Simply put, the look on the young sea lion’s face in the photo above captures exactly how I felt during our 8 days cruising the Galapagos Archipelago. The unique combination of the sun, beautiful, other-worldly landscapes, and the uncanny friendliness of the animals, above and below the water, created an undeniable feeling of being in the Garden of Eden.
We snorkeled everyday, sometimes twice.
The kids looking confident before a snorkel.
Preparing for a snorkel from the beach on Father’s Day.
Zuki “living with a school of fish”.
One very memorable experience was our first snorkel. The conditions were not ideal for novice snorkelers, like our kids, age 6 and 9. The ocean was turbulent with some waves rolling through. The water was on the deep side for a snorkel and colder then we are accustomed to in Hawaii. Rather then swimming in from the beach, we entered by jumping off the small boat, close to a cliff. As soon as we got in we saw a huge mass of sea turtles, perhaps 60 of them. It wasn’t until we were snorkeling though more then a foot deep of jelly fish did we realize why the turtles were all schooled so closely; they were there to feed on the jellyfish.
A turtle surrounded by a thick layer of mostly non-stinging jelly fish.
A few fellow travelers immediately returned to the small boat. The sensation of the jelly fish covering every exposed part of your body took a little time to become accustomed to. I have had many opportunities to snorkel in a variety of environments and am a Dive Master in SCUBA yet I found myself needing to take a moment to relax to stop the claustrophobic feeling created from swimming with my face down through a pool of gummy-like animals. Zuki also took a minute for some deep breathing; barely able to handle the feeling of all the jellys up against her but the excitement of swimming with all the turtles motivated her and she rallied. You could sense her feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration. How amazing to have so many sea turtles surrounding you, within arms reach. What a way to start your day.
Zuki scooped up some jellies in her hand after the snorkel.
As we toured the islands we had close encounters with galapagos sea lions, fur seals, land iguanas, marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, finches, giant tortoises, pelicans, great blue cranes, lava lizards, yellow wobblers, flightless cormorants, flamingoes, sharks, Galapagos penguins, herons, schools of tropical fish, green turtles, jelly fish, spotted eagle rays, golden rays, frigate birds, sting rays, eels, and sally light-footed crabs. We saw many of the animals often enough that identification and tidbits of interesting information about the species became ingrained in our minds. I didn’t use a big zoom on my camera; these animals were in very close proximity to us and we had to constantly remind ourselves, and the kids, to keep the required 3’ distance between us and them.
A pile of marine iguanas, warming themselves in the sun. When they dive into the ocean to feed on algae the move their tail back and forth to swim. 
Blue footed boobies- Yoda’s favorite
Two land iguanas fighting over territory.
Galapagos penguin; the only penguin to live north of the Equator.
Colorful sally light-footed crabs scurry over the lava rocks.
Dragon like marine iguana rid their bodies of excess salt by spraying it of their noses.
A giant tortoise: 10 species remain of the original 14 species of the giant tortoises of the Galapagos. Breeding centers on the islands have been integral in the survival of these endemic species.
Galapagos sea lions everywhere
The sea lions are not scared of humans and are often curious and playful.
These juvenile sea lions came to join in the fun.
We also learned about the volcanic formation of islands, the evolution of numerous endemic species, and the progress of the ecological conservation programs for the islands, all while seeing it for ourselves; what a great source of enrichment.
Each island had such diverse landscape depending on the age of the island.
Beautiful flora colonizing the lava rocks.
Another beautiful landscape
Chinese Hat Island, a particularly tropical feeling island.
I can’t paint it all rosy though, as the first 5 days of the tour, we had a guide who, although full of great information, had a quite, monotone voice in combination with a difficult to understand accent that literally had the kids resorting to digging in the ground and banging rocks together as he droned on for 25 minutes at a time. Luckily the youthful guide for the second half of the trip easily held their attention and filled their ears with interesting information about their surroundings.
But this unforgettable experience didn’t come cheap. Even though we chose the most budget of boat classes available, “tourist class”, this trip was far from a budget travelers’ trip. The Galapagos, even on the “economic boat”, is expensive.
Golondrina, (in the foreground) our “tourist class" ship for 8 days.
We met plenty of shoestring travelers in Ecuador who just simply couldn’t afford a trip to the Galapagos. For our family this week was set as keystone experience in our world trip. In 2001, as young backpackers Kiko and I had visited the Galapagos Islands (A mere $300 on a last minute 8 day boat tour back then!), which was an impressive, totally unique experience. From the conception of “The Big Trip of 2014” the Galapagos was included.
For ease we had a completely separate budget for The Galapagos. To give you an idea our trip priced out like this:
Flight (Return Quito -Galapagos) for 2 adults $1000
Flights (Return Quito -Galapagos) for 2 children $780
Entry to park for 2 adults and 2 children $340
8 day/7 nights aboard Golondrinas for 2 adults $3200
8 days/7 nights aboard Golondrinas for 2 children $2800
Wetsuits/snorkel gear rental $120
tips $120
extra snacks $140
Total: $8500
That’s enough for us to travel as a family in most South/Central Americana countries for 9 1/2 weeks.
But I tried not to think of it in that way. Instead I relished in the unparalleled daily animal interactions, the breathtaking, ever-changing landscapes, the intense, intrinsic learning that comes naturally in this type of environment, and the shouts of excitement from the kids with each new experience.
This time is was my turn to have tears in my eyes upon departure. I know I was being silly but I feel a connection to this archipelago and became sad thinking I may never return while at the same time knowing how lucky I have been to visit the Galapagos twice. The new memories of our family experiences have made it even dearer to my heart.
Flight (Return Quito -Galapagos) for 2 adults $1000
Flights (Return Quito -Galapagos) for 2 children $780
Entry to park for 2 adults and 2 children $340
8 day/7 nights aboard Golondrinas for 2 adults $3200
8 days/7 nights aboard Golondrinas for 2 children $2800
Wetsuits/snorkel gear rental $120
tips $120
extra snacks $140
Total: $8500
That’s enough for us to travel as a family in most South/Central Americana countries for 9 1/2 weeks.
But I tried not to think of it in that way. Instead I relished in the unparalleled daily animal interactions, the breathtaking, ever-changing landscapes, the intense, intrinsic learning that comes naturally in this type of environment, and the shouts of excitement from the kids with each new experience.
This time is was my turn to have tears in my eyes upon departure. I know I was being silly but I feel a connection to this archipelago and became sad thinking I may never return while at the same time knowing how lucky I have been to visit the Galapagos twice. The new memories of our family experiences have made it even dearer to my heart.
