The Incredible Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands are made up of thirteen large islands and over forty small islands, with a  total land area of 7882 square kilometers.  They are scattered across 45,000 square km of ocean, clustered around the equator and are about 960 km from the mainland of Ecuador. The archipelago is volcanic in orgin and continues to be volatile.  The oldest islands are thought to be 2.3 and 6.3 million years old. 

Lindsay and I debated about going and we now know we made the right decision to go.  We took a 3 night/ 4 day boat "Gap Adventure Tour" with 10 other people and had the time of our lives.  We did a lot of research on how to do the trip and learned that you really need to do a boat tour because they take you to different islands and different places on the islands and travel the long distances during the night.  There are 100 boats that offer tours like ours (and longer ones).  We booked our particular tour because it was small and was going to the islands that we thought were the best.    Our boat had 8 cabins that sleep 16, but was not filled to capacity as there were only 12 of us.  Our cabin was similar to ones you see on bigger cruises.  Ours was on the lowest floor and had bunk beds, a storage area and a bathroom.  It was small but fine as you only slept there.  We ate all our meals together at three tables on the main floor.  The meals were good and we were always hungry because of all the activites. The next floor up, had a deck for lounging with 4 lounge chairs, other cabins and a lounge/bar area.  There was a crew of 6-8 people and they took great care of us.

Our guide, Julio, was fabulous.  He always explained our itineraries (wet landings and dry landings) and was very knowledgable about everything concerning the Galapagos.  We had 4 different snorkel excursions (Lindsay and I were the only to wear wetsuits - she IS my daughter!) and many land excursions. Our days were full, started really early and ended at dinner time.  None of us could believe all that we were able to see during this short amount of time.  We were fortunate to see:
sea turtles, Pacific green turltes, lava lizards, Galapagos sea lions, sharks, sting-rays, golden rays and some other kind or rays, Blue-footed boobies, Nazca Bbobies, Galapagos penguins, flamingos, Galapagos mockingbirds, Galapagos doves,  finches, Galapagos flycatchers, marine iguanas, land igunaas, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, giant tortoises, Galapagos Hawks, Darwin finches, frigatebirds and lots and lots of fish.
None of us ever dreamed we´d see such beautiful animals and none of us expected to be so close to these amazing creatures.  We actually swam with the sea lions and giant turtles.  We were  close enough that we could have touched them as they froliced about us.  We even ¨swam¨ with sharks and rays, which spooked me a little.  We walked right next to crabs, sea lions, birds, and iguanas and they didn´t move or scurry away. They have not learned to be afraid of humans, because they have not had reason to fear us.  We found that to be really incredible.  Even the Blue-footed boobies with their babies were not afraid of us.  Nor were the sea turtles that were mating  next to our dingy.  The variety of landscapes were equally as beautiful - mangroves, huge cliffs of black volcanic rock with the Pacific Ocean crashing way upward into the sky through blow holes, beautiful beaches, green covered mountains and others that were brown and black, flat land and hilly land and land covered with huge rocks. 

Lindsay and I still can´t believe how great it was.  It was an experiece of a lifetime and will be one of our top lifetime adventures I am sure!