Galapagos 11-11 to 11-25-2033
Phil, Pricilla and I flew from Quito Saturday, November 11,2023 to San Cristobal Island, Galapagos to get aboard Silversea Origin to begin our incredible adventure!
Jenny, Priscilla, and Phil!!
On the zodiac to take us to the ship we got to see amazing creatures already
Sea lions
Marine Iquana
Sally Lightfoot crab
First sight of a blue footed booby
My home away from home for two weeks!
My awesome shower - full view outside!!
Galápagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, west of the coast of Ecuador. There are 6 larger islands and several smaller islands lying on or near the equator. These islands were formed by volcanoes, some of which are active.
The Islands were discovered in 1535 by the Spaniards; in 1835 Charles Darwin spent 6 weeks studying the variety of animals present in the Archipelago.
Robert FitzRoy was captain of the HMS Beagle that took Darwin to the Galapagos. Captain FitzRoy was a hydrographer and meteorologist and was going to the Galapagos to map it out.
Sunday, November 12,2023
No sleeping during this adventure!!
We woke up off Sombreo Chino Island. Early morning was a zodiac tour around the Island and then a “wet landing” for a nature walk on the island where we encountered a lot of baby seal lions. They were so playfulA pup sea lion nursing. Seemed a bit old to me, but who am I to judge!Marine iguana feeding on algae. They are vegetarian feeding on marine algae and seaweed. They are the only ocean going iguanas in the world.I was surprised by the arid desert environment here. I was expecting a more lush landscape- which is only found in The Highlands of The Galapagos.
Sally Lightfoot crabs sharing the rocks with a swallow-tailed gull.
Brown pelican
Great blue Heron taking flight
Galapagos Carpet Weed is endemic to The Galápagos Islands. It is a succulent that is this reddish color during the dry season (June - January) and a carpet of lush green during the rainy season (February- May)
Later in the morning we did our first deep water snorkeling. We saw a white fin shark and lots of fish.
The temperature of the water surrounding the Archipelago are cooled by the Humboldt Current from the Antarctic. The water while we were there was mostly in the high 60’s. It was not as cold as I was anticipating and the short wet suits supplied by the ship was all we needed with rash guards underneath.
We sailed to Rabida Island during lunch and in the afternoon went for a wet landing here. The landscape was beautiful on the “Red Island”. We walked through volcanic gravel terrain.
Monday
November 13,2023
We arrived at North Seymour about 5 AM.
Early morning was a dry landing for an “adventurous “ hike.
We saw so many wonderful creatures here!!
A male Great Frigatebird showing off its blown up red neck to attract a female. The white bird is a baby Frgatebird
Blue footed booby with its chick.
This is a bluefooted booby with an egg. They keep their eggs warm under their feet!
The deeper the blue on booby’s feet show they have a better diet and food source. When looking for a mate the female will pick a male with the bluest feet knowing it has a good food source to feed their young.
Beautiful yellow warbler
Back to the ship to get ready for mid morning deep water snorkeling
We saw sea turtles on this dive but I am still trying to figure out my GoPro and did not get pictures
During lunch the ship moved to Sullivan Bay, Santiago.
In the afternoon we went on a “challenging “ adventure hike over a young lava flow. This was the most interesting thing I have ever seen or walked on. This beautiful lava field was as far as the eyes could see.
This is called Pahoehoe (means “easy to walk” in Polynesian) lava - this lava cools slowly and forms smooth ropy lava. A’A’ lava is the spiked lava field
Walking on this large lava field felt like I was walking in an unearthly place. It was very beautiful with the movement!!
A very few cactus was the only life. It was amazing how these cactus popped up out of this landscape!
It was incredible seeing the very few bits of vegetation popping up through this lava field!!
Phil, Priscilla and Jenny by the lava river. You could see how it just flowed between these hills. Very interesting!!!
Tuesday, November 14,2023
The morning took us to Punta Mangle, Fernandina Island. Early morning was a zodiac tour to explore the western most and youngest Island in the Galapagos.
