Our South American live-blog continues with a week sailing in The Galápagos Islands!We are absolutely IN LOVE with the animals here – unbelievably friendly and so fun to photograph. The terrain is wild and the snorkeling unforgettable (and we’ve got underwater video!).
Join our adventure aboard the Yolita II… CONTINUE READING >>
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Marine iguanas and red sand beaches?! Sign up up! Looks like you guys are having quite the adventure. Love the lava picture of Veronica, but then again I can’t resist a cheesy photo opportunity.
Obviously neither can we.
Aw man those pics are making me so jealous. We are gonna do a trip there next year hopefully! I didn’t know there were lava flows here!
The landscape is almost as captivating as the animals. We highly recommend making the trip.
Having a great time reading and watching your blog. Thanks for sharing. We are going in Oct. BYW do they have the wet suits on board for you?
Yes. And snorkels, masks and fins. We brought our own masks and David used a wetsuit a few of the days, mostly for sun protection. The water was a really comfortable temp, so I didn’t use one and I was fine – even in the deeper water. -Veronica
It’s amazing that you are getting WiFi to be able to post. Really appreciate all the details. Getting excited. Looking forward to the rest of your blog as you travel to Peru. Any place on board to do or get laundry done? Any sea-sickness? Enjoy!!!
We’re running just a tad behind because of the lack of internet. You should plan on unplugging and just enjoying the ride!
There are very powerful clothes pins for your use to hang out your clothes. We’ve never had trouble with sea-sickness but our fellow shipmates, who know they are prone, are using medication and are just fine. We haven’t felt like we were on the open ocean, lots of coves to anchor in.
Beautiful, fascinating images. I am stunned by how good your underwater camera is! It is so kind of you to take us all along with you.
We’re really pleased with the results. The water has been nice and clear – helps a bunch!
I’m also interested in the animals and their lack of a fear of humans…I thought that this usually came with exposure to humans, and that’s why you see boldness in normally skittish animals like deer in suburban areas built into the woods where deer are very used to co-existing with people. But in the Galápagos, one would think it is so remote that the animals would be very unused to humans and would be very afraid. Unless tours like yours come through incredibly often, but I was under the impression that they limited such intrusions to protect the ecosystem. Hmm.
We were concerned about this as well. Here’s what we can tell you so far:
We are really impressed with the efforts of the government and the tour companies regarding protecting the environment here. The plane was cleaned before we landed to keep foreign insects from invading. Each time we come in from one island, we wash up and remove our shoes as we get back on the boat, ensuring that we don’t carry ANYTHING from island to island.
The parks system sets up routes for the boats in the area and limits the amount of humans in any one area. For instance, our boat had 16 passengers and usually there was only another boat of 16 in our vicinity. We very rarely saw the other boat’s passengers.
In addition, the love for the islands shines through with our guide and the crew of the Yolita II, they are very passionate about the protection of the animals, the water and the land.
Not that I think there is anything wrong with taking a tour of the Galápagos, of course! Just curious.
Darwin mentions the lack of fear of humans in his book “The Voyage of the Beagle” in 1832, so I guess in their isolation, they never developed the fear. -David
I am totally enthralled!! What a joy that you are sharing this with everyone!!
:)
Thanks Rita – I’m glad our joy is showing!
Whoa. How big are those Iguanas?
Counting tail, we estimate the biggest ones are five feet or so. Maybe six? At any rate, HUGE!
LOVE IT!!!!!!
Great photos and sage advice for the traveler. I am glad to see that your camera case worked so well. Straddling the equator! How cool is that?
Something we never thought we would do! VERY happy with the underwater stuff!