4th April Queen of Galapagos Cruise
This was a fantastic 8 day boat cruise on a luxury class motor catamaran that has a maximum of 16 passengers, and about 10 crew. We arrived on board at about 12:45am, along with an English couple, Jan and John, who had been travelling about 4 months – others would join us later. We knew the boat would be a hit with Eva, when we were told that we’d have to take our shoes off before going to the inside areas! The boat really was fantastic, and I’d recommend Galasam and the Queen of Galapagos to anyone. There were 3 decks with chairs and shade on 2 of them, as well as an air-conditioned lounge and dining area. Our cabin was HUGE, about 3.5m square, with two beds, two small tables and a full length and width opening tinted window by the side of Eva’s bed. It had an additional large ensuite with a bath that had full length/width window, so that when you had a shower, you just looked out to sea! It was the best shower placement I have ever been it.
We soon met some of the other people we were going to be part of – Robin and Clive from Colorado, their daughter Jaye and husband Jason, Jonathon from Los Angeles and Marcus and Pam from Sydney. There were others, but I didn’t note down their names (sorry). Marcus and Pam were with us for 4 days but the others were there the whole 8. Later we were joined by some young people from Switzerland. It was a great group.
Basically, each evening we were given a briefing by our guide, Rafael, for about 20mins to tell us what we were doing the next day. Each day consisted of 3 meals on the boat at set times (7am, noon, 7pm), usually two times for snorkelling for about an hour in the water, and two times that we landed to go for short walks and look at wildlife. This left some time for relaxing/reading/drinking on board as well. It was a good formula, and we were tired at the end of each day.
We really enjoyed the snorkelling, as we saw very many sea lions and fur seals as well as penguins, sharks, many fish, star-fish, octopus, stingrays, turtles and elephants (OK, no elephants – just checking you’re reading this). We were amazed at how the animals on land, be they birds or mammals, did not seem disturbed by our presence, and allowed us to get very close to them. Actually we didn’t get closer, just because we were asked to stay 1m away. We saw so many things – nocturnal feeding gulls that had a big red ring around their eyes, huge albatrosses that had just started coming back to the islands to nest the previous week. We saw blue-footed boobies whose feet change to blue when they become adult. We saw the juveniles playing with sticks to practice turning fish around in their beak. Lots of red crabs, marine iguanas, and the more coloured land iguanas that varied from island to island as well as giant tortoises. We saw Darwin finches, inquisitive mocking birds, herons, hawks, pink flamingos and a red beaked something. We saw the dark coloured male frigate bird with its inflated red throat pouch successfully attracting females. We saw doves and bright white masked boobies and probably more too, but I can’t remember. There were lots of lava lizards that are about 10-15cm long and are various colours on the different islands. The vegetation in the different islands varied from grey lava flows with very little vegetation, through to cactus covered landscapes with grasses and small trees and bushes. There were flowers too in some parts. It was always hot and only rained once when we were on land. Most of the walking was slow and not very far – the main purpose was to look at the animals and birds. Rafael was good at explaining it all to us.
We did enjoy seeing some of the rocky outcrops of the islands. The strange erect penis of Bartolome Is, and the walk up to the lighthouse, passing small craters that looked frozen in mid eruption with a wonderful view from the top. Jason worked on his fitness as he ran up and down twice in the heat and humidity. The beaches were all lovely sand and often inhabited by very many sea lions – some just lying like lumps in the sand, others were rolling about, scratching themselves or feeding their young.
The boat rocked about quite a bit, even when we were at anchor, but more so when it travelled overnight to another island. The trips were from 5 to 10 hours, and it was hard to sleep sometimes – even hard to stay in bed without seatbelts! We are definitely NOT sea people, but although we felt a bit queasy at times, we were not sick at all.
We went to Post Office Bay where there has been a barrel that people leave notes in for others to pick up, or to take and hand deliver to someone nearby their home. We left a postcard for Chris and Beck there.
