Trip to the Galapagos, Day 1 on Samba

Tuesday January 24, 2017

We had an early flight to the Galapagos and the airport was about an hour away in rush hour so I think the bus came to pick up the group really early- maybe 7am?  The drive was pretty uneventful.  We had a good view of the volcano Cotopaxi again.

Arriving to the airport was a little hectic since we were a big group and didn't really know what to do.  Basically they scan your luggage and look for anything that could be invasive to the Galapagos and they make sure you have your $20 visa and then you walk through a bunch of stores (akin to a mall) and you wait a long time since the process goes much more quickly than you think it will.  We got breakfast at a Mexican food place which was pretty good.

The flight to the Galapagos actually goes to Guayaquil first, the plane lets off people and another group gets back on but if you're going to the Galapagos you'll sit and wait on the plane.  The airline we flew was Latam and they had an app you could download and watch TV shows for free.  I started watching Mr. Robot but then stopped because my phone was dying and there were no outlets.  Overall I think the flight is about 3 hours total?

Getting off the plane at Baltra

Going through customs in the Galapagos is also pretty quick.  You'll need to pay $100 cash and you should get another passport stamp.  I didn't get one though because there was some sort of issue with people in my line so I was moved to another desk and in the shuffle I guess my passport missed the stamp.  That's okay though, my Ecuador one will suffice since I'm running low on pages anyway!  Your bags will be searched again for anything organic.  As long as you don't have fruits or anything like that you should be fine.

The biggest shock going from Quito to the Galapagos will be the weather.  Quito is cool and very low humidity due to the altitude.  The Galapagos are very hot and humid and the minute you get off the plane and walk into the airport it will be a big change!

A pelican in the port of Baltra

Our guide, Santiago, met us at the airport and we immediately got onto a bus that took us to the port to get on our boat.  Since we were on a northern itinerary our boat was docked at Baltra Island, where the airport is.  Most northern itinerary cruises will end at Puerto Ayora and you'll need to travel back to the airport on Baltra.

Shelley on the deck of the Samba

The bus dropped us off at the port, Santiago gave us life jackets and we got in the small inflatable boats that would take us to our home for the week, the Samba!  The small inflatable boats held about 8 people and the driver and were called tenders.  Before you get on for the first time your guide will probably teach you what they call the Galapagos Handshake which you'll use to get on and off the tenders.  Instead of grabbing someone by the hand you'll grab them by the wrist which gives you a better grip.

Some of our group boarding a tender

Once we were all on board the board started heading toward Mosquera Island for our first stop.  If I remember correctly we were on board by 2pm and I think it was only an hour or so to Mosquera.  Before each walk/hike Santiago gave us a briefing about what to expect, what we should wear and what animals we might see.  The walks distance wise were never long but they lasted a few hours and Santiago would give us so much information about the animals, the islands and their history.

Our first walk on Mosquera was a wonderful introduction to the Galapagos.  It was a beautiful beach with tons of sea lions, crabs and some whale bones.  The sun was starting to set so it was a little less intense than earlier in the day.  We saw an adorable baby sea lion in a cove and I probably took 20 pictures of it!

What I remember most vividly about this island were the sea lions lolling around.  The Galapagos National Park has some very strict rules about how close you can get to the animals (I think it was 10 feet?) but the animals themselves make that hard!  What struck me immediately when we got on land is that none of the animals are afraid of humans!  They aren't afraid to get close to you and won't run away if you walk past them.  It's so amazing to walk down a beach and sea lions and iguanas walk right next to you and don't run away.

Some of my favorite pictures from Mosquera are below.

Santiago our guide explaining something to us.

I thought this green vegetation was so striking against the sand.

A sandy sea lion

Afterwards we got back on the boat and Santiago gave us our schedule for the next day.  The days on the boat are so busy!  Typically we got up around 5ish with breakfast at 6am then there was usually an activity like snorkeling or a walk.  The hottest/sunniest part of the day we were usually resting on the boat or traveling to the next destination.  There was usually some kind of early evening walk/hike before dinner.  By the evening you're totally exhausted so most of the time everyone went to bed early (8-9pm?).  The stargazing at night was probably the best I've ever seen though so it was wonderful to sit out on deck at night and just look up.  The water was usually very active too!  We occasionally saw sharks, bioluminescence and sea lions chasing fish.

Our first sunset in the Galapagos