Thursday 5th – Arrival
We were finally off for the main part of the adventure: our voyage around the Galapagos Islands.
After a week of living out of partially unpacked suitcases, I was looking forward to unpacking properly and not repacking for eight days.
We hoped this morning would be the last early start for a while—and we were mostly right.
So it was up early again, a slightly rushed breakfast, then onto the coach to the airport.
The flight had a brief stop in Guayaquil to refuel and pick up a few extra passengers. We were finally off to the Galapagos Islands.
Bio-security is taken very seriously in the Galapagos. You must make various declarations that you have no prohibited items, your bag is searched and sealed, and you cannot break the seal until boarding the ship. The arrival process resembles New Zealand’s: the plane is sprayed before doors open to kill stray insects, and you must certify you have no prohibited foodstuffs. One additional step is that bags are X-rayed after arrival. The process was seamless.
The transfer from the airport on Baltra to the ship was equally seamless. Our baggage was collected at the airport and delivered to our cabin. Buses took us from the terminal to the dock, where we boarded a Panga (the local name for what we would call a RIB or Zodiac) to the ship.
On arrival, we were greeted with a cold drink and shown to our cabins. After a welcome briefing, boat drill, and lunch, we had just enough time to unpack before our first hike.
The Western Route
HX, the company we were traveling with, has three routes for the MS Santa Cruz II around the Galapagos Islands. We initially followed The Western Route, visiting Santa Cruz Island, Isabela Island, and Fernandina Island, then returned to Santa Cruz Island before visiting Floreana Island and finally returning to Baltra Island, where some passengers disembarked and others boarded.
While we were having our briefing, boat drill, and lunch, the ship cruised along the north coast of Santa Cruz and anchored off Dragon Hill. We went ashore for a hike. Dragon Hill (Cerro Dragón in Spanish) likely gets its name from the dragons that live there.
The “dragons” are iguanas: Marine Iguanas and Land Iguanas.
We were divided up into groups of ten or twelve for our hikes and other excursions. Our group was The Gulls. Each group had a very knowledgeable local naturalist to guide us. They also made sure that we kept to the designated paths to avoid disturbing the wildlife. The landing at Dragon Hill was a wet landing, meaning the Panga runs up onto the beach where you jump out into the shallow water and wade ashore.
The first part of our walk took us past a brackish lagoon inhabited by flamingos, black-necked stilts, and a couple of lava gulls.
The Lava gull, also known as the Dusky Gull, is the world’s rarest gull. It is only found in the Galapagos islands.
After an interesting hike during which we saw Land Iguanas, Marine Iguanas, Flamingos, Black-necked Stilts, Lava Gulls, Blue-footed Boobies, and Pelicans, we returned to the ship for a shower and change of clothes.
Before dinner we were given a briefing about what to expect tomorrow. That was followed by Captain’s welcome cocktails, or in my case a beer, and an introduction to our crew. Dinner was excellent. Then it was time for a small whisky as a nightcap and then bed.
While we were asleep the ship sailed to our next destination.