Ecuador - Galapagos Islands - Mosquera and San Cristobal

April 14, 2019

For nature lovers, the Galapagos Islands are a top bucket list destination, and for us the main reason we came to Ecuador. This volcanic archipelago sits about 1000 km (600 mi) off the coast of Ecuador and is famous for its isolation and for the many unique species of plants and animals that developed there. Charles Darwin famously visited these islands aboard the HMS Beagle in 1835, thus inspiring his theory of evolution by natural selection. There are 20 or so islands, depending on whom you ask, some smaller than the others, as well as dozens of little islets. Contrary to the impression one gets from countless Galapagos nature documentaries, I was surprised to learn that four of the islands are actually inhabited, hosting a total population of about 25,000. Still, 97% of the land area is uninhabited and comprises Galapagos National Park. Additionally, the islands and their surrounding waters are designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The lack of natural predators makes the Galapagos wildlife – well, friendly probably isn’t the right word – but let’s say “unperturbed by our proximity”, so you can get really close without them flying off or swimming away or biting you in the face, which is rather nice. National Park rules state that visitors are supposed to stay at least 2 meters (6 feet away), and we mostly adhered to this when possible. But sometimes the marine iguanas are lounging right in the path and it is all you can do not to accidentally step on them. And sometimes the curious sea lions are the ones to break the 2 meter barrier as they waddle over to check you out.

Most people who visit the Galapagos Islands do so as part of a cruise. These are not the 2000-passenger behemoths such as those plying the waters of the Caribbean. These are much smaller boats, of varying quality, many taking only 12-16 passengers. Ours was actually one of the bigger ones with a capacity of 90 passengers, although for our off-season voyage we had only about 75 on board. We were very happy with our choice of boat. A bigger boat means it takes a bit longer to disembark and tender into shore via panga (zodiac), but it also means more amenities and less likelihood of seasickness. And a better boat (ours was luxury class) means better guides, which is crucial to getting the best experience possible. All shore excursions to national park lands require a licensed guide, with no more than 16 visitors per guide. I never counted but I assume we had five or six guides for the same number of groups, organized by language (Spanish, English, French). Our group, the Albatrosses (thankfully, we were not the Boobies) was a good one and our guide Daniel was excellent.

Our itinerary was 7 days and 6 nights, although the first and last days were mostly involved with flying into or out of the islands from the mainland and transferring to the ship. The intervening full days were indeed full however with normally two shore excursions and two water activities (swimming, snorkeling, glass bottom boat, or kayaking). We didn’t snorkel (Deborah has braces) or swim (I sink), but we did kayak twice and did the glass bottom boat once. But the land excursions were really the highlight for us, with the up close and personal encounters with the many amazing creatures of the Galapagos.