I`ve been delaying this post because how do you sum up 8 amazing days in the Galapagos in just one blog posting? Well I decided to just give you some ´highlights´ of my trip (hope I don`t bore you to death):
- Convincing my seatmates to change seats so I can sit with my parents who got on the plane at Guayaquil. I was already sitting on the plane from Quito to Guayaquil and the people I was sitting next to didn`t want to move. A little convincing, I was sitting with my parents.
- Arriving in Santa Cruz Island and seeing sea lions sitting on benches next to where we took the zodiac boats to the 100-person ship
- Trying to learn the name of our group for disembarcking and boarding the boat. We were the ´Colmoranes´ (type of bird that doesn`t fly) but Dad couldn`t keep it straight so we were the `Camarones` (shrimps) most of the time.
- Meeting the Alexanders from San Antonio. Such friendly and great travel companions.
- 1st hike on Dragon Hill with only 5 in our group (unfortunately, the 10 people came later because their flight from Panama was cancelled). We saw flamingos, land iguanas (both relaxing and fighting for territory), and sea lions.
- 2nd hike on Bartholomew Island. We saw lava lizards and cacti, climbed 320 steps, and saw the famous Pinnacle Rock.
- Trying to snorkel for the first time but having difficulties with my mask.
- 3rd hike on Santiago (or James) Island - our first hike with the big group of 16 people. We saw tons of animals including sea lions, marine iguanas, a great blue heron in a tree, lava herons (with green feet), and the American oystercatcher.
- First good snorkeling experience followed by seeing a family of sea lions including a little baby on the beach.
- A dingy boat tour and the 4th hike on Fernandina Island. This is the island where we saw the most variety of animals and both types of lava (Pahoehoe and Ah-ah).
- Getting dehydrated and sick.
- A most amazing ´performance´ of approx. 80 dolphins swimming in front of the boat. When the boat would catch up with them, they would all jump out of the water at the same time. It was like Sea World X 500!!
- A dingy tour of Northern Isabel Island. First time I saw penguins!!
- Participating in a pirates skit on the boat. The Alexanders, Mom, and I (and others) got to dress up and yelled ´Errrr´. I even had a small speaking part!
- 5th tour of El Chato to see giant tortoises in the wild and then walking through a lava tunnel.
- Saying goodbye to the 5 day tour friends but the Alexanders and my family continued on for 4 more days.
- Seeing tortoises eating lunch and a baby (less than 1 year old) named Genesis.
- Swimming (snorkeling) with sea lions. They would come near our face or some of them would nibble at our fins. Drew, who was traveling with his grandma and joined our group of Colmoranes later, found a marine iguana eating underwater. Our guide said that is very unusual to see because they are usualy only in the water for 15-20 minutes.
- Visiting a beach infested with huge horseflies. Get me out of there asap!
- 6th hike on Española Island. This island also had tons of animals including the blue-footed boobies (including the mating dance), the nazca boobies, Galapagos hawk, magnificent frigate bird (with a blue eye), swallow-tail gull. We also saw marine iguanas in colors (red, green, teal) either trying to dig a nest with so much effort or fighting off other iguanas who were trying to steal their already built nests. The whole time we were on the island we were followed by a little mockingbird - the guide said the bird wanted our bottled water.
- Visiting the Charles Darwin Center. Seeing Lonesome George from far far away and then getting close to other tortoises.
- Shopping in Puerto Ayora. Dad`s watch time changed back an hour, and we were late getting back to the boat. Ooops!
- 7th short hike (my last one) on Genovesa Island. We saw red-footed and nazca boobies, frigate birds (the men blow up their red chest to attract the women), and the Galapagos dove. Afterwards, we went snorkeling and saw a white-tip reef shark on the bottom of the ocean.
- Teaching Drew `Si se puede` (yes, you can!) so that he could get a pizza for dinner when it wasn`t on the menu.
- Sitting on the deck of the boat playing Sudoku.
- Watching the sunset in the evenings and then seeing the stars. Wayne knew lots about stars and pointed out Jupiter and Saturn to us among other things. And first time I saw the Southern Cross!
- Good food and great ship crew. I even got the chance to practice my Spanish a bit.
- And most importantly, traveling and spending time with my parents. They are the best travel companions and I feel so lucky to be able to travel with them!
Thanks for a great trip, M & D!
