The Galápagos Islands
Day 10-17 (13.-20.11.22):
Long before our motorcycle adventure was to begin, we decided to spend some of the waiting time between dropping off the bikes in Hamburg and picking them up in Santiago in Ecuador.
It was a country neither of us had visited before and 3-4 weeks was a good amount of time to explore this country for the first time.
Sooner or later during the detailed trip planning, the question came up whether we should plan a trip to the Galápagos Islands. The answer to this question quickly changed from "maybe" to "absolutely" after we had read more and more about this archipelago of volcanic islands, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO more than 40 years ago, in 1978.
More and more questions arose: how long, 3, 5, 8, 10 days? The area is huge... How do we want to spend the time there? Hostel and island hopping or on a boat? Or....???
We decided to do a boat tour because only the bigger islands like Isabela or San Cristobal offer accommodations and island hopping is very time consuming. With a boat tour, the transport from island to island takes place at night when you (try to) sleep.
Honestly, I was not prepared for the fact that there are so many options to choose from: Tour operator, itinerary, type of boats, etc.
The thing is, due to the size of the whole archipelago with its many islands spread in all directions, you need at least a two-week tour to see most of them. And for the shorter tours like 5 or 8 days, you have to think carefully about which tour to do and when: Galápagos is a national park with many endemic species, some of which are endangered, and for this reason each boat can only go to a certain point of the archipelago at most once every 2 weeks. Boat routes are fixed to control the number of people on the islands well. And even if different boats offer a certain itinerary, such as "South Islands Tour", there are not necessarily the same activities or sights included in the tour.
It is important to learn in advance about the differences in wildlife and geography of each island and its distinctive points of interests to find the tour that suits you best.
In hindsight, I would say that this was one of the most nerve-wracking things we had to do in terms of planning our sabbatical. And thankfully, it was worth every second. And every nerve.
We decided on an 8-day trip (more like 0.5+6+0.5 days because of flights to/from the mainland) through the southeastern islands on the catamaran Nemo II, which was considered a budget/mid-range boat, and were looking forward to our first boat trip ever.
The trip to the Galapagos Islands in mid-November 2022 began with an early morning flight from Quito and a short stopover in Guayaquil. Around noon we arrived at the airport of Isla Baltra, where we were welcomed by our tour guide Alex. He also had to "adopt" the tour group from the Nemo III, since their tour guide didn't show up on time, and we took the bus together to the port. (In case you are wondering, yes, there is also a Nemo I).
After a short 10-minute bus ride, we got our life jackets at the port and boarded the panga (small boat) to get to the Nemo II anchored in the bay. Several other boats were also waiting there for their guests.
In the first 5 days we were 12 guests on the boat and already in this very first hour we learned what we would experience in terms of food in the following days: when we boarded the Nemo II, lunch was already prepared in the form of a buffet with appetizers, several types of pasta and dessert.
And that was the standard: every lunch and dinner there was a buffet with different appetizers or soup, at least two main dishes and dessert. In addition, between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner there was always an additional amuse-gueule, be it fruit, potato chips, canapés...., we were fed around the clock, probably none of us left the ship without extra kilos.
But about the islands, their wildlife, their geography: it is impossible to put in writing everything we saw and did. On the one hand, it was just too much, every day we saw at least one island, with Alex providing us with a ton of information, and we went snorkeling at least 6 times during the week.
For another, it was an extraordinary experience, something we never expected to live to see, and words can't really do it justice. We believe that there is no other place left in the world where you have the opportunity to be so close to the animals and they behave as naturally as if you were not there. We think that we could see almost all the animals that can be seen in theory if you are lucky. (Only some endemic snakes were missing).
Instead, I will try to give our itinerary in a few words and hope that the video Helge made and the photos we will publish in a separate gallery will do more justice to this fascinating group of islands.
Day 1: Isla Seymour Norte:
The island was next to Isla Baltra, where we arrived by plane, and it was our first encounter with sea lions. They were just everywhere on the beach and there were so many pups. We had picked a good time of year to visit.
One of the first birds we saw were the frigate birds. Some of them were nesting, others were still looking for a mating partner. We could recognize them by the males' distinctive red gular pouch, which they inflate to impress the females. Once settled, they deflate it again. I would say business as usual.
The vegetation on the island was quite dry, and the trees reminded me a bit of those in the Ghost Forest on the Baltic Sea in Germany.
Day 2: Isla San Cristobal: Kicker Rock, Cerro Brujo and Isla Lobos:
We were blessed with beautiful weather as we navigated around Kicker Rock and Cerro Brujo for our first snorkeling trip.
Although the sun was shining and we got a wetsuit, the water was quite cold. Good we got easily distracted by the amazing underwater world. I am always fascinated when I see sea turtles, I really like them. They are not the most elegant or beautiful animals, but once they survive infancy, they are very resilient survivors and always seem super relaxed and just enjoying life.
That same day we also visited a large sea lion colony that also gave this part of the island its name, Isla de Lobos.
There were so many of them and it was quite noisy as the pups cried for their mother and vice versa.
Day 3: Isla Floreana:
On the islands lagoon we could spot a few flamingos. It was not the typical season for them, so we were happy to see some at all.
From the elevated Baroness view point we enjoyedy the beauty of the island and learned about the background of the European settlers in the 1930s. There was probably a love story and a murder involved (perfect Telenovela content), we have yet to see the movie "The Galapagos Affair": Satan Came to Eden".
