Santa Cruz and Santiago Islands
Sunday, after our various journeys from The States to Guayaquil, and a short night at the Hilton Hotel, all forty-one of our guests and incoming staff met. We joined each other for on an Ecuadorian breakfast of fresh fruit and watermelon juice, and then we departed for our short flight to the Galápagos Islands.
As we began our descent to land, the island of Baltra came into focus, and it was startling. It looked like we were landing on another planet. The shoreline is rough, the land dry and seemingly lifeless, and the water is a deep, cobalt blue and reminiscent of the Mediterranean. This is not what I was expecting. I tried to imagine Darwin’s experience. What did it look like to him approaching on the Beagle by sea in 1835?
But then I looked more closely. And already, in my bird’s eye view from the commercial jet, I could see enormous schools of fish below, great frigates above, and sea lions resting along the rocky shoreline.
In minutes, we landed, boarded the Islander, enjoyed a light lunch, took a siesta and then headed into the water. The water was warmer than expected and it was peaceful and beautiful; I imagine this is the best way anyone could begin a week. Shortly afterwards, we boarded pangas (the name for any small water vessel in Ecuador) and the naturalists took us for a sunset tour.
We were steered along the shoreline of Santa Cruz Island and around the small islet of Venecia. We motored into the mangroves, where we discovered blue-footed boobies, sea turtles, black and white-tipped sharks, one great blue heron, pelicans, and sea lions. The wildlife is spectacular and fearless. The plants are equally as startling: cacti that have evolved to have giant trunks to protect their pads from lizards and giant, leafless, but living, trees scattered the shoreline.
After returning to Islander, we were served cocktails and juice for a welcome aboard toast, given a brief explanation about tomorrow’s activities, and then we shared dinner. At 9:00pm we were excited, exhausted, and ready for bed.
Monday morning we received a 6:00am wake-up call. When I looked out of my cabin’s window and saw the view of the volcanic mountains, I could barely wait to begin the day. And from the sounds coming from the hallway, the children felt the same way.
Most of the guests and crew met for an early breakfast of melon and coffee before boarding our pangas for our first hike up Bartolome, a steep volcanic island off of Santiago. We climbed to discover an absolutely breathtaking view of the islands. Upon our ascent, we were introduced to endemic lizards, locust, lava tunnels, pioneer plants, and a landscape that looks like what I imagine the moon’s surface must resemble. The soil is soft and ashy below us; we could see a giant crater under the water. For many of us, the ascent was a challenge, but the descent was much easier and we quickly found ourselves back on the pangas headed to Islander. Once aboard, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and brief snorkeling instructions by Expedition Leader Lynn Fowler.
Then, we went for our second nature walk of the day on the golden beaches of Bartolome and then eagerly entered the water for our first snorkeling outing. It was more magical than I could have dreamed. On our walk, we had seen great dunes, sea lions, crabs, and thorn bushes. Only moments later we found ourselves in the water swimming with white- and black-tipped reef sharks, sea turtles, penguins, sea lions, thousands of fishes, living coral and the famous Pinnacle Rock.
Okay, it was not even noon and we were already absolutely enamored and a bit overwhelmed. The children had bonded (the adults as well) and the naturalists had proved themselves patient and eager to bring every aspect of this amazing location alive for us.
We headed back to the ship by panga, and re-fueled with lunch and a siesta while our captain sailed us on to the northwest corner of Santiago. Upon anchoring, we suited up in our wet suits for another snorkel, this time, having to steer clear of one aggressively territorial sea lion. In the cool and clear water we spotted more sharks, thousands more fish, one giant sea turtle that came within feet of my chest and the most amazing spotted eagle ray with a wing span of about four feet.
The current was strong and we worked our way back to shore, then headed out for a walk that I will never forget. The guests broke into three separate groups to explore the island. Our naturalist, Ernesto took us across the island explaining each plant, each animal, and its evolution. It was magical. And the afternoon’s adventure literally exploded into astonishment when we spotted whales on the horizon. As we looked for the whales to resurface, we also observed fur sea lions, hundreds of iguanas, and two sea turtles regularly surfacing to breath. Every moment exposed another treasure and soon, we found that the sun had set, and we walked quickly to make it back to Islander before dark.