We saw so many nursing sea lions. The Cow will nurse a pup for up to 3 years. Mothers will not care for a pup that is not her own. The mother and pup recognize each other by their bark.
Marine Iquana are very good swimmers
“A Mess” of Marine Iquana!!
Back on the ship to get ready for 10:45 AM deep water snorkeling!
Topped off with Pacific Green sea turtle
It was a fun snorkel with a playful Sea Lion looking for playmates!
And beautiful King Angelfish
Hieroglyphic Hawkfish
The afternoon took us to Punta Moreno, Isabela Island were we took another Zodiac tour around the area. There were a few Islands we were unable to land on because unfortunately the avian flu was found there. Biosecurity agents are taking urgent measures to combat the outbreak.
Wednesday, November 15,2023
Today we got off the ship in Santa Cruz where we took a bus to Montemar tortoise reserve and coffee plantation in the highlands. These gentle giants were incredible to see and watch them meander along.
Galapagos Giant Tortoises are endemic to the islands and are found nowhere else in the world. At one time there were an estimated 250,000 tortoises on the islands, but now there only 15,000 scattered throughout different islands. There used to be 15 species, but at present 4 are extinct. The Galapagos Tortoise comes in 3 main shapes: saddleback, dome-shaped and intermediate. All Galapagos Tortoises are herbivores. Tortoises can store food and water efficiently and have been known to go without food or water for up to a year!
In the afternoon we went to Fausto Llerena Breeding Centerin Puerto Ayora We got to see the adorable giant tortoise hatchlings
A saddleback tortoise at the reserve.
“Lonesome George” is on display at the center. He was discovered in 1971 on the Island of Pinta after his subspecies was thought to be extinct. They tried to mate George with female tortoise but all failed. George died June 24, 2012.
Thursday, November 16, 2023
Morning at Gardner Bay, Española Island.
Exploring the beach area here.
Beautiful coloring on this Marine Iquana
Nursing baby Sea Lion
Beautiful yellow Warbler
Prehistoric looking Marine Iguana
Mid- morning deep water snorkeling - saw sea turtles and lots of fish.
The afternoon we explored Punta Suarez, Espanola Island in zodiacs. This is the southeastern most island and one of the oldest island in the Galapagos.
Brown Galapagos Hawk
Colorful Marine Iquana with Sally Lightfoot crabs
Friday, November 16,2023
We were off the coast of Isla Lobos which is the oldest and easternmost island in the Galapagos.
During early morning We took a zodiac to explore the coastline of Isla Lobos.
Mid morning was another deep water snorkeling adventure!
Beautiful colors under water!!
After the snorkeling Priscilla and I did the “Silver Origin Plunge”…jumping off the ship holding hands and swimming to the zodiac! Darn I wish I would have gotten a picture of that!!!
The afternoon took us to Cerro Bruno, San Cristobal where we
hiked around the beautiful lava beach
Lava Gull
Marine Iguana
Interesting lava beach
Priscilla and Phil waking through lava wall on beach.
Jenny
Saturday, November 18,2023
Back in San Cristobal Island where I sadly said goodbye to Priscilla and Phil.
P
They got a wonderful farewell from 3 of our guides.
L- R: Phil, Ernesto, Jenny, Priscilla, Sofia and Bernardo
Bye😢
Since I was on the ship for another week, Ernesto took me and Pat Clarke ( another 2 weeker from Sydney, Australia) on shore to explore San Cristobal Island.
Darwin bust in center town
San Cristobal Island is composed of 3 or 4 fused volcanoes, all extinct. Here is the airport that has daily flights from Quito and Guayaquil
Back on the ship with a new group of guests. It was so nice having Pat Clarke also during 2 weeks and we quickly made new friends.
And off we sail past Kicker Rock.
Kicker Rock is the vertical remnant of a former volcanic tuff
cone. Tuff cones are formed when hot magma meets cold sea water and resulting explosion forms the rocky structure. It is less than 5 km west of San Cristobal. Both its Spanish name, “Leon Dormido” (sleeping lion) and English name “Kicker rock” implies it is only one rock. In fact it is a larger one 300 meters long by 100 meters wide with maximum height of about 150 meters next to an obelisk- like rock separated by a narrow channel some 20 meters deep.
