Galapagos Islands: 11th - 18th April 2026
12th April – Sunday
Gosh it has been a long day, it basically started at 10am yesterday (Saturday) morning and I am only now, 8:30pm Sunday finding myself in bed and ready to collapse into a deep sleep. As always the uber came on time but it took a lot longer to get to the bus station than it did from the bus station to the hostel. But we took a different route so I thought nothing of it. We also passed through what I thought was a ‘posh’ area of Valparaiso, with lots of modern looking buildings, hardly any street art and much much cleaner and brighter, Even the bus station looked in better condition than I remembered it but I still thought nothing of it. Then my bus came and I was refused entry, I was perplexed, the driver got the bag handler to chat to me. I was at the wrong bloody station in the wrong bloody town – FFS. I was in Vina del Mar which literally backs onto Valparaiso. And I missed my bus! I had to buy another ticket and get the bus, half an hour later, to Santiago from Vina del Mar. I wasn’t stressed as I still had 5 hours to wait at santiago airport for my flight to Quito Peru. I am really not sure why I gave myself so much grace time wise but I am glad I did this time as it could have all been a lot worse. I decided to be extravagant and treated myself to a very expensive airport dinner of prawns, palm hearts and salad, I also indulged in a couple of cocktails, desert and a coffee – lol – sometimes it just as to be done. I am not sure how else I spent my time at Santiago airport but I do recall it went quickly enough and before I knew it I was mid air with a glass of red wine spilt on my red trousers! I was also really paranoid about missing my next flight as we left 20 minutes late and I worked out I would have 40 minutes to get off the plane and go through to transit in Quito. Then we landed and we gained an hour! Lol – I had checked if there was a time difference between Chile and Peru but hadn’t checked between Peru and Ecuador. Sometimes I do question my personal sanity.
Nuevo Aeropuerto Internaacional Jorge Chavez Lime Peru, take the piss, you have to pay a tax just to transit through this airport, but such is life. I wonder what they would do if you refused – put you a plane back to where you came from or throw you in jail? Anyway it turns out that Lima departure lounge is quite swanky with lots of shops, restaurants and bars so I bought myself an expensive beer from TFI Fridays, which I had to wolf down, and then got my flight to Quito. It wasn’t an exciting flight but I did manage to get about an hours sleep. Dad suggested I miss this afternoons activities in Galapogas and catch up on missed sleep but I don’t want to – I have FOMO!
Once we landed in Quito I got a SIM card and some Dollars. I then bought myself an expensive airport breakfast even though it was 4 in the morning. The food on both the previous flights had been minimal and I was in need of nourishment and decent coffee. I sat for quite a while concerned that the flight gate was not announced and decided to take a wonder around to find an information booth. It was then that I spotted the Galapagos counter and suddenly remembered I have to have a special visa and clear my luggage. So I queued and got it all sorted. But I had quite a wait before the boarding was announced and am not really sure where I got the energy to stay awake. But I did, however the moment my ass was in the plane chair I crashed out. I am not sure for how long as I totally missed take off and woke to the most amazing senary. The mountains were a dark emerald green, they looked like someone had taken some deep
expensive velvet, scrunched it up and then threw it over the land – so beautiful. And in the distance, rising out above the clouds there were snow peaked volcanoes. It was a picture postcard and I even took photos for the lady sitting next to me. I didn’t get her or her husbands names but they were such a lovely couple from Canada. From when I woke up it took half an hour to get to Guayaquil where we had an hours stop but we were not allowed off the plane. I slept, in fact I slept for the rest of journey, admittedly it was interrupted sleep as the guy in front of me kept violently jumping around in his chair but it was sleep and enough to keep me going this afternoon.
