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ENSEMBLE EXPLORER
Cruising the Magical
Galápagos Islands
Kim McDonnell, Ensemble Travel® agent, Cambridge, Ontario
The inspiration for Charles Darwin’s
theory of evolution by means of natural
selection, the Galápagos Islands are
home to some of the world’s rarest land
and sea animals, as well as plant life
found nowhere else. If you want to get up
close and personal with some of the most
magnificent wildlife on our planet, make
sure you add this fabulous destination to
your bucket list. I was fortunate to share
this experience with my husband and
we feel very privileged to have had the
chance to experience the magic of these
tiny islands.
Our adventure began as we boarded
our flight in Quito, Ecuador and flew
three hours to the island of Baltra,
approximately 600 miles off the
Ecuadorian coast, where we would
embark on a seven-night journey cruising
the islands of the Galápagos. From the
marina, our very comfortable Zodiac
whisked us to our beautiful vessel,
Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Xpedition,
which offered us all the amenities you
would expect on a once-in-a-lifetime
adventure. With a maximum capacity
of only 96 guests, you immediately
feel as though you are sailing on your
own private yacht. The ship is very
well equipped with two dining rooms,
the outdoor Beagle Grill and Darwin’s
Restaurant serving buffet and à la
carte meals. It even offered a massage
service. Watching the world pass by as
we soaked in the on-deck hot tub was
a favourite activity! We would also pass
time in several areas of the ship that
provided shade, very important when
you are travelling along the equator.
The hub of activity was definitely the
Discovery Lounge, where every evening
our cruise director would explain the
next day’s adventure, after which you
would have an opportunity to choose the
activities of interest to you. Every activity
includes a naturalist who accompanies
you on each excursion. The Galápagos
Islands are a national park; no one can
venture off alone, and the Ecuadorians
have done a wonderful job protecting
these special islands. You will find no
litter and often no bathrooms on many of
the islands, but this is not a problem as
most excursions are only two hours long.
We visited 14 islands and each one
offered something totally different.
Some islands were volcanic and you
felt as though you were walking on the
moon, while others offered fantastic
hiking opportunities where your
reward was the stunning view from
the summit. Surrounded by the beauty
of the Galápagos, you become one
with Mother Nature.
Our trip to Isla Española was an
extra special day, an experience that will
remain with me forever. Our morning
adventure started off with a dry landing,
meaning you land on shore rather than
wading through the water when you
disembark from the Zodiac. Stepping on
land, we literally tried not to trip over our
welcoming committee of sea lions. There
must have been at least 100 of them lying
on the footpath before us. We simply
had to go around them to get back on the
trail. As we walked a bit farther I felt
something tugging at my backpack. Lola,
our naturalist, said “Don’t worry, it’s only
a Darwin finch just being curious.” We
continued to walk toward the ocean when
Lola became very excited. “Look, look,
they are back!” she exclaimed. At first I
was not sure what we were looking at but
Lola explained that this was an albatross,
which spends most of its life at sea,
coming ashore only once a year to mate.
Isla Española is the only place in the
world where it reproduces. I can’t begin
to explain what a magnificent sight it
was to see this enormous bird up close.
Continuing along the trail we came
across a colony of blue-footed boobies.
Our guide mentioned that there were
upwards of 1,000 birds in this particular
colony. During mating season, the male
blue-footed booby dances, bringing his
tail up while spreading his wings and
whistling toward the sky, trying to attract
a potential companion. It really was a
very entertaining sight. Although we
could see the end of our path, this was
by no means the end of our adventure for
the day, because guiding us back to our
Zodiac were huge, prehistoric-looking
land iguanas. They were everywhere as
far as the eye could see and they were
completely unfazed by our presence.
Absolutely every day is a different
adventure, with the highlight always
being the unique wildlife. In the course
of one week, we hiked to see giant land
tortoises, some 500 pounds and more
than 120 years old. We also saw great
frigate birds, flightless cormorants and
Galápagos penguins. We played with
sea lions, which even tried to steal our
knapsacks. We snorkelled with sea turtles
and huge schools of beautiful fish. This
was some of the best snorkelling I have
ever done, and was in my opinion even
better than the Great Barrier Reef.
As I settle back into the routine
of everyday life I fondly remember
living the ‘dream trip’ to the Galápagos,
and I prepare, with great anticipation,
for my return this winter, when
I will be leading a group to these
magical islands. nV
ENSEMBLE VACATIONS FALL 2009
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