Its almost overwhelming to the senses to think back on all we saw, did and learned on our 8 day Galapagos Cruise on the luxury yacht, Natural Paradise. Each day involved at least three expeditions (snorkelling, hiking, panga/zodiac trips) with not much rest in between, and lots of socializing with our 14 other passengers (8 American women celebrating a 60th birthday, a young American couple and 4 other Aussies). We had a nice cabin on the boat, the food was excellant and catered for our gluten free diet, our tour guide was exceptional and the whole crew were very accommodating.
This was our route for 8 days, so lots of islands to visit. Mostly the seas were ok but we had a few rough nights when travelling through the open ocean sections.
This was the boat, Natural Paradise, loading us on to the pangas for our excursions. Our balcony was the one on the upper left.
This was our cabin, note the towels shaped like stingrays.Another view of our cabin looking out to the balcony
Each day we visited different islands and generally saw different birds, animals and landforms on each. There were so many highlights that we’re just including some of the favorite photos to tell the story.
This was a typical schedule; at least 3 or 4 expeditions each day.
Blue-footed boobies were everywhere
Seeing a flock of boobies diving for fish was just amazingMarine iguanas were everywhere and often hanging around together in a pile. You can see a volcano in the background.Here’s a close up of a marine iguana
And here’s his cousin the land iguana
We did see a few land tortoises in the wildAnd we saw more land tortoises in the Breeding Centre. Due to hunting the land tortoises were almost extinct in these islands. At one point four males and four females were left and taken to the Breeding Centre where they have produced offspring.
Plus lots of sea turtles in the water. Dick made good use of an underwater camera
Dick even got this photo of a flightless cormorant attacking one of our group and trying to get her Go-Pro. It also tried to take Dick’s camera in a tug of war with him.
Sea lions were everywhere, with lots of babiesOne even attempted to charge us when we got too close
Dick swam with lots of sea lions
Saw lots of golden rays and eagle rays in a mangrove areaA few flamingos on a shallow lake, part of a colony of about 20 who live there.
Lots of colorful crabs all over the rocks
Waved Albatrosses (aka Galapagos Albatrosses) were doing their courtship dance, had chicks with them and also used the cliff as their runway for taking off in flight. Interesting to watch.
Masses of colorful fish in the sea, plus one shark was spotted by Dick
I even snorkelled a few times (its not my forte) and saw lots of fish and turtles.
Lots of birds everywhere
A moulting fairy penguin – the process takes two weeks to complete.
This caldera is the second largest one in the world and its on an island with five volcanoes. We did a 6km return walk to see it.
We also did lots of hikes on the volcanic islands and went back and forth in the trusty pangas.
One of our many remote anchorages
We learned about the local postal system at Post Office Bay on Floreanna Island. Our guide Malena was explaining that here people leave mail (no stamp required) for hand delivery by other passers by. The tradition is that you take any mail destined for where you are going or living and you hand deliver it. This custom started a long time ago and appears to be still operating. I left a postcard for Amy so it will be interesting to see if it ever arrives. We didn’t take any mail as there wasn’t any for our part of Sydney.
We learned a lot about the early Europen settlement on Floreanna Island – lots of sex, murder and intrigue involved. Our education included a video made about those early characters, mostly dissatisfied Europeans looking for a new paradise in the 1930’s.
Saw beautiful sunsetsAnd enjoyed great company
And were well looked after by the crew
Happy smiles during another panga ride; sums up the trip.
