Sam & Marta - Travel

From Tayrona National Park at the Caribbean Coast, we moved all the way to the small village of Salento in the Colombian Highlands. This trip took us an entire day, starting with a one-hour taxi ride to the airport of Santa Marta. From there we flew to Bogotá and then onward to Pereira to the West of the capital. Finally, a two-hour taxi ride through rush hour traffic brought us to our accommodation outside of Salento well after sunset.

Salento’s location at an altitude of around 1’900 meters makes it a great place for growing coffee. The hills around the village are home to many coffee plantations and we spent one day visiting two of them. There, we learned about the process of growing, harvesting and processing coffee. What was most impressive to us was that the harvest is still done by hand. Since not all coffee beans on one plant ripen at the same time, workers must pick each bean individually, making this an extremely labor-intensive process. The plantations were home not only to coffee plants, but many other exotic trees as well. These are supposed to provide shade for the coffee, as well as nutrition to the soil. Of course, we also got to taste the coffee. The second plantation we visited had a very elaborate tasting room, where they tried to teach us, with little success, how to recognize different flavors in the coffee. Like in wine tasting, they had samples of about 40 different tastes the experts can notice in coffee. Good ones like hazelnut, nutmeg or lime and bad ones like rubber or ash, which signal that the coffee was roasted for too long.

Coffee plantation in Salento

Ripe (red) and unripe (green) coffee beans

Dried coffee beans without shells

Green banana bunch on a coffee plantation

Pink banana bunch on a coffee plantation

Japanese siphon in the coffee tasting room

Besides the coffee, the other big reason to visit Salento is the nearby Valle del Cocora. The lush valley is home to a large concentration of Colombia’s national tree, the wax palm. There were regular jeep taxis from the center of Salento to the valley, from where we started the last hike of our trip. The first part of the hike led up through the jungle along a creek. From there, the way down went through a more open landscape with large groups of wax palms around. The wax palm is the tallest palm tree in the world and can grow up to 60 meters high. It was truly impressive to stand next to these giants.

Marta crossing a bridge in the Cocora valley

Cocora valley with giant wax palm trees

Giant wax palm trees in the Cocora valley

Sam standing at the bottom of a giant wax palm tree in the Cocora valley

For the trip from Salento back to Bogotá, we chose to take a bus from nearby Armenia rather than a flight. Unfortunately, on this last bus ride in South America we had our first bad experience. It started with our bus being delayed without anyone giving us any information about when it will go. After about two hours of waiting, we were informed that the bus was cancelled and that we could change our ticket for the next day. Since we did not feel like spending one day in Armenia, we managed to book a ticket with another company that still had a bus leaving on that day. The traffic on this day was terrible and we spent hours in the bus hardly moving at all. It was late at night when we finally arrived in Bogotá.

Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, was our last destination in South America. The city is full of history, but will remain in our memory most likely for its bad weather. Because of its high altitude of 2’640 meters, temperatures rarely exceed 20 °C here. Fog in the morning is the norm and it rains a lot. We did a walking tour of the historic center, which has a lot of nice churches and old government buildings. Standing out was the modern Palace of Justice. It had to be rebuilt in 1985 after it was completely destroyed during a siege by the communist guerilla group M-19. There are suspicions that drug lord Pablo Escobar funded the attack.

Palace of Justice of Colombia in Bogota

Cathedral of Colombia in Bogota

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria in Bogota

Santuario Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Bogota

Given the weather in Bogotá, it is good that the city at least has some great museums. The Museo del Oro (Gold museum) hosts the world’s largest collection of gold artifacts. It also shows the different techniques that the ancient Colombian civilizations used to produce their elaborate gold products. Our favorite museum though was the Botero Museum, dedicated to the unique works of Colombia’s most famous living artist, Fernando Botero. The most recognizable feature of his paintings and sculptures are his play with proportions. Botero gave all the pieces in this museum for free under the conditions that he himself gets to decide where each painting is placed, and that the entrance to the museum remains free forever.

