The Galapagos—March 12-17

What a special place!  We had heard or read many accounts that the Galapagos Islands were overrun by tourists and the environment was degraded.  In our experience, that simply isn’t true.  It is probably the most pristine area we have ever visited, to the point where it’s impossible to find litter or to see tourists out of your group.

Nearly all of the islands, excluding a couple of towns within them, are in a highly-regulated national park system.  Only 5% if populated or in agriculture. 

The Baltra Island airport and immigration employees commute 1.5 hours each way every day to and from, Guayaquil, Ecuador on the mainland.  The park authorities strictly control the timing of the boats so that there that any given island, cove, or bay there are just a few visitors at any one time.  All island landings are either ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ by Zodiac rafts, and all visitors must be accompanied by a naturalist, all of whom are excellent.  No food or ‘nature calls’ to the bushes are allowed.  It’s impossible to find a scrap of litter on the ground or to hear the drone of a helicopter tour above.

About the size of Nevada, the islands straddle the equator.  They are the result of volcanic activity, the most recent major flow was only five years ago, and we got to walk over its beautiful blackness and designs. Except for the highlands, most areas get three inches of rain per year.  The variety and contrasts of each island and the parts of them are beautiful and stunning. We get the sense that we are in the midst of a living geologic, ecological, and natural selection laboratory.

Our days consist of a hike and snorkeling each morning and afternoon.    Each day gets better than the last and the animals we see get bigger.  The main attraction is the unique animals, who aren’t afraid of us.  Some people really go nuts over the unique vegetation, the geology, or the 13 species of Darwin Finches, but we most loved the big critters, like the giant tortoises, seals, iguanas, sea lions, marine iguanas, pelicans, and Ron’s favorite—the boobies (as in blue-footed seagull-like birds). 

Boobies!

 The snorkeling isn’t all that spectacular as far as beautiful coral and colorful fish go.  However, it’s quite a thrill to see sharks, colossal sting rays, marine iguanas, penguins zooming by or to swim with sea lions and within a herd of giant turtles with shells three-feet across, soaring gracefully in the water like a bird flies through air.  Some of them even touched us.

Our ship, The Galapagos Legend, is the largest in the islands, with 84 passengers aboard, and with no casinos, professional live entertainment, or typical cruise formalities.  We’ve met some interesting people from all over the world, and we’ve particularly enjoyed the Aussies in our 14-person raft all five days.  The food is good and overly-plentiful, the bar is always open, and conversation and eating are the main shipboard activities.  And there is always a lecture of some sort or the ever-popular siesta option.

And as far as the entire trip went, it was a great group of people.  We've made new friends and enjoyed each other's very interesting and jovial company.  Vantage, the tour company, and Leyles Gutierrez the on-the-ground program manager, really went out of the way to remove a lot of the friction of traveling in this part of the world and to find ways for us to connect culturally and to know what really goes on beneath the surface.  

Machu Picchu had an instant WOW factor.  But the Galapagos did as well, over a five-day period. The Galapagos Islands have been on our bucket list for nearly two decades, and we’re grateful that we finally got the wonderful opportunity to experience them.  They exceeded our expectations, and it was worth the wait!

Now we re-enter the fast-paced technological and wired world we left behind.  Home Tuesday evening.