In December, we spent seven days exploring the Galapagos Islands on the Isabella II yacht, cruising in pristine waters and visiting islands with unique habitats.

Life Among the Fish

Our favorite activity was deep-water snorkeling. We donned wetsuits, masks, snorkels, and fins and jumped off the zodiac to explore the underwater reefs.

Every day, Luis, our guide — who must be part fish! — would free dive down to the bottom for two minutes to point out sea life that is only found surrounding that particular island, including curious green sea turtles.

A family of penguins joined us in the water.

As we had never snorkeled with sea lions before, watching them play in the ocean as we floated nearby was a special treat.

The schools of fish were some of the largest we’d ever seen. They live harmoniously with the Galapagos shark.

Exploring the Islands

Twice a day, we hopped on a zodiac to ride from the yacht to the islands.

We marveled at the Galapagos Giant Tortoises.

And witnessed a Pacific Green Turtle couple mating on the beach. They often remain in this position for several hours!

We were impressed by the Marine Iguana and the Land Iguana, both unique to these islands.

The Blue Footed Booby lives on several of the islands and is excellent at diving for fish in the ocean. They are ubiquitous crowd-pleasers!

The Magnificent Male Frigate bird inflates a red balloon-like pouch to attract females during mating season.

During hikes on the islands, the naturalists pointed out these endemic species, noting,”This is my office! Preserving these species is my passion”. We learned how various species adapt to the environment and evolve to create new species.

On the shore, we enjoyed watching this Galapagos Sea Lion crawl on the rocks.

Penguins waddled nearby and appeared to be having a conversation.

Learning About the Species

Onboard, Jan finished reading The Beak of the Finch, a captivating account of the 30-year research by Princeton professors Peter and Rosemary Grant. They studied the finches on Daphne Major Island and documented how new species of finches were created before their eyes. 

Tourists typically do not visit Daphne Major island, as the landing only happens at certain times and involves jumping from the zodiac onto some precarious rocks covered by bird poop.

It’s right behind us at sunset from a neighboring island:

During our hikes, we saw many of the 17 species of finches plus many types of Mockingbirds. We loved it when the naturalist ‘chirped’ like a mockingbird (or played the bird call on his iPhone), and the Mockingbirds flew up close and personal to the group.

The birds and wildlife on the Galapagos Islands are not afraid of humans. Instead they are either curious, and come up to us, or completely nonchalant about our presence.

  The sea lions were also calm and did not mind our presence.

They even didn’t mind when an iguana was nearby.

Capturing the Moments

The Galapagos is a photographer’s paradise; our cameras were our friends!

The sunsets were captivating.

And these flamingos almost looked like a two-headed bird.

What a wonderful week!

The first evening, we bonded with four other travelers who happened to sit at our table. The six of us became fast friends, and each evening, we shared our experiences and enjoyed reflecting on the beauty of the area.

We loved our trip to the Galapagos Islands and are distressed to learn of the extreme unrest in Ecuador over the last month. Hopefully, this will settle down, and if you can visit the Galapagos, we think you’ll also love it!