Galapagos Islands

Welcome to Ecuador

Country Number 8 on our big adventure

Welcome to the archipelago of the Galapagos Islands

After talking about the Galapagos islands for longer than I can remember the Davidson Clan has arrived on the Galapagos Islands! For the next seven nights we are on the Active Galapagos Tour with Intrepid. Louise and I have been looking forward to this all trip!

Day 1: 18/11/2018

We have arrived in the Galapagos! We start our adventure with 2 nights on the island of San Cristobal.

What a start! After we got off the plane we dropped our things at the hotel and then it was straight down to town to hire our wetsuit and fins, and then onto the boat for our first outing. We took the boat around San Cristobal to Isla Lobos, or Sealion Island. Technically Lobo means wolf in Spanish and Lobo del Mar means Sea Wolf or Sealion in English, however as there are no wolves on the Islands the Galapaganians shorten Lobo del Mar to Lobo. We were straight into the water for our first snorkel on the islands, and what a start! We were swimming along side Sea Turtles, Fish and Sea Lions. All on our first snorkel.

After the snorkel we had some lunch and went on a walk around Lobo Island. We saw Sealion and Sealions Pups, nesting Blue Footed Bobbies and Frigets, and lots of Marine Iguanas and Crabs. I couldn’t believe how close to the animals we were. They were so unbothered by our presence. We then were taken back to the main port of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, were we are staying, with the sun setting over the ocean. Dinner was a lovely meal at a local restaurant where we had delicious seafood of Lobster and Shrimps.

Its hard to think how the rest of the trip is going to get better from here but I am sure it will!

Day 2: 19/11/2018

Day two in Paradise and this morning we are heading to Centro de Interpretacion, the Science and Educational Outreach Centre. Here we learnt about the history and conservation of the islands. It was very interesting to learn how the culture of the islands has been shaped by its unique history. After visiting the centre we walked up to the look out above Darwin Bay and then went swimming in the bay. Swimming in Darwin Bay was one of the best parts of the trip for the whole family. It is a bit hard to keep a 2 metre distance from the animals sometimes. Today there was a sealion sleeping on the steps to the water in Darwin Bay so we had no choice but to walk quite close on our way in.

We had free time over lunch and we found a cafe that had great coffee and very delicious sandwiches called Calypso. It was so bemusing that there are Sealions and Iguanas everywhere along the waterfront as we walk from the Hotel to the restaurant. Our guide assures us that eventually you get used to such things but I do not see how.

In the afternoon we headed around to La Loberia Bay to go snorkeling again. This time we went in off the beach as opposed to jumping off the side of the boat, which was a bit hard for Louise and I. There were many fish, lots of Sea Turtles, a Sea Snake, and Sealions. As we got ready to leave the beach we even saw whales jumping outside the reef! Such a magical way to end the day!

Day3: 20/11//2018

Day three and we are heading to Isla Isabella via Floreana. Today was one of those days that makes me glad that we are not overly prone to motion sickness. A seasickness pill each and we were fine for the journey. Louise “Iron Stomach” Davidson was even reading her book and making everyone else feel sick just looking at her. Unfortunately, as the ride was very bumpy, many other people on the trip felt very ill, and those of us at the front got very sore backs from all the dropping off waves. We had 2 hours on the boat to Floreana, a quick stop for a snorkel and lunch, before another 2 hours onto Isla Isabella.

The snorkel at Floreana was another part of the trip hat was a favourite for the family. The island was extremely unpopulated so we were the only ones swimming in the bay. It was crystal clear and there was a lot of ocean life around. The most perfect moment was when I was swimming along and became part of a school of fish. They were all around me, I could almost reach out and touch them! The Iguanas on Floreana are starting to change colour for mating season too, the maes are going red and green which is amazing to see.

It was also Dad’s birthday today so the restaurant was very nice as to bake a cake for him and we all sang Happy Birthday.

Floreana is where the first Post Box on the Island was, and it still stands. There is a tradition of putting a postcard in the box with a message and an address, and that another visitor to the island hand delivers it. We picked up one to be delivered to Guildford when we get to the UK, and 2 for Mum and Dad to take home to Sunnynook. We left a couple in, so it will be interesting to see if they are delivered.

We are on Isla Isabella for 3 nights, Louise and I have a beautiful room with two double beds which is quite a treat!

Day 4: 21/11/2018

Our first morning on Isla Isabella and we are heading to the Centro de Crianza Tortugas Gigantes Arnaldo Tupiza to see the Giant Tortoises for the first time! They are amazing! The babies start from so small that they have to be covered by metal mesh to protect them from rats and birds, to the massive ones who are almost 100 years old. It was the part of the trip that I was looking forward to the most. I have been so excited to see the Giant Tortoises!