Arriving in Baltra, the Galapagos Islands was exciting. I met up with Raul, our tour guide, without any issues but had to wait for others to alight and meet us before we set off for the yacht. Waiting with me were two young lads, Rocco from Canada and Paku from Hongkong. Paku was very chatty, we were all excited. It didn’t take long for the rest of the group to arrive and bar the two boys were are a group from the UK, which is awesome. We had to get a bus from the airport to the port and then two pangas (dingies) to the Eden Yacht. Once on the yacht we were given welcome drinks and Raul introduced himself and then gave us room numbers so we could go and settle in before our first briefing and activity. I am sharing a cabin with Lesley who is from Edinburgh – lol – same as Tom from Easter Island. Eden is awesome, it’s not a large yacht but also not so small, it can hold 16 passengers and a crew of 5. My cabin is down in the basement, not far from the engine room, it has very small windows which are no good for looking out of, but it does have air con and of course a private bathroom. Lesley is lovely, a bit of a huffer and puffer but she has asthma so it is understandable. The main thing is that we get on as the cabin is small and 7 nights is a long time to spend with a stranger.
After our first briefing, which was all about safety and the daily routine, we got ready for our first activity which was a lagoon walk and snorkelling at The Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz. The beach was small and the walk to the lagoon not far, but this was cool as I really do not know where I was drawing the energy from to keep going. On the walk we saw a crane, a few lizards and lots of crabs, but most exciting was the turtle trail leading to a huge hole which Raul said would have been full of eggs. At the lagoon we saw a couple of pink flamingos and a few other birds. It was all very chilled and a nice way to get to know each other and Raul. Snorkelling was fun, we have been given our own kits, which includes a wetsuit, for the entire trip. We only snorkelled around the bay and Raul watched from the beach and the guys in the two pangas watched from the sea. I actually got the feeling they were assessing to see how confident each of us was in the water. Paku did not go in but everyone else did. I pretended to be brave and experienced – lol. It was awesome to see a few beautiful reef fish and I am really looking forward to getting to see some more and hopefully a shark or two and some turtles.
Back on board, after a shower, we were introduced to the rest of the crew and had a briefing about tomorrows events, this briefing will be part of our daily routine. Then dinner was served (I think I forgot to mention we had lunch earlier). All I can say is the food is extremely good and plentiful. I will have to be careful not to put on any weight as Tina has had brides maid dresses made and I need to get into mine, my measurements were taken in Brazil by Manu.
After dinner we all socialised for a little while. But like me, everyone was exhausted and we all eventually retired for an early night. Tonight we are on the move to the north of the Galapagos and an island called Genovesa, it is going t take abut 7 hours to get there so I am glad we are sailing while we are asleep, especially as the boat is quite rocky and after all that food I need to lay flat and not think about the swaying movement. Roll on tomorrow.
13th Aoril – Monday
What a fantastic day. We woke to find ourselves moored just off Isla Genovesa (Great Darwin Bay), which is horse shoe shaped and extremely beautiful. There are no human inhabitants here, only birds and sea lions.
After a delicious breakfast of fruit, French toast and scrambled eggs we were off snorkelling. WoW, so many beautiful fish, especially by the reef. We then swam along the coast in search of sharks. Rual said we would swim slowly but the group swam off at quite a speed and I found myself trailing behind most of the time. Leslie, who is my snorkelling buddy stayed with me to begin with but them swam off to catch up with everyone else, she did keep popping her head up to check on me and I felt quite bad that I could not keep up with her. I was thinking of throwing the towel in and calling the panga over but instead put my head down, engaged my stamina and went for it. I caught up with the group who were now in deeper waters. Jeff was fantastic and helped me a lot as my googles kept steaming up and I couldn’t see much. But I did manage to see 3 hammer head sharks which was fantastic. With my fish spotting now satisfied I decided to call it a day and jumped on the panga, ten minutes later Raul called an end to the event and we all went back to the boat. So all in all I was very proud of how long I was snorkelling for, which must have been a good 35 minutes, considering I am not a strong swimmer and only gave up smoking 2 months ago I feel I did really well.
We only had time for a quick shower before we were of again, this time to the island itself. We got the panga to the beach and were greeted by some sea-lions. And the amount of birds we saw was just amazing. But what so so fantastic was that the birds had no fear of us, so they just carried on doing their business as if we were not there. Raul was a fountain of knowledge, as he should be, and told us how to differentiate between the male, female and babies of all the species of bird we encountered. But for me I think the best bit of this part of the day was when a sea-lion came swimming up the stream and came out to us as if it wanted to play. Obviously we could not engage
With it and it soon turned around and went to play with the other sea-lions. The experience was so cool.