The Muisca raft at the Gold Museum in Bogota

"Family" at the Botero Museum in Bogota

"Mona Lisa" at the Botero Museum in Bogota

"Woman in front of a window" at the Botero Museum in Bogota

We entered Colombia at the airport in Bogotá, but did not stay in the capital yet. Instead, we continued straight to Cartagena at the Caribbean Coast, where we stayed for four nights in the historic old town. We have seen a lot of old towns in South America by now and Cartagena was the most beautiful of them all. The entire area within the old city walls looks like time had not passed since the Spanish founded Cartagena in the 16th century. Beautiful colonial buildings with wooden balconies on the second floor line almost every street and an old church is visible from nearly every corner. Unlike other South American cities we have visited, we also felt completely safe strolling through the streets at night here. They are full of life at every hour of the day, with people playing music, singing or enjoying a romantic horse carriage ride. We also had a great first impression of the Colombian people. They are very friendly, outgoing and just as colorful as their city.

Street in the Getsemani neighborhood of Cartagena

The old clock tower of Cartagena

Marta with a Palenquera

Colonial houses in Cartagena’s old town in the evening

Marta walking through the old town of Cartagena at night

Sam in our AirBnB’s rooftop whirlpool in the center of Cartagena

Just outside the old city walls there is the huge Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, a fortress from the 16th century. We visited on a beautiful afternoon and enjoyed it a lot. The structure is built on top of a small hill and there are fantastic views over the old town, as well as the rich and shiny neighborhood of Bocagrande. The Caribbean vibes were complemented by flocks of parrots flying overhead. The fortress is very well preserved given its age. There are many “secret” pathways underground connecting the different parts of the castle and it was possible to explore those too.

View towards Bocagrande from Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

View over Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

Castillo San Felipe de Barajas

Castillo San Felipe de Barajas in the evening

On our last day in Cartagena, we joined a daytrip aboard a 26-meter catamaran to the Rosario islands. This small archipelago in the Caribbean sea is also a national park. However, we did not have high expectations for wildlife and mainly came to swim and relax on the boat. The huge catamaran could fit 200 people, but there were only 30 to 40 tourists onboard. Perfect to relax with a pleasant breeze while drinking an ice cold drink. The islands were not overly impressive, but the roughly 28 °C warm water was a bliss. We also went snorkeling in two different spots and while the coral was not very colorful, there were surprisingly many beautiful fish. Another highlight of the trip was the inflatable pink flamingo provided by the crew, which was ideal for shooting that perfect Caribbean vacation photo.

Cartagena’s old town from our catamaran

The Bocagrande neighborhood from our catamaran

Marta on an inflatable pink flamingo in the Rosario islands

Sam on an inflatable pink flamingo in the Rosario islands

Tiny inhabited island in the Rosario islands

The next day we took a bus along the coast to Santa Marta. From there, a taxi brought us the last hour to our hotel, right next to Tayrona National Park, where we stayed for three nights. Sadly, all the beaches near our hotel had very strong currents and were therefore unsafe for swimming. In fact, almost all the beaches in this area of Colombia are very dangerous. Because of this, we were very glad to have a beautiful pool in our hotel where we spent hours every day. Even better, the hotel allowed for drinking in the pool so we made good use of the happy hour every evening.

Playa Los Naranjos near our hotel

The pool at our hotel

Our day in Colombia’s most famous national park was fantastic, but also very strenuous. Our hike was only 12 kilometers for the round-trip, but at 30 °C and very high humidity it still took an effort. The hike led us up and down through the jungle, past very beautiful beaches and under tall palm trees to Cabo San Juan. At this peninsula there are two almost symmetrical beaches which were safe for swimming. Of course, we took advantage of that and went for a swim there. While the scenery was very beautiful, it was also very crowded. Tayrona National Park is very popular among Colombians too and since we went on a Saturday the park was really full. After lunch on the way back, we stopped at Playa La Piscina which is also safe to swim. We liked this beach even more, because it had much less people and the water was calmer too. We ended the day like every other day here, with a cocktail in the pool.

