Galapagos - Day 10/11: Journey Home / General Thoughts

Technically today isn't our last day (we stay the night in Quito tonight before our morning flight back to CA), but it is basically the end of vacation fun. I've gotten so used to waking up for these early morning excursions that the disembarkation time of 8:00 was no issue at all. 

One last zodiac ride! Bye bye Gemini!

Good time to recap thoughts on National Geographic/Lindblad Expeditions generally. I'll just go through these based on the photos that I took of the ship. Here's the life jacket/wetsuit/snorkeling gear loading area -- we wore life jackets on literally every zodiac ride, even if it was only a few minutes long and they would NOT let you on the zodiac unless all the straps were buckled. I appreciated the attention to safety. It was also nice having them here drying -- there were separate racks with wetsuit and dive bag hangers for every cabin as well so you could take them off immediately after snorkeling, rinse them in the fresh water buckets and then hang them to dry. 

Down on the zodiac boarding level, they had spray nozzles so we could clean off our sandals and feet after each wet excursion. They also had these little shoe cleaners for the dry excursions to make sure we don't inadvertently bring back soils and other organisms by mistake. 

Here's the breakfast and lunch buffet area -- had more than enough room for all of us - lovely views all around as you ate as well. The food was consistently quite good -- the suckling pig and roast chicken were probably the standouts for me. But really even the worst things were just "ok" - nothing was ever truly bad tasting. Well, okay maybe towards the end of the trip, I sometimes got one or two watermelon or cantaloupe cubes that tasted a little funny. But that's probably the only negative point I can think of. 

Here's the full bar -- all drinks were included (though if you wanted top shelf liquor you'd have to pay for that). The head bartender knew us all by name -- very impressive! I don't drink a ton of alcohol these days but the few drinks I had were quite good! The free wine selection was also not bad - I recall a Pinot Gris and a Malbec that were both quite nice. 

Here's the lounge where we had all of our naturalist talks and presentations from the visiting researchers. We would also hang out here for the cocktail hour each night. They were clearly making an effort to ensure every seat had a decent view of the screens but it wasn't always perfect -- so getting down early to snag a good seat was often a priority!

Here's the menu wall where you sign up for the next day's dinner entrees. You weren't held to your choice but they wanted us to pick things so that the kitchen would have a sense of which dishes might be more popular to give them some idea of how much they should prepare. There was always one fish entree, one meat entree, and one vegetarian entree. You were encouraged to do combo meals where you would get half of each so I often did the veggie and meat combo. 

I didn't get a picture of the bridge, but here is the panoramic view from the bow of the ship. I channelled my inner Kate Winslet to take this photo. 

Finally, here's a photo of the library just a couple doors down from our cabin - when we first came onboard we thought we'd spend so much time here but honestly the itinerary was as so packed that we ended up only coming here to get tea and coffee or take advantage of the wifi. 

Speaking of wifi -- it was pretty decent in the common areas (not for streaming shows or anything but at least for browsing the web, making WhatsApp calls, etc), but pretty much sucked in the staterooms. So make sure you download some videos if you want to do a little YouTube or Netflix before bedtime. 

I feel like we would have chatted and gotten to know other passengers more if Baba hadn't been sick, but the ship certainly tried to encourage it. They actually passed out these name tags for all the passengers to wear each day...but they were of the pin type and I didn't want to punch holes in all my tops. I'd prefer magnetic ones - feedback I'll leave for the company!

Other thoughts:

The naturalists truly were amazing. Here's three of them at the airport waiting with us to go home.

They not only had so much knowledge about everything Galapagos, but we're so genuinely excited to be seeing things (even if it was their 10000th time doing it). Very impressed with the entire team.  Special shout out to Salvador there on the right - he seemed like the "lead" naturalist and also was in charge of underwater cinematography -- he made this amazing video of all the creatures we saw on this cruise. I'd share it here except it is too long to upload. If you're curious, send me an email (zoubavacations@gmail.com) and I'll find a way to share!

