Our Family spent six adventurous weeks in Ecuador dividing our time between the Amazon, Quito and the Andes and ten days in the Galapagos on a catamaran, Galapagos Vision. This review is about our time in the Galapagos.

Most of our adventures happened during the day when we walked the islands or leisurely snorkelled the blue coastal waters. We snorkelled at least twice a day with marine iguanas, two types of turtles, sharks and sting rays not to mention all the fish life. The Galapagos Vision was not a dive boat but a fifteen metre catamaran holding ten paying passengers and six crew including a naturalist, Milton.

I can still hear his warm and smiling voice. ‘You do not have to look for the animals, they will look for you’. We thought he was just trying to keep us on the track but Milton turned out to be a legend. He seemed to know where to find stingrays, which ledges were hiding white tip reef sharks and where to find sea turtles gracefully feeding in the current.

‘Stay still’, was easier said than done as half a dozen stingrays swam around our feet in ankle deep water. Once again ‘The legend’ had led us to a beach on Floreana Island. The sculptured dunes were the nesting area for green sea turtles and only twenty metres off the beach two turtles were mating.

In this precious place we had to follow certain rules like the ‘two metre rule’. We were supposed to stay at least two metres from all animals but no one told the animals. We felt a connection as Green Sea Turtles comfortably fed just centimetres away under water. White Tipped Reef Sharks snoozed below us in the shallow water sometimes closer than we wanted to be.

These islands are epic. With regularity we would get out of the path of a determined sea lion or marine iguana as they moved to a new sunning perch. The oohs and aahs as baby sea lions nursed or a Nazca Booby stood up to expose a furry chick. Magnificent and Great Frigate birds, Waved Albatross, Blue Footed Boobies and Tropic Birds were in great numbers on some islands.

One of the highlights was seeing marine iguanas swim in from the cool sea with their serpent swagger and climb sometimes twenty metres up a cliff to a warm perch. They are the only marine lizard in the world and we found them lounging in great numbers (photo).

Darwin explored the Galapagos and developed his theory of evolution by noticing the changes in the length of mockingbird’s beaks and variation in finches from Island to Island. It was fascinating as visitors to easily see evolving forms of animals. Sure enough every island of the nine we visited showed a change in adaptation. The mockingbird’s beaks were longer, iguanas colour changed and finch’s beaks were noticeably stouter on some islands.

Even the islands change and evolve as they drift slowly east getting older, flatter and lower. Rabida is the ‘red’ island and some islands have the contrasting colour of old and new lava flows. We did not visit the most volcanic and westward islands of Fernandina and Isabela which would provide even more variety.

Exploring the Galapagos by boat and living aboard puts less pressure on the growing infrastructure of the islands but you need to have some sea legs to enjoy the journey. Our family never found it rough but some on our cruise looked a bit pale. The alternative is a land based exploration, sleeping on land and making boat trips to the islands.

Our shipmates were as varied as the wildlife consisting of people from Italy,
US, Netherlands and New Zealand. Another bonus of our travels is we feel we have made lifelong friends and with our new acquaintances we have invitations to visit so it seems, the journey never ends. There are boats to meet every need and price range carrying passenger of a few to one hundred.

The snorkelling was so different than anything I have experienced before. The animals were new but the quantity of sea life was unbelievable. The water was cool but not too cold to snorkel without a wetsuit but I would recommend one for diving.

After our cruise which is a great way to see some of the islands we spent several days in Puerta Ayora to regain our land legs and look around the main town on Santa Cruz Island. My son and I chose to dive with Silberstein Dive Centre and did two dives off Baltra Island. Both dives were drift dives and were easy and gentle and called Mosquera and North Seymour. The dive master was adequate as was the rental equipment and we had no trouble. It did make me realise after our trip on Galapagos Vision that it is the guide that can make the difference between a special trip and an adequate trip. The guys at Silberstein were adequate. The schools of Jacks were incredible and at one stage we were surrounded by them while doing our safety stop.

There are many dive shops to choose from in the Galapagos and I would recommend using the forums on TripAdvisor and Bluewater Travel to find the best ones. Have fun!