Our Galapago's Cruise

We are currently in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We arrived here 5 days ago after our adventures in the Galapagos islands. This blog is to focus mainly the 7 night cruise. More to follow later regarding the xtra days we stayed after the cruise so Bob could get in some dives.

The Cruise was amazing and we're both so very happy that we made the decision a few months back to go ahead & bite the bullet on the cost. We were headed that direction anyway so what the heck, right? We both agreed that it was a once in a lifetime type of vacation (can it be called a vacation once you're retired?). After a day or two researching the many cruise lines & the different types of boats, we chose to go w/ the 2x1 special offered by Haugan Cruises, on board their recently constructed 103' catamaran.

So on 7/23 we wired over half of the total cost to a bank in Florida. The cruise line wanted all the funds, but they would have to accept what we could wire from our account before we could make some transfers between accounts. 3 days later, we wired the rest & patiently we waited & waited for a confirmation. I think we would all agree that confirmations of wires can be done the same day, no more than 1 business day later. 2 days later, no confirmation of receipt of the 2nd wire. The next day, we finally got a e-mail stating "payment was credited yesterday...". So all's well now, right? Just start counting down the days. You'd think so, but no. We both thought that we should get more than just a thank-you for payment e-mail. We (especially Bonnie) started getting a bit of concern in regards to whom we had just sent a lot of cash. Just a thank-you? I don't think so. So we made several calls to explain to our agent that we needed to see more, especially since we were on the road. So 3 more days later, we finally got a short worded "Voucher" in the form of a Word document detailing all that was promised to us. Now we were calm & cool. After we got on the cruise we heard from several others that they didn't even get the Word "voucher" at all. Strange way to run a business. Maybe it's just an "Ecuador" thing.

The islands of Galapagos was formed the exact same way as the Hawaiian Islands by eruptions of volcano. The oldest island, Espanol is approximately 10 million years old. The youngest is Fernandina which is still forming. There are 13 main islands and 6 smaller islands. The National Park was created in 1959.

We began our exploration of the islands from San Cristobal.

We proceeded to Espanol, Floreana, Santa Cruz, N. Seymour, Fernandina, Isabel, Santiago & Rabida

So, as you can see we traveled and saw as much as we could in 8 days. We covered over 400 nautical miles.

From the mainland of Ecuador we flew to San Cristobal Island, where we were met our new fellow shipmates and a few of staff from the Nina who were at the airport ready to transfer us to the boat.

San Cristobal was a cute island and had a nice boardwalk.

Sea lions could be found crawling around the city. Well, not to far from the water. Not bothered by people at all. In fact if you would let them, they would come up and check you out. I wasn't ready to trust them, so when they approached me I moved out of their way. They were so dang cute but they have some sharp teeth. And by the way, they move pretty fast.

The Nina offers 10 staterooms for a maximum of 18 passengers. The cabin was large & included a King size bed & ample room for storage of our clothes. We both had our own little closet. The cabin was large, but the bathroom was huge, at least by the standards we had experienced on other cruise ships. We both could get ready with no problem at all & had room to spare. Our voyage had a total of 15 passengers, including ourselves. All our fellow shipmates were awesome. The cruise itself & all the planned activities were terrific, but being able to share the week with our new friends was a major added bonus. The staff of 10 was awesome and we were treated very well. The chef & the souz chef especially did an awesome job of serving us 3 meals a day. We would always start w/ a wonderful appetizer, followed by a buffet of ample choices & would finish off the meal w/ a tasty dessert. & the results of their efforts all came out of a tiny kitchen. Another big round of applause needs to go out to our housekeeper. She would clean our rooms 2-3 times each day while we were out on our excursions. Only once did we interrupt her performing her duties. Otherwise, she was like a ghost. All of the other crew members were also tremendous in every little aspect of the daily operations of the cruise.