We had quite a long time on board the boat after that. We had lunch and then everyone chilled. Lunch felt a little uncomfortable, all the couples are at one table but the youngest couple are at a table with me Lesley and the two boys. Our table was silent most of the time and I tried to engage the others in conversation but it was so difficult, in the end I gave up finished my lunch, which was calamari, and disappeared as quickly as possible. I went upstairs and enjoyed the sun loungers, I didn’t think any of the couples, who are in the cabins upstairs, were that happy about me being up there as they all went and sat around the other end to me, but they do not have exclusive right to the sun loungers so I stayed and chilled and drank a beer.
This afternoon we went to another part of the island and had a hike while looking for the short eared owl. We got dropped off at the bottom of a steep cliff but luckily there were steps to take us up to the top and flatter ground. It was a fab hike, not too difficult or long but the terrain was very rocky and I was glad I had a pole with me. We saw so many of the same bird species from this morning, again non of them were scared of us. In fact it felt like some of them were guarding their territory from us, or else were waiting for us to pay a toll before letting us pass. But then why not, it is their island and we were their uninvited visitors. We were so lucky to see two short eared owls, one was close up in the bushes behind us and the other quite far off in the distance, I had to use Lesley’ binoculars to see it. The short eared owl is special in that, unlike other owls, it has adapted to hunting during the day and sleeping at night. This is partly due to the day time activity of it’s main source of food and that it is the top animal on the island and so have no predators and is safe day and night.
I’ve now managed to engage with all of the couples on separate occasions and they are all so nice. However, the younger couple do make me feel uncomfortable, especially her. We were on the panga coming back from the hike and me and her fella were laughing over something and she gave him, what was supposed to be, a secret little kick, but I saw it. After that he hardly spoke to me – I am now wondering if she feels jealous, which is stupid as I have spoken to her more than him. Oh well, it’s her insecurities showing through and she really needs to take a chill pill and get on and enjoy the trip instead of being paranoid for no reason at all.
Dinner was good. We had the choice of fish or beef or both. I feel like I have eaten my way through the day with three big meals and plenty of snacks and biscuits, so I had the fish and plenty of salad. We are now on the move again, back to the south and the main cluster of islands. Being on the boat is fine but when we move it is so rocky and makes me feel a little sea sick, so I am happy to be in bed and that the journey will be done while I am asleep. We have another full day tomorrow and after today I am really looking forward to it.
14th April – Tuesday
It was an early 6 am start with a spectacular sunrise at Bartholomew Islet. From the yacht we had a perfect view of the panicle which is was man made during WW2 when the Americans used this area for practising dropping their bombs. The Galapagos was not a preservation area back then.
Our first activity was a hike to the lighthouse, which is the highest point of Bartholomew. On route we saw a few penguins which is nice, The penguins here, unlike in Patagonia, are very small and have adapted to live in warmer waters. The hike was, with it’s 369 steps, quite strenuous on my knees but we did stop several times for Raul to tell us all about the land formation, which is volcanic, and for us to catch our breaths. After the hike and a short rest we went snorkelling. I felt a lot more confident today especially as my panga driver tightened my glasses so water did not leak into them. This meant I did not keep stopping and was able to keep up with the rest of the group. The water was not as clear as the first part of yesterday’s snorkelling but I did still get to see a giant turtle and tones of star fish, not to mention all of the standard reef fish. Our snorkelling adventure started at one side of the panicle and we swam round it to the other other side. At one point we had to swim between two rather dangerous looking rocks. I am so glad I looked up in time to realise where I was heading. As I got half way through the passage the tide turned against me and I felt like I was being pulled backwards, it was a little concerning, until all of a sudden the tide, once again, turned and literally pushed me through the gap and to the other side. I was quite a weird sensation and nervy at the time, but looking back on it it was fun.
After lunch and our afternoon three hour break from activities we sailed to Sullivan bay, Santiago Island. Here everyone, bar three of us, me Sally and Pazu, went snorkelling again. I really didn’t fancy it, especially as Raul had said they would see very much the same as we saw in the morning. Instead I stretched out on one of the deck chairs on the top deck and savoured the view and peacefulness of having the boat more or less to myself. When they all retuned I was told that I hadn’t actually missed much so I was glad I had not gone.
