The Galapagos Islands

Saturday finally arrived and before we knew it, we were on the plane to the Galapagos. The flight was pretty smooth, lasting only two hours. On arriving in the Galapagos we were greeted by our tour guide, Victor, who spoke English as though he was speaking Spanish at a very fast pace and throwing in sayings, which made no sense or coming out with an answer which bared no relation to the question being asked. "Friends, it’s possible". We met up with two others from our group and were told we would have to wait for another hour for the other flight to arrive with the rest of the group. After sun burning for an hour, our group finally arrived and there was a total of twelve of us - A mixture of English, Australian, Finnish and a token American who could be heard at all times.

The next part of the day was getting to our boat, which was the other side of the island from where we had landed and this consisted of a bus ride, followed by a boat ride and then another bus ride (by a dude with an amazing handle bar moustache - much to Sam’s amusement!). We finally reached a water taxi, which took us to our boat called "Free Enterprise". The boat was an one hundred and ten foot sailing boat (although we only motored the whole time, as the sails had been removed), with twelve cabins, which slept twenty people, a bar, a seating area and an eating area. With only twelve people staying on this boat, it was sheer luxury!

After dropping our bags on the boat, we headed to the Darwin Plantation to see the giant Tortoises, they were truly mesmerising.

The Tortoises’ age ranged from 40 to 80 years old and they were incredibly docile and allowed you to get very close to them. Occasionally they would let out a sort of sighing sound, before burrowing their heads inside their shells.

We also came across a rather extraordinary turtle, known as "The Turtle’s Head":

After this, we finished the day with a brief walk around Santa Cruz Harbour, before heading back to the boat for an early night.

The next morning, after traveling during the night, we started at Rabida Island. This island had the most intense landscape colours, which made you feel as though you were in another world.

After a brief stroll around the island, E-J ended up in her element, surrounded by Sea lions, which were so tame and allowed you to get very close to them. In particular the pups would chase you up the beach hoping that you would feed them. As tempting as it was, you weren’t allowed to touch them.

We snorkeled off this beach, in the freezing water. After taking a good ten minutes for us both to work out how to snorkel, we took in the coral and raced back on board for lunch, after E-J lost circulation in both her hands.

After lunch we headed to Santiago Island. Having dragged E-J away from more sea lions, we went for another snorkel. This time we shared the water with Giant Sea Turtles. We really felt humbled that we were allowed into their world.

We then took another breathtaking walk, and found ourselves surrounded by Marine Iguanas. E-J was slightly intimidated by the quantity.

Like any normal Sunday we finished off by chilling out with the sea lions!

Sam compared who had the better beard!

The evening was spent looking up at the stars listening to music enjoying a few drinks with a few of the group.

The next day, we woke in the morning to an early six o’clock start on Bartolome Island. This involved a trek up a reasonably steep dormant volcano. On this island we were also able to see small reef sharks. Much to E-J’s delight we were not allowed to snorkel with them. On the other side of the island we were able to snorkel and during this time both Sam and E-J had a shock when a sea lion bounded down the beach and decided to swim very closely underneath them!

After another three-course lunch we headed to Sullivan Bay, which was an island covered in volcanic lava as far as the eye could see. After a short walk and E-J stumbling over most of the terrain, we headed to the sandy beach for our final snorkel. The idyllic setting could be like something out of a film.

During this snorkel we came across a solo penguin and an impressive array of fish.

Once on board the Free Enterprise we headed to our last destination, North Seymour Island, which was a three-hour journey. The trip didn’t agree with E-J and she spent most of the time with another member of the group sitting at the back of the boat contemplating sickness, meanwhile, Sam played cards with the crew.

We were able to experience one more highlight during the journey, which involved a stingray doing, what looked like a circus act of somersaults out of the water!

The next day beginning again at six o’clock, we headed onto North Seymour Island to view the different birds. E-J turned into Bill Oddy for the next hour! Sam on the other hand, for the first time in his life lost interest in the birds and would have preferred an extra hour in bed!

Much to E-J’s delight, we were able to experience the mating call of the Frigate Bird, which involved the male showing off to the female. No change there then.

We were also able to see plenty of the infamous blue-footed boobies and for the first time E-J can remember, Sam showed no interest in boobies!

After this walk, we boarded the boat, said our goodbyes and headed back to reality and back to the airport.

Sam´s Comments: Apart from being chased up the beach by a large, male sea lion, this place was always breathtaking. Swimming with Sea Turtles with E-J by my side was a memory that will never fade.

E-J´s Comments: This is a place that will stay with us forever. We feel so honoured to have been so close to all the wildlife, which is so accepting of humans. My real highlights were the sea lions and at one point I did contemplate smuggling one home - Sam wasn’t too pleased by this idea, as they did seem to pong! I informed him that at this point in our trip they smelt better than he did! It’s been a truly magical experience and I am so pleased we did it and shared the experience with such a lovely group in what seemed such desolate islands, due to the lack of people at this time and our guides clever planning.