I knew little about the islands, other than it's where Charles Darwin did his research. I also never got around to studying before we went. I assumed I'd learn a lot on the trip and I did.
First, I thought it was just one island - wrong!
Other things I didn't know:
People live there!
I was surprised to find out that some of the islands do have residents. I thought it was just lots of endemic species who had arrived on the air or water currents, stayed, and evolved into something totally different from their "cousins" found elsewhere.
There are a little over 26,000 people scattered over 5 of the 18 main islands. Schools are an issue as well as medical care. The nearest hospital is 600 miles away on the mainland. They do have basic First Aid Stations. Most residents work in the tourist industry (formerly fishermen) or are scientists studying the amazing environment on land and sea.
The largest town has 8,000 residents.
I must digress to brag about my packing light skills v. hubby's.
George's bags. To avoid paying extra, I had to check my suitcase and carry 1 of his backpacks. To be fair, most of his stuff is camera equipment and you'll see below some of the results. Well worth the extra luggage.
We flew from Dulles to Miami to Quito, Ecuador.
I insist on arriving really early for any flight, especially when going to Dulles because you never know how far you're going to have to walk, take a train and/or a "people-mover". For the first time I was so early I had an airport massage.
I did know Quito was the capital of Ecuador, but I didn't know it was the second largest city even though there are over two million people living there.
The airport is about five years old. Apparently the previous airport was considered one of the most dangerous in the world because it required flying between all of the mountains and landing in the valley with the city build all around. The new one requires a long ride into town but the city now has it's equivalent of Central Park where the airport had been.
We arrived late at night, but as you can see, the airport was lovely.
This was our first trip where we let SilverSea (SS) arrange everything - flights, hotels, transfers, etc. Perfect service - we were escorted every step of the way.
Our SS host and his assistants who handled all of the luggage onto the bus.
OK, so we are traveling above our pay grade but we book two years in advance and have everything paid for before we go. SS is considered one of the luxury cruise lines. Their ships are small - most only hold around 300 passengers but the newest ship holds up to 500. Every cabin is a suite and comes with a maid and butler. On this cruise the ship was even smaller, only 100 passengers.
We stayed at a gorgeous hotel.
Main lobby
Atrium
Lovely cafe with breakfast buffet
A Chinese Weeping Willow
Waterfall into the diving pool
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| The view from our room |
Another view from our room. The clear tent was being put up for a very large and loud party that was held in the evening. Good news - the music stopped right at 10 pm.
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I love the sights of color everywhere |
View from the front of the hotel. Quito is surrounded by volcanos. This is one. Most are dormant but one did erupt three years ago causing a lot of concern and coating everything with ash.
We had to go to the Volcano Park.
We took a cable car to the top of a mountain overlooking the city. Quito is very long but narrow since it is between all the mountains.
Another volcano with snow on the top.
Our next stop was at the Equator Museum.
OK, it's touristy and hokey, but it's what all tourists do.
Museum was a lot of fun.
More stuff I didn't know:
How to balance an egg:
You can balance a raw egg if you're on the equator. Some science thing about the pressure being equal on each side.
How to avoid shadows:
On March 21st and September 21st of each year, the sun casts no shadows at noon at the equator.
After a lovely day and night in Quito, we took a bus ride to Quayaquil in order to catch our flight to the islands.
What is the largest city in Ecuador?
Quayaquil is beautiful and home to almost 3 million people. It's on the Pacific coast.
The airport in Quayaquil was gorgeous but I really loved the collection of orchids.
Finally we arrived at the airport on Isla San Cristobal. It was small, hot, crowded and confusing. I even managed to leave my passport and tourist document behind BUT, thanks to the kindness of a stranger, a gentleman started yelling out my name in Spanish, "A uhenia Bur kess", and returned both documents to me. I could have been in a world of trouble. No US Consulate in Galapagos!
I didn't get a photo of the terminal, but let's just say it was small. No gates or walkways. Left the plane via stairs and a short walk across the tarmac.
George with his stuff
A short bus ride got us to the dock and our first ride on a zodiac.
One of many zodiacs waiting for us.
Lots of private boats in the harbor.
After going through the mandatory safety drill, we were free to roam the ship and attend a welcome party on the 5th deck. I quickly found my favorite spot on board.
One of the many sights during sunset
I spotted a private yacht in the distance and used it as an excuse to play with my zoom lens.
I wonder if this is the Roads Scholars group. We met two women at the hotel in Quito who were going to the Galapagos with that organization and said it was a private charter for only sixteen guests.
We had a party crasher - a Great Frigatebird. You can tell this is a male by the red balloon-like front. When he wants to attract a female he expands it way out to catch the eye of a female flying bye.
Life on board quickly settled into a nice routine: up very early in the mornings for a shore excursion but back around 9 to avoid the heat; mid-day while the ship repositioned we had lectures, visits to the spa, lunch on the 5th deck; late afternoon excursion; briefing on the events of the next day; ending with a marvelous dinner then early to bed.
Lunch time on Deck 5
Ship's entertainment was 1 piano player.
This was not your typical cruise. It was an "expedition" so no floor shows, dance bands, etc. Eduardo played his electric keyboard for lunch and dinner on the 5th deck and a concert grand in the Piano Bar for after dinner drinks. He could play anything. One night at dinner he was playing a long list of supper club-type quiet selections until we all broke up because we realized he was playing Black Sabbath.
Trust me - this tastes great.
Our young Ecuadorian chef, who trained in Chicago, treated us to wonderful local specialties. One afternoon he taught a cooking class.