Path through the jungle in Tayrona National Park

Eastern beach at Cabo San Juan in Tayrona National Park

Western beach at Cabo San Juan in Tayrona National Park

Playa La Piscina in Tayrona National Park

Path through palm trees in Tayrona National Park

After spending nine days on the Galapagos Islands, we had only four days left to explore the mainland of Ecuador. For this, we based ourselves in Quito, the capital of the country. Quito is located just 25 kilometers South of the equator, but because of its altitude of 2’850 meters it is not a very hot place. The average daytime temperature is around 10 to 17 °C. We spent some time exploring the well preserved old town of Quito, which was the first city inscribed into the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site list. Quito is famous for its churches, decorated in an elaborate baroque style. We visited two churches inside. The first one was La Compañía de Jesús which is said to be the most beautiful church in the entire South America. Everything inside this impressive church is covered with gold leaves, including the walls and ceiling. The second church we visited was Basílica del Voto Nacional, which is the largest neo-Gothic cathedral in the Western hemisphere. Some of its architectural elements resemble the famous Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. However, instead of the gargoyles, one can spot native Ecuadorian armadillos, iguanas and Galapagos tortoises on the facade.

Main square and presidential palace in Quito

Street in the center of Quito with the Basílica del Voto Nacional in the distance

Quito seen through the two main towers of the Basílica del Voto Nacional

Evening light in San Blas neighborhood of Quito

For one day, we travelled to the nearby town of Mindo, which is known for its cloud forest and exceptional biodiversity. We hired a local bird watching guide to walk with us through the forest and help us spot birds. The cloud forest around Mindo is home to over 500 species of birds, making it one of the world’s top spots for bird watching. From our recent experiences on the Galapagos Islands, we assumed that this was going to be easy. However, we are not sure if we had spotted a single bird that day without our guide. Somehow, he spotted small birds sitting motionless on a tree 50 meters away behind other trees and quickly pointed his telescope so we could see them too. Thanks to our guide, we were able to see toucans and many different species of the colorful tanagers.

Mindo cloud forest

Chairlift through the Mindo cloud forest

Crimson-rumped toucanet in Mindo, photographed through a telescope

Choco toucan in Mindo, photographed through a telescope

Pale-mandibled aracari in Mindo, photographed through a telescope

Our day trip to Cotopaxi was less successful than the one to Mindo. It took more than three hours to reach the carpark at 4’600 meter above the sea, from where we started hiking up. It was raining heavily and it was impossible to see anything of the 5’897 meters high volcano. After hiking half-way to the viewpoint, our guide correctly concluded that it does not make any sense to continue and we went back down and drove back to Quito. Unfortunately, this was our last day in Ecuador and it felt very much wasted. The next day we left for Colombia early in the morning.

Cotopaxi in the clouds

On the fourth day of our cruise, we woke up on the Northern end of the Galapagos’ largest island. Isabela Island was created by the merger of six volcanoes, which gave it a distinct seahorse shape. Most of the Galapagos Islands lie South of the equator, but Genovesa and the Northern tip of Isabela are on the Northern hemisphere. Our first activity for the day was a ride in our two small dinghies along the cliffs of Punta Vicente Roca. Besides lots of birds like boobies and pelicans, we also found a sunfish in the water. Sunfish are among the largest bony fishes in the world. They are round and flat like a plate and can span about 2 meters in diameter.

Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island

Everyone is trying to get a good look at the sunfish

Pelican at Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island

Next we went snorkeling at the same spot. Given the location of the Galapagos at the equator, one might assume that the water here is very warm. Unfortunately, the Humboldt current brings cold waters from the Arctic up to the Galapagos. In our previous snorkeling spots, the water was around 23 °C, but here in the West of Isabela Island, a strong upwelling brings the temperature down to only about 20 °C. While this is not bad for a quick swim, after an hour of snorkeling we were feeling pretty cold. Despite the cold, it was absolutely worth it. The highlight of the snorkeling were once again the sea lions, who just loved to swim around us and show off their agility in the water.

