2nd - Galapagos

We got picked up early at the hotel at 0615 to go to the airport. We departed at 0740 and flew to the airport at Galapagos on Baltra Island, via Quayaquil. When coming to Galapagos and seeing the airport from the air you realize how short the landing strip is, and if the pilot screwed up the landing there would nothing but water to greet you. There was also quite a lot of wind when we were landing, so the pilot had to almost throw the plane onto the tarmac, making the landing quite rough. But any landing you can walk away from is a successful landing, so no problems there.

After passing through security and having paid the necessary fees, we were put on a bus which took us to a small harbor. Here we were picked up by a zodiac which took us to our boat, our home away from home the next 8 days.

There were already tourists on the boat; they were the 10-day trip people that had started the trip on Wednesday. When they disappear on Wednesday (including a couple of us that are only on a 4-day trip) they will be replaced a new group of people doing the 5-day trip, so we all will leave the boat on Sunday together.

We started off with some lunch, and after sailing to Santa Cruz, a place called Las Bachas (a frigate bird sat on the boat for some of the time, so a couple of close-ups were possible), we did a wet landing (sailed with the zodiacs to shore, but had to walk the last couple of meters in the water). Here we had a walkaround in the near area, where we saw iguanas, crabs and a single flamingo. Getting back to the beach we had time for an hour’s snorkeling. As a first time snorkeler it was some scary shit to getting used to breathing under water. After getting used to it, it was quite pleasant, but unfortunately the water was quite murky so the visibility was close to nothing. Saw a couple of fish, though, but not much else.

Got back to the boat, and after some resting we had dinner.

During the night we saw a great sunset, and a couple of pelicans sitting on the boats zodiacs (which we now hanging on the sides of the boat) looking for fish. Also a single sea lion was circling the boat eating. Unfortunately we are not allowed to use flash, so it was limited how good photos could be taken. But it was quite a sight.

Pelican

One of many crabs found on most islands

Frigate

Raul was our bartender, waiter, cleaner and almost everything else. He was a very cool guy always happy.

Night guest on a zodiac

Sunset with frigate