Following Darwin's Footsteps

What can I say about the Galapagos Islands? It is the most unique, surprising and wild place I have ever been to and I really hope it gets preserved for future generations to enjoy... 

We left Quito on the 7th of May with high expectations and butterflies in our tummies. We had booked an eight-day boat trip and, although spending our honeymoon on a boat with 14 other people did bother us for a split second, we really shouldn't have worried. Our fellow passengers were very interesting, intelligent, fun, and most importantly nice, genuine people. Stu and I were the youngest and we quickly established that the profile of the island visitor is most likely as follows:

- biologist or scientist

- retired with an interest in nature

- mainly American or from the American continent

Our boat was a bit of an exception as 13 of the 16 passengers were Brit nationals. As for our guide, Patricio, he was a very eloquent, funny Ecuadorian chap who made the trip very enjoyable, but also full of interesting facts.

We visited ten islands in total, including Española, Genovesa and Santa Cruz. They are all beautiful and unique. The wildlife that we came across was incredible – blue and red-footed boobies, marine and land iguanas, sea lions and fur seals, albatross, frigate birds, red-billed tropic birds, finches, mockingbirds, sting rays, spotted eagle rays, manta rays, green turtles, giant tortoises, white-tipped and Galapagos sharks to name but a few.



Gardner Bay, Española Island

One of the most amazing things is that animals are not scared of humans, so you can get close to them without them running / swimming / flying away. The National Park authority does a good job to ensure the islands are kept as wild as possible and that visitors make a minimal impact. We were not allowed to bring stuff with us on the island apart from sun cream, water and our cameras – all of which had to be brought back to the boat…. There were also certain rules which had to be followed e.g. no collection of souvenirs (sand, feathers, shells) and no touching animals. And this all makes sense when you can sit next to an albatross, swim alongside a turtle or photograph birds without the need of a mega-huge telephoto lens.

On the third night we got woken up at 12.30am and got told to pack our bags. The ship's engine had broken down and we had to abandon ship. At 2.00am we got rescued by a diving boat. Jumping off a rocky boat in the middle of the Pacific (in the darkness) was not part of the deal, but it added to the adventure and brought the group together. Plus it meant we all got an upgrade to a luxury boat and three new lovely passengers joined us. Can't complain!