Galapagos sea lion at Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island

Galapagos sea lion at Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island

School of fish at Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island

On the way to our next stop, the boat’s bell once again rang to get us on deck. This time, a whale shark had been sighted and our guide rushed us to get our snorkeling gear on as fast as possible. With the dinghy, we went closer and jumped in. The whale shark was about seven meters long, although the visibility did not allow to see the entire animal at once. He must have not liked our presence, as he swam out of our sight after only about 20 seconds. Despite being so large, whale sharks eat only plankton. Back on the boat, they sighted another sunfish and we tried to snorkel with him as well. Unfortunately, these fish are very shy and he was gone before we could orient ourselves underwater.

In the afternoon, The Beagle anchored in Tagus Cove and we went ashore on Isabela Island for the first time. If you came to Galapagos expecting a classic tropical paradise, you would probably feel disappointed. While there are a couple of nice beaches, especially the younger islands like Isabela and Fernandina are mostly volcanic rock with only minimal vegetation. On our hike through this landscape, we saw lots of finches, the small birds that helped Darwin develop his theory of evolution. There are about 15 different species of finches on the Galapagos islands. They differ mostly in their size and the shapes of their beak, which are adapted to different food sources and habitats.

The Beagle anchoring in Tagus Cove, Isabela Island

Ground finch near Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island

Warbler finch on Santa Cruz Island

We spent the night in a calm bay in front of Fernandina Island, the youngest island of the Galapagos. In the morning, we went on land for a fantastic nature walk. Just in the first ten minutes, we saw a sea lion hunting for fish and a Galapagos hawk catching a baby marine iguana. We have seen marine iguanas at nearly every spot, but never as many as during this walk. Sometimes there were hundreds of them piled up in one spot. They don’t move a lot and they are as black as the volcanic rock on which they sit, so we had to be really careful not to step on one by accident. While they are not particularly handsome, marine iguanas are fascinating animals. They are endemic to the Galapagos islands and the only lizards that forage underwater, where they feed on green algae. They can dive as deep as 30 meters and stay underwater for up to one hour. When there is a shortage of food, they can shrink their body size so they need less energy.

Galapagos sea lion with a fish in his mouth on Fernandina Island

Galapagos hawk with a baby marine iguana in its claws on Fernandina Island

Marine iguana on Santa Cruz Island

Marine iguana sitting on a tree on Fernandina Island

Large group of marine iguanas warming up on Fernandina Island

Part of a marine iguana skeleton on Fernandina Island

Lava flows with cacti on Fernandina Island

After the walk, we went snorkeling in front of Fernandina Island and it was the best snorkeling we have ever done. Right after jumping in the water, a Galapagos penguin dove in next to us and swam around us for a bit. Next, we encountered a group of at least ten sea turtles feeding on algae. They were the largest sea turtles we have ever seen, probably close to two meters long. We are supposed to keep two meters distance from animals, but it was really hard since the waves were strong and the turtles were everywhere around us. While watching the turtles, a group of sea lions approached us and swam around us. They are so incredibly fast! In the end, we also saw marine iguanas swimming and eating algae.

Sea turtle feeding in the waters of Fernandina Island

Sea turtle in the waters of Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island

Marine iguana feeding on algae in the waters of Fernandina Island

For our afternoon stop we went to Urbina Bay, back on Isabela Island. There, we saw the famous Galapagos tortoise in the wild for the first time. They are so iconic for the archipelago that the Galapagos islands are actually named after the giant tortoises, not the other way around. So “Galapagos Islands” really means “Islands of the tortoises” It was great to see them slowly walking their way, with the composure of an animal who knows it is going to live another hundred years. We also found a few land iguanas in this area. Unlike their marine relatives, they are nicely colored, though Darwin still described them as “ugly”.

