From April 27 through May 4 we participated in a Wilderness Travel tour of the Galapagos Islands. The tour started with a day exploring Quito and on April 28 we flew to the Galapagos. With many stories to tell and adventures to share I’ll start with a brief summary.
Those of us on board the Passion for our Galapagos adventure were in unanimous agreement that the highlight of our tour was our guide Rafael Pesantes whom we called Rafa. His depth of knowledge, passion and concern for the guests made for an extraordinary experience. Rafa is a native to the Galapagos, having fished the waters with his uncle when he was a kid. He brings 30 years of experience as a tour guide, having guided tours all over the world including National Geographic tours. He also worked with David Attenborough. His knowledge of the natural history and the cultural history of The Galapagos is extraordinary.
Here he is using the scull of a sea turtle to talk about how the turtles navigate and how they can return to the exact spot where they hatched. You can also see him enticing a giant tortoise to extend his neck by mimicking a fluttering bird. In the third photo he’s pointing out baby sea turtles that are just emerging from a nest.
Our base for our Galapagos adventures was the Passion, a 160 foot yacht, chartered by Wilderness Travel. We were on board the passion for a week, with daily trips by panga to snorkeling and hiking location. There were twelve of us and we became one happy family shortly into the adventure. Meals were prepared by a gourmet chef with lunch served on the upper deck.
Our cruise took us from Isla Santa Cruz, to Floreana, Isabela, Fernandina and Santiago. Among the highlights of the trip were tortoises, swimming with marine iguanas, watching Blue Footed Bobbies and watching molten lava spew into the ocean on Fernandina.
Each day was a rich adventure. I’ll be posting blog entries for each day of the trip so stay tuned.
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