Create your Trip Journal [click here]After being on over 22 cruises on big ships, I was looking for a different experience. The thought of being on a ship with only 16 passengers sounded very intriguing to me, so began our trip. Traveled from Newark, NJ to Quito Ecuador. Arrived late at night and checked into Hotel Eugenia.
We were picked up early by the Adventure Tour Van and off to the airport again, after a few hours flight we landed at Baltra Airport and took a short bus ride to the ferry. The ferry took us over to Santa Cruz Island where we finally began the vacation of a lifetime.
Our tour guide Jamie took us to a very lovely outdoor restaurant where we had a very relaxed lunch and got to meet some of our fellow passengers. After lunch we went to the Darwin Station to see giant tortoises and iguanas. I was amazed to see how close we were able to get to the animals. After that, we arrive at our ship, all 12 passengers.
Very beautiful black lava formations, including one named Darwins toilet because of the ebb and flow of tide causing a flushing sound just like a toilet ( I kid you not),
Breath taking black sand beaches and sea lions abound. I find our tour guide Jamie very knowledgeable and informative. He tells us of how territorial the male sea lions are and how they have to fight for a territory and if they lose the fight the difficult climb up the rocks to a safe place to lick their wounds and get strong to fight again for a territory. Sadly, some of them don't survive.
RED SAND BEACH
(Rabida, Galapagos)
The dark red sand beaches are very beautiful. We came to shore in pangas to snorkel. I was very surprised to see a large hogfish come right up to me as I was standing in knee deep water.
We learned of the tradition of the Post Office. Our guide explained people would put post cards addressed to themselves in the box and that the next visitors would check to see if there was a card addressed to someone near their home. If the visitor found one, they would take it and mail it when they got home. Happy to report I found one with and address within a few miles of our home, also someone apparently found ours and we received ours back. It is proudly displayed in my album.
We also saw flamingos in brackish water, which is a combination of salt and fresh water. The water has a muddied look.
After a climb of 380 steps we arrived at the top of the island with a fantastic view of Pinnacle Rock and the lava formations. Well worth the climb.
Aboard our ship while having lunch, the captain called out there were pilot whales right by our boat. We all rushed out with our cameras in hand and got some nice pictures of the whales. I have to say I saw less whales while on our trip to Alaska.
I have never seen so many different species of birds.
We saw the blue footed boobies and fuzzy baby boobies They are amazing and so entertaining. The male boobies do dance, spread their wings and put their beaks in the air and make a whistling sound to attract the females. Also, found out the deeper the blue of their feet the healthier they are.
The male frigate bird billows up his red pouch to attract females. They are called pirates of the sea because they steal food from the other birds. The frigate birds have no oil in their feathers and would drown if they dove in the water.
I never thought I would use beautiful to describe a crab, but the sally light foot crab is indeed that. We saw lava lizards as well.
We went to the Central Interpretation Center, There was information about Charles Darwin's visit to the Galapagos, and also of a colorful rich heiress who had thoughts of building a hotel for the rich. How sad if that had happened
Later in the day I snorkeled with sea lions, such great fun.
We could either have a dry or wet landing with our pangas, this day the water was a bit rough, but our skilled drivers kept us safe.
We were able to see the pacific green sea turtles mating. What a sight. I learned how they bury their eggs in the sand.
At Gardener Bay while standing at the edge of a small pool of water up on the beach, I was surprised to feel a small sea lion nibbling my ankle, hubby caught it on video, I was so happy to have that memory on tape.
P.S. Thanks to my brother-in-law I now have pictures of the Nibbler for my journal.
Today we went to private property where there were empty tortoise shells on display, and of course one of the men from our boat had to try on the shell. We all laughed at his struggle to get out.
I noticed the difference between the tortoises we saw there as compared to the ones we saw at the Darwin Center. The tortoises were much more aware of your presence, they let me know with a hiss and by pulling in their heads.
After of visit we were off to the airport for our flight to Quito. Upon arriving at our hotel we went to dinner with some of the people we had met on board our ship. We decided on Cafe Del Fraile in Old Town Quito,where I had the best fillet mignon that I ever had. We then took in some of the sights of Old Town.
On our last day in Quito we went to Middle of The World, where you can stand on the equator with one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one foot in the Southern Hemisphere. We spent the rest of the day sightseeing and relaxing.
Adventure Life van picked us up early and took us to the airport for our flight home in New Jersey.
On the flight home I had time to reflect on all the wonderful sights I had seen. It all seemed so surreal the beauty and peaceful stillness of seeing the animals in all their natural splendor.
I think Adventure Life did a outstanding job with all the arrangements of flights, informative guides and staff before, during and after our cruise on the Millennium.
All that being said, I don't know what the next destination will be, but I certainly can cross this off my BUCKET LIST.
