Galapagos - incredible!

We flew via another main town from Quito and then onto Galapagos airport – not big but bigger than we expected. We were met by our boat crew and taken straight onboard La Pinta. There were 23 guests on board for a boat built to carry 45 or so – so  a fair amount of space for each of us.

We were given a briefing very quickly and then lunch whilst we moved to the first island we were going to visit. That afternoon we were issued snorkeling gear and transferred to a beach on an island by rib from the main boat. We saw Sea lions, Marine iguanas, Pelicans, Humming bird and then swam with Sea Lions in the water whilst snorkeling – not a bad first outing – billed as a bit of a warm up!

The format of each day was wake up at 7am – via music over the tannoy system followed by a good morning campers style Red Coat announcement. Breakfast 7.30am. Disembark 8.30am by rib to nearest island. Walk on the island with Pablo the guide. 10.30am return to boat. 11am Disembark with snorkel gear and wetsuits – snorkel/dive to see Sea Lions swimming with you, Turtles, Penguins fish galore etc… even sharks. 12.30pm return to boat for lunch. 1.30pm kip whilst boat moves to next venue – usually a different island with new and different animals geology etc…. 3.30pm Disembark to go to next island for walk with guide or snorkel/dive to see Sea lions/turtles etc…. Back on boat by 6pm. Shower etc… drinks 7pm with talk from guide – dinner 7.45pm – Galapagos DVD 9-10pm then bed. Sleep whilst boat moves to next island for next day!!

Obviously each day was very different because you saw different animals, birds, sea life, lava, volcanoes, geology, plant life etc etc each day. Ian found out his camera was very good underwater and also had a movie function so the snorkels were amazing with Sea Lions, fish and Turtles all within touching distance underwater. Pablo, our naturalist guide, showed and talked to us about the amazing animals with interesting stories and informative lectures and talks – keeping us all interested and teaching us a great deal about the animals, Galapagos and how it all fitted together. He was especially brilliant with kids and included them in group talks and examples of how things worked. Megan took a shine to him and invariably luckily (or unfortunately!) Megan rushed to the front to hold Pablos hand.

Every  activity had its own reason for being completed whether there were more Marine Iguanas or Frigates and Blue Boobies (actually birds with wings!) or more Sea Lions and turtles in the water. So you had to do all of them to get the overall feel. Sam and Ian went on a long walk across a very bumpy and sharp lava field to learn all about Lava flows and volcanoes. Very Jurassic look but actually some of quite recent at 1 million years old and then very recent just from April 2009!!! Amazing stuff really – I will look at Lanzarote and Club La Santa in a very different light now with a bit of knowledge.

All the kids including Megan, really enjoyed the snorkeling. We were given wetsuits, flippers and mask/snorkel and we just swam out to sea along the jagged rocks. Megan was incredibly brave and really enjoyed seeing the fish, sea lions and turtles under the water with her mask. She has swam with a snorkel for long ways so has become comfortable doing that. Sam and Toby have mastered snorkeling completely and are using their fins properly and diving down to get closer to the fish and blow bubbles for the sea lion so that it comes closer or copies the bubbles. If I knew how to load video clips on this blog I would show you the videos of the Sea Lions and Turtles looking straight at the camera and playing with us all/blowing bubbles underwater – really amazing stuff. Swimming with the Sea lions and Turtles are really the true highlight of the water activities. On the last day Toby swam with a Marine Iguana but it was too fast for Toby to keep up with. The penguins were interesting but not as playful as the Sea Lions. Although we saw a few sharks (Hammerhead and White Tipped sharks), they were not interested in us luckily and just went on their way.

On Land, although there are many very interesting birds and plants, the highlight really was the Giant tortoise and the Land Iguana. Although we all were intrigued by the Blue-footed Boobies, the Flamingoes, the Frigate birds, Humming birds and the Finches and all the plant life, which at times was very Jurassic and had a scary feeling to it, you have to see the Iguanas and Tortoises, in their natural habitat and up close, to really be wowed. It is hard when each day you see so much but the true definition for me of the highlights is that you would be happy to see that species each day and have the same excited feeling each day.

The last day really summarises the trip as it included most of the best bits in a single day. We started with a deep sea snorkel. We saw parrot fish, puffer fish, a trumpet and angel fish as we swam along the rocks and cliffs. We were just about to get back on the boat when suddenly 5 Sea Lions turned up - including a mother and 2 young. They swam around us, blew bubbles and were generally very exciting indeed. Sadly my underwater camera had just broken - so no new underwater images this time.

We then went to the beach where the kids swam with a marine Iguana, a few Turtles and loads of Sea Lions. Just off the shore in warm water with a beautiful sandy beach. Really spectacular. After lunch we went on a walk on another unique island; we saw all the normal blue-footed and Nazca Boobies (birds) - Sea Lions, Xmas Marine Iguanas and then we came across the Albatross. We saw one take off from the cliff and land - we saw the young and the nests - all around were birds and nests - right on the rocks. And we saw the Galapagos Hawk. Another unique and amazing walk on an Irish like cliff coastline with species of all sorts everywhere.

The Movie “Master and Commander” was shot here and we went to most of the main places from the movie. Several of the photos are classic shots from the movie!

Pablo, our expedition naturalist, taught us so much - the kids have learnt so much - i hope they remember it. Pablo was really a magnificent naturalist leader and made the trip so enjoyable and inclusive for the kids. There were always experiments or examples given which were played out using the kids as part of the examples.

The La Pinta was a great boat to be on. We are still rocking now - staying at the Eco hotel Finch Bay. The staff were very friendly and helpful, especially Galo, who valiantly served dinner to the children every night and kept them entertained, and Luis who fed the kids non-alcoholic cocktails wherever they went. But all were great - relatively small and very efficiently run. Pablo, the on-board naturalist and activity organiser was our favourite.

We feel we have experienced almost all of the birds, reptiles and mammals as well as plant life and lava rock flows in Galapagos. It has been one of our best weeks - right up there with the Wilderness resort as an experience and learning. For those who have followed this blog - you will know that is high praise indeed from us.

We met some really friendly people - all of whom put up with our kids and the kids enjoyed their company as well. Audrey, a travel agent from LA, Debbie, a doctor, Roger and Carol, a lovely retired couple from Florida (and Colorado!) plus Tom and Joy from Microsoft and Dan and Edna from Israel. A real mix and pleasure to meet you all - you all helped make our Galapagos experience very memorable. We leave hoping we will be able to come back when Megan is around 10 or 11 - in the knowledge that Pablo has taught us well - I hope we can all remember it well enough. On now to Machu Piccu and Cusco.