We began our trip in Quito with one short day to explore the city. Several of us joined an excellent city tour led by Odetta Morillo.
 |
| Route taken by the Beagle in blue |
We flew to the Galapagos Islands and boarded our home for the next week, the Beagle, a 13-passenger sailing yacht with a crew of 5. Our naturalist guide, Bitinia Espinosa, provided a wealth of knowledge. We got our first taste of Galapagos wildlife that afternoon at Bachas Beach viewing frigate birds, Sally Lightfoot crabs, a flamingo and sea turtle nests.
We climbed Prince Philips' steps at Darwin Bay to a 2½ hour walk along a cliff plateau sighting frigate birds (males displaying their inflated throat sacs to entice the females), Nazca Boobies, Red-Footed Boobies and hundreds of storm petrels. After a short snorkel, we hiked the other side of the bay spotting Galapagos sea lions, yellow-crowned night herons, swallow-tail gulls and lots more frigate birds strutting their stuff.
Thursday, April 29 – Isla Santiago
At Punta Vicente Roca on Isla Isabela, we started the day with a panga (zodiac) ride along the lava cliff face spotting Blue-Footed Boobies, marine iguanas, sea lions, sea turtles and, finally, Galapagos penguins and flightless cormorants. This was followed by a snorkel off the panga where a sea lion pup and the penguins dove in and joined in the romp. The afternoon hike at Punta Espinosa on Isla Fernandina featured a huge colony of marine iguanas and the chance to get up close and personal with several flightless cormorants and sea lion pups waiting for mom to return from feeding.
The day began with a hike before breakfast up 150 steps to a wonderful view of Darwin Lake and Tagus Cove. The morning panga or kayak ride provided more penguins, cormorants and sea lions with sea turtles accompanying us around the cove. The highlights of the afternoon hike at Urbina Bay were the land iguanas and Galapagos tortoises.
A unique panga ride through the mangrove lagoon at Elizabeth Bay allowed us to see many sea turtles, a spotted eagle, rays, penguins and cormorants. All were amazed at the sea lions hauled out on the branches of the mangrove trees. The highlight of the afternoon snorkeling at Punta Morena were the very well camouflaged sea horses. Rain somewhat dampened the walk across lava fields to see brilliant salmon-colored flamingos in an interior lagoon.
At Puerto Villamil, we boarded an artistically painted, open-air bus to climb the Volcán Sierra Negro. After the bus ride, it proved a long and muddy slog through the rain and fog to the edge of the caldera. Afterward, we visited the Galapagos Tortoise Breeding Center to see two of the tortoise species from Isla Isabela. The long cruise to Isla Santa Cruz was the roughest of the trip sending the tableware and water pitchers sliding during dinner.
Tuesday, May 4 - Isla
Sadly, we said goodbye to the Beagle, its fantastic crew and our wonderful naturalist and guide, Bitinia. After a brief visit to two volcanic craters, Los Gemelos atop Isla Santa Cruz, we flew back to Quito for one last night in Ecuador and a 4:00 am start the following day back to the US.
