December 13-20, 2023
My “roman empire” is evolution. This is a topic that my mind thinks deeply about when I can’t sleep and when I am visiting a museum. As Darwin traveled on “The Beagle”, he began looking at his surroundings with a critical eye and began to question how and why life was the way it was. I listened to the audio book of Darwin’s “Voyage of the Beagle” while I was in the Galapagos and I could hear him pondering and teasing out how things came to be. With Darwin being the first person to talk about evolution, and this thinking about it being inspired by his travels in the Galapagos, this island group has loomed large in my imagination.
The Galapagos has been my number 1 travel destination for years but DH2 had other travel plans or saw that when we were planning the next trip, that season wasn’t a good time to visit. So when I turned 60 and he declared we would be ticking off my top destinations, I was so excited.
Flying into the Galapagos dropped us onto Baltra, an island that used to have American WWII barracks. After a moderately long bus ride from the airport, we were taken to a ferry across a small channel to Santa Cruz Island where we took a long bus ride to the city and major port. We walked around the town of Puerto Ayora and marveled at how casual the animals were in public places. There were marine iguana on the sidewalks and sea lions sitting on the dock benches. They were totally unfazed by civilization. We watched diving boobies and reef sharks.
The next day we met up with the tour group and we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station where their tasks are to work on conservation, restoration and sustainable development projects to ensure that the archipelago is well-managed. This meant we saw many tortoise breeding/raising pens.
Our water transportation was literally a yacht. I can’t lie, I did like it. DH2 splurged for the nicest room which included 2 sitting areas. The top level had 2 jacuzzis: one in the sun and the other under an awning. The dining area had 3 tables for the 16 guests, a bar, and amazing food at every meal. The first night’s ride was wild! The turbulence was so strong that it was the only thing the guests could talk about at breakfast the next day.
On the Islote Tinoreras tour, we watched basking sharks being harassed by sea lion and marine iguanas. Moving onto Isabella Island, we hiked to the rim of Sierra Negra volcano caldera and appreciated the flora and fauna. There was a large population of blue footed boobies so we watched them for a long time. We occasionally would see a penguin so we chased where they would pop up next.
Still off the coast of Isabela, we saw more animals and snorkeled for the first time. I accidentally forgot my gear so I had to wait for DH2 to be done so I could use his gear.
The animal density was insane. We were told to stay a couple meters away from the animals but I would be taking a pic of one animal and someone would warn me not to step backwards or I would step on another animal! The animal just hung out, completely chill with these people around.
We hiked to Darwin’s Lake (noted in the Voyage of the Beagle), enjoyed the frigate birds following our boat and the stunning sunsets.
Around Santiago Island, we took dingy rides to view Blue Footed and Nazca Boobies, terns, and dramatic cliffs. We kayaked and snorkeled. It’s bizarre to snorkel with penguins zooming by, cormorants diving down to eat, giant sea turtles, and marine iguanas biting at the sea moss.
We were dropped on San Cristobal Island and wandered around in the rain for the day before we took a high speed boat back to Santa Cruz.
On the way to the airport, our driver took us to a farm where tortoises like to hang out. Who knew they liked cows? We also walked through a natural tunnel and around extinct volcanoes.
This was an amazing experience that fed my mind and soul.
Post by @jade.plaxcoView on Threads
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