Would I cruise with Lindblad again? I'm not sure. I did fill out a form for the onboard 10% discount -- I might put a deposit down on a cruise to the Norway Fjords or maybe to Costa Rica with the kids. But it is definitely a cruise line for learning and education. If you're in a learning mindset, it's great. But if you want activities and options for entertainment, this isn't the right cruise line for you. If you are the type who enjoys lectures about random science, history, or cultural anthropology topics, I highly recommend Lindblad/NatGeo. 

Would I come to the Galapagos again? Probably not. I suppose maybe when we are the 60-70 year olds and R&L really want to come, we would consider it. But I feel like I personally saw everything I would have wanted to see over the course of this week. Doing another week would have just been repeating things -- still cool I'm sure, but the marginal return would be going down. 

Things I would do differently if I came again:

1. I would ABSOLUTELY invest in a full length wetsuit for snorkeling. The waters were too cold for comfort and it seriously impacted my willingness to stay longer in the water. 

2. I would have invested in an unwater camera. I intend to return these Amazon things. They were pretty worthless. 

3. Probably could have left the down jacket at home...but it was actually very useful as a blanket for the flights. 

4. I would have downloaded more videos for evening viewing from the stateroom. 

5. I would have forced Ian to take more vitamin C in the week leading up to the trip...and perhaps both worn masks on the planes to avoid getting sick. 

Things that went well:

1. I think my footwear packing was pretty spot on. Had keens, normal sandals, water shoes, and hiking shoes. Used all of those. 

2. The time difference adjustment actually went pretty well. I think going to bed by 10/10:30 allowed me to feel pretty rested by 6am. 

3. The seasickness behind ear patch seemed to work - I never got nauseated even when there was some serious choppiness. 

Final parting thoughts: I was very impressed with the Quito international lounge as well. Made-to-order sandwich/panini bar! I'm signing off on this trip even though it's not technically over (waiting for flight to Miami and then connecting to SFO). South America is a FAR trip from SFO. I think I'll have to leave even more buffer room on each end for future trips. It's very tiring to think about going back to work tomorrow morning...

Next trip: Disney Cruise on the Destiny!

Galapagos - Day 9: San Salvador & Bartholomew

Alas, what seemed like a long vacation is now coming to an end. Once again, I feel like I should retire as soon as possible so I don't have these "ugh, we have to go back to work" feelings. Today was a relatively low-key day, we are back on the San Salvador (also known as Santiago or James) Island, the adopted island of Lindblad Expeditions. If you recall from the earlier post, this is the island that used to be overrun by 60,000-80,000 goats but is now down to zero goats and the iguanas have returned. 

Breakfast was scheduled for 7am again, with the first excursion going out at 8. Today really wasn't about wildlife anymore (maybe they acknowledge that we've hit all the big ones now and would not be as adequately excited about what we would be seeing); instead it's about landscapes. Off to the zodiacs again!

Okay I guess we can fit in a penguin sighting too - can't have a completely animal-free day!

The morning hike was over a lava flow landscape from an eruption about 120 years ago. Most of the lava here is of the “pahoehoe” kind -- which is rounded corners rope-y lava, as opposed to the sharp edges brittle “aa” lava. 

Check out all of those different lava patterns!

It was kind of cool seeing how clean these cracks in the lava are from when they cooled down -- you can see exactly how one side fits perfectly into the other. 

The pictures really don't do it justice -- in a way, it reminded me of the death valley landscape, though obviously this was a lava field instead of sand dunes. 

Obligatory cheeky shot of me falling into the lava crack.

Yeye got into the spirit as well -- here's him being chased by the lava:

I actually was curious how fast this lava would have moved and our guide (Felipe) told us it was like a thick ketchup or spaghetti sauce - so we could in fact probably run away from it. Good to know! Quick note on Felipe -- his grandfather, Rolf Wittmer, was the first registered birth in the archipelago (born in a literal cave). 

The entire island was just very other-worldly. 

Some of the shots of where the lava flow stopped reminded me of the retreating glaciers we saw in Alaska, instead of slowly melting ice, we had slowly cooling lava "tongues" through the forests/valleys. 

