Read my article, “Traveling to my Dream Destination: The Galapagos Islands,” to see videos 1, 2 and 3 from our first days on “Bays and Beaches” Itinerary A on Ecoventura’s Theory.
Video 4: Espanola is Excellent! Galapagos Islands
Espanola is excellent. In the morning we went to Punta Suarez and we saw marina iguanas swimming, Nazca bobbies nesting, sea lions with their infants. We saw a baby sea lion still attached to the placenta and we were told it was probably born that morning. It was a beautiful walk and we even had a group photo at the blow hole.
For lunch on the yacht, we had a cooking demonstration of Ecuadorian ceviche and ate our lucious lunch on the stunning sun deck.
In the afternoon, we went to Gardner Bay where we went kayaking with turtles, sea lions and pelicans. We went deep water snorkeling with sea lions, turtles, puffer fish and schools of fish.
Later in the day, we walked on a pristine white-sand beach where we watched sea lions frolicking and the sun setting. It was a magical day in Espanola.
Every evening we had a superb 5 course meal with a special menu of the day. I loved my turn to dine with Captain Jhon Feijoo. He is a very personable captain and everyone had a chance to dine at his table. One afternoon, he even went snorkeling with us!
Video 5: Floreana is Fantastic! Galapagos on Ecoventura Theory Dec 11 2019
We had the most fantastic day in Floreana. We started our day with a beautiful breakfast on the sun deck. Sunrise was stunning! We went ashore at Punta Cormorant’s olive-sand beach and we saw 30 flamingos, cut leaf daisies, black and white mangroves and blue-footed boobies. I especially liked the brightly colored sally lightfoot crabs. We took a walk across the island to a white sand beach where we saw many sting rays in the shallow water and large sized turtles. We went deep water snorkeling at Champion Islet with many sea lions and colorful schools of fish.
After a scrumptious lunch onboard, we went to Post Office Bay which has been a site for exchanging postcards since the 18th century. This island has a colorful history and our guide, Peter Freire, was raised here and shared stories from his family. You can leave a postcard and find one to bring home and mail! We went snorkeling from the beach and a sea lion played with us in the water swimming around and around us and we saw many turtles.
After going back on board to relax in the hot tub and then get dry clothes, we took a panga ride to Baroness point and saw many more flamingos, marine iguanas and sea lions. Some of our group went kayaking and Sam was on a paddle board. The photo of a sea lion jumping out the water next to him is fantastic! Each day we see so many amazing creatures on every one of our activities and outings. I love the Galapagos Islands.
Video 6: Santa Cruz Island is Superb Turtle Mating and Charles Darwin Institute Dec 12 2019
Santa Cruz island was superb and quite a different day from the rest so far. There are many boats in the harbor of Puerto Ayora which is a town of 24,000.
We drove to the highlands to visit El Chato Ranch, which is privately owned ecological ranch where the giant tortoises roam freely. Did you know that the males can be four times larger than the females and grow to be five hundred pounds!
The giant tortoises were feeling very amorous and we saw several couples mating. One male seemed to be in line for a turn but the first male stuck up its neck and the second male backed away from the female.
We went in the lava tunnels, El Mirador and Los Gemelos (the twins), a pair of massive craters. I liked walking inside the dark tunnels.
After lunch on our yacht, we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center, where we saw the taxidermied Lonesome George whose death marked the extinction of his species of tortoise from Pinta Island. We also met Diego, the tortoise who was brought over from San Diego and now has nearly 1000 descendants and brought his species back from the brink of extinction.
During our free time in town, I bought a silver necklace and earrings in the shape of turtles. We walked back to the dock and ate ice cream.
Back on board, we had drinks on the sun deck at sunset and enjoyed another marvelous multi-course meal with our friends and fantastic guides.