Galapagos tortoise walking in Urbina Bay, Isabela Island

Galapagos mockingbird sitting on top of a Galapagos tortoise in Urbina Bay, Isabela Island

Land iguana in Urbina Bay, Isabela Island

Land iguana in Urbina Bay, Isabela Island

Land iguana hiding in the bushes in Urbina Bay, Isabela Island

Moving South along the West coast of Isabela Island, we made our next stop at Elizabeth Bay, where we explored the coast with the dinghy early in the morning. Elizabeth Bay has the largest concentration of the endemic Galapagos penguins and we saw many that morning. Around half a meter tall, they are among the smallest penguins in the world and the only ones that can be found North of the equator (on the Northern tip of Isabela Island). Unlike other penguins, they don’t live in colonies, but are mostly solitary. Sadly, they are a threatened species with only around 2’000 individuals left. Another endemic bird we saw that morning was the flightless cormorant. Due to the abundance of food in the ocean here, they have lost their ability to fly and instead catch food by diving underwater. Later, we went snorkeling for the last time on the cruise and unsuccessfully tried to find seahorses hiding in the algae.

Galapagos penguin in Elizabeth Bay, Isabela Island

Group of six Galapagos penguins swimming in Elizabeth Bay, Isabela Island

Flightless cormorant in Elizabeth Bay, Isabela Island

The second stop of the day was at Punta Moreno, where we walked over relatively new lava flows to a lagoon which had a couple of American flamingos in it. The American flamingo is the most colorful of all the flamingo species.

American flamingo in a lagoon at Punta Moreno, Isabela Island

Three American flamingos in a lagoon at Punta Moreno, Isabela Island

In the afternoon, we did not have any more excursions as we were sailing around the Southwestern tip of Isabela Island. Just as we thought that this day was the least exciting day of the cruise so far, the bell rang to get our attention on deck. We could hardly believe our luck, when a blue whale, the largest animal known to have ever existed, showed up next to the Beagle. The whale was at least 20 meters long, almost as large as our boat. We followed the blue whale around for nearly an hour and he sometimes came very close to our boat. They were once abundant in the oceans, but were hunted nearly to extinction until the 1970s. Nowadays, there are around 20’000 blue whales spread around the globe, which makes it quite rare to encounter one.

Everyone is very excited about the blue whale surfacing close to our boat

Dorsal fin and flipper of a blue whale in the West of Isabela Island

The back of a blue whale in the West of Isabela Island

We started the next day in the harbor of Puerto Villamil, the only inhabited place on Isabela Island that is home to around 2’000 people. The first activity was a hike to the caldera of the Sierra Negra volcano, where we were extremely lucky to spot the rare vermillion flycatcher. Unfortunately, the weather was so misty that we hardly saw anything of the caldera. Sierra Negra is one of five active volcanoes on Isabela Island and the most recent one to erupt just one year ago. After the hike, we visited the tortoise breeding center. There were once an estimated quarter million Galapagos tortoises in the archipelago, but sadly they were a very convenient food source for sailors. They were very easy to catch and could be stored alive in the hull of the ships for up to a year, providing fresh meat during long journeys. Nowadays, they also face trouble from many introduced species and are considered threatened, which is why they are actively bred in captivity and released back into the wild only when old enough to survive (usually when they are 10 to 12 years old).

Young Galapagos tortoise on his back at the tortoise breeding center in Puerto Villamil

"And this, my child, is how the baby tortoises are made" (tortoise breeding center in Puerto Villamil)

From Puerto Villamil, we sailed back to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. This was the most rocky part of our cruise and we were grateful for having packed seasickness pills. On Santa Cruz we did a last nature walk before having to say goodbye to our guide and our cruise-mates. During the walk, we again saw lots of birds like finches or the endemic Galapagos mockingbird.

