Last post on our Galapagos Islands

Our third and final post on The Galapagos.....The wildlife is enough of a reason to visit The Galapagos Islands, but go for the flora, water and scenery too.  It's all extraordinary!

The pictures below show the wide variety of flora that you see on the islands.  They are not like the Caribbean Islands. They are born from volcanic activity and range from almost barren to jungle lush in the highlands.

 Images from the Island of Floreana

 Topography of Santa Cruz Island, the most populated Galapagos Island

 

Island of San Cristobal

View of Kicker Rock.  See the boot?  We snorkeled in the channel between the two rocks.  The swells gave us a roller coaster ride with sharks as our companions....so fun!  

 

 The Island of Bartolome.....where the movie "Master and Commander" was filmed

 

Views from the Island called Plazas

 

 Flora from Santa Fe Island

Cactus Trees..Galapagos is.the only place in the world to find these beauties

Scene from the Island of Genovese...

 Island of Isabela....

Huge Brain Coral, at one point, long ago, underneath the sea.

Cave cut by eons of erosion

Insect eating plants

 Island of Fernandina

Lava Cactus

Whale skeleton

Steve and Amy loving life

Latitude 0.00.001 - our ships GPS when we were exactly at The Equator, almost.

 Last but not least is a picture of our home for 11 wonderful days cruising a magical place. We are not really the "cruising" types, but it is the best way to see the Galapagos Islands.

The Tip Top IV

 The ship was secondary in our choice.  First and foremost were the itinerary of islands and the tour operator.  Galapagos Travel offered an itinerary with lots of activity and two top of the line guides (for 16 people).  We were generally the first group to arrive on each island (early wake up calls), we snorkeled every day, had the opportunity to kayak and enjoyed evening workshops with detailed presentations about every aspect of the islands.  The food and luxury of the ship were really good, but not over the top.  Galapagos Travel is for the true nature enthusiast, who wants the nature to be the priority.  We were very happy with our decision, and lucky to have like-minded shipmates.
If you get a chance to go to The Galapagos....GO!

Galapagos Water Creatures

The wildlife below the water is as amazing as it is above.  We snorkeled everyday and had some of the best experiences under the water, ever.  We don't have near as many pictures from below the water but you'll get the idea...

Penguins!  This variety is the the northern most penguin....we selected our tour based on the fact that our boat was going to the islands that specifically presented the possibility of seeing them.  We can´t believe that we were acutally able to snorkel with them.  One of these precocious critters tapped Steve´s mask three times and Amy witnessed it.  It was hilarious.  It was as if he was saying who are you and why do you look so awkward.

 Sea Stars....

This is our favorite....the chocolate chip sea star....looks delicious doesn´t it!

Galapagos Sea Lions - not afraid of humans and are sooo playful.  Several times Amy squealed with both delight and nervousness.  They were a bit too close and so adept with their body.

 SHARKS!!  Snorkeling with sharks is not for the easily intimidated.  Although they pretty much ignored us, they are a tad bit scary (to Amy, anyway).  We snorkeled with Galapagos sharks, White Tipped sharks and Black tipped sharks.  Steve had an unbelievable diving experience with 30+ Hammerheads. He dove in an area famous in the Galapagos, called Gordon Rocks, for the potential of seeing scalloped hammerheads and it did not disappoint.  Within the first few minutes of the first dive, three large hammerheads cruised by....check out the video below.

Here is a school of hammerheads - Steve counted over 25 before stopping to just enjoy the moment.

 

Coral and Urchins...

Sea Turtles...check out the below video of a turtle at a cleaning station.

And tons of fish...

Our Sunrises, Our Group, Our Sunsets...