Galapagos Islands (And Ecuador)

In the fall of 2022 we finally got to go on our two part vacation to the Galapagos Islands followed by a trip to Peru to see Machu Picchu! This was a trip we scheduled through Celebrity Cruise Lines and was postponed three different times due to COVID but here we were, ready for this trip of a lifetime! This cruise might be one of the most unique experiences we’ve ever had, and it began with the fact that there were only 14 other passengers with us on the first half and only 6 of them continued on with us for the second half. With a group this small, we were really able to have a pretty incredible experience. As usual, we were the youngest people on this trip by far.

quito

But first, Quito. Quito is the capital of Ecuador and our trip began with a full day to explore the city and the surrounding area a bit. We had a great tour guide named Sebastian, who was born and raised in the city. We boarded our coach van and travelled to one of the high points of the city to get a great view of Quito. The Crystal Palace sits atop a hillside overlooking the city, and from there we could see the cliff wall of Pichincha Volcano, which formed the other side of the valley that Quito sits in. On our way down from taking a picture with the giant “Quito” sign, we observed a funny sight that Sebastian was able to explain to us. Outside a compound of some kind, there were three women loudly talking to people inside, while passing drinks, snacks, and candy underneath the gate. Sebastian said this was a school and the women were selling to the kids inside, that made us all laugh thinking of how frowned upon that would have been back home.

We visited a couple of churches and then left town to go to the Museo de Sitio Intiñan, which is situated exactly on the equator. Here we saw the very large hummingbirds, tasted cocoa beans, used a sun dial, and got to watch a water swirl demonstration on the equator, and then a few feet north and south to finally prove that Simpsons episode was right!

the galapagos islands

Our bags were transferred to the ship ahead of us, so we just grabbed our carry-ons and boarded the bus for the dock. Baltra is a flat and unremarkable spec of rock in the Pacific, but it’s features are why the US Military built an airfield here during WWII to protect the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. We learned pretty quickly that we’d be riding zodiacs a lot for the rest of the week, they call them pangas in the Galapagos but both terms were used interchangeably. Our zodiac ride to our ship, the Xploration, was slow and afforded us a good long look at our home for the next 7 days.

Tagus

During lunch we sailed up the channel with Fernandina to the west and Isabella to the east. Our stop was Tagus Cove, an interesting area where we could sail into a partially collapsed volcano caldera that was separated by a land bridge from a lake in the center of the caldera. The agenda for the afternoon included a hike to the rim of the caldera followed by snorkeling and then a zodiac ride along the shore.

Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island

One of the many highlighted stops on this trip was the island of Fernandina, the western most land mass of the Galapagos. It’s home to the largest active volcano here and it can be seen from every corner of the island. Disembarkation was a little tricky because the tide had just come out, so the stairs were too high on the shore and the shoreline was covered with slick volcanic rock. It was a long walk but our guides did a great job of getting towels down where they could and getting some of the older folks ashore safely. Once ashore, we were greeted by a sea lion mother and her brand new pup. We couldn’t get too close, but close enough for some great shots. Just past the new sea lion family, we caught site of another family of sorts, hundreds of Galapagos marine iguanas.

We hiked a designated route near Espinosa Point that was designed to take us in a loop but stay out of the habitats of the iguanas, sea lions, and hawks.

While we were enjoying lunch, the boat repositioned to the tip of Isabela at Punta Vicente Roca. This little spot at the convergence of multiple Pacific Ocean currents is a rest and cleaning spot for migrating sea life. The area was packed with sea turtles being cleaned by fish and other marine life that picked their shells clean. This area also offered an up close look at a Sunfish, also known as a Mola Mola. Miranda did the snorkeling trip this time and was rewarded with the site of these strange tailless fish that only come to the shallow waters to partake in the cleaning at this rest stop.

