Galapagos

A visit to the Galapagos is definitely not for everybody. Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, visited in 1841 and detested “the Enchanted Isles” – clearly preferring the green familiarity of his home in Massachusetts.

On the other hand, you have Darwin, whose voyage on the Beagle took him there six years earlier…..

He truly was enchanted – first with the extraordinary geological formations of these volcanic islands, but then of course with the diversity of the animal and plant life, unique to this part of the world.

We enjoyed it too.

Today’s visitor, as in the past, must be comfortable on a boat, as it’s the only way to see the sights, such as Kicker Rock…..

Ships nowadays much more comfortable than the Beagle….. guests are ferried by panga (a very stable rubber raft) several times a day for shore visits, coastline cruises and snorkeling adventures.

Naturalists lead the nature walks on the shore…. And while not every outing is a big winner, many have surprises in store.

We were very lucky to witness a couple of the famous blue-footed boobies courting……

The turtles for whom the islands were named…..

Penguins were hard to catch a good view of…. except at dinner…..

Sea lions are everywhere…….

Thanks to Matt and Holly for some great photography on some of these shots, including all the underwater clips!

Unfortunately, early on in the voyage I was hors de combat for a day due to a stomach bug…… something on this plate or in that glass simply did not agree with me…

And I spent too much time getting to know our onboard facilities…..

But it was only a day, and I rallied quickly.

The voyage over too soon, we returned to San Cristobal…

A major benefit of using a travel agency (thanks, Blue Parallel) …… getting whisked through the check-in line at the airport to a nice, cool lounge for a bite of lunch before returning to the real world.

And then we said farewell to Holly and Matt, who at this writing are still trying to negotiate themselves through delays back through Miami to home. Thanks for sharing the adventure. Good luck and bon voyage!

After a couple of days in Quito, Henry and I are moving on to more wildlife encounters in the Ecuadorian rain forest…..