Our final activity of the day was excellent, I really enjoyed it. Santiago Island is a lava field and we went for a hike on the lava. It was so beautiful, black, cracked and full of swirling snaking dread lock patterns. In some cracked parts you could see the beautiful reds, yellows and greens
of the minerals in the lava and there were lots of cracks and crevices. It was so similar to a glacier but the total opposite. There were also a lot of yellow veins which Raul said were old tree roots from before the eruption. The lava where we were didn’t come from the main eruption but rather three or four smaller, but related, vents. At one point, were the lava was flat we lay on it, it was beautifully warm and so soothing on the back, I could have stayed there for hours. There were also several very small plants growing in some of the lava cracks, Raul said it would take at least 500 years before the landscape would start turning green, but that these plants are the start of the process.
By the time we were ready to leave the rain had started and we got back to the yacht quite wet. Raul put on the first of David Attenborough series on the Galapagos islands, which was awesome as it helped put everything into perspective and laid out the importance of the islands. By the time we had finished dinner we had sailed to and moored at Isla Baltra which is where the airport I flew into is. Tomorrow morning we need to refuel the boat. Although it was raining and dark we all crowded onto the deck to see a couple of giant pelicans and several Galapagos sharks circling the boat. It was quite an amazing site but very scary.
15th April – Wednesday
I am writing this tomorrow because it was far too rough to write anything last night and all I wanted to do was close my eyes, prey not to be sick and sleep. We woke at Black Turtle Cove, Santa Cruz and after breakfast headed out on the pangas to the mangrove forest. Unfortunately, due to the rain which didn’t stop all night, the water was murky and we didn’t really see much. However we did see at least one of everything we were hoping to see, which were couple of turtles and a couple of baby white tipped sharks, but that was it. We should have seen lots of baby sharks as the mangrove is their nursery. The mothers come and give birth here and then bugger off and leave the baby sharks to grow up. The babies stay in the mangrove for about a year and then the swim off around the Galapagos and breed. We also saw our first blue footed boobies which was fantastic. Luckily the mangrove trip was very pleasant and peaceful and I enjoyed trying to spot things in the water even though it was virtually impossible. I felt very relaxed and calm by the time we returned to the yacht. After re-boarding we set sail to Dragon Hill which was about 2 hours further along the coast. We were scheduled to hike the hill in search of iguanas and for bird watching, with a swim to round of the day at 3pm. From the time we had moored we could see rain clouds in the
distance. Raul had previously informed us that the only thing that would stop a trip would be if boarding the pangas was too dangerous, but we still went. I was in the 2nd panga to leave and as we did the captain of the yacht held his hands in the air and shouted rain.
The moment we set foot on the island it started, it was light rain for all of 2 minutes then it became torrential. It was a battle to get our waterproofs out and on before getting soaked through to the sink. Not that mine made any difference, I may as well not have had it on. The ground / path was a stream of red sticky muddy water and trying to use the rocks as stepping stones become more treacherous than walking in the flowing water. The senary, what I could see of it through my rain soaked glasses was stunning, lush and green but it was so difficult to appreciate it properly as I was concentrating on where my feet were going and not falling over. We did see a few iguanas but not as many as we were hoping to, we also saw a couple of goats but no birds – it was raining far too hard for the birds to be out. We made it to the top of the hill and then had to make our way back down again and follow the same path back to the beach for our swim. Going down was quicker but more dangerous and now the flowing water was well above ankle level and my glasses so wet that I could not longer use the rocks and just wadded my way through the water. The lads were in front of me but everyone else was behind me using me as their guide – FFS – the blind leading the stupid. Claire gave me a cloth to clean my glasses – I had vision and Dragon Hill was even more beautiful now that I could actually see it.