The islands we visited were:
Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora)North SeymourSantiago Is, Sullivan’s BayBartoloméSan ChristobalLas PlazasEspañolaFloreanaSantiago
I think the best part of the Galapagos Islands is just being around such a variety of wildlife in beautiful, clear waters when it is warm and relaxing.
Some of the others were going to Isabella Island to where the more active volcanos are and they have larger iguanas. We would have loved to do that, but then again there is always more...we have to leave that for next time, knowing that there will probably not be a next time, as there are so many other places to see.
We soon met some of the other people we were going to be part of – Robin and Clive from Colorado, their daughter Jaye and husband Jason, Jonathon from Los Angeles and Marcus and Pam from Sydney. There were others, but I didn’t note down their names (sorry). Marcus and Pam were with us for 4 days but the others were there the whole 8. Later we were joined by some young people from Switzerland. It was a great group.
Basically, each evening we were given a briefing by our guide, Rafael, for about 20mins to tell us what we were doing the next day. Each day consisted of 3 meals on the boat at set times (7am, noon, 7pm), usually two times for snorkelling for about an hour in the water, and two times that we landed to go for short walks and look at wildlife. This left some time for relaxing/reading/drinking on board as well. It was a good formula, and we were tired at the end of each day.
We really enjoyed the snorkelling, as we saw very many sea lions and fur seals as well as penguins, sharks, many fish, star-fish, octopus, stingrays, turtles and elephants (OK, no elephants – just checking you’re reading this). We were amazed at how the animals on land, be they birds or mammals, did not seem disturbed by our presence, and allowed us to get very close to them. Actually we didn’t get closer, just because we were asked to stay 1m away. We saw so many things – nocturnal feeding gulls that had a big red ring around their eyes, huge albatrosses that had just started coming back to the islands to nest the previous week. We saw blue-footed boobies whose feet change to blue when they become adult. We saw the juveniles playing with sticks to practice turning fish around in their beak. Lots of red crabs, marine iguanas, and the more coloured land iguanas that varied from island to island as well as giant tortoises. We saw Darwin finches, inquisitive mocking birds, herons, hawks, pink flamingos and a red beaked something. We saw the dark coloured male frigate bird with its inflated red throat pouch successfully attracting females. We saw doves and bright white masked boobies and probably more too, but I can’t remember. There were lots of lava lizards that are about 10-15cm long and are various colours on the different islands. The vegetation in the different islands varied from grey lava flows with very little vegetation, through to cactus covered landscapes with grasses and small trees and bushes. There were flowers too in some parts. It was always hot and only rained once when we were on land. Most of the walking was slow and not very far – the main purpose was to look at the animals and birds. Rafael was good at explaining it all to us.
We did enjoy seeing some of the rocky outcrops of the islands. The strange erect penis of Bartolome Is, and the walk up to the lighthouse, passing small craters that looked frozen in mid eruption with a wonderful view from the top. Jason worked on his fitness as he ran up and down twice in the heat and humidity. The beaches were all lovely sand and often inhabited by very many sea lions – some just lying like lumps in the sand, others were rolling about, scratching themselves or feeding their young.
The boat rocked about quite a bit, even when we were at anchor, but more so when it travelled overnight to another island. The trips were from 5 to 10 hours, and it was hard to sleep sometimes – even hard to stay in bed without seatbelts! We are definitely NOT sea people, but although we felt a bit queasy at times, we were not sick at all.
We went to Post Office Bay where there has been a barrel that people leave notes in for others to pick up, or to take and hand deliver to someone nearby their home. We left a postcard for Chris and Beck there.
The islands we visited were:
Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora)North SeymourSantiago Is, Sullivan’s BayBartoloméSan ChristobalLas PlazasEspañolaFloreanaSantiago
I think the best part of the Galapagos Islands is just being around such a variety of wildlife in beautiful, clear waters when it is warm and relaxing.
Some of the others were going to Isabella Island to where the more active volcanos are and they have larger iguanas. We would have loved to do that, but then again there is always more...we have to leave that for next time, knowing that there will probably not be a next time, as there are so many other places to see.
Comments