Santiago Island

We returned to Santiago Island but this time the western part. We came ashore at Puerto Egas and were quickly reminded that this cruise always comes with some danger. The wreck of another 16-person cruise ship was marked near our anchorage and the work to remove it was ongoing. This was one of two recent shipwrecks we’d see on this trip. When we came ashore, we saw the remains of a landbridge that once existed on the beach. We saw a number of iguanas and yellow warblers on our inland walk. At the halfway point we came out to the black rock beach and got what we came for. The beach was impressive with the waves crashing into the rock formations. We took pictures on the rock bridge with sea lions and turtles swimming in the small cove below. We got pictures of all of that as well as a fur seal, a Galapagos Hawk, and more warblers.

santa cruz, puerto Ayora

If you come to the Galapagos, you eventually come to Puerto Ayora, it’s a required stop for all cruises. This is the closest you get to civilization outside of Baltra and we were happy to not only stay in one place all day, but get to sleep in until 8 am! On this trip we regularly woke up in the six o’clock hour for breakfast at 7 am and were off the boat an hour later, so this was some welcome relief. Our first stop of the morning was the Charles Darwin Research Station, just a short bus ride from the dock. The work here has helped to return the population of the Giant Tortoise from the brink of extinction. The research station breeds and raises the tortoises for years and relocates them to the highlands where they are protected by law.

After our tour of the research station, we had a little while to shop and then boarded the bus for the highlands. Once we got off the main road, the tortoises were everywhere and in large numbers. The highlands of Santa Cruz have over 50,000 Giant Tortoises, protected by law and with no natural predators. The rule of the road is that you must wait if one of them is crossing, luckily we didn’t have to resort to plan B, which is getting off the bus and carrying one out of the road. We had lunch at Rancho Manzanillo, a beautiful family owned restaurant just outside the national park that benefits from the tortoises inability to read the park boundary signs. We had plenty of great photo opportunities and then enjoyed lunch at the restaurant before heading back to the dock for a little bit of wandering time before catching the zodiac back to the ship.

Genovesa Island

Our last full day in the Galapagos was spent on Genovesa Island in the northeastern area of the archipelago. The boat moored in Great Darwin Bay, which is made up of the collapsed side of a volcano with Prince Philips Steps on one side, and an unnamed beach on the other. This island was for the birds, literally, we saw more types of birds and more of them in general than anywhere else on the Galapagos. Because this stop is only on the northern route, we decided that this was indeed the best choice of the three available. We saw Nazca and Red-footed Boobies nesting, a nesting pair of Swallow-tailed gulls and their brand new chic, Frigate birds, Galapagos doves, Galapagos flycatchers, a Short-eared owl sleeping in a gorge, and a Red-billed Tropicbird hiding under some rocks. The stairs are pretty short and the landscape is pretty sparse this time of year because none of the trees had any leaves, but that just meant it was easier to spot the birds.

After our hike, we road the zodiacs as they hugged the coast of the bay for a scenic ride back to the boat for lunch. After lunch there was the opportunity to snorkel and look for hammerhead sharks, but between the rough seas and the lack of sunlight, there were no confirmed sightings but maybe a few hopeful near-misses. The afternoon nature walk took us to the beach and a small waterway that took us deep into a protected cove. We saw another brand new sea lion pup, Red-footed Boobies, Swallow-tailed gulls, juvenile Frigate birds, and a very judgmental looking Yellow crown heron. The waterway back to to the cove had rocks on one side and mangroves on the other that housed Red-footed Boobies nesting. When we got to the end we found one solitary boobie that posed for pictures with everyone.

North Seymour island

Our final stop before returning to Baltra was North Seymour Island. When we got up that morning, we could see Baltra, with its wind turbines and buildings, so there was no hiding that this was the end of the line. We didn’t see anything new per-say, but we did get some great new views. We were able to get close enough to a male Frigate bird showing off his stuff to a perspective mate, a juvenile Blue-footed Boobie practicing his dance moves, a few more iguanas, some sea lion pups playing with each other, all on a landscape that seemed to change every few hundred feet.