After the rough n tumble of backpacker accommodation in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, we were obviously looking forward to what we expected would be a relaxing week long luxury cruise on our sailing boat, the Sagitta, smugly kicking back on top deck and catching up with the old's over g&t's. How wrong we were.
A rigorous itinerary of 7am rises, life jackets and ladders down to tenders, wet landings to islands, daily 3 hour treks on rough lava landscapes, snorkelling in 17 degree waters and crikey was it worth it. After overcoming initial seasickness, we were sucked into an unforgettable week of wildlife adventure, each day presenting such satisfying surprises that every time we would say , "well if the visit were to end tomorrow, I would still go home happy". Towards the end we were exhausted, and although each day's itinerary was optional, none of us could risk the possibility of missing some other incredible event.
Going to the Galapagos is something that you do once in your life, and if you are at all into wildlife I can't imagine you wouldn't absolutely love it. Despite having left it only 3 weeks ago, it has already has found a dreamlike, magical place in our memories. Imagine stunningly rugged landscapes, teaming with wildlife that doesn't run and hide but more often than not approaches you, or at worst ignores you and the (numerous) other snap happy tourists. Imagine spotting not one, but dozens of turtles - and then jumping in the water and snorkelling with them so close that you can touch them and watching them graze on the seaweed under the waves. The same goes for playing with sea lions, in and out of the water. Watching albatrosses perform their mating ritual on the only place on earth where they lay their eggs. Iguanas upon iguanas literally upon iguanas. Penguins and blue footed boobies and cormorants and magnificent frigates and eagles and pterodactyls... ahem.
Perhaps one of the highlights' highlights was spotting a couple of blue whales one dusk as we sailed between islands. Shouts from the captain and our guide worked us all into a mild frenzy as we scrambled to grab our photography equipment and get on top deck. MG's photo keep:delete ratio hit an all time low, estimated at 1:40 as the excitement of the moment coupled with Canon 20D's ability to take 6 photos per second overrode the poor lighting conditions, distance to object and swaying of the ship. Below is included one survivor. E-J video camera produced more satisfactory results but if you ever get the chance to see it, mute the volume as her near hysterical levels of excited running commentary may damage your ears. Another moment whose magic we could not capture at the time, and cannot relay here.
We kept over 2000 photos in a week (imagine how many we deleted!) and give you a heavily edited best of bunch below. Credit must grudgingly go to Dad Stearn for his contribution of quality shots...
ANIMALS
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BIRDS
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US