Here are just a few (count your blessings) of our photos from the twice-daily excursions:
Lava Lizard
Ghost Crab
American Oystercatcher
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| Great Blue Heron |
Black-necked Stilt
Blue-footed Booby
Boobies are amazing. They dive bomb into the water at an amazing force and stay down long enough to eat whatever they catch, which really doesn't take long at all. The males do this hilarious dance for the lady Boobies that shows off their blue feet - "look how big they are!" There is one other interesting fact -
They can really shit! That's not snow.
On one of our zodiac tours, the boat got too close to a cliff full of Boobies. George and one other guy got rained on big time. They were covered. We briefly tried not to laugh but everyone lost it. I was pleased that hubby took it in good stride but the laundry team had an awful job that night.
Back to beauty
One of the many volcanic craters seen everywhere.
The western islands still have active volcanos. The most recent eruption was three months before our trip.
"The Bishop at Prayer" is a famous landmark used by sailors for centuries to find their way around the islands.
Nowhere else can you see flamingos and penguins.
The dots on the chest of each penguin are their "fingerprint". I submitted this photo to see if this penguin is in the data base that tracks the population. If it's not there, it could be named for me. Fingers crossed. Galapagos penguins are smaller than those found at Antartica because they do not need lots of body fat to keep warm.
There are two types of iguanas, each found on different islands.
Land Iguana. Talk about adaptation. Color couldn't be more perfect.
Marine Iguana that dives for algae.
The population is currently high but the islands are experiencing a terrible drought and there is fear that 70% of the population could die.
Human sightings
We were in the land of the Tilly Hats
One afternoon our zodiac was surrounded by playful dolphins.
A Brown Pelican with dinner.
Straited Heron looking for dinner.
Sunset in a Mangrove.
I love sea lions! They are playful and always seemed ready to pose.
Time for a nap.
Our visit to Floreana Island included a stop at the post office - the oldest in South America.
This is an "informal" post office that was started by some of the first sailors to the island. You put your mail in the barrel and hope someone comes along and takes your mail to the addressee. I dropped off one post card and took three addressed to residents of Virginia. All have been delivered. As of this writing, my post card to a friend in the Dallas area has not been delivered.
One afternoon was spent on Santa Cruiz Island where scientists are living in tents on the beach to observe the nesting of sea turtles. When the baby turtles come out of their eggs and head for the sea, they must try to get by many predators and most will not make it. As observers, the scientists are forbidden to interfer.
One of the scientists heading to tent city.
Poles mark where sea turtle eggs have been laid.
From Santa Cruz Island we could see the airport and wind farm on Baltra. This airport was build as a US Army Air Corp base during WWII to protect the Panama Canal (something else I didn't know). When the US abandoned the base, Ecuador converted it into a commercial air field.
These are the remains of a supply barge that went down in rough seas during WWII.
On our last day we visited two amazing sites.
Research center and reserve for Galapagos Giant Tortoises
This guy was enjoying the spa he had built for himself.
Our guide, who grew up on the island, said he could remember first seeing this tortoise when he was just six years old and he was told then that this tortoise was already old - maybe 100 years. The guide is now in his thirties.
He seemed to be laughing at us.
We spent the afternoon at a coffee farm and met an amazing family.
Scott and Maria Elena
This couple met over thirty years ago at the University of Texas. After she finished her MBA (not sure if Scott graduated - he said he majored in partying) they returned to her home country, Ecuador. He is from Ohio. Each got research jobs in the Galapagos and they moved to Santa Cruz. Over the years they purchased land, built their own home, and started growing coffee. They now have a ten year old son, and two years ago Scott's mother moved down and lives in her own home they built for her on the farm.
After Scott and Maria led a tour of the property, their son gave the sells pitch and we sampled and bought some of their coffee. We also met Scott's mom who said she definitely didn't miss the winters in Ohio.
The view from their balcony.
We've finished the coffee we bought there and have ordered more. If you'd love to try a truly tasty coffee, medium blend, with an interesting history, check out http://lavajavagal.com
There is also a Lava Java in Hawaii, so make sure you find the Galapagos brand.
Now it's time to praise the crew on our ship.
George with our favorite guide, Marco.
Marco's story is inspiring. He was born in the Galapagos in a family that can trace it's history on the islands to the 19th Century. He is the first male in his family to not be a fisherman, although he started out with his father and grandfather working on their boat. At the age of 16 he got his first job on the SS Galapagos ship as the garbage collector. He got a full scholarship to the university in Quito and after earning a BA he passed the tour guide exams required by the national park service and SS. Then he waited NINE years for a position to open on the ship. In the meantime he has worked on other ships. I found his English excellent but he says he is still learning and wants to learn one new word a day. We had dinner with him one evening and "gave" him cornucopia. He loved it because it correctly describes the variety of life on the islands.
Unlike other ships in SS that have a very international crew, SS Galapagos is all Ecuadorian citizens, including the Norwegian who was seeking warmth and ended up in Ecuador and stayed. Most were from the mainland but several were born and raised in the islands.
While we were required to wear river sandals with closed toes, the tour guides who grew up in the islands were barefoot.
The last night we were invited to the Captain's Cocktail Party because this was not our first SS cruise.
Nex to George is the Captain, I'm next to the Hotel Manager.
George is next to a delightful couple from Ireland who were recognized for having traveled more than 600 nights on SS. The woman on the right had the 2nd most number of nights, including an around the world cruise with SS.
My only regret was not being able to snorkel but I am happy that we took this trip of a life time.
