In the land of the term “natural selection”

Wow, it’s going to take a lot to top our first day in Galapagos.

Once again I found myself at an airport early in the morning, this time to fly from Quito to Quayaquill where we refueled and picked up some new passengers and then on to the island of San Cristobal to one of the two airports in this amazing archipelago.

Since 97% of the land mass of the islands has been saved as a national park, and the Ecuadorian government is taking some measures to preserve the fragile ecosystems here, the paperwork, fees, processes and rules involved in coming here are a bit staggering. We were glad to be with a tour company to walk us through all the rigamarole. I don’t begrudge any of it though since it’s such a significant place.

We were bussed through the capital of the Galapagos province, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno and down to the docks where our pangas (we call them zodiacs) and a whole pile of sea lions were waiting to greet us. There were also some Sally Lightfoot crabs among the rocks, our first introduction to them.

We waited our turn on the dock, while another tour group of roughly the same size got into their awaiting pangas. As they did, we assessed what might be the most graceful of the ways to get in and determined there weren’t any and so just did our best with the help of the crew.

Our ship, the Monserrat, is nicely appointed, and has been maintained very well. There are large common areas with my favourite being the sundeck on the top, with both covered and open areas. I’m glad I paid the single supplement to have the twin cabin to myself as it’s pretty tight for two, but for one it’s great.

We had a safety briefing right away once on board, and then a few minutes to check our our cabins and get organized before the bell rung to let us know it was lunch time. I have a feeling that although I don’t think I’ve gained weight so far on this trip I might this week on the boat.

After lunch they talked to us about our week ahead, and specifically logistics for the rest of this day. It’s a little confusing about what we should be taking with us when, but we’ll figure it out. We had our fitting for our snorkel equipment and wet suits. What a hilarious adventure that was. I’ve never worn one before and it’s not easy getting in and out of them, especially when you’re my size.

Then it was time to try all the equipment out. One parga went off with those who had never snorkelled before to a beach around the bay. That would give them an opportunity to get used to the equipment, etc while only hip deep in water. Our parga went to another bay where it was deep water and in we went. Within minutes we’d seen 3 decent size turtles and came upon some Sea Lions playing with an old water bottle float for an anchor. As soon as we arrived they started darting all around us, sometimes nudging us as they sped by. They are a small variety, that almost look like seals, but we’re assured they are sea lions because there are no seals here. I didn’t take along my camera on this trip because I hadn’t snorkeled for a awhile and with my cold, I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out so I didn’t want to have to deal with the camera as well.

Then it was back to the boat for a quick wash off and then back on the pangas for the short trip back to the island for a nature walk. And within seconds we’d seen the red throated frigate birds, Blue Footed Boobies, lizards and lots of sea lions sunning themselves. We hiked for about an hour and then headed back to the ship where there was time for only a short nap before dinner.

The crew were introduced to us, with a welcoming cocktail and by 9 pm I was in bed asleep. I woke up at one point in the night and boy it was rocking and rolling, but it didn’t bother me and I went right back to sleep.