Sunday, November 19,2023
The morning found us off coast of Bartolome where we did an “adventurous “ hike with 388 steps upwards to a beautiful panoramic viewpoint.
Below is a “Caldera” which is a large depression formed when a volcano erupts and collapses.
From there at 10AM was a deep waster snorkeling in this area
And it was a fabulous snorkeling day
Panamic Cushion and Chocolate Chip sea stars
Very playful sea lion
Spotted Eagle Ray
2 White Tipped Reef Sharks
More antics from the sea lion
In the afternoon we were in Buccaneer Cove, Santiago where we took zodiacs along this impressive coastline and cove.
These are prickly pear trees that evolved to survive from giant tortoises and land iquanas eating the paddle part of the cactus
Nazca Boobies
Nazca Booty is the largest of the booby birds in the Galapagos. They nest on cliff ledges. After setting up the nest site, the male goes about attracting a female by doing a mating dance that involves pointing at the sky with its long beak. When a female accepts him, she will also do the ski-pointing dance!
Lava Gulls
Monday, November 20,2023
Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela
We explored the volcanic coastline in the early morning on zodiacs.
A “mess” of Marine Iquana on the rocks!!
Flightless Cormorant drying their wings.
These birds are endemic to the Galapagos. It is unique in that it is the only known cormorant that has lost the ability to fly. These cormorants evolved on an island habitat that was free of predators. Having no enemies, taking its food through diving along the food-rich shoreline, and not needing to travel to breeding grounds, the birds eventually became flightless. Old adage “use it or lose it” certainly applies to this bird!! Darwin’s theory “evolve to your environment” is certainly shown with this bird.
Then another amazing deep water snorkeling mid morning!
Beautiful performance from sea lion
Cute Galapagos Penguin
Steamer Hogfish
And great luck to see this Marine Iquana underwater eating algae!!
Lots of sea turtles on this snorkel
Underwater selfie!
The afternoon took us to Punta Espinoza, Fernandina where we had a dry landing to hike the area.
Very playful young sea lions
Galapagos Hawk
Tuesday, November 21,2022
Morning at Caleta Tagus, Isabela
Since I kayaked in The Amazon and Antarctica I had to make sure I got to do it in the Galapagos. 7AM kayaking was a fabulous time of the day to enjoy the wildlife around the water. I shared a kayak with a lovely young woman, Salla from Finland
I was in the back with Salla in front seat
Prickly Pear trees on shoreline
Pink flamingo on sandbar between the area we were kayaking in.
Back on boat in time to go deep water snorkeling at 9:45AM
Lots of fish!!
Mangroves around Elizabeth Bay
Mangroves are thought to originate in the Far East thenover millions of years the seeds floated west across the ocean to the Galápagos Islands. Mangroves have adapted to grow in shallow muddy saltwater and brackish water and are the most salt tolerant trees in the world.
Red mangrove is the most common mangrove in the Galapagos. They are easily identified by the woody reddish color. They have small yellow flowers
Black mangrove is the most salt tolerant of all the mangrove. They have short aerial roots and the tentacle roots which grow vertically from the ground.
White mangrove have stilted roots and no visible aerial roots. They have delicate white flowers in spring and summer. White mangrove are the least cold tolerant of all the types present in the Galapagos archipelago.
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
We arrived at Post Office Bay, Floreana early morning.
This site became popular site for passing vessels for early Spanish sailors because of its freshwater springs located on the southwestern flanks
In the late 18th century it became a resting spot for English and American whalers because of its water supply, tortoise meat and introduced cattle and goats.
In an attempt to stay in touch with love ones back home, the sailors developed “free “ mailing system. A makeshift post box made up of a wooden barrel was set up. The idea was passing sailors leave letters for home in the barrel and sailors heading back home would pick them up and hand deliver to the love ones at home…usually taking years to get to families .
Today it is set up for passing visitors to leave postcards in hopes of eventually reaching recipients!
I put a bunch in for my grandchildren and families. Will see if they get delivered!!
