Exploring the Galapagos with National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions

Day 1

Today I woke up in my Wyndham hotel room in Quito, a few minutes from the airport, just before 6am. I’m not counting yesterday as day one as it was a long travel day from London to Madrid to Quito - really nothing much to report except I flew premium economy for the first time and enjoyed some room service (empanadas!) and a hot shower at the hotel.

After a great sleep of about 8 hours, I felt refreshed and ready to embark on our final flight to Baltra Island in the Galapagos.

The group had all met in Heathrow yesterday but with hours of flying (not seated together) and tiredness and delirium starting to kick in by the time we touched down in Ecuador, we all felt refreshed and ready to get to know one another over breakfast this morning.

We had a few forms to fill out, including a health questionnaire and a biosecurity form. It’s great to see they’re very strict with the rules for entry into the Galapagos national park. Single use plastic is discouraged, no fresh food can be taken there and even hiking boots have to be checked and clean.

The flight to Baltra ran smoothly - just 40 minutes to Guayaquil where we dropped off some passengers and picked more up, followed by an hour and a half or so to Baltra. I lucked out and had a whole row to myself so I moved to the window to admire the views! Just before landing the crew opened all the overhead lockers and sprayed disinfectant spray.

Once we landed it was quick through customs (and another new stamp!) and we had to wait while dogs sniffed all the luggage. We then hopped on a bus which drove us five minutes to the dock, where our zodiacs waited to take us to the ship. And at the docks, we saw our first proper Galapagos wildlife! Sally lightfoot crabs, land iguanas, a marine iguana and sea lions! It was crazy to see so much having only just started our adventure.

The zodiac ride was a little bumpy and once on the ship I could really feel the swell. Luckily I took a sea sickness tablet and it eased off after a little while and after a quick late lunch.

We had an introductory briefing after lunch from our expedition leader Carlos and hotel manager Melissa. This gave us plenty of information about safety, conservation and general plans and ‘good to knows’ for our week on board the National Geographic Endeavour II.

Then it was onto a very quick excursion - we don’t stop on these expedition cruises, it’s all action! We geared up in life jackets and took another zodiac ride across to another Lindblad ship, National Geographic Delfina. She holds only 16 guests compared to our 96, meaning she’s very intimate. We enjoyed a drink on the top deck, met a very friendly brown pelican and then rode the zodiac back to our ship at sunset. First sunset of the trip and it did not disappoint.

After a bit of downtime to shower, unpack, charge cameras and chill out, we headed to the captain’s welcome cocktail reception and then to dinner. We’re all shattered after another travel day so it’s an early night before the adventures begin all over again tomorrow. I truly can’t believe I’m here and can’t wait to get stuck into more expedition activities throughout the week.

Day 2

This morning I woke up naturally at 5:45am, opened my curtains (right behind my head!) and admired the view. Wow. I’m in the Galapagos!!!

I took the chance to FaceTime Mummy and Lottie quickly before getting ready for the day and heading to breakfast at 6:45am. After brekkie I took myself on a quick tour of the ship, visiting the gym, spa, gift shop (I want to buy all of it!) and the bridge, where the officer in there insisted I get a photo with the captains hat and sword. Our ship definitely caters to adventurers and travellers who want a comfortable but casual experience. It’s very functional with some lovely personal touches.

We missed the first excursion this morning and instead got a zodiac across to another ship - National Geographic Islander II, which used to be Crystal Esprit.

It’s a stunning ship, much more luxurious with only 48 passengers on board, all suites and two restaurants. We also spotted Celebrity Flora nearby so I snapped a few photos, traitor! On our way back to the ship we pulled up close to North Seymour Island and spotted a sea lion, land iguana and loads of birds including blue footed boobies, frigate birds and swallow tail gulls!

Once back on the ship we had our muster drill followed by our snorkelling briefing and then lunch. The afternoon began with a photography workshop with one of our

naturalists, Bernie, which was great - it helped me get to grips with the settings on the big work camera I brought with me!

This afternoon’s main excursion was snorkelling at Rabida Island. It was amazing!! I spotted two sharks (white or black tipped reef sharks I think) as well as lots of colourful fish and a marine iguana. It gave me a chance to try out my new DJI osmo action 4 and although it wasn’t fantastic at first, I think I’ve got to grips with it.

After this excursion I didn’t think it could get any better. But it did… after a very quick shower and change, about half of the ship went ashore again (to the same beach) and walked over the crest of the sand bank to a beautiful lagoon full of flamingoes!! Our guide Gilda said she’s only seen them in this spot twice and she has worked here for around 20 years. We were so lucky, it was a real ‘pinch me’ moment.

As well as flamingoes, we saw a feeding frenzy with sea lions leaping out of the water and blue footed boobies and pelicans diving to catch fish. Plus a couple of turtles poked their heads above the waves to say hello. Just wow! This place keeps getting better and better and it’s only day two.

