Galapagos Islands

I recently went on a 4D3N Galapagos cruise trip and enjoyed every moment of it.

I arrived in Quito and spent a relaxing day exploring the capital of Ecuardo before taking a domestic flight to Baltra airport in Galapagos. Nestled amidst colossal Andean peaks at 2.800 meters above sea level, Quito is the world’s highest legal capital city in the world.

On September 1978, UNESCO described the city of Quito as "a harmonic connection between human actions and nature that together create an exceptional and transcendental piece of art in its category", declaring it the First World Cultural Heritage Site.

Statue of Sucre in front of Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Day 2. Flight to Galapagos. UNESCO declared the Galapagos Island a World Natural Heritage this archipelago is unique and one of the wonders of world. The Galapagos archipelago is located in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles, or 965 km, off the Ecuadorian mainland.

USD 100 Galapagos National Park Entrance Fee

After landing at Baltra island, we cruised to North Seymour island. I stepped out the panga and almost immediately stepped onto a sealion lazing on the steps of the dock!

Injured Sealion attacked by shark

The poor sealion was injured by a shark and was lying helplessly on the steps of the dock. I walked a short distance to the shore and was greeted by even more sealions. The sealions were wild, playful and totally unafraid of us, humans. Our naturalist, a Galapagos native, proceeded to explain to us about the vast number of endemic species on the island. I imagined myself as Charles Darwin and how his observations and collections contributed to his theory of evolution by natural selection. 

North Seymour Island is a major nesting site of the blue-footed boobies. The name booby comes from the Spanish word ‘bobo’, which means stupid, because the blue-footed booby is clumsy on land. I was fortunate enough to be witness the mating dance of the boobies. It was with great delight as I watched the male booby whistling at the female, lifting its legs and flapping its wings, with the female booby honking in approval and mimicking every move the male makes.

Blue Footed Booby

Blue Footed Booby and me

As I walked to the other end of North Seymour Island, I saw many frigate birds. Fridgate birds are large birds, with iridescent black feathers and long wings. The males have inflatable red throat pouches, which they inflate to attract the females during the mating season.

Frigate Bird soaring in the sky

My first day at the Galapagos and I was totally awed.
Day 3, 4 and 5..to be continued….