The Beagle in rough waters between Isabela and Santa Cruz Island

Galapagos mockingbird near Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island

Galapagos mockingbird on Santiago Island

Our seven-day Galapagos cruise trip exceeded our expectations on every scale. The boat, the guide, the fellow travelers, the food and most importantly, the wildlife were all amazing. We both agreed that although it was the most expensive week of our round-the-world trip, it was also the best one. We spent another two days in Puerto Ayora at a more relaxed pace. We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station and a couple of beaches around the town and still saw lots of wildlife, though nothing we have not already seen on the cruise. The Galapagos Islands are a true paradise on the Earth and we hope to come back one day!

Bay of Puerto Ayora

Beach near the Charles Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora

Two Galapagos sea lions resting on a bench at the Puerto Ayora pier

From Iguazú Falls to Lima, we have travelled exclusively by bus, but for our last month of travel we changed to airplanes as our primary mode of transportation. Since we will be focusing on the highlights of Ecuador and Colombia only, distances are simply too large to travel by bus. Our first stop in Ecuador was Guayaquil, a large port city in the South of Ecuador, but we spent only an afternoon and a night there. In this time, we met two of Marta’s friends from her PhD for dinner and they showed us around the nice riverfront area of the city. The next morning, we continued to the Galapagos Islands.

We have thought hard about how we want to explore the Galapagos Islands, but ultimately settled on booking a seven-day cruise trip aboard a small motor-sailing boat. This cruise is by far the most expensive thing we have done in this year of travelling, but we concluded that going with a cruise will allow us to see the more remote islands of the archipelago, where the wildlife is more plentiful and less shy and where there are fewer other tourists. Also, a cruise has the advantage that you don’t loose time going back and forth between your accommodation since the boat can move over night to the next destination, thus providing more opportunities to explore the islands. We chose a North-Western itinerary, which includes visits to three of the four most pristine islands, Genovesa, Fernandina and Isabela.

Route map of our North-Western itinerary

Upon arrival we were picked up by Diego, our naturalist guide for the cruise, and brought to our boat. Our home for the next seven days was called «The Beagle», named after the «HMS Beagle», which brought Charles Darwin to the Galapagos in 1835. It is a 32-meter, two-masted sailing boat, but it was motoring for most of our journey. We especially enjoyed the large outdoor dining table and the many lounging opportunities on deck. Our room was very spacious and comfortable for a boat, with a private bathroom including a hot shower with good water-pressure. More importantly, we were lucky to share this trip with ten fun, friendly and well-travelled co-passengers.

The Beagle anchoring in front of Isabela Island

The Beagle

Our cabin on The Beagle

On deck of The Beagle at sunset

On the afternoon of our arrival, we already had the first stop of our trip at a beach on Santa Cruz Island called Las Bachas. On our walk along the beach, we already saw lots of interesting animals. Right after landing on the beach, we were greeted by the ubiquitous Sally Lightfoot crab. A large and intensely colored crab that we found nearly at every stop. We also saw many birds like black-necked stilts, great blue herons or yellow warblers. After the walk, we jumped in the water for a first short swim in the Galapagos.

Las Bachas beach on Santa Cruz Island in evening light

Sally lightfoot crab at Las Bachas beach on Santa Cruz Island

Sally lightfoot crab on Santa Cruz Island

Sally lightfoot crab on Santiago Island

Black-necked stilt in a small lagoon on Santa Cruz Island

Great blue heron on Santiago Island

Yellow warbler on Santa Cruz Island

Overnight, we moved all the way to Genovesa Island in the far Northeast of the archipelago. The sea was quite calm and we had a good first night on the boat. After breakfast, we landed at a spot called Prince Philip’s Steps from where we walked along a path on top of the cliffs. This place was a nesting area for countless frigatebirds, Nazca boobies and red-footed boobies. It is hard to describe how many birds there were around us and they completely ignored us like we have never seen it before. We felt a bit like ghosts walking through those birds who were mating, building nests, feeding their chicks and in general went along with their daily business just meters away from us. Of the three booby species that live in the Galapagos islands, two are nesting on Genovesa. We did not visit any nesting areas of the iconic blue-footed booby, but we did occasionally see them flying around or dive-bombing into the sea to catch fish.