Each day started w/ a wake up call between 6 & 7 and a new island waiting outside our stateroom's balcony for us to come & explore. First, we would start w/a hike anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 1/2 hours. Most times, breakfast would have to wait till we got back from our hike. Our guide, Gabriel encouraged us to be the 1st group of tourists to disembark so we could be the 1st on the islands to see all the animals. He was right. Rarely did we have to share the islands w/other people (some ships accommodate 100 guests) and 15 in our group was the perfect number. Any more than that and it's hard to stay together. So, if you decide to do the Galapagos one day, go w/the smaller boats. After lunch; we would don our wetsuits to go snorkeling in some clear blue cold waters. O'yes, the water was very cold. Bonnie had a full suit while Bob only got a "shorty". Poor boy was cold most of the time. Unfortunately, we don't have a water camera, so we missed some great photo opts of the awesome marine life that we were able to get so close to. We swam w/some of the largest turtles we've ever seen. One time there must have been over 50 turtles within a short range. The sea lions were very frisky & curious on several occasions. It seemed at times like they were going to collide straight on into our mask, to only dip down & go directly the opposite direction at the last second. What an amazing opportunity & experience it was to be so up close and personal w/these animals. They are so playful and love bubbles. The snorkeling overall was just amazing everyday.

From here we have added a few photos of the landscapes of the islands we visited & some of the animals that we lucky enough to & observe in their natural habitats. It was such a special experience to get so close to most all these animals. They have almost absolutely no fear of humans. We have listed some of the knowledge we learned from our guide & would like to share that with you. Hopefully you find it interesting & not too boring. These are the Sally Lightfoot Crabs.

Beautiful especially against the black lava rocks.

The Blue Footed Boobies. We couldn't wait to see these birds. We'd heard all about them before arriving to the islands. Our timing for this vacation was perfect. Birds were still in the mating period and we were able to witness in very close proximity the Natural Selection process. I'll explain in a few. They really have blue feet.

The male bird chirps while the female quacks. It was fun being able to distinguish the two. Momma with the baby chick. Although both parents share the responsibility in caring for their chicks

I think this chick has something to say.

Probably something like "FEED ME NOW"

The next few photos are of the Magnificent Frigates. Females have a large white M on their chest while the males have a red pouch that can expand to the size of a basketball. More now on the Natural Selection Process. Below you'll see a little sample of what we witnessed. Female birds fly above while the males sit on the ground, spread their wings and sing their hearts out in hopes that one of the females pick them as their mate. So, what are these females looking for in a mate? They are looking for good genes of course. Their mate has to be parasite free, nice looking feathers and good singer. You think I'm lying? I'm serious. Check it out. Had I not seen it with my own eyes; I would have doubt it too. The female flying high in the sky so she can check out all the males and his goods.

Male frigate, before he wants to start attracting the ladies.

Now he's ready to take on the ladies.

Red bladder is now fully inflated. Amazing huh?

Now he waits patiently in hopes a female will

sweep down & give a once over.

We are not allowed to venture off the trials. So we were not always able to get the best close up photos.

The female will land and makes sure she likes what she saw from the sky If he meets her specification; they will mate.

Our guide Gabriel doing his best imitations of the courting dance. The sea lions stole my heart. They were so stinkin cute and tons of expressions. But, they do like to sleep a lot which is one of my favorite pastimes too. Two young ones having a little dispute

But they can't stay mad for long

These creatures didn't mind sharing their beach with us.

Lot of young pups were being born while we were there. Look closely the placenta is still attached to the baby

The pups are much larger than I thought they would be.

Females are known as "cows". They have 1 pup per year. Mom & pup are able to find one another by their distinct bark. The pups are nurtured up to 3 years.

Males are known as "bulls". They have harems of 5 -25 cows and are very territorial. We can tell a male from a female by their size and males have a massive bump on their forehead. Their job is to protect the cows and the pups from intruders and will fight ugly to defend.

How can you resist a face like this? Here we have the Island called Espanola. The oldest and most southern of the islands. The main attraction is the wild life and home to the Waved Albatross. We hiked on the western side of the island called Punta Suarez. And snorkeled on the eastern side called Gardner Bay.

One of the most popular tourist stops

This is what they call a Blow Hole.

