Day 3: Espanola

Gardner Bay on Espanola

Darwin cruised south and arrived at Espanola Island around two in the morning. After another filling breakfast, we went to Gardner Bay for a relaxing morning on the beach. Unfortunately, the weather turned cloudy and rained threatened so Will and I decided to snorkel. We found sting rays, schools of fish and a sea turtle. On the way back o the beach, we heard a male sea lion making aggressive noises so we were on alert to stay away and avoid confrontation. As the visibility decreased closer to the shore, we lost sight of the sea lion when all of a sudden it darted past us! Thankfully, he must have found us harmless when he checked us out and continued monitoring his territory. Close one!

The rest of the morning was spent snorkeling with the group. Billy and the boat’s Captain took us to a rock formation in Gardner Bay where the visibility was extremely clear. With large waves flowing in from the ocean, we were surprised when they led the group close to the rocks but were excited to find young playful sea lions. We all had a blast diving down and swimming circles while the sea lions looped around us. I have never interacted with a wild animal in such a way and it was exhilarating!

Sea lion eating breakfast next to Darwin

Curious mockingbird picking through our stuff - Billy said they are looking for fresh water

School of razor surgeonfish

Surrounded by a school of black striped salema

Swimming with sea lions

Swimming with sea lions

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Day 2: Plaza and Santa Fe

Darwin Yacht anchored off South Plaza

Male sea lion barking to show aggression over territory

After an early morning journey, we woke to breakfast with views of the Plaza Islands. The islands were a beautiful red desert with crystal clear waters in between. Our group went for an early morning walk passing sea lions, iguanas and crabs. Billy again sat us down to give us information on the area. He explained that the iguanas were in the processes of gaining color for their mating season so we would see them with varying degrees of yellow on this island. Billy also took the opportunity to describe sea lion habits and the different situations that make them aggressive. He said to be alert when swimming with them and that he would rather swim with sharks (information that would have been useful the previous day)!

One of the few iguanas on Santa Fe eating cactus

Darwin arrived to Santa Fe in time for lunch where we had another wonderful meal (not going hungry on this tour). After letting the food digest, the group headed out on the dingy for an hour snorkeling in the beautiful water. We saw large schools of fish, sea turtles, a sting ray and even a sea lion. Early evening, we went for a walk on Santa Fe where we found a beach full of sea lions, a Galapagos snake, and watched an endangered Santa Fe Iguana eat cactus.

South Plaza

Sally lightfoot crabs and sea lions greeting us on the island

Land iguana

Land iguana gaining color for mating season

Sea lion relaxing on South Plaza

Darwin in Plaza Islands

Santa Fe Island

Will had to go explore before the group's scheduled activity

Will found more fish under Darwin

Sea lions on Santa Fe

Nursing sea lion

Santa Fe

Galapagos mocking bird, finch, snake and land iguana

Cactus forest on Santa Fe

Selfie with a four hundred year old cactus

Largest cactus in the Galapagos

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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 Continue reading →