Our day started at the hotel ~6a with breakfast and packing. We were to meet up with Nat Geo for a bus ride to the airport, flight to Galapagos, bus ride to the docks, and Zodiac rides to our ship. This was my first real taste of the level of organization that this company has - it was truely impressive. The morning went off without a hitch and when we landed in Galapagos it was early afternoon. My first impression was how dry it really was - this place is truely a desert (complete with huge cactus) surrounded by water.
Despite it’s desolation, life abounds. By the time we made it to the boat, we had see bluefooted boobies, Galapagos sea lions, and lava lizards - all endemic species to the Galapagos.
The Zodiac ride was uneventful, but exciting as we began the trip. The loading operation/ship change-over is a well orchestrated machine. As we were arrived at the ship, the previous passengers had left and there was a refueling ship, 4 small boats with provisions, and a passanger luggage boat - all waiting to be unloaded/loaded onto the boat.
For most of the provisions (food, luggage, suplies), loading was done by crane with a huge net. Fun for Sara (and me) to see our bags getting lifted up to our rooms! By the time we finished boarding and having lunch (maybe 2 hours) all of the loading was complete and we pulled up anchor - pretty impressive.
Sara was more than a little excited about our room - primarily due to her bunk bed! The rooms were nice - certainly for a ship room. I wanted to do a quick video to show the room, but Sara’s squeal shows her excitement better than I ever coud…
Based on the pictures you see online, I was not expecting there to be many families with young children on this trip - but I was mistaken. Sara made insta-friends with 2 other families and it was a challenge to separate them for the rest of the trip.
In the afternoon, we had our first excursion of the trip to Santa Cruz island. The excursion involved a short (1/2 mile maybe) loop around the beach to visit a large tidal pool with… Flamingoes! It was a very successful first trip with the bright red crabs (called Sally Lightfoot crabs - named after an exotic dancer who wore a red dress back when there was a military base here), Iguanas, lots of birds of various kinds - including the flamingoe, and eagle rays in the water.
At the end of the excursion, we hoped in the water for a short swim/cool off. The water was murky/sandy so there wasn’t very much to see in terms of snorkeling, but Sara had found her happy place with the new mask and the wetsuit (which gave her a little extra boyancy) and was snorkeling to her hearts content. Gotta watch out for baby shark!