The Galapagos Islands

At the eleventh hour we succumb to the overwhelming desire to visit the Galapagos Islands whilst in Ecaudor. We decided on a 5 day 4 night cruise which included visiting the Islands of Baltra, Santa Cruz, Floreana, Espanol and San Cristobal.
Baltra is an uninhabited island containing one of the three airports in the Galapagos and little else. It was used by the Americans in the second world war and today sees the arrival of most of the tourists to the Galapagos. From Baltra we took a small boat to Santa Cruz before being transported to our ship waiting in the harbour. Our first stop was to visit the Giant Land Toritoises located in the highlands. We were struck at this time by just how amazing the micro climates of this island are- on the coast it was 25 degrees with sunny blue skies, in the highlands approx 5 km inland it was slighly cooler but overcast and misty. The majestic Land Tortoises with their bulking frames were a site to behold, going about their daily consumption of grass at a steady pace. We returned to the boat and enjoyed a nice smorgasboard dinner.
Overnight we motored to our next destination Floreana, an island shrowded in mystery regarding a love triangle which to this day goes unsolved. The island is home to an array of brightly coloured crabs, sea lions, flamingos and numerous birds including the world famous blue footed booby, frigate and brown pelican. Following our island exploration we ventured into the waters to be completley overwhelmed by the marine life- swimming amongst sting ray, green turtles and various tropical fish was very surreal. The green sea turtles were particularly friendly and were not fazed with our presence. In the afternoon we explored lava tunnels, the famous galapagos post office, and ended with another snorkel this time having penguins, sea lions and more turtles to keep us company. To end the day we went for an afternoon zodiac ride viewing more blue footed boobies and frigates as well as black tip reef sharks.
Overnight we motored to Espanol Island which for me was the highlight. We had the beach to ourselves as well as 200 sea lions in the morning, swam with massive manta and eagle rays as well as white tipped reef sharks. After lunch we ventured to another spot where we encountered marine iguanas both in the water and on land, blue footed boobies, azteca boobies, a waved albatross colony complete with chicks and the infamous Galapagos hawk- one of the few predators of the island. The scenery was spectacular, the animals were so close and the experience unforgettbale. We ended the trip in San Cristobal, the most populated isand which despite the encroachment of human beings is just as alive with animals as the other islands- again we swam with sea lions and the like- overall a wonderful experience.