We were also able to observe some blue-footed boobies hunting together and a male sea lion, the alpha of the colony, defending its territory against a bachelor.
He seemed very proud of himself after defending his territory from his rival.
Later we visited the Post Office Bay, an early postal system now used by tourists: When you write a postcard, you can drop it in the mailbox, and hopefully another tourist who lives nearby (or is visiting) will take the card and deliver it personally to the recipient.
We looked through the postcards in the mailbox, but since there were only two for German recipients and we were still a few months on the road, we left them there. In the afternoon we enjoyed snorkeling again near Islote Champion.
Day 4: Isla Española:
The island has wonderful beaches with white sand, but since the sun was partially hiding behind clouds, we limited our time for sunbathing on the beach to a minimum. But sea lions can be admired in any weather.
In Bahía Gardner we went snorkeling, and in the afternoon we made a short hike to Punta Suarez, where we saw Nazca boobies and albatrosses. At first I thought the Nazca boobies were albatrosses…. other people are better informed and much more interested in ornithology than me. Still, it was very impressive to see these huge seabirds, the albatrosses, walking (hilarious) and flying (elegant).
Another animal we saw were the marina iguanas, and so many of them. When they are in big groups, it´s called a mess of iguanas.
To get rid of the salt water in their respiratory system after swimming, they do something similar to sneezing, you can hear and see it when the water shoots out of their nostrils :). And they looked very exhausted after all the swimming.
Day 5: Isla Santa Cruz:
Our plan for the day was all about the tortoises. In the morning we visited the island's giant tortoise reserve in the highlands and in the afternoon the Charles Darwin Research Center with its breeding station in Puerto Ayora.
The giant tortoises seem to be even more easygoing than their water-dwelling relatives. No wonder, when carrying a body weight of 200-300 kg.
Galápagos tortoises have two main shell shapes: At the reserve we saw adult tortoises with the dome-shaped shell, while at the Charles Darwin Center there were the saddle-back shaped ones next to the enclosures with the juveniles. Apart from their different shell shape, these tortoises also differ in their neck length.
The two groups can be further divided into subspecies, some of which have already gone extinct, due to human exploitation and the introduction of non-endemic predators (wild mammals) to the islands during early settlement in the 19th century.
A famous last remaining specimen of a saddleback subspecies died in 2012. The endling was named Lonesome George and after its death it was taxidermied and is on display in a special exhibit room with controlled room temperature and humidity at the Charles Darwin Research Station.
We spent the late afternoon with some free time in Puerto Ayora and returned to the meeting point at the port at 6:00 pm. We were not the last ones, which is very unusual for us, and a sea lion kept me company while we waited (I sat there first, so theoretically the sea lion was the one who didn't keep the 2m distance).
Day 6: Isla Plaza:
We spent the morning with an easy walk on this tiny island next to Isla Santa Cruz, where we enjoyed the colorful red vegetation and observed some hungry land iguanas while eating a fallen leaf of an opuntia.
Before afternoon, we continued our cruise to the next small island, Isla Santa Fé, where we could spot a large group of rays in the water and snorkeled in Barrington Bay.
Another bird we saw that day was the Galapagos hawk. And not just in the distance, but very close by on the beach. Two of them were feeding on a dead sea lion. It seems savage, but this is also an important part of life and meant food for the falcons.
Talking about food, we ended the day with an amazing dinner and a small party, because the next and last night on the boat, everyone had to pack their things and bags.
We tried to apply some of our salsa skills that we had acquired during dance lessons in Spain and realized that we should definitely practice much more often.
Day 7: Isla Bartholomé:
The last full day of our trip included some of the places that most Galápagos travelers probably have on their bucket list: Bahía Sullivan and the amazing views of the double bay, the famous Pinnacle Rock, and in the afternoon, the tiny island of Sombrero Chino next to Isla Santiago.
Isla Bartholomé is one of the younger islands of the archipelago, with a great variety of volcanic formations and very limited flora compared to the older islands. From our panga next to Pinnacle Rock, we could see some penguins in the water and later snorkeled around this oddly shaped rock as well.
On Sombrero Chino we took a short walk, seeing some of the lava tunnels, which are tunnels in the ground formed by lava after a volcanic eruption, and enjoyed snorkeling one last time.
The penguins on the volcanic rocks were so relaxed that they posed for us in several photos and we were also able to spot some of them in the water swimming with us while we were snorkeling.
When we returned to the panga, everyone was a bit sad that this was the last time we could enjoy the amazing underwater world of the Galápagos.
Day 8: Isla Mosqueta:
On our last day, we had planned a short panga ride to islote Mosqueta, which is next to Isla Baltra. Unfortunately, the trip started at 7am, before breakfast and before coffee, and we had to get up very early. Still no early birds.
Although we were very tired, we were lucky enough to see some Galápagos fur seals on the rocks.
They are one of the few species that are afraid of humans and flee because they were hunted in the past. We were also able to get some last good views of the famous blue footed boobies.
After breakfast we had to say goodbye to the Nemo II and its crew and Alex accompanied us in the bus from the harbor back to the airport.
The entire crew of the Nemo II and our guide Alex were absolutely fantastic, and we were very lucky with all of our group companions. Everyone was nice and relaxed and we enjoyed every moment of the activities we did together. If we could, we wouldn't change one thing or aspect of the entire time.
After this incredible experience, we wondered how we could survive the rest of our trip, being spoiled like that: food/snacks 5 times a day and daily wildlife viewing and water sports.
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