After lunch, the boat repositioned to Bartolome, and there was another snorkeling opportunity from the beach there. I decided to pass in lieu of packing -- I think I made a wise choice as Yeye (who braved the waters once again) said that the water was only 62 degrees!! It was very clear so great visibility but man, I would NOT have lasted long in that temperature. I did venture out for the last sunset hike though -- there was a sea lion blocking the stairs at the landing again - he just wanted to make sure we could say every excursion had SOME wildlife. 

But biggest news is that Baba was finally feeling better enough to join us!

Baba may not have realized he signed up for the ONLY true "hike" of the entire trip. Normally all of the "long" hikes or "fitness" hikes are still pretty tame, but this time it was a very uphill climb to the island summer -- about 350 feet up.  

The landscape here was similar to what I've seen in moon shots. Because of the drought conditions, few plants survive here and as a result no animals come either. Here's one of maybe two or three cactus plants I saw during our entire excursion here.

I think this is one of the classic landscape shots of the Galapagos islands though. 

Proof that Baba made it to the top! Sadly now that Baba had largely recovered (it seemed to improve pretty rapidly after he took the antibiotics), Nainai was rapidly descending into her own sickness cycle, so she wasn't able to join us on the excursions today. 

That leaning cone looks odd right? Turns out it was formed by a target practice exercise by the US military. Apparently during WWII, Ecuador agreed to let the US establish a military site here and released some bombs/artillery on the uninhabited islands -- one bomb hit what used to be a mound and half of it broke off and fell into the ocean, this leaning tower is the half that was left standing. 

And with that last sunset, we headed back to the ship for the farewell bbq and final bits of packing. Tomorrow, we say goodbye to the Galapagos Islands and fly back to Quito!

Galapagos - Day 8: Genovesa and Darwin's Bay

We left the people and cars of the Galapagos behind on Santa Cruz to return to unspoiled nature again. Today's destination is Isla Genovesa, but the British call it Tower Island. No wet landing this morning, and the excursions don't start until the late late hour of 8am!

Unfortunately Baba was still feeling pretty bad (with a crazy bad sore throat - hurts to even drink water), so I went off on this one by myself. The zodiac landing took us to Prince Phillip's Steps. Normally at home I get about 20+ flights a day so I was very happy to finally get some stairs in!

Genovesa is THE island for bird watching. You literally walk right by the birds -- if you're not careful you might even step on one. They seem to have zero predators here, so it was common to see frigate birds, red-footed boobies, blue footed boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, storm petrels, and tropicbirds all hanging out on a single beach.  Check out how close we could get to these birds!

I got quite a biology lesson on birds here -- maybe you all know this, but turns out the boobies are born with no feathers, so they look almost like leathery little reptiles, then within a week, they develop a full body of fuzz -- like in the picture below, that pill of fuzz under the mama bird is actually a one-two week old baby!

Here's another photo of a "baby" that is likely getting to five weeks old - at that point, they have developed their adult feathers and have shed/plucked off all the fuzz. Though color wise they'll still be in juvenile phase -- for example their feet won't be as brilliantly colored yet -- that won't happen until they're fully grown and ready to mate themselves. 

This was a great time of year to visit because we are basically at the end of the dry season awaiting the beginning of the rainy season. So the birds who live off of the plants and insects generally timed their mating season to give birth now, as there soon will be an abundance of green (with the accompanying insects) to sustain new babies. The babies were so cute! They obviously can't fly yet, so I'm told they do this shaking thing with their necks to regulate some of their body heat.

However, it also gave us a first hand look at the natural selection process. Our guide explained that each boobie usually lays two eggs and then waits to see which one hatches first - or if they hatch at roughly the same times, which one is slightly bigger or healthier. They then just totally discard the second one -- if it's in egg form, they just stop incubating it. 

If it's in hatchling form, they might even kick it away out of the nest. It seems a little cold hearted, but the bird must have realized through their centuries of evolution that they aren't capable of providing enough safety and food to sustain two chicks. Here's a photo of the sad side of natural selection:

To the boobies' credit though, they are VERY attentive to the chicks that are selected. They stay by them almost constantly - helicopter parents for sure. 😆 

I think this the bird version of watching your infant try to walk. 

