Woke up today in Guayaquil excited to get to the airport and head out to Baltra, our landing spot in the Galapagos! The travels were all uneventful, met up with Cassie’s family on the plane (they came in from Quito), and were picked up by the cruise line at the airport without any problems.
Once all of our cruise-mates made it in, we took a short bus trip to the port, and were loaded up onto the boat we would be staying on for the next 7 days. There were 16 guests total, and our family took up 8 of those spots! We got to meet the other 8 folks and thought they would be good company for the travels.
After settling into our cabins, hearing all the safety procedures, we enjoyed the first lunch on board. There were no doubts that their mission was to feed us well and we would not feel hungry again while cruising around.
After lunch, the boat took off towards Black Turtle Cove which would be our one expedition for the day. We took out the small Zodiacs (small rubber 10-person dingy’s) to cruise around and WOW, the activity started almost immediately.
As we headed towards the mangrove forest, our first encounter with Blue Footed Boobies happened, while they dove down into the water all around us looking for fish. It was impressive to see their perfect form as they entered the water in search for food. Apparently, they can go as far as 10-12 feet down to make their catch.
A little further into the cove we saw small schools of golden rays breaking the surface.
Once we reached the mangroves, we had our first few turtle sightings. We turned off the outboard engines and used paddles to get around instead. It was so peaceful. And sure enough, we got several different sea turtle sightings! We also think there may have been a white tipped reef shark swimming around, but he was too fast to say for sure.
The excursion took a little over an hour, and then it was back to the boat for happy hour, sunset, and then a briefing about the next day’s activities followed by dinner.
After another good meal we had some catching up to do with the family, and then bed time for our first full day in the Galapagos tomorrow!
Travel Fun With Cassie and Alejandro 