Someone was looking out for me today, because just as we were getting up, giant clouds rolled in- I was going to get a much needed break on my sunburns!! We had a great breakfast and headed to shore. We had traveled to Espanola over night and we made our first landing there amongst lounging sea lions and piles of marine iguanas.
These marine iguanas had some red on their bodies- the only ones like this in the islands!
We began our walk in Punta Suarez and first stopped to watch a colony of masked boobies and blue footed boobies. It was mating season and we watched many couples forming. The males were doing a sort of dance where they slowly walk around, picking their feet up extra high as they go. Then, they duck down, put their wings up and whistle. The females respond with a loud call similar to a duck quacking.
The landscape was my favorite yet! Black rock cliffs and beaches with giant waves of teal, aqua and blue crashing over them.
We continued on to the nesting grounds of the waved albatross. These giant birds are typically only found on this island. We saw pairs of them clicking their beaks together in a mating ritual and many others incubating their eggs.
As we came around to the shore on the other side, it was breathtaking! We were on a cliff overlooking the surf below, where there was a giant blow-hole in the rocks. As waves crashed, they forced water up through the blow hole like a great geyser. It was beautiful! As we continued along, the cliffs opposite of us reminded me so much of my visit to the cliffs of Moher in Ireland. What a beautiful island!!
We continued our walk back to the beach, stopping along the way to photograph lizards, iguanas, more albatross,a Galapagos hawk, a tiny snake, mocking birds and lots of boobies. We even got to see a marine iguana swimming! We had to walk in the rocks to avoid the tiny baby sea lion nursing on the pier and then hopped in the pangas and returned to the ship.
On the boat, we had about an hour until lunch, and Amanda and I both climbed into bed and passed out until the lunch bell rang! After lunch, we were still motoring to our next spot for a while, so we went up to the sun deck and ended up falling asleep again! In the afternoon, we went snorkeling again. We were told that today would not be very exciting, we would probably just see fish. As we pulled into the quiet cove along the giant rocks, we looked up to see the cliffs covered in baby sea lions. It was as if they had just been waiting for us to come and play with them. As we pulled in, they all started barking and jumped into the water, swimming quickly over to our pangas.
It was Adam (the Aussie)'s first day snorkeling and he was like the sea lion whisperer! They followed him everywhere! The sea lions here were even more playful than the last couple of groups and not even a bit shy. They were constantly coming up and touching us and they even started nibbling on our flippers, just like they do to each other when they are playing!
We swam into a cave a bit, but the site of a couple of jellyfish in the water there was enough for me, so I swam back out! The water was chilly today, so we didn't last too long. After about 45 minutes, we headed back to the boat.
About an hour later, we were back in the pangas and headed to the beach of Gardner Bay- one of the most iconic beaches in the islands. It was exactly what I had imagined a beach in the Galapagos would look like: powder-soft white sand, amazing teal water and hundreds of sea lions!!
The Spanish couple asked us to take a photo of them and while we were taking it, a baby sea lion came running over to nibble on the girl's pants! They jumped away, dropping their towel and the sea lion immediately grabbed the towel and started playing with it! We all laughed and got some great photos before taking away its new toy.
Amanda and I walked the beach a couple of times and Adam joined us as we watched 3 babies wrestle with each other while the dad watched over them. Josie joined us as we walked the beach again. On our way back, a baby sea lion came right up to me! I sat down and let her play. She just checked me out and sniffed a bit, nibbling on my skirt once, and then left me alone. She was SUPER cute!!!
We made our way back to the group and it was time to load into the pangas and return to the ship for the evening. Tasty puff balls filled with cheese were waiting for us when we returned which just made us super excited for dinner. After our group meeting, we had another amazing dinner and then stayed around the tables chatting for quite a while. I didn't even attempt to watch the group movie tonight- I headed straight to bed!
Adventure Life is always an excellent choice when planning complicated, extreme, or exotic vacations or expeditions. They provide friendly professional services and advice and are enthusiastic and encouraging in helping us to prepare and thoroughly enjoy our trip. They handle all the details which greatly reduces the stress of planning a difficult trip. I'm very impressed with Adventure Life and definitely recommend them to friends and family.
Scott Trochim
2 days ago
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
4 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
5 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.