This was Yeye's dream of an island for bird photos. He mentioned several times how much he wished he had come out here to the Islands a few decades ago -- so much good material for biology classes! 

Nainai meanwhile has been going to every single photography session they've had on the ship - I think there have been at least 3 already -- soon she's going to be a master wildlife photographer. Look at the risks she's willing to take for the best shot!

We even managed two sightings of the short eared owl - allegedly quite a rarity. 

I really wanted to see the great frigate birds with their scarlet puffed out chests -- unfortunately we were told that will only happen during their mating season. Alas. Slightly dull orange-red will have to do. Here's a close up from Yeye's powerful zoom. 

By comparison, this is what I can manage without sacrificing sharpness from my Pixel:

Beyond the birds that were just sitting around, it was also impressive how close the flying birds would get to us. Allowed me to take some really nice wingspan shots.

Here's a video to help showcase how the skies were just filled with so many different birds:

After the morning hike, we did a super fast wardrobe change and then headed off for another round of snorkeling. We were snorkeling in Darwin's Bay today and the temperature here was a full 3-4 degrees warmer than the location yesterday. So even though Baba was out of the count, I found myself a new dive buddy and went underwater exploring again. Here's my dive buddy Emily placating my penchant for cheesy posed shots with the fur seal. 😆 

I didn't have much more success with the underwater pouch though -- here's my best stop of the shark. It was so much more impressive in person. 

I did better with the octopus...ok fine this is a stock photo. But someone else in our dive pod did report seeing one of these. I hung around for a minute or so but eventually gave up. 

My coolest spot of the snorkel trip was probably the eel. It was so much thicker/fatter than I was expecting! Alas, no photo proof. 

After a warm shower and some very tasty lunch (grilled whole chickens -- really yummy), we listened to a presentation about Charles Darwin (it was very well done...but the after lunch hour is hard for any educator -- I saw several people nodding off). 

Our last activity of the day was another nature walk on Darwin Bay beach. The beach landing was actually a little tense because the sunning sea lions had basically claimed the entire beach. We had to step carefully in-between them. 

This island is actually devoid of any land reptiles, which meant that the cactus plants here evolved to be not-prickly prickly pears. You could actually brush them back and forth and it felt like a rough brush. 

Here's a shot of our guide for today - Christian. Christian's father is actually a fisherman on Santa Cruz. The fishing licenses are passed down in families - they cannot be sold and can't even be given to cousins or nieces -- only direct sons and daughters of the fisherman. The idea is that eventually, they want there to be no more fisherman I guess?

This field was FULL of birds. I didn't even capture all of them. Christian (jokingly? Who knows?) said they were gathered for a group fishing lesson. 

He actually just picked up a feather from the ground and started waving it in the air and that apparently was like a traffic control signal for them to all immediately take flight!

This seriously could be a Disney movie...one single boobie was left. Perhaps because he was afraid of flying or didn't know how yet...? Eventually one or two birds came back to join him so he wasn't completely alone. 

More shots - a pair of juvenile boobies here. 

The less celebrated but still pretty cool full grown red-footed boobie:

Here's a good example of boobie parents raising their young -- they were picking up twigs and rocks and feeding it to the baby -- almost like when you give a baby a rattle so they can work on their fine motor skills! 

Shot of the yellow-crowned night heron. Our guide kept remarking that it was so odd these guys were out already because they're supposed to be nocturnal...maybe evolution working as we speak?

Fun game -- how many birds can you find in this mangrove tree? I found at least 3, maybe 4. 

Great nature walk again...ending with yet another obstacle course water entry sidestepping all the sea lions. I like this shot because if you look closely, every adult mama sea lion here has a baby sea lion next to her waiting patiently (or sometimes impatiently) to feed. 

And that is the end of yet another wildlife day here. Sadly Baba is still pretty sick feeling so he missed a very tasty duck breast entree at dinner too. Tomorrow is our last full day on the ship -- hoping for a sudden recovery!