On the way down, not far from the beach the rain slowly died down and eventually stopped. Raul called for the pangas to come and collect us. Clare, Jeff, Lesley and Rocco stripped to their costumes and jumped in the sea for a swim. As much as I wanted to I did not join them as the waves were getting stronger and stronger and the rocks either side of us really put me off. My swimming is not good enough to handle such strong currents. Even though the pangas were near by they would not come to us until the 4 swimmers got out of the sea. By now the waves were humongous and we could see the pangas rising and falling quite dramatically. We were all quite concerned for Rocco as he was looked exhausted in the water and kept getting swept towards the rocks, luckily he made it back to the beach safely as did the others. From here on things became very unpredictable, the waves and wind became really strong and boarding the pangas had to be done very quickly and we had to hold on tight – we were not given life jackets! It was like being on a fairground ride, we were swept up and down with the waves and had to make our way slowly to the yacht. We were second to board and watching the first panga board was scary. The panga had difficulty resting next to the landing deck and at one point got dramatically swept away before everyone had gotten off. Eventually they managed the task and it was our turn. Raul jumped from the first panga and into ours and then we were literally pushed by him and pulled by the captain on to the yacht. It was so scary, especially without life jackets and Pazu cannot swim! While I was standing on the landing deck the waves kept sweeping onto it and at one point I thought that if I let go of the railing I would be swept off and into the water. Luckily to say this did not happen. To top all of this off we then had to face a rough trip round Santa Cruz to the bay of Puerto Ayora. Lesley had some spare travel sickness pills of which I had one. We had an early dinner, which I really didn’t fancy but ate anyway whilst holding my head. I did not feel sick in my stomach but I did in my head. After eating all I could manage was getting into bed. The rocking and swaying of the boat was not so bad when laying down – I closed my eyes and must have been asleep by 8pm. I woke at 9.30pm, to the sound of the anchor being dropped and did think about heading up to the next deck for a beer, but I fell asleep again before I even managed to get one foot out of the bed.
16th April – Thursday
We are now moored at Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, which is where the Darwin centre is and that is where we went this morning. But first I spent the morning watching the black tipped sharks in the bay, they were plentiful and so were the pelicans. The waters were really clear and it was easy to spot all sorts of fish. Such a shame the mangrove had not been as clear yesterday. This morning we said goodbye to 3 of the couples who have been travelling with us from the start of this cruise. It is going to be strange not having them around, especially Lyn and Derek who I have been spending a lot of time with over the last couple of days, as well as Jeff, he is so funny, a proper cockney Londoner. So this morning it was just me, Lesley, Rocco, Pazu and Ross and Katie. We had another couple join us this afternoon. They are from Germany, she seems really nice but I do not like the vibrations I get from him. I cannot make out weather they are a couple or mother and son.
This morning was good, the Darwin centre very interesting. We saw several giant tortoise shells and read about the many conservation projects that are happening, as well as the importance of the Galapagos in learning about the evolution of species and how Darwin came about his idea of the evolution of species by natural selection. We also saw Lonesome George, he is a tortoise of great importance as he was the last of his species of giant tortoise – he is now stuffed and in an exhibition box at the centre, but he did live until he was about 130 years old. Previously there were 15 species of giant tortoise in the Galapagos, now there are only 12. They can live for up to 10 months without water and food which made them invaluable to pirates and sailors of the past, who almost wiped them out. One of the conservation projects taking place is to help restore their numbers. This year 158 giant tortoises were released and we saw many more that are currently being looked after until their shells are hard enough to withstand attacks from rats, which are the babies main predators in the Galapagos.
Raul lives in Puetro Ayora and was very eager to leave us and visit his friends and dog, and who can blame him. So we were left to our own devises until 2:30pm. We didn’t get far from the Darwin centre when we stopped for ice cream and iced coffee. After this the two boys disappeared and then Lesley and I went our own way leaving the married couple to enjoy some time together. Lesley and I did a bit of window shopping and walked around an art centre / shop that had some very colourful hand made models of the Galapagos Island animals. If I had space to carry something and was going home after this trip I would have definitely splashed out on an item. It wasn’t long before Ross and Kate caught up with us and the four of us found ourselves by a port with some people selling fresh fish, which meant an audience of pelicans, otters and lots of lizards. It was quite a sight and kept us amused for a long time. With the urge for food approaching we headed to a restaurant called Rustica which Pazu had recommended. And guess who was there, Pazu and Rocco, so the 6 of us ate together. The food was OK, there was only fish on the menu, but it was cheap and filling, as Pazu had said local food at local prices.