We stripped ourselves of our wet suits and joined together for a recap of the day’s activities. The children, ages three to twelve, shared dinner while we all watched a video of our underwater activities. Later the adults enjoyed their meal, while the children watched a movie. Very shortly afterwards, we all headed to bed. This was only our first full day, and it was only 9:30pm!RFV06
Sunday, after our various journeys from The States to Guayaquil, and a short night at the Hilton Hotel, all forty-one of our guests and incoming staff met. We joined each other for on an Ecuadorian breakfast of fresh fruit and watermelon juice, and then we departed for our short flight to the Galápagos Islands.
As we began our descent to land, the island of Baltra came into focus, and it was startling. It looked like we were landing on another planet. The shoreline is rough, the land dry and seemingly lifeless, and the water is a deep, cobalt blue and reminiscent of the Mediterranean. This is not what I was expecting. I tried to imagine Darwin’s experience. What did it look like to him approaching on the Beagle by sea in 1835?
But then I looked more closely. And already, in my bird’s eye view from the commercial jet, I could see enormous schools of fish below, great frigates above, and sea lions resting along the rocky shoreline.
In minutes, we landed, boarded the Islander, enjoyed a light lunch, took a siesta and then headed into the water. The water was warmer than expected and it was peaceful and beautiful; I imagine this is the best way anyone could begin a week. Shortly afterwards, we boarded pangas (the name for any small water vessel in Ecuador) and the naturalists took us for a sunset tour.
We were steered along the shoreline of Santa Cruz Island and around the small islet of Venecia. We motored into the mangroves, where we discovered blue-footed boobies, sea turtles, black and white-tipped sharks, one great blue heron, pelicans, and sea lions. The wildlife is spectacular and fearless. The plants are equally as startling: cacti that have evolved to have giant trunks to protect their pads from lizards and giant, leafless, but living, trees scattered the shoreline.
After returning to Islander, we were served cocktails and juice for a welcome aboard toast, given a brief explanation about tomorrow’s activities, and then we shared dinner. At 9:00pm we were excited, exhausted, and ready for bed.
Monday morning we received a 6:00am wake-up call. When I looked out of my cabin’s window and saw the view of the volcanic mountains, I could barely wait to begin the day. And from the sounds coming from the hallway, the children felt the same way.
Most of the guests and crew met for an early breakfast of melon and coffee before boarding our pangas for our first hike up Bartolome, a steep volcanic island off of Santiago. We climbed to discover an absolutely breathtaking view of the islands. Upon our ascent, we were introduced to endemic lizards, locust, lava tunnels, pioneer plants, and a landscape that looks like what I imagine the moon’s surface must resemble. The soil is soft and ashy below us; we could see a giant crater under the water. For many of us, the ascent was a challenge, but the descent was much easier and we quickly found ourselves back on the pangas headed to Islander. Once aboard, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and brief snorkeling instructions by Expedition Leader Lynn Fowler.
Then, we went for our second nature walk of the day on the golden beaches of Bartolome and then eagerly entered the water for our first snorkeling outing. It was more magical than I could have dreamed. On our walk, we had seen great dunes, sea lions, crabs, and thorn bushes. Only moments later we found ourselves in the water swimming with white- and black-tipped reef sharks, sea turtles, penguins, sea lions, thousands of fishes, living coral and the famous Pinnacle Rock.
Okay, it was not even noon and we were already absolutely enamored and a bit overwhelmed. The children had bonded (the adults as well) and the naturalists had proved themselves patient and eager to bring every aspect of this amazing location alive for us.
We headed back to the ship by panga, and re-fueled with lunch and a siesta while our captain sailed us on to the northwest corner of Santiago. Upon anchoring, we suited up in our wet suits for another snorkel, this time, having to steer clear of one aggressively territorial sea lion. In the cool and clear water we spotted more sharks, thousands more fish, one giant sea turtle that came within feet of my chest and the most amazing spotted eagle ray with a wing span of about four feet.
The current was strong and we worked our way back to shore, then headed out for a walk that I will never forget. The guests broke into three separate groups to explore the island. Our naturalist, Ernesto took us across the island explaining each plant, each animal, and its evolution. It was magical. And the afternoon’s adventure literally exploded into astonishment when we spotted whales on the horizon. As we looked for the whales to resurface, we also observed fur sea lions, hundreds of iguanas, and two sea turtles regularly surfacing to breath. Every moment exposed another treasure and soon, we found that the sun had set, and we walked quickly to make it back to Islander before dark.
We stripped ourselves of our wet suits and joined together for a recap of the day’s activities. The children, ages three to twelve, shared dinner while we all watched a video of our underwater activities. Later the adults enjoyed their meal, while the children watched a movie. Very shortly afterwards, we all headed to bed. This was only our first full day, and it was only 9:30pm!RFV06