There have been stories where iguanas are resting on the rocks and while waves come crashing in creating this pressure; the iguana will go flying thru the air. We didn't see it happened but had I; I'm sure I would have busted a gut from laughing.

As we walked the terrain Bob was able to catch a pic of a rainbow

The Waved Albatross caught our attention with the way the land. They are so clumsy. I know what your thinking! Stop it. I have you know I didn't fall one time while hiking and most of the terrain was large boulders.

Anyway, these birds have a hard time landing. Due to all the boulders on the island most of their landing are "crash" landings. They'll flip a few times before coming to a stop. These birds try to find a safe spot by flying over several times but they still miss their mark. They have a great waddle too. They like to waddle to the edge of the cliff, jump, then start flying. For some reason they don't like to fly from the land

They are pretty birds. They too have the Natural Process selection for mating. The male birds will spread their wings so the females can inspect them. They clack their beaks together and dance a while as their courting process. After a mate is chosen they will meet a year later in the same spot they courted to mate.

Sounds like a lot of time wasted

Marine Iguanas. These are some of nasty creatures. They smell horrible and you always know when your walking upon a mosh pit of them. They live on land and water. The more they swim and take in the salt water; the more they spit. Their heads and fringe on their back are white, while their bodies are dark gray to black. Like the sea lions they were everywhere.

They look devilish.

They are excellent swimmers and feed on the red and green moss found on the rocks in the ocean. For some reason they don't eat the brown moss. They can stay under water for an hour at a time before resurfacing. We saw them several times while snorkeling.

Even posing they are ugly.

I'm sure our friend Jason from Australia thinks differently.

They never moved for the crabs & you almost had

to step on them before they moved out of our way

This little guy is called a Lava Lizard. They turn really pretty colors.

The males are a little thicker and the females have a red band around their necks.

This island is called Floreana. It's the 6th largest island.

Here we scooted our feet thru the shallow waters in hopes of finding stingrays. Didn't take long before several small rays appeared. I'm sure everyone knows why you "scoot" your feet? If you just walk and accidently step on these gentle creature, you're liable to get stung by the barb they have on their tails. You should always drag your feet in the sand when walking into the ocean. Stingrays like to hang in shallow sandy bottoms.

In 1973, British whalers established the Post Office Barrels to send letters to and from England.

Today, tradition is for visitors to drop off and pick up postcards with out stamps. Visitors picking up letters will hand deliver to the addresse.

This is it. The Post Office

We are all searching

for postcards that are destined for our hometown.

It's your choice to take on the big responsibilty

of playing mailman or maillady.

We found a post card addressed

to someone in Houston. We'll deliver sometime in December.

So what's so special about these Flamingos. We all seen them in the zoo or fancy hotels/restaurants. Well have you ever observed them in an uncaptived (is that a word?) environment? They are beautiful. I never knew they flew.

They are born a gray color and get their pink color as they mature and eat shrimp. That I knew but I had no idea when they open their wings; its black on the underside. They are very pretty and I never realized that before.

They're so graceful and glide in the water like swans. We were suppose to make a stop on the island of Santa Cruz for some shopping but all plans were altered due to new cases of swine flu on the island. We did disembark for a couple of hours to tour the Charles Darwin Research Station. Guess the swine flu hadn't made it to this part of Santa Cruz island.

The station was established in 1964 and has over a 100 scientist, educators, volunteers, and research students from all over the world. The main purpose of this station is to monitor the Galapagos terrain and marine ecosystem. One of the main projects at the station is the repopulation of the Pinta Tortoises. These animals were hunted and eaten by the whalers. Apparently turtle meat is really good. Scientist developed an incubator for land iguanas and tortoises in hopes to repopulate in a controlled environment. Did you know that tempeture determines the sex of the tortoise? Temps over 30 celcius tends to produce a female and temps below 30 produce a male. If it were only that easy for humans.

These babies were just hatching in the incubators.

Rats are apparently a problem on the island and love to prey on the baby turtles. Since the turtles are born with soft shells they have no defense, the station raises these tortoises for 5 years before they are released to wild.