Red-footed booby in the mangroves on Genovesa Island

Red-footed booby with chick on Genovesa Island

Red-footed booby on Genovesa Island

Adult Nazca booby on Genovesa Island

Juvenile Nazca booby on Genovesa Island

Blue-footed booby on a rock in front of Puerto Villamil, Isabela Island

Blue-footed booby in the air near Isabela Island

Our next activity was snorkeling along the cliffs of Darwin Bay. This was quite tricky because the water was very choppy. The visibility underwater was very low due to the high nutrient content of the water, which makes the Galapagos such a wildlife paradise. We did still manage to see a hammerhead shark though, which was very exciting. After lunch, we went for kayaking along the cliffs where we saw more birds like the red-billed tropicbird and storm petrels and some fur seals resting in the shade. Later, we did another landing, this time at the beach in the middle of Darwin Bay. This was again a large nesting area for birds like frigatebirds or swallow-tailed gulls. The latter is breeding almost exclusively in the Galapagos and is the only fully nocturnal seabird in the world. The frigatebirds are amongst the largest and most fascinating birds on the islands. Their wings can span up to 2.3 meters and they are known to harass smaller birds midflight to steal their catch, something we witnesses ourselves on Genovesa Island. While they are mostly black, the males have a large red gular pouch, which serves no other purpose than to attract females during the breeding season.

Cliffs of Genovesa Island

Male frigatebird with inflated gular pouch on Genovesa Island

Male frigatebird in the air on Genovesa Island

Two swallow-tailed gulls on Genovesa Island

Swallow-tailed gull on Genovesa Island

On the way back to the beach, we saw a group of sea lions bask in the sun and cool off in the water. They can be very playful with humans which probably makes them the most beloved animals in the archipelago. The Galapagos sea lion is endemic to the islands and is the smallest species of sea lions, though they can still weight up to 250kg. We ended the day with a short snorkeling off the beach where some sea lions joined us. They look so clumsy on land but are extremely agile in the water. Other notable underwater sightings were an eagle ray and about half a dozen whitetip reef sharks.

Galapagos sea lions basking in the afternoon sun on Genovesa Island

Two Galapagos sea lions at the beach on Genovesa Island

Eagle ray in Darwin Bay

Whitetip reef shark in Darwin Bay

We could not believe how much we were able to see on a single day at Genovesa Island. It was a very busy day full of activities, though we would soon learn that this was not an exception. Overnight, the Beagle cruised to a spot called Puerto Egas on Santiago Island, where we landed on a black sand beach for another great walk. There, we found the Galapagos fur seal, an endemic species which looks very similar to the Galapagos sea lions but is more shy. We were also very fortunate to witness Mobula rays close to the shore. These large rays were jumping a few meters out of the water while doing flips in the air. In some kind of mating behavior, they did this almost synchronously in groups of about five rays. Another endemic animal we saw was the colorful Galapagos lava lizard, though they can be seen on almost all the islands. To end the morning, we went snorkeling off the beach. Here, the water was a lot clearer and we saw lots of fish, as well as a sea lion who was swimming around us.

Black sand beach at Puerto Egas on Santiago Island

Marta walking over lava flows on Santiago Island

Galapagos fur seal on Santiago Island

Sea lion playing in the water on Santiago Island

Galapagos lava lizard on Santiago Island

Galapagos lava lizard eating a locust on Fernandina Island

Giant Hawkfish in the waters around Santiago Island

After lunch, we set sail for the North of Isabela Island. The Beagle actually put the sails up for the first time, though the motor was still running at the same time. On board, there was a loud bell, which was rung to gather us for meals, activities or when interesting animals have been sighted. On this day, the latter happened for the first time as one of the crew spotted a Bryde’s whale close to our ship. During a beautiful sunset we arrived to Isabella Island, by far the largest in the archipelago, where we anchored for the night.

Sunset seen from The Beagle