Ecuador and the Galapagos

This summer we had the pleasure of visiting the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador as well as the country's capital, Quito. It was one of my favorite vacations for a variety of reasons: amazing wildlife, wonderful fellow travelers on our boat, knowledgeable guides and delicious food. We spent 7 days on board the Theory, which holds up to 20 passengers and has a crew of about a dozen locals. Fabulous! We left the cruise with memories and lifelong friends.

To visit the Galapagos, you must first fly to one of the inhabited islands, either Santa Cruz or San Cristobal. We flew into San Cristobal and were greeted by our two naturalist guides, Fabricio and Jose Luis (Pepe). We boarded a bus with our fellow shipmates and took at short ride to the the Pier, where we were greeted by sea lions lounging on the beach and two zodiacs (called pangas for the rest of the cruise) that delivered us to the Theory in time for dinner on board the ship.

Left: Our itinerary

Day 1:

We were greeted on the boat by our Captain who guided us on a sunset cruise around the north side of San Cristobal and Kicker Island before navigating up to Genovesa Island. The long run to Genovesa was BUMPY and contributed to a chaotic dining experience where we we bonded with our new friends over who could catch plates, glasses and silverware before it slid off the table and on to the floor. I had forgotten my seasick patches but luckily my new best friend, Ariel, had plenty to share and saved the day.

Volcanic formation of Leon Dormido/ Kicker Rock

Kicker Rock

Day 2: Genovesa Island: Walks along Darwin Bay,snorkling off the boat, kayaks/paddlepboards and later in the afternoon a hike at Prince Philip's Steps

These are photos of individual animals, but they represent the hundreds we saw along the way, especially the Nasca Boobies nesting. All unbothered by our attentions to them.

Photo credit: Melker Mabek

Finding mama

Sea lions originally came from California but have evolved into a much smaller species unbothered by humans

Mama and baby

Nazca Boody and eggs

Female Frigate waiting for opportunity to steal Nasca Booby's eggs

Red Footed Booby

Genovese Ground Finch

Galapagos Mockingbird

Cactus Finch

Going out for a paddleboard and Kayak

cruising in the panga (zodiac)

Day 3: Black Turtle Cove and Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz Island

Blue-footed Booby

The zodiacs - "pangas" in Spanish - that took us from our boat to islands and snorkle sites

Mating turtles

Photo credit: Sebastian M.

Sea Turtle

Elisa, friends on a panga

Brown Pelican

Baby Shark

Photo Credit: Sophie M.

Tracking lizards; they leave a trail with their tails

Land Iguanas

Iguana hands

Cerro Dragon

Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz Cartwheel

Sunsets in the Galapagos

Cocktail hour

We had four college aged young people on the boat who liked to explore the available cocktails

Day 4: Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island & Urbina Bay, Isabela Island

A blanket of Marine Iguanas

Godzilla?

More Marine Iguanas...

Penguin

Photo credit: Elijah R.

Photo Credit: Ariel D.

Time to snorkle

Thousands of these guys, very pretty against the black lava rock

Land Lizard

Mama resting having just given birth

Swimming off the boat

We were fortunate to have many talented photographers who took great photos and had underwater cameras.

Shark

These photos are stills I grabbed from underwater videos that were shared.

Marine Iguana looking for food.

There were seven young folks on board. They all got along beautifully and made the trip especially fun for Elisa.

After Dinner Bananagrams

morning coffee on the sun deck

Uh oh. Stuck in the sand!

Day 5: Elizabeth Bay & Tagus Cove, Isabela Island

Getting ready to go out

Golden Puffer

Yellow Tailed Surgeonfish

Pile of Rays

Hieroglyphic Hawkfish

The Galapagos offered by far the best snorkling I've ever experienced, even among all the snorkles we did in Asia. Again, these are stills I grabbed from some amazing movies and don't quite do the hundreds of fish we saw the justice they deserve. I'll have to learn how to post movies someday... All underwater photos are from videos by Ana or Melker M.

Seals like to climb into the mangroves to nap.

Glass bottom boat

Elisa on sailboard

More glass bottom boat

Day 6: Puerto Egas, Santiago Island & Rabida Island

American Oystercatcher and chick

Great Blue Heron

Blue-footed boobie

Striated Heron

Mama and newborn: This mama had just given birth and the baby still had his umbilical cord attached. We also saw her placenta nearby, now a meal for some of the crabs.

The crabs move in to eat the placenta

Circle of life: Crabs descending on the placenta

And in something akin to a horror movie, the Iguana (a vegetarian!) could not resist a sniff.

Pink Flamingos are becoming harder to see. Our guide said that every year their numbers diminish.

Yellow Warbler

American Oystercatcher

One of the highlights of our trip was our fellow passengers. There were 18 of us on board, 11 adults and 7 younger folk. We genuinely enjoyed everyone's company and made lifelong friends (we hope!). Our guides assured us that we were very lucky to have a group that so fully enjoyed each other. We agreed!

Day 7: Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island

Fabricio and JoseLuis

Hanging out on the sunset

US Government marine drones they send out to look for drug traffikers. Most of the cocaine destined for the US now goes through Ecuador.

Galapagos tortoises have the misfortune of being able to live in the hold of a ship for a year with no food and water so they were hunted to near extinction by pirates and opportunists of the past. They are now bring them back and they are thriving. The ones featured here are 100+ years old.

Day 8: San Cristobal and depart for Quito

King of the beach

Elisa and friend

We spent several days on each end in Quito, Ecuador's capital. Here are some random highlights

View from our hotel. We were told that Quito has the biggest "Old Town" in South America.

Everyone makes and sells chocolate!

View from Quito's Basilica

Basilica window

Inside the beautiful La Compañía de Jesús Church

Yummy hot chocolate served with chunks of local cheese

La Ronda, Quito

Cartwheeling in La Ronda

At the equator, with practice, you can balance an egg on a nail

Elisa giving it a try

Cartwheel at the equator

Latitude 0 00 00 degrees!

Lots of cute hidden corners and restaurants in Quito

There are 50+ typles of hummingbirds in the area

Day trip to Mindo to take the open cable car

Local swimming hole in Mindo

And we HAD to do the chocolate tour

which ended with tasting 10 kinds of dark chocolate and chocolate face masks

Old Town Quito is charming in pretty pastels, but can be dangerous at night. Our receptionist told us we should return to our hotel no later than 9 pm

They have free public dog parks!

We took the cable car up on Pinchincha Vocano, but it was cloudy so we didn't see the other volcanoes that apparently surrounded us (Sort of like visiting Seattle and not seeing Rainier!) But Elisa found a fun swing with a nice view

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