A small farm of tortoises. These are said to be 3 years old. As you can see they're still pretty little.

There are two types of shells for these giant tortoises

This is the dome shape. These guys eat off the ground.

This is the saddle shell,

making it easy for them to stretch their neck up and eat shrubs.

Galapagos is suppose to be an old Spanish world, meaning saddle. Therefore

the reason of the naming of the islands. Turtles can live up to 175 - 200 years old. The land iguanas are much larger than the marine iguanas. They are gold in color. Other differences are their faces. Land iguanas have long faces, shorter claws, and wider tails.

I think they are much prettier than the marine iguanas

And they don't seem to have the odor the marine iguanas have.

Masked boobies are the largest of the Galapago boobies. Wingspan can reach up to 5 -6 feet. Great fun to watch them fish. They nose dive and plunge into the water to catch their fish or squid. They are also murders. A female will lay 2 eggs. Usually the first born will kill the second sibbling. Not sure why, maybe they want all the food or attention but one of the two hatched will die. Both parents provide and nurture the chick for 5 months.

Males will mate with only one female.

this is the chick in his teen years UGLY!

Swallow-tail Gulls

Flightless Cormorant Bird This bird no longer flies. I was fascinated with this bird. They dive deep into the water to fish. They eat eels, octopus and various fish. I would follow them if I saw them while snorkeling. They were so cool to watch. They dug deep into crevices and could stay underwater a long time. Back to my sea lions. These animals are excellent climbers. We watched this little girl climb a good 25 - 30 feet up. Amazing.

Isla N. Seymour

Pinnacle Rock made from eroded

lava formation

the most famous landmark in the Galapagos

Appeared in the movie Master & Commander and one of the most photographed & most recogonizable sites.

Swimming hole Well yes, but it's actually

a collapsed crater.

a view from the summit of Isla Bartolome. a hike up of 600 meters

well worth it.

also called "Digital Point", as this is the most

photographed view in the Galapagos

On our way to Isla Isabel we crossed the equator. Everyone had gathered around and watched the navigation GPS.

There it is folks.

Zero Latitude The center of the world

Of course I felt the Captain needed a little assistance.

Minutes, before are we take off on the pangas to go snorkleing, a killer whale is spotted. So what do we do? We get going in the direction it was last seen & not long after we catch up.

It was hard to anticipate where he was going to come up, so we felt lucky

to get these photos.

We're chasing him while he's trying to catch him some grub.

Bonnie hates to hear it, but the flavor of

the day is a sea lion.

Galapagos Penguin 2nd smallest penguin in the world. we didn't see too many of these. he didn't want his picture taken

Cormorants Courting

Cormorant scouting the waters for his lunch.

Isla Fernandina

3rd largest island and one of the youngest

This was one of my favorite islands to walk The volcanic landscape was awesome. As you can see plenty of places for me take a tumble.

Last eruption on this island was in 1995 and according to experts the likelihood of another eruption is great.

Lava Cactus

I renamed these... Care to guess what? On Isla Santiago we were introduced to the Fur Lions. They are very similar to the sea lion but they are much smaller, eyes are much bigger and has a lot more fur on them.

So cute when they are sleeping

very vocal when woken up. they're not as social as the sea lions

Isla Santiago was another island of volcanic landscape It also had some really cool swimming holes

The fur lions seemed to enjoy the swimming holes

HI!

Our hike thru Rhabida Island

A tiny island known for its reddish-marron terrain. Had some really nice views.

As you can see this island is uninhabitant As most of the islands are.

Sea lions can be found on this island too Soon to be mommy.

These are our wonderful new friends. They helped make the trip one we will never forget.

Ryan & Anna from London.

The Rozenblatt Family from California. (Karen, Mike, Daphne, Daniel & David)

They love to play card games. Thanks for teaching us a new game.

Lode & Eider from Belgium

Eva & Imke from Germany

Tara & Paul from England

As you can see we had such a nice time.

Hope you enjoyed this longest blog to date

Much Love,

B&B