After a couple of beers we all met up with Raul and the two new tourists and headed to the giant tortoise reserve – OMG, they really are giant and can move quite fast, I was just glad they are herbivores – lol. Here we also visited a lava tube, which was a lot more pleasant than the one I visited on Easter Island, This one was long and thin and had water dripping from the ceiling. We walked the length of it before heading to the shop area where we had a free Galapagos coffee and crawled into the shells of giant tortoises and took pictures of each other.
Dinner this evening was a little awkward with the new people and I did feel a little sorry for them, it must have felt uncomfortable for them joining an established group. The lady, Brigget, seems really nice, but her son (?) didn’t smile once. I know that does not mean he is not nice, I just got the feeling he is more guarded than she is. But then he is a fair bit younger than her and is probably not as worldly as she is appears to be. His name is Nicolas.
17th April – Friday
Another fabulous day, although I did actually shed a few tears this afternoon. This morning we did a bit of a strange activity. Yesterday we bought postcards and today, after travelling to Floreana Island last night, we went to Post Office Bay and posted them. However, before we posted them we took all of the post cards out of the post box and sorted though them looking for any that were addressed to somewhere near where we live so that we could hand deliver them. I found two for Oxfordshire, well really it was one as both were for the same address, which is a town between Oxford and Reading, so I am now in position of them and am obliged to hand deliver them at some point when I get back to the UK. I wrote cards to mum and Yasmin – I wonder how long they will take to get there. Anyway this postal system was set up in 1793 by whalers to serve as an informal stamp free postal system and it uses a barrel for the post box. However the barrel that is there now is not the original one, it has been replaced several times.
After this activity we went snorkelling and saw several turtles, we swam from one side of the bay to the other which I found quite strenuous but enjoyed. We actually saw turtles both side of the bay and there was a giant one with a large barnacle on it’s shell which Raul removed. We also saw a couple of huge shawls of fish, blue and white fish with yellow tails and a few black and yellow one straggling behind. I think they were king angel fish. It was a truly amazing sight. I simply love the colours of the coral reef fish and think it is so amazing that these colours exist under the sea – nature is a truly wonderful thing. We had an hour chilling on the beach before we headed back to the yacht, we actually left a little early as everyone was getting pissed off with being bitten by horse flies. Nicolas informed us that they love wet skin.
After lunch we navigated round the island for about 40 minutes to Cormorant Point and here we did some deep water snorkelling. Raul had said it would be challenging and it really was. We got of the pangas quite a distance form the Devils Crown, which are quite a few rocks forming a ring and looking like a crown. And the current was really strong, everyone swam off and left me behind and I couldn’t catch them up. I was fighting against the current and I just didn’t have the strength in me to do it. Lesley is supposed to be my buddy and she was no where to be seen so I had no choice but to call the panga to collect me from the water. Pazu was also on the panga because his snorkel had broken, we were taken back to the yacht. I found it so hard to hold back the tears. Raul and the others know I am not a strong swimmer and didn’t make any allowances for me – it made so sad to go back to the yacht. Hoover Pazu talked me out of it, he said we would stick together, so he got a new snorkel and we returned to the others who were now on the other panga, it turns out they all found the current to strong and could not make it into the Devils Crown. At this point we saw about 6 dolphins which was so beautiful and then the pangas took us to the other side of the rocks and dropped of us where the current actually worked in our favour and took us into the Devils Crown where we saw some very large black tipped sharks – it was magical, and the snorkelling on the crown was easy. I also saw several puffer fish, it was such a delight. Once we left the Devils Crown the current become strong again and the water very mirky so I got out and watched the sea lions on the cliffs, and 10 minutes later Raul called an end to the activity.
Our late afternoon activity was to Punta Cormorant bay, which was stunning, the sand here has a green tinge to it and Raul showed us that the lava here is green. The colour is due to the pressure it was compressed at. Floreana is an older Galapagos island, about 4 million years old and so is not as large or high as some of the others as it is sinking. However Raul said it could take a couple more million years before it disappears below the sea. Here we did a short trek to a lagoon to see the flamingos but they were the other side of the lagoon and we had to share binoculars to see them. After that we trekked across the island, here the sand was white and the sea turquoise. We were only allowed to walk along the water edge as there are turtle eggs in the sand dunes, and swimming is not allowed as it is a conservation area. Not even the pangas are allowed in this area. And it really was perfect and so untouched. We were supposed to see rays in the water, but I didn’t see any, Kate and Ross said they saw a mantra ray but they wadded quite far out and were a distance from the rest of us. Anyway it was a fabulous little walk.
