Touring the Galapagos, Ecuador

Flying near a volcano on the way to the Galapagos

We arrived in Quito‘s airport bright and early for our 8:00 flight to the Galapagos. Thankful the tourist agent gave a complete description of the special process because signs were lacking, we got in line for the extra Galapagos check and processing before checking-in with the airline. The two flights on LAN were uneventful but it made us wonder if stopping in Quito was necessary. There are rarely direct flights from Quito to the Galapagos and upon arriving in the Galapagos we saw that any traveler could just show up, make their way to town, and grab a hostel (contrary to needing a guide for everything as we had heard from family members).

Exiting the airport, we found a tour guide holding a “Darwin Yacht” sign who greeted us fondly. He introduced us to the other tourists joining us on the boat; Several female solo travelers from Australia, USA, and Germany, Irish and Argentinean girlfriends traveling together, and a couple from Spain (girls ruled on this boat). We took a short bus ride and began our 5 day adventure on board Darwin Yacht.

Day 1: Mosquera

Our five day tour follows the blue line

We were immediately served a lunch of fresh fish with plenty of sides which was excellent. (In fact, all of the meals on board Darwin were very tasty). After getting settled into our rooms, we met our tour guide, Billy, and learned about our upcoming adventure. He explained that the islands are part of a national park with strict rules to control the tourism which started in the 1970s. Other than a few areas surrounding the small towns (three, each on different islands), all areas must be visited with a tour guide. The tour groups are also limited to only visiting two sites a day. And understandably, there are restrictions on getting close to or feeding any animals.

Mosquera Island

The Darwin cruised over to our first destination, Mosquera Island. We arrived to turquoise waters and a bright white beach populated with sea lions. After a short walk exploring the island, we donned our rented snorkel gear and entered the waters for a chance to swim with the sea lions. Due to the small waves crashing on the island, the visibility was not very good which made it much more exciting when the sea lions zoomed past very close. We enjoyed every minute of the short hour on the island before Billy ushered us back to Darwin. While motoring to our first overnight anchor we were escorted by a flock of frigate birds that followed us most of the journey.