I also took out a bunch and mailed when I returned home. Most of the ones I took were to US but one was to China and 2 to England!!
It is interesting to note that Ecuador does not have postal service. It is extremely expensive to ship anything to or from Ecuador. The delivery / shipping is all privately owned companies. So I had to bring all my postcards back home and deliver from USA.
The afternoon found us at Punta Comoran, Floreana
Were we had our early afternoon deep water snorkeling.
I swam through a huge school of Blacksriped Salema! It was quite magical!! Although, I was waiting for the whale or shark to swim in with mouth wide open!! Thank goodness this did not happen!!
Later afternoon was a wet landing for a hike on
Punta Cormoran where we saw lots of pink flamingo. I was too far away to get a clear picture but if you look in the background, that bunch of pink is a breeding ground.
Brown Pelican perched on tree
Thursday, November 23,2023
Highlands, Santa Cruz
Since rest of the passengers went to the Giant Galapagos Tortoise reserve - and I did that last week - I was treated to an incredible solo tour with Guide, Nicoli!
First stop was visiting a private school that Silverseas and Galapagos Conservatory help support
Above is the cafeteria/ lunch outdoor space.
Below was their “new” gymnasium which they were very proud of.
Below is kindergarten class. I loved the backpacks all hanging on their individual hooks.
From here I had an adventure of a lifetime! Nicoli took me to a lava tube. A lava tube is a type of lava cave formed when low-viscosity lava flow develops a continuous and hard crust, which thickens and forms a roof above the still flowing lava stream. This lava tube was discovered by an Italian that build a house near this tube. It was about a 3/4 mile walk though this amazing, beautiful cave.
Entrance
Jenny entering!
Nicoli
There were tubes above and below the main one we walked through
The exit!
The House is still here (abandoned) complete with pizza oven
From here Nicoli and I went for a hike in a National Park
the Island
There were many birds here. Below is a Galapagos Dove which is endemic to The Galapagos.
These birds were hunted by sailors in the 1600s. Today they are mostly threatened by feral cats, pollution, habitat degradation and disease spread by birds from the mainland
On the drive back to the port we stopped in Bellavista where Nicoli treated me to a yummy chocolate bread from his favorite bakery!
Back on the ship I signed up for Ceviche cooking class. Ecuadorian Ceviche is different in that the seafood is cooked. It is served with plantains and popcorn!!!
The ceviche has a heavy citrus flavor which usually includes fresh tomatoes, fresh orange, lemon and lime juices. Also diced red onion, peppers, and cilantro. I ate ceviche for almost every lunch while on the ship!
And of course it is Thanksgiving!!! So one of the options for dinner was turkey. It was certainly not like the roasted turkey at home, but kudos to chef for trying!!
Thanksgiving Ecuadorian style!!
Funny story: one of the waiters was an adorable young 20 year old, David (pronounced Da veed) and he always explained a bit about what the dish was he was serving. This night he presented this “turkey dish” and said “I really have no idea what this is, but I am sure it is delicious” !!!
Friday, November 24,2023
We arrived at Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz about 5PM.
We took a morning “adventurous” hike.
Here we saw many land iquanas, and a lonely Giant Tortoise
I could not get enough of these cool looking land iquana
This picture below shows how the prickly pear tree evolves. It eventually loses its prickers on the trunk and as it forms the woody trunk
My last deep water snorkeling was near Punta Bowditch, Santa Cruz and it was a rough one. We were in deep water with extreme currents and under tow. I was struggling just to swim so no pictures- plus there was not much to see anyway. Javier, our guide, finally told us to get back on the zodiac to hopefully find a better spot. Just as I was climbing into the zodiac it was hit by a big wave and I tumbled in hurting my left hand and left side/ribs.
The afternoon I stayed on the ship, iced my hand and reminisced about the amazing 2 weeks in The Galapagos!!
Saturday, November 25, 2023 I disembarked on San Cristobal Island to catch a plane back to Quito for my next adventure in the Northern Andes!!
During the two weeks on board Silversea Origin we went approximately 1,000 nautical miles
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