Today I am so excited to share with you a few snaps from our trip sailing around the Galápagos Islands this past November.
We had such an incredible time learning about the unique volcanic islands and seeing all of the amazing animals that call these isolated and uninhabited islands home.
The coolest part is that many of these animals won’t be found anywhere else, and since the human footprint on the islands are kept to a minimum, they aren’t scared of us. You can literally walk (or swim) right up to them and they won’t even flinch. The sea lions act like little playful puppies who will dance around you in the water. As an obsessed animal lover, it was seriously paradise. I think I took like a million photos so I had a really hard time narrowing down my favorites.
We cruised around the islands on the M/Y Passion Yacht for 8 days, 7 nights. It was really comfortable and there were lots of lounge areas and sun decks for socializing and relaxing.
Thankfully, the boat mostly moves at night while passengers sleep so my sea sickness was kept at bay most of the time… but I wore sea bands on my wrists the whole time I was on the boat which are also supposed to help.
Day 1:
We flew into Baltra Island to catch the boat and, after getting settled, we immediately took the dinghy across the bay to Black Turtle Cove. We saw a ton of blue footed booby birds and several green turtles mating which was really cool.
Day 2:
The next day we visited Genovesa Island. We started out in Darwin Bay in the morning which was really pretty. It’s a pretty small bay but we saw whale bones washed ashore and a mom and baby sea lion snuggling. You can snorkel and/or relax on the pretty white sandy beach – but seriously don’t forget your sunscreen because the sun is super intense by the equator.
In the evening we visited the El Barranco portion of Genovesa Island where we saw a ton of different types of birds and caught a beautiful sunset.
On the third day we headed to Bartolome Island where we hiked up a butt load of stairs on the desert volcanic landscape to the Pinnacle Rock overlook. We mostly just saw lizards and snakes with very little vegetation as it’s one of the “younger” volcanic islands where plants have yet to really make a home.
In the evening we headed to Sulivan Bay on Santiago which was honestly one of my favorite Islands. It’s a really cool volcanic formation of un-eroded black lava. If I were a good fashion blogger I would have brought a rad long red maxi to stand out against the beautiful black backdrop – but alas I packed practical, which was basically just swimsuits, shorts and work out / hiking gear.
Day 4:
The next morning we headed to Rabida Island. The high amount of iron contained in the lava makes the sand red. We saw lots of star fish, a sea horse, a water snake and some sharks (eek)! Ben got some really good video on our goPro.
In the evening we headed to Dragon Hill where you can see flamingos (my favorite) but we only saw two and they were kind of far away sadly so I didn’t get any really cool photos since we don’t have a telephoto lens. I read you didn’t need one when visiting there because you can get so close to the animals, but I wish we would have brought one.
Day 5:
On day five we headed over to Santa Cruz, which is a habited island, but there are a lot of giant tortoises up in the highlands. The lush greenery is a major contrast from the other volcanic islands. Afterwards we shopped around the town for souvenirs and visited the Darwin Center. It was partially closed though and I wasn’t that impressed because I prefer to see animals out in the wild.
Day 6:
On day six we cruised over to South Plazas Islands to hike around. We saw a lot of sea lions and land iguanas. I liked looking over the cliffs to the crashing waves below.
Then, in the evening we went to Santa Fe Island for an evening walk. My favorite part was seeing a Galapagos hawk – he wasn’t afraid of us at all… I think I was able to get just a few short feet away from him for some really cool photos.
Day 7:
On our last full day, we opted to head to Gardner Bay on Espanola in the morning, which was the prettiest sandy beach. We relaxed on the sand, took pictures of all the sun-bathing sea lions and snorkeled, of course.
In the evening we went for a walk and saw the Galapagos waved albatross birds doing their little mating ritual… they mate for life and the only way they recognize their mate after returning from flight is by doing a little dance made up of a precise sequence of moves. It was really cool to see. Wanna know something crazy? They migrate for about eight months of the year, but to sleep while soaring, they essentially dislocate their shoulders, locking them into place. Animals are so crazy.
On the last day we had breakfast on-board before heading to the airport. It was a really long travel day to get to the Galapagos, over 24 hours and four flights for us… but it was so worth it. If you ever get the chance to go, I highly recommend it.
I hope you guys enjoyed seeing a bit of our adventures from the Galapagos. Thanks for reading!
