Day 5: Santa Cruz

Large tortoises at the Darwin Center

We packed our bags, had an early breakfast, and headed into town for our final excursion. We visited the Charles Darwin center where they focus on preserving the native species of the Galapagos. Most of the efforts are on rehabilitating the giant tortoises that used to dominate almost all of the islands. During the whaling times, the tortoises were killed for food and oil and then their habitat was threatened by exotic species introduced by humans. The changes made such an impact on the population that they almost went extinct. After watching the tortoises in the center, we said our goodbyes as the five day tour ended. Some people headed to the airport while the rest of us headed to town. Will and I planned to stay in the town for several more days for exploring the Galapagos on our own.

Watching blue-footed boobies fish in Puerto Ayora Bay

Selfie at the Darwin Center

Message of conservation at the Darwin Center

Large tortoises at the Darwin Center

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Cruise Highlights

Day 4: Floreana

Post Office Bay

Darwin again cruised through the night so we awoke to breakfast with views of Floreana. Our first site was Post Office Bay where a post box stands to carry on a tradition from the 1800s. The waters surrounding the Galapagos were used for whaling and this beach on Floreana became a spot for leaving communications to be transported back to the main land. In keeping with the tradition, tourist are encouraged to leave a post card and hope another friendly tourist will ensure it makes it’s destination. Will and I left a postcard for his parents (which we learned was hand delivered in Pennsylvania only two weeks later). After sorting through hundreds of cards sitting in the box, Will and I found two that we can had deliver in Florida when we return for Christmas.

The rest of the morning was spent snorkeling at a rock formation called La Corona del Diablo (Devil’s Crown). The area was surrounded by reefs with large schools of fish, sea turtles, sea lions, and white tip sharks. We were also excited to see our first colony of blue footed boobies nesting on the rocks.

Flamingos in Cormorant on Floreana

In the afternoon, we went for a walk on the island in an area called Cormorant where we saw flamingos. Luckily, a group was resting directly adjacent to the path so we could get excellent views of the beautiful bird. We also visited a beautiful beach not suitable for swimming because it was lined with stingrays lurking in the surf (stingray city as Billy would call it). That evening, Darwin headed north to Santa Cruz where we again had dolphins gliding off the bow. This time, they were doing rolls and jumps creating a large splash. It seemed like they could hear us cheering which encouraged their tricks. We anchored off the main town, Puerto Ayora, for our final dinner onboard Darwin.

Floreana Island

Visiting the Post Office

Snorkeling at La Corona del Diablo

Blue-footed Boobies

Watching flamingos next to the path on Floreana

Flamingo selfie

Walking to the beach on Floreana

Tour guide, Billy, teaching us about the beach on Floreana

Stingray city

Typical dinner on Darwin

More dolphins swimming off Darwin\'s bow

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Our five day tour of the Galapagos Islands onboard Darwin Yacht started out with a bang! (Click here if you missed the first half of Touring the Galapagos) The fun continued with several more stops:

Day 3 Continued: Espanola

After lunch, Darwin motored to the other side of Espanola for our afternoon adventure. Along the way, we spotted a huge pod of dolphins and Captain changed our course so we would intersect them. As we became surrounded by the pod of hundreds, several dolphins swam into formation with the bow of the boat. It was amazing to watch them swim and jump out of the water in perfect speed with Darwin.

Albatross landing zone

Nazka boobie courtship

We made it to Punta Suarez where we went for an afternoon hike. When we landed, we immediately saw a baby sea lion nursing which Billy estimated was only a few days old. We continued on a trail where we found more baby sea lions, marine iguanas, a Galapagos mocking bird, and a Galapagos hawk. But the main attractions were the large colonies of albatrosses and nazca boobies. We sat for quite awhile watching the albatross landing zone. Several of the young birds were doing a courting dance where they find their mate for life (a process Billy said would take several months). We also witnessed the nazca boobies courtship where the males present rocks as gifts to his partner for life. It was amazing to stand only Continue reading →