I have just returned from the Galapagos islands after spending 7 days their and what a truly amazing 7 days they where. When we where planning our trip to south America the Galapagos islands where something that we gave alot of thought, the reason being that it costs the same for one week as a months travel and lets face it were all on a budget. Having now been to the Galapagos islands I am so glad we decided to do it.
We booked a 9 day tour with gap adventures, 3 days on a boat cruze and 3 on Isabella island. We thought having a little mix would enable us to really see what the golapagos was like. It was truly amazing, being surrounded by so much wildlife and being able to get so close, it’s a truly unique and magical place. As I am unable to upload photos at the moment I am going to keep this short and try to talk about some of my personal highlights, obviously upon my return to UK I will be adding tons of pictures.
Swimming with sea lions is was great fun. I had the opportunity to do it twice, the first time in deep water next to a small island just off of Española and the second time was at the dock of Isabella island. In the deep water the sea lions tended to keep their distance. While we where snorkelling around the docks the water was very shallow and all the sea lions where younger and a little more playful. They would lye on the surface of the water and float towards you, as yet got close (within 10cm) they would dart to one side or under you. It was great fun an something I don’t think I could ever get board of.
Climbing Sierra Negra on Isabella the largest island in the Galapagos was a real eye opener from a mother nature point of view. From Puerto Villamil we drove around 45 minutes and then walked gently for around 1.30 hours to reach the crater of the volcano. The most recent eruption of the main volcano was back in 2006 and the inside is black and arid. We then walked a little further to see some parasitic volcanoes (smaller volcanoes which feed from the main lava canal) and had a nice view over Elizabeth Bay. The most recent eruption in this area was 1979 and it was great to see the contrast between old and new lava flows as well as the vast differences in vegetation. What was really surprising to me was the time line of all these varying events, your talking millions and 10s of millions of years, puts it all into perspective abit.
Interesting Fact: The Galapagos islands are on a hotspots in the earths crust and are moving 6cm a year towards South America and will eventually disappear underneath the Andes. The Galapagos islands are around 1000km from the coat of Ecuador, I will let you do the maths on how long it will take!
The other thing that really struck me was the people. Everyone was supper chilled out, willing to help, friendly and the whole place felt really safe. Staying on Isabella really gave you a chance to soak up a bit of the local vibe, shame we could not have hung out a bit more really.
As a picture speaks a thousand words I’m gonna leave it their for now. If you ever have the chance or think you might like to go to the Galapagos islands, GO, it’s a magical place and you won’t be disappointed!
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