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galapagos : cruise
Written by sophie et jeremy   
Friday, 01 March 2019

We have decided to pay ourselves an extra with this 5 days cruise totally out of budget. The goal is to discover the more remote island, therefor the wildest, which are only accessed that way, on a cruise with an official guide. We will also enjoy resting and being spoiled by the crew.

iguane seymour iguane seymour

After an epic crossing of Santa Cruz island (with 2 different buses and a “ferry”), we meet our guide Maja and board on the Angelito. First observation : we are only 10 on the boat. Second : the meal is good. that’s a good sign!

Soon after lunch, we sail to North Seymour island, where we go and walk, see the local fauna. On top of the numerous iguanas (both marine and land iguanas) and sea lions, the island is full of birds, especially frigates. During the mating time (lucky us, it’s now), males inflate a kind of red balloon under their neck, to attract females.

night gull genovesa night gull genovesa Seymour iguane Seymour iguane

sea lion Seymour sea lion Seymour marine iguana Seymour marine iguana Seymour

Seymour fregate Seymour fregate genovesa fregate genovesa fregate

The next day, we see Chinese hat and Bartolome island, with their gorgeous volcanic landscapes, red and black, in contrast with the blue of the sea and the white sand beaches. The icing on the cake, we swam with penguins.

chinese hat beach chinese hat beach chinese hat chinese hat

manchot chinese hat manchot chinese hat manchots bartolomé manchots bartolomé

bartolomé landscape bartolomé landscape

The following day, we visit Genovesa island, a volcanic cone partially collapsed into the sea, in which we drop the anchor for the night. Here we see many boobies : blue footed boobies, red footed boobies and Nazca boobies. The most iconic is the blue footed booby, because of the foot dance it perform to seduce females. It is their nesting time, so many young can be seen in the nests, still incapable of flying or fishing.

blue footed booby seymour blue footed booby seymour blue footed booby genevesa blue footed booby genevesa

nasca booby genovesa nasca booby genovesa nest nasca booby genovesa nest nasca booby genovesa

We spend the last 2 days around Santiago island, with incredible landscapes of deserts, volcanoes, cliffs, black or red sand beaches. We snorkel there, in between colored fishes, black tailed sharks, rays, sea lions and fur seals. Top of the luxury, each time we go back onboard we are welcomed with a hot shower and food...

santiago landscape 1 santiago landscape 1 santiago landscape 2 santiago landscape 2

Seymour landscape Seymour landscape sea lion sea lion

raie chinese hat raie chinese hat fishes genovesa fishes genovesa

Sadly, everything has an end, and we have to fly back to the mainland to continue our road trip before being completely bankrupted.

sea lion santiago sea lion santiago bartolomé bartolomé