This evening we had a recap of the day with our guides in the lounge and got more information about the plan for tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll get to see turtles, and possibly penguins - although we learned that there are only around 1700 penguins in the Galapagos, so it’s not a guarantee.

Dinner was once again lovely, followed by a David Attenborough documentary about the Galapagos (in which I fell asleep!). Tomorrow is set to be a full-on day and my alarm is set for 5:45am to (hopefully) see whales and dolphins from the top deck. Goodnight!

Day 3

Once again I was up early for the cetacean sightings but unfortunately none were to be seen. I joined the morning stretching class at 6:30 before breakfast at 7am, and we were off for our first excursion, a hike, at 8am.

The zodiacs took us to Punta Espinosa, a volcanic beach/rocky area on Fernandina Island. We’re very lucky to be able to visit Espinosa as it is only available for visits every two weeks in an effort to keep crowds away. It felt amazing to be among only a handful of groups (only from our ship) in such a beautiful, rugged landscape.

Espinosa was incredible. We saw sea lions (including pups!), hundreds of marine iguanas, a rare snake and a variety of birds. The highlights for me were a sea lion pup sniffing my shoe and watching two iguanas run across the beach to fight each other.

Our naturalist guide Bernie was great, giving us so much information about the animals, the volcanic rock and also tips for photographing the wildlife.

After the hike we didn’t have long before we donned our wetsuits and headed out on a deep water snorkelling excursion. We swam with so many turtles (one came right up to me!), jellyfish (that didn’t sting thankfully) and marine iguanas which we saw feeding on an underwater rock. It was fantastic but freezing cold by the end!

Back on board, I showered and changed before lunch - the food has been brilliant so far, lots of fresh vegetables and fish. After lunch, I attended Bernie’s second photography session followed by Jason’s geology lecture.

Our afternoon excursion then began at 3:30pm - a zodiac ride along the coastline of northwest Isabela Island. We saw some magnificent volcanic rock formations and striations, and of course plenty of wildlife! Blue footed boobies, brown noddys, Galapagos fur seals, pelicans, tons of marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, a whole host of turtles and… two Galapagos penguins!! The photos aren’t great as they were swimming and ducking under the water at a distance but it was still amazing to see! Apparently we might see more of them tomorrow so fingers crossed.

Once our excursion was over we had a wine tasting on the observation deck to celebrate crossing the equator! We’ll actually be doing this a few times on this cruise but it was really fun to make a big deal out of it and we were all given a pin badge to say we’d crossed the equator in the Galapagos. The evening was then completed with our daily debrief, dinner and drinks.

Day 4

I was going to start by saying day four has been my favourite but every day has been amazing so I’m not sure that’s fair to say!

This morning we hiked at Urbina Bay and spotted land iguanas and giant tortoises in the wild! It was amazing and I really enjoyed photographing them. We learned that Urbina Bay is a pretty new part of the Galapagos as it formed in the 1950s.

The rest of the morning was then spent in Domenica’s lecture about the people of the Galápagos Islands and a bit about the history of settlement, domestication and conservation here.

After lunch we were set to have a very busy afternoon - as per usual. First things first: kayaking around Tagus Cove (western Isabela Island in the ‘belly button’ of the seahorse). I partnered with Angie and we had such a giggle! We saw Galapagos penguins, loads of turtles coming up for air (one right next to me in the kayak) and various birds including the Galapagos hawk.

After kayaking I was going to have a rest but after all that physical exertion I decided to join the snorkelling excursion. Well I’m bloomin’ glad I did as we had a penguin swimming and playing all around us! It was amazing - I can’t believe how fast they can swim. Other than that and a few turtles, the visible a and change before the final activity for today: a hike!

Again this started from Tagus Cove and took us up some rickety steps to overlook Darwin Lake. We continued on to a viewpoint which looked down the side of Volcán Darwin and the vast lava fields below us were astonishing. Chatting to Adrian (we also had him as a guide this morning at Urbina Bay) was really interesting. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed talking to the guides and getting to know about their roles as naturalists in the Galápagos Islands.

After a beautiful sunset en route back to the ship, we had the day’s debrief where we learned that the Galapagos is a no-fly zone. I should’ve realised that no planes had flown overhead for the past few days! Finally dinner, failed stargazing (too cloudy) and an early night for me.

Day 5

This morning I felt so good after such a good sleep! I skipped the first excursion (zodiac ride) and instead sat on the top deck reading my book. I really needed it and it meant my first excursion didn’t started until after 9am.

First up, Louise and I went kayaking along the coastline of Santiago Island at Buccaneer Cove. It was quite choppy and I was still a bit sore from yesterday’s kayaking too!

I heard that this area was also good for sharks and manta rays so I immediately went from kayaking to snorkelling - the water was much warmer and we saw a big shark (not sure what kind) but no rays sadly.

After lunch we had a quick meeting with one of the expedition leaders, Gilda, about the kid’s programme on board which sounds wonderful. This was then followed by Gilda’s lecture on Charles Darwin.

