which is even more remarkable because the exact same thing happened to this friend and I when we went to Kenya 3 years ago.  Strange coincidence.

Plane going up when plane should be on ground

The immigration line was an insanely frustrating mess and by the time we got our hotel it was almost 2 am and I couldn't fall asleep.  Which was ok because the next day was a tour of Quito which I am sure was lovely but I remember very little of.  The day after that we flew to Galapagos!

i took this photo but don't remember it

Getting there kind of sucked because we flew a commercial airline (Avianca) that is kind of crappy and has a refueling stop in Guayaquil which then was delayed and it took almost 5 hours to get to the islands and then there was an island immigration snafu but we finally made it to our boat!

from the dinghy (also called a panga)

Spoiler alert, boat life didn't agree with my sleep.  The good news is that my stomach apparently has no issues with boats, waves, being tossed around like a ragdoll, or anything else.  This was a cruise based tour, obviously, you can visit the eastern islands land-based but this way the long haul moves are overnight so you have more time for adventures.  The Western itinerary, which i think i would have chosen if it had been available as there is more marine life, is only available if you live on board.  

Our eastern route

I don't think you can be disappointed in Galapagos though, no matter what route, islands, or stops you make.  It immediately delivers on beauty and diverse wildlife.  Our first stop had blue footed boobies - with mating dances!  -  Land iguanas, sea lions, red frigate birds, AH! It was just instantaneously amazing

Lots of people had asked what I was most looking forward to and I said I didn't have just one thing and while I am now even more obsessed with sea lions than ever, that was the right opinion.  It isn't one thing so much as how much wildlife is there and how crazy diverse the islands are.

The first sunset came through too

One thing that is super unique about Galapagos is that there are no (or almost no?) land mammals.  These islands were basically inhabited by things that could fly, swim, or float there.  The naturalists explain that tortoises and iguanas likely got washed offshore in hurricanes and floated out there.  Super cool.  

And of course, each island has become distinct with the Darwin finches being the most notable examples.  We saw quite a few of them but they are TINY and SPEEDY AF.  So I didn't get a ton of pictures of them.  

Do I remember which finch this is? I do not

Scientists are actually still studying them, which I want to read more about now.  

The currents wanted us all to know immediately that they weren't fucking around and the boat turbulence was terrible.  The sea sickness susceptible learned immediately that they could take dramamine with their scopalamine patches and I took a dramamine just to help sleep.  It was not a nice rocking, it was constantly changing directions and force so even with drugs there was much waking.  This never really improved, even in calmer waters my brain just couldn't get a rhythm and one night the seas were so rough I literally woke up by being thrown into the wall.  

Marine iguana chilling

The boat did have AC though, which I would have died without.  Heat, humidity, high dew point, nothing surprising about the weather but nothing which my body enjoys either.  Land excursions are either sunrise or just before sunset, with snorkeling and kayaking or resting breaks in the heat of the day.

Sea lions are abundant and have no real fear of people, and were at nearly every landing spot, kayak, and snorkel.  They are super curious and will come very close, they especially seemed to like when we snorkeled with them.  

A still from the GoPro knockoff I took, just swimming with me

One visit was just a beach filled with sea lions that we could wander for an hour and watch them sleep, play, and be generally entertaining

alive, i checked

nursing pup

kisses

snuggles

I wanted to take a sea puppy home

Boat life was pretty good besides the sleeping, the food was amazing, we got very lucky with our tour group in that everyone was nice.  I was worried about this since I am easily annoyed but it was a wonderful group.  The boat crew was wonderful and the guides were awesome.  I felt we really lucked out

i apparently took almost no food photos but here is a cake they made

The days were pretty long and filled, so much so that occasionally i skipped an activity just to rest.  One thing that was a bit tedious but unavoidable is the amount of logistics that go into each activity.  To get to land you need to put on hiking clothes, prepare for a wet vs dry landing, sunscreen, get your bag together, put on a life jacket, get in the dingy, then get off and adjust your items accordingly.  For wet landings you are cleaning sand off your feet to put hiking boots on, etc.  It is just a lot.  And for kayaking or snorkeling, still a bunch of logistics, just different ones.  

Example daily itinerary

The amount of sunscreen I used during this week was intense but no sun burn!  It all has to be reef safe (e.g. zinc) sunscreen so washing it off is a challenge.  Which reminds me, showers on choppy seas are very exciting and unpredictable! 

Nazca boobies!  Other boobies need love too

Red footed booby

the red footed boobies have baby blue beaks

Most days we were not getting a lot of real exercise in, walks are slow with lots of stops - more observational than much actual hiking.  Some of the kayaking was real work though and the snorkeling you could move around quite a bit.  But it was never ever boring.  

Fur seal hanging with a marine iguana

Waved albatross

The fish we could see while snorkeling are cool but as someone who has been lucky enough to snorkel the great barrier reef, the fish themselves were only regular cool not life changing cool.  I hear the western side has more fish but sadly part of the issue is that most of their coral has been killed due to el nino weather years.  There were still quite a few neat fish, some sea turtles, sea stars and star fish, and reef sharks.  

Fish

Baby blacktip reef shark

i could see this turtle well but it was a bit too deep for the camera

And of course, nearly every time, sea lions came to play.  Well probably to hunt fish too, whatever.  

At some point my skin had had absolutely enough and I got heat rash all over my face.  That was super fun and I learned that rubbing sunscreen into heat rash is both very painful and very difficult!  The salt water irritated it so I had to skip a couple snorkels, which was a bummer but we need skin on our faces.

Something that tickled me is that Galapagos has both penguins and flamingoes.  Where else has both?

Although the larger penguin colony is on the western islands, we still saw a few, including a juvenile.  

Also these are volcanic islands so in addition to white sand beaches there are some green, black and even red sand beaches

Overall it was a really amazing trip although kind of hard on my body.  I don't know if I would go back and do the Western route.  Maybe after perimenopause is done wreaking havoc on my body and I am more steady state.  But it warmed my science nerd heart in addition to my animal and scenery loving heart and I am so glad we went.