Exploring The Galapagos Islands Aboard The Galapagos Explorer II
There are adventurous travelers and there are travelers who really enjoy being pampered more than a great adventure. I have vacationed the complete spectrum, I have pinched pennies while vacationing in Gatlinburg Tennessee and stayed in a very expensive vacation home with a private maid in Saint Jean de Luz, France. I will admit that the vacation home with a private maid was a nice way to experience France.
But, I am an adventurer at heart, probably born from my days as a kid where I grabbed a fishing pole or net and waded creeks and ponds to see what was there. My favorite type of travel is where you see things up close and personal with exposure to the people, culture and wildlife. This might require you to hop on a rubber landing raft and land on a beach where no one lives, or it might require you to reach down and pet a whale. Adventurers run between 8 and 98 years old generally.
This is my second trip discussing the Galapagos Islands . But, today I am going to focus on a ship which was specifically designed to provide adventurous travels in the Galapagos in a nature friendly way. When you think about the most incredible nature destinations the Galapagos would be on the top 5 in anyone's book I believe and number 1 in many eyes. Here is some info on the Galapagos from wikipedia.com The archipelago has been known by many different names, including the "Enchanted Islands" because of the way in which the strong and swift currents made navigation difficult. The first crude navigation chart of the islands was done by the buccaneer Ambrose Cowley in 1684, and in those charts he named the islands after some of his fellow pirates or after the English noblemen who helped the pirates' cause. The term "Galápagos" refers to the Spanish name given to the Giant Land Tortoises known to inhabit the islands. The adjective "Galápagan" may be used to describe things from or related to the islands. Noteworthy species include:
Galapagos land iguanas Marine IguanaGalapagos tortoise (Galápagos Giant tortoise), Geochelone elephantopus, known as Galápago in Spanish, it gave the name to the islands Galapagos Green Turtle, thought to be a subspecies of the Pacific Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas agassisi Trepand Sea Cucumbers, the cause of environmental battles with fishermen over quotas of this expensive Asian delicacy.Flightless Cormorant, Phalacrocorax harrisiGreat Frigatebird and Magnificent Frigatebird Blue Footed Booby, Sula nebouxii, popular among visitors for their large blue feet which they show off in courtshipGalapagos Penguin, Spheniscus mendiculus, the only living tropical penguin Waved Albatross, Phoebastria irrorata, the only living tropical albatross Galapagos Hawk, Buteo galapagoensis, the islands' main scavenger and "environmental police" 4 endemic species of mockingbirds the first species Darwin noticed to vary from island to island 13 endemic species of buntings, popularly called Darwin's finches. Among them is the Sharp-beaked Ground-finch Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis which is sometimes called the "Vampire Finch" for its blood-sucking habits, and the tool-using Woodpecker Finch, Camarhynchus pallidus Galápagos Sea Lions, Zalophus californianus
OK, let's get back to your trip. What do you think of when you hear 'Galapagos Islands'? The first thing that comes to my mind is an incredible variety of unique species. Because of the isolation of the Galapagos islands the species found here are often unique to this area. There are unique crabs, fish, tortoises, birds. Retracing the steps of Charles Darwin in his journey of the Beagle has to rank highly with any adventurous traveler. For a specialized trip to the Galapagos Islands we recommend the ship named Galapagos Explorer II. This ship has 50 suites with outside views and was specifically designed to explore the Galapagos Islands. You will have six expert naturalist guides on board to help you learn about the islands on a ship which is environmentally friendly to this pristine area. Activities will include snorkeling, star gazing from December to April (with expert help), beach explorations, glass bottom boats, whale watching and hiking explorations. There is even a Naturalist Room where you can help scientists who are performing experiments on the Galapagos area. Here is a sample itinerary. As you can see this is an active trip with a lot of exploring packed into a short amount of time. Saturday AM: Arrival by air to Baltra Airport Saturday PM: Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz Island Sunday AM: Bartholemew Island Sunday PM: Puerto Egas, Santiago Island Monday AM: Punta Espinoza, Fernandina Island Monday PM: Punta Vicente Roca, Isabela Island Tuesday AM: Semour Norte Tuesday PM: El Chato (Highlands), lave tunnels and Wild Giant Tortoises, Santa Cruz Island Wednesday AM: Loberia or Islas Lobos or Tijeretas or El Junco and Interpretation Center, San Cristobal Island Departure from San Cristobal Island Please keep in mind that this itinerary could change according to what species is most active at the time so you might do something different. But, it doesn't really matter because the first charts of this area were drawn in 1793 and explored in the Voyage of the Beagle in 1835. Since then this area has changed very little and remains one of the best exploratory trips available.
I hope you are now extremely interested in going to the Galapagos. How can an explorer not take this chance if time and money are available? Next week I will describe some longer trips that also include the Galapagos. But, if you are only interested in the Galapagos this is probably your trip.
For more info please go here!
Brian is also the author of Free Cruise Book at http://www.freecruisebook.com Brian has traveled to Europe, Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Alaska and the Caribbean. You can reach Brian at brian@freecruisebook.com