After a bit more than a week in the Galapagos Islands, we have just come back to Quito today. These past 8 days have been an absolutely amazing experience and it’s actually difficult to pick some highlights, but we’ll try to give you a brief(ish) summary.
It is not possible to enter the national park (~97% of the islands’ surface) without a local guide. Our tour guide (Omar) took us from Baltra to Genovesa, Bartolomé, Santiago, Santa Cruz, Floreana, Española and San Cristóbal.
The Islands
We didn’t quite believe Omar on the first day but each of the islands proved to be a completely new experience with unique flora and fauna. Every day consisted of multiple activities (snorkeling and walks) on the islands and due to the organisation of all tours and schedules, a lot of the time we would be the only group on an island or at least the only group in the one area during all the activities (adding to the already amazing experience).
Under Water
Whilst the Galapagos Islands are mostly famous for the adaptation of various species on land, the snorkeling activities really showed us what is hidden from the surface. Initially, we were hoping to maybe see a couple of turtles and sealions. It turned out that the underwater creatures here are so abundant that during each snorkeling trip we were treated to multiple visits of not just turtles and sealions, but also countless incredibly beautiful fish, sharks and various kinds of rays in all shapes and sizes. To top it all off, many of them were very curious and playful, swimming around us and inspecting camera lenses.
On Land
In contrast to our time in the water, we were completely ignored by basically all animals on land – from nesting birds (we’ve seen all the Boobies!), iguanas and lizards to giant land tortoises and sleeping sealions on the beaches. On the Galapagos Islands, we’re just another animal roaming around. While we are supposed to keep a distance of 2 meters from every animal it can be a bit difficult as most of them are sitting right on or next to the trail! The giant tortoise also would have had no problem walking straight over us if we hadn’t moved from his path!
Adventure Unknown 