After the centre we walked through the wetlands where we saw some flamingos and lots of swimming Iguanas. We then got to walk along the beach back to town where we had some free time for lunch before heading out on the boat for the afternoon.

We went to Islote Tintoreras, Shark Island, where we walked around and saw heaps of Iguanas and their nests. We also got to see Shark Alley where the Sharks rest during the day. After walking round the island we went on our last snorkel. We went swimming through the alley ways in the water around Puerto Villamil. Dad and I were not so keen on this, or at least I wasnt, due to the closed in nature of the alleys. At least Dad held my hand through the whole thing. In the last alley we swam through we saw sharks on the bottom. They were so close! If we had sat up in the water, instead of being horizontal, our flippers would have brushed them! They were harmless White Tipped Sharks though, I thought they were quite cute but Louise didnt like them so much.

We spent the evening having drinks on the beachside pub watching the sunsent after another beautiful day.

Day 5: 22/11/2018

Day two on Isla Isabella and we are climbing an active Volcano! We are walking up Sierra Negro to see one of the biggest craters in the world. It is so active that it has only just been open to the public for climbing for the last month due to a recent erruption.

While it was very interesting climbing an acitve volcano, we all wished we were still snorkelling today as we could climb an active volcano in NZ any time. It was also extremely dusty, Louise and I came home with what looked like very impressive tan lines! From the edge of the Volcano we could see down into Elizabeth Bay and quite a few of the other volcanos of the Island on the horizon

We were out for the whole day climbing Sierra Negro, but we got a bit of free time in the afternoon to walk around Isla Isabella for a while. We got some very nice empanadas from a local bakery and ate them on the pier before a very nice last meal on Isla Isabela.

Day 6: 23/11/2018

This morning we were up bright and early to catch the boat to our last island, Santa Cruz, where we will be spending two nights before we have to fly back to the mainland. Unfortunately we are on a different boat this morning. This boat was not as good, wider on the bottom, it rocked a lot more than the last one, so even I was beginning to feel seasick and that was with medication.

Once we arrived on Santa Cruz we had a good breakfast at the hotel we are staying at, before heading to the Charles Darwin Research Centre. On the way we also checked out the fish market down the road from the hotel. There were many Pelicans and Sealions watching carefully to try and get some fish. The patient ones were well rewarded by the fishermen. At the Research Centre we could get the second stamp on our passports for the Galapagos Islands. We did not learn much more here than we saw at the other Tortoise resreach centre on San Cristobal, but we did get to see the stuffed corpse of Lonely George the last of his kind. We also got to see some land Iguanas, which we had not seen in the wild.

In the afternoon we went up into the highlands. While there we saw so many Giant Tortoises in the wild. It shows the success of the breeding programs of the centres that these Giant Tortoises have never been handled by humans. There are so many of them and they are thriving. We got to try on the shells of a tortoise, it was so heavy I couldn’t lift it.

We also saw a farm where they produce coffee beans, sugar cane, and many fruits. We got to try some of the coffee, sugar cane juice and a liquor made from sugar cane. The farmers in the Galapagos are very diverse with their farming, which is both good for profits and the land. Farmers in New Zealand could learn well from this.

Day 7: 24/11/2018

Our second morning on Santa Cruz and our last full day in the Galapagos. Today we are kayaking in Tortuga Bay. It was a lovely hour walk from the hotel to the bay and then along the beach. We are in two person Kayaks; I am with Mum and Louise is with Dad. I think that sharing a two person kayak is a good test before you get married. It was quite amusing watching the different couples in the kayaks and how they got along together. We saw White Tipped Sharks amongst the mangroves and more Sea Turtles. After Kayaking we were even able to walk into the shallows of the mangroves to see the baby sharks (doo do do).

We walked back to the hotel via a detour around the rocks where there were so many Iguanas we almost didnt see some of them before we stood on them! We had a free afternoon to go for one last swim in the Galapagos and to do some shopping.

In the evening we had our last dinner on the island. We caught a boat out to Angermeyer Restaurant on the point of the bay. We had a beautiful dinner looking out over the water. The restaurant shines lights onto the water so you can see the rays and sharks as they swim past. It was a magical way to finish our way in the Islands.

Day 8: 25/11/2018

This morning it was time to depart the Galapagos Islands! We have had such an incredible time here. It has been like a holiday from travelling and I am sure that everyone is going to have the holiday blues after getting back to Quito. I am also not looking forward to saying goodbye to Mum and Dad tomorrow, we have had such and amazing holiday together and who knows when we will all be together again.

One day I am sure we will be back again. The Galapagos have absolutely been the highlight of this trip!