Last but not least, it was my hardest decision so far between two excursions! Either a 3km (ish) hike or a chill/snorkel at the beach. I chose the hike and it was great -

although the others who chose the beach saw rays and sharks so I was a tiny bit jealous afterwards!

On the hike, we walked through scrubby terrain with cacti, sand and prickly bushes, saw a couple of huge land iguanas and learned a bit more about the plants and nesting birds on Santiago Island. We stopped when we reached a rocky beach and took photos at rock pools, watched a sea lion pup reunite with its mama (and feed!) and saw some feeding frenzies in the water. We then walked back along the coastline to the awaiting zodiac. I was the only one from our big group to do the hike and it was nice to chat with Bernie and enjoy some quiet reflection in such a beautiful place.

Back on board, we met up for drinks before the daily briefing where Jason shared with us his incredible underwater compilation which we’ll get to take home with us. His footage is much better than mine!

We enjoyed a BBQ on the observation deck, tried to do a bit more stargazing (still rather cloudy!) and then relaxed in the lounge with drinks late into the evening.

Day 6

First thing today we visited the fourth and final ship in the National Geographic Lindblad Expeditions Galapagos fleet: National Geographic Gemini.

From there we went straight to shore on Santa Cruz and what a beautiful island it is! Home to the majority of giant Galapagos tortoises, this lush green island is also one of the most populated. The main city, Puerto Ayora, had such a great vibe.

We were picked up by a bus and visited the Charles Darwin Research Station where we saw so many tortoises ranging from tiny babies to huge 90+ year olds. We also got to see the taxidermic remains of ‘Lonesome George’, a famous tortoise who sadly couldn’t help the centre’s breeding programme due to his inadequate size (!!).

Next we went by bus to a farm which grew cacao, coffee, bananas and sugarcane. The owners showed us how they make moonshine using the sugarcane and we got a taste - boy was it strong! Sadly I couldn’t sample the coffee but it smelled delicious and it was great to see how the locals of Santa Cruz make a living in this way.

After the farm we headed to Rancho El Manzanillo for lunch and within the grounds of the ranch is the most famous site to see giant tortoises. It was so strange driving down the track to the ranch and seeing huge tortoises just chilling by the road!

We donned wellies and trudged around the surrounding gardens/fields to take photos of and with the tortoises and it felt really emotional. After so many years of dreaming of seeing these incredible creatures up close, I was finally there! It was definitely one of, if not the highlight of the trip.

Eventually we were dragged away from the ranch and the tortoises and headed back to Puerto Ayora to do a bit of souvenir shopping (and beer drinking!) before getting the zodiacs back to the ship. The evening included the usual debrief followed by local music and dancing which was really lovely. And later in the evening, games and drinks with a few of the group and crew!

Day 7

Our final full day on board NG Endeavour II. It was a drizzly morning but I headed out on the final hike at Punta Pitt on San Cristobal, led by Adrian who grew up on the island. He’s a great story teller and it was nice to chat with him about the island and why he loves it so much.

The terrain was different to our other hikes with a steeper rocky climb, black volcanic rock by the shore and bright red and yellow vegetation. We saw plenty of bird life, including the elusive red footed booby! My Galapagos wildlife ‘bingo’ was looking pretty good by this point! I think this was my favourite hike of the trip.

At the end of the hike we went for a quick swim/snorkel and jumped back on the zodiacs when it started pouring rain again. Back on board, passengers were invited to the library to transfer photos to Bernie for his presentation in the evening.

Our final afternoon was a bit more relaxing, with just a stroll and swim on a beautiful white sand beach (Cerro Brujo) followed by a sunset cocktail reception on the top deck as we sailed past Kicker Rock. I’m envious of Tegan and James who scuba dived there a few weeks ago and saw hammerheads! Unfortunately cruise ships aren’t allowed to stop for excursion at the rock so a sail past was all we got. It was still an impressive sight for our last evening on board.

Day 8

A very early start this morning to have breakfast at 6:30 and disembark at 7:30 in San Cristobal town. We spent a couple of hours walking around - saw baby sea lions only a week or so old! Then we were transferred to the airport for our flight to Quito via Guayaquil.

Today felt like a long day as we arrived at our Swissotel in the city centre just before 7pm, had a quick shower and change and headed out for dinner and hotel inspection at Casa Gangotena. We were back by 10:30 ish and straight to bed.

Day 9

This morning we were allowed a lie in for the first time during the whole trip!! At 10:30 Guiliano left us to start his trek up Cotopaxi - I’m so jealous. At 11:30 our guide Giovanny picked us up and took us for a whistle stop tour of Quito.

First we had a quick walk around a local market and sampled some local fruits, then we were driven up to the old town and we walked around some of the beautiful (if rather gaudy) churches. I bought a little painting at a market stall and we were immersed in the atmosphere of the week’s festival which was celebrating the ‘birth’ of the city.

We had a lovely lunch in the main square and then transferred to the airport mid-afternoon for our overnight flight to Madrid.