The Galapagos Islands

Traveling on 9/11 was a coincidence, I hadn’t recognized at first. It continues to have an effect on us. Our scheduled cruise aboard the Galapagos Legend began today. We had an early arrival at Quito’s airport for our flight to Baltra Island with a stop in Guyaquil. The plane was ancient. There were still ash trays in the arm rests. The crew was attentive and gave us more food than an American airline would have. Chotapaxi was blowing a plume into the air as we flew in. We landed in Baltra on an airstrip built by American troops during WWII. They took us by bus to the launches which brought us to our ship. Many of the boats that cruise the islands are modern looking yacht sizes. We chose a bigger ship which could hold 90 passengers. There’s a small pool on the aft deck (really small). This was one of the only ships that had triple rooms. We started with a nice buffet lunch, gathering up our snorkeling gear, and informative lectures.

The ship had anchored off of Bartolome Island after a short cruise from Baltra. Dinghies took us to a nice beach for a wet landing. The water was freezing (70 degrees). Even with the wet suit it was a little shocking. There were sea lions, a penguin, and fish to see on this beach. I can

see the disadvantage of this big boat -- big groups. We only have about 45 passengers aboard. It’s off season. They divided the passengers into three groups, Albatross, Boobies, and Cormorants. We were happy to be Albatrosses.

After the swim, we were taken to a dry landing spot for a hike to the peak of the island. A huge male seal greeted us on the landing platform and we “walked around”. Our guide, Carlos, gave us an informative talk on how volcanic islands are formed and particularly the development of this chain. It’s easy to see the effect that this activity had on the mainland. As recently as the early 90’s there was volcanic activity here. Bartolome Island had many examples of parasite cones and different lava flows. We learned about the endemic plants and animals on this island. Bartolome is fairly barren and does look like what you think the surface of the moon is. Carlos explained about the value of the Galapagos Islands as a “window of evolution”. The isolation has allowed for unique plants and animals to evolve from their relatives in other places.

Dinner is late on the ship, 8 PM. AD was ready to fall asleep at the table. We all went right to bed after dinner. There’s suppose to be night life on this ship but I doubt that we will ever see it. Breakfast is early, at 7 AM. The first excursion is at 8 AM. No late nights for us.

AD Journal

Today is Thursday and we are on a cruise ship in the Galapagos Islands. I learned two terms and they are endemic and window of evolution.

Our guide, Carlos told us about the way some things are only found here (endemic). The islands were made from volcano’s exploding. We went snorkeling today also and we got to see some sea lions and a penguin. Snorkeling in the ocean is harder than I thought. You get salt in your mouth.

Galapagos

Galapagos

The Galapagos Cruise

Sept. 11th - Galapagos Islands

Galapagos