The Galapagos is a study of contrasts to the Amazon. Where dipping a toe in the Napo meant that not only could you no longer see your toe, it may not even be attached anymore, the Galapagos waters were clear enough to see rays, turtles and sharks from the pangas (motorized rafts). In the Amazon, most of the animals we saw were slightly moving blurs that our guides swore was a monkey or bird. Just getting off the bus on the Galapagos, this guy greeted us.
We were 5 of the 14 guests, half which were kids, so it was a well-balanced group, with parents kicking kids to their own table so we could have long dinners with adult conversation.
The yacht is exactly what Dwayne will get for himself and his ten best friends. I hope I am invited!
The tour started with a bus ride to lunch and a tortoise preserve, where we immediately saw more tortoises than we saw animals total in the Amazon. One guy smiled at us!
It is a good adventure when you are slowed down by a tortiose crossing.
We went from land reptiles to sea birds. We got to see the famous blue-footed boobies, then heaps of red-footed boobies, nasca boobies, frigates, and then more and more and more birds, possibly to bird ad naseum. But Piper loved the fluffy chicks that were as big as their parents. One of the more educational parts was seeing a feeding/mauling of a parent who made it back with a gut full of fish.
I was pleased when we moved from feathers to fur and fins. The sea life was vast and colorful, with sea lions on shore and off. As always, Water Wes was always the first one in. Piper, who very reluctantly let Mama talk her into trying it just one time, chided me several times for not being fast enough to keep up with her underwater exploring. Kyla and Wes are both very brave and often swam several feet under to get a closer look. The water was chilly, even with our short wetsuits, and Dwayne had to make zero-fat Wes get back into the boat to warm up the first time out. Unlike above water exploration, where we would get to see lots of one or two species, the tropical fish were varied, numerous, beautiful and fascinating. We all loved it each of the three times we went out.
One of our beach excursions was the daycare where mamas left their babies while they went off hunting. I will not make anyone watch the reels and reels of baby footage Piper and I took, but the stills are pretty fun, too!
The beaches were the best–organic white and volcanic black both delighted us. The seal lions accompanied us everywhere, and we enjoyed the trails the marine iguanas made in the sand and the colorful crabs. Can you spot all three species … not including the homo sapiens?
Our Galapagos tour was short, not even three full days from airport pick-up to drop-off, but we saw lots of animals (well, many of a few species) and possibly spent too much time looking at the same only-on-Galapagos! birds. We had warm sand and blue, blue water, and sunburns by lunch–it was the paradise everyone said it would be!
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