After a quick buffet breakfast in our Guayaquil hotel, the Hilton Colon, we headed to the airport with our tour group to board a flight to the Galapagos Islands. There were around 90 of us altogether on this trip. The islands are located about 600 miles west from the coast of Ecuador so the flight time was less than two hours. After we landed at the airport in Baltra, an old U.S. Air Force base, we took buses to the nearby docks where we loaded onto zodiacs that would take us to our ship, the National Geographic Endeavour. Our first inkling that we were in for something special was that the dock was covered in sleeping sea lions. There were sea lions laying on benches and sea lions all over the ground.
Sea lions sleeping on the dock
You really had to watch where you walked so you didn’t step on one. And they paid us absolutely no attention; we were an arm’s length away from them snapping pictures and they simply didn’t care. It was astonishing.
Don't step on the sea lion!
Our tour, which is organized by Lindblad Expeditions, is partnered with the National Geographic Society. There are naturalists on board who accompanied us everywhere, giving us detailed explanations about what we were seeing and the history of each particular island in the Galapagos. It’s really a well-put together tour. Even though the Endeavour is a true expedition ship, it did have some some nice amenities, like a large lounge and library to hang out in. There was also a small gym, as well as a small pool out on the sun deck. It’s not one of those gigantic cruise ships that are basically floating hotels though. It’s definitely a bit more rustic, but also more intimate and homey.
After a brief orientation, we had our first lunch on the ship. Lunch is served buffet style, and there aren’t that many choices. Each day there was usually a soup, some salads, and two or three entrees and sides. Our first lunch, a vegetarian cannelloni and some sort of chicken cooked in a tomato sauce, was actually pretty bad. I was a bit worried about how that would bode for the rest of the trip, but luckily the food improved vastly after that meal.
After lunch we had an abandon ship and safety drill, then later in the afternoon we had our first excursion of the cruise. We took zodiacs from the ship to the southern shore of North Seymour. Ships in the Galapagos don’t actually dock at each island so you have to take a zodiac from the ship to the island and have either a dry landing (where you can step from the zodiac straight onto land) or a wet landing (where you land on a beach and need to step out into knee-deep water). North Seymour was a dry landing and as soon as we stepped out we were greeted by more sea lions.
Getting off the zodiac and stepping around a sea lion
My first impression of the Galapagos is that it’s actually very arid. There are cactuses and the land was pretty barren looking. These are not tropical islands, though in the spring and summer there is more green on the trees. While we were there, however, all the trees were bare and dry.
Frigate bird coming in for a landing over the dry landscape
The highlights of North Seymour are the blue footed boobies and the great frigate birds. It’s mating season for the frigate birds so the males have these huge red pouches under their beaks that they can blow up into big balloons. The sit on the ground and look up at the females, hoping to attract them with their red pouches.
Male frigate bird with his pouch inflated in hopes of attracting the females
The blue footed boobies are really beautiful, with bright blue feet (duh) and intense eyes. Josh and I are immature so we got a big kick out of the naturalist saying “look at the boobies” or “watch the boobies dancing”, which happened numerous times.
Blue footed boobie
We saw frigate birds swooping down trying to steal food from the boobies and they would fight back. It was just incredible being in the middle of everything and being able to observe the wildlife up close.
Sea lion bidding us goodbye
After we returned to the ship there was a cocktail party in the lounge where they introduced us to the captain and the staff. There were cocktail hours every night of the cruise where we’d gather in the lounge for some snacks and drinks (alcohol is extra on the ship) and one of the naturalists would recap the day and Paula, our expedition leader, would tell us about the next day’s activities. It’s a nice time to unwind from the day and whet our appetites for dinner.
Each day the dinner menu is posted after breakfast and you sign up for which entree you want. That way they don’t waste food and can prepare exactly what is needed. I’m sure though that if you changed your mind when dinner came, they would accommodate you. But reducing waste is a big part of their conservation efforts.
Dinner is served by the waitstaff, and everyone kind of just sits wherever there is room. Our dinner companions changed every night, though there were some people we ended up eating with more often than others. It was really quite pleasant and a great way to get to know most of the people on the ship.
There were always three entree options for dinner, and Josh and I would pick the meat entree and the fish entree, ignoring the vegetarian option. Appetizers and desserts were the same for everyone. We would each eat half of our entree and then switch plates, so we could taste both dishes. The food was better on some nights than others, but overall it was pretty good. The fish entrees were consistently good and properly prepared. The meat entrees were more inconsistent but aside from one incinerated duck, nothing was inedible. Plus we were so active each day that we were absolutely starving by the time dinner rolled around. Lets just say that despite all of the hiking, snorkeling, and kayaking that we did, our bellies remained fat as ever!
Breakfast (at the Hilton Colon):
Banana bread, pan de yuca, sweet corn tamale, chicken empanada, some sort of fritter stuffed with cheese, bacon
Lunch (on the ship):
Broccoli and cheese soup topped with fresh avocado
Garlic bread, pasta salad, coconut rice, chicken in tomato sauce, vegetarian cannelloni
Dinner:
Mushroom soup
Rice pilaf, spinach frittata, pork tenderloin
Fish option (I don't remember what kind of fish it was!)
Chocolate cheesecake