Dinner was a lot more relaxed than last night. Nicolas is chatty and smiling, I think he now feels comfortable with us and part of the group. His mum is lovely. She was telling me about how much she loves Africa and she there is a village in Tanzania that she visits every year. Last year she helped them build a well. I think Africa will definitely be my next adventure. After dinner we went to the back of the yacht and watch hundreds of sharks, vicious ones, circling round the boat. At one point a shawl of flying fish passed through and the sharks went mad – it was quite a sight, nature is amazing and coming here has given me so much
more of a first hand insight into its wonders – I am so glad I made the effort and spent the money on this cruise – it has not been a disappointment and I still have tomorrow to go.
18th April – Saturday
Last night was quite spectacular, we were surrounded by far too many very hungry and dangerous looking sharks. There were also quite a few flying fish in the water which got the sharks very agitated, especially when Ross pushed on off the deck and into the water. The sharks went into a mad feeding frenzy, but it was only a small mouthful for one lucky beast. After dinner we set sail again and we are now moored just of off Espanola Island.
After another delicious breakfast buffet our first port of call was Punta Suarez. I used a stick for this trek and I am not sure if it was a help or hindrance. My knees are really playing up and I am finding steep step-ups really painful and in some cases almost impossible. it is like my knees do not want to hold my weight any more. This trek was very rocky and unstable and we were not allowed to step on the vegetation as the route was covered with iguanas and lava lizards. The main type of iguana here are Christmas iguana, they are called this due to their red and green colouration which appears around Christmas time and then starts to fade around now. We were lucky to see several still with their Christmas colours. It was quite beautiful to see and you had to be very vigilant so as not to tread on any tails. It is also mating season so we got to see several females fighting over nests which was very captivating. We also saw two hawks which were so majestic sitting there in the distance. I believe they are the largest predators on this island. However, our main reason for this stop was to see the albatross. They migrate each year, in their thousands, to Espanola to meet their life time mate and produce more young. Once they have finished they go their separate ways until the next mating season. Again we were very lucky as it is the beginning of their mating season so we saw quite a few sitting on their nests waiting for their mates to turn up. They recognise each other through an elaborate dance they do with their beaks, unfortunately we did not stay long enough to see any do this. We ended this trek at a blow hole, which is a hole in the coastal rocks where the sea is blown through by the tide. It was fun to watch and the spray was very powerful and reached quite a height.
Once back on board we had a quick turn around while navigating to Gardner bay and another snorkelling session. This time I was not last in the water and so found it much easier to keep up with the group. I also got to watch Raul and copied some of his moves and found that keeping my legs straight and stiff and flapping my feet up and down with my arms at the side of my body was a lot more efficient and made me move a lot faster in the water. We swam round the bay and into a cave which was quite exciting and we saw a white tipped shark and, of course, lots of very colourful and extremely large reef fish. When we had finished Raul asked if I had seen the octopus but alas I did not. I think I was too intent on looking for rays and I also did not go as close to the rocks as everyone else because of all of the fish pooh and debris in the water, I didn’t want it in my locks.
After lunch we went to the beach which we could see from the yacht and chilled with hundreds of sea lions. Everyone else except me and Nicolas went snorkelling, I have run out of contact lenses so it was not worth the effort. However I did have a good swim and splash around in the turquoise waters. The sea lions here were really friendly and one in particular tried to play with
Brigget in the water but she had to maintain a distance from it. There was another baby seal which had lost it’s mother and kept being rejected by the other females. I felt quite sorry for it and it finally fell asleep on its own in the sun. Raul reassured me that it’s mum would eventually come looking for it.
After dinner we did our final navigation to San Cristobal, which is the capitol of the Galapagos and anchored for our last night. And as much as I am looking forward to a proper double bed and not having to listen to Lesley huffing and puffing all the time I do not want this experience to end. It has been so amazing, I hope one day I get the opportunity to return and cruise the rest of the Galapagos and the islands I did not get to visit this time.