Up early and we both got indigestion we scoffed breakfast down so fast. The Royal Radisson provided such a lovely breakfast spread it was a terrible shame we only had 15 minutes in which to eat before our Galapagos tour agent was picking us up. No freshly cooked omelettes for us this morning :(.
Flying over the Galapagos Islands was breath-taking and it made both Hubs and I totally excited for what we had in store over the next eight days. White sandy beaches, crystal clear aquamarine coloured water – from the air it looked spectacular.
From our boat, Yolita II, the view was more than impressive. As we were embarking onto Yolita II, we saw about five sea lions, bright red crabs, and loads of birds. COOOLLL!! Yolita II is a lovely boat. Our twin room is pretty big for a boat and there are only 16 paying passengers. The bathroom is a normal size, we have air conditioning, and storage space. Since we are on the boat for eight days, we both decided to unpack our back packs. Yay! Something little like that can make me so happy!
We seem to have a good bunch of people on the boat. There are two young 20-something couples backpacking. Susan and Tim are from Hamburg in Germany, and a couple from Israel, Etay and Hilan. All four of them speak perfect English and have already spent a considerable amount of time in South America – I reckon we can get heaps of good tips from them! There are also five Italians onboard, a family of five from the UK, and one lone Ecuardorian girl who does not speak English or Italian, only Spanish. She looks nice and I feel sorry for her because no one except the crew can communicate with her. The crew all seem pretty cool too.
Our first island visit on day one was Santa Cruz Island, Bachus Beach. We had a ‘wet landing’ (have to get your feet wet when getting out of the dingy), and immediately we saw blue-footed boobies (bird), and an iguana. We went for a short walk to a lagoon and saw three beautiful flamingos. There were hundreds of frigates flying around, we saw brown necked pelicans, tiny yellow finches, and some other tiny finches.
I should point out that the beach we were on, Bachus Beach, was post card material – simply stunning. The air and the water are both so clean, white soft sand, it felt so pure and I felt privileged to be there. The guides are very strict about where we can walk – which is a good thing as they are making huge efforts to protect this magical place. Not like the Red Sea in Egypt where most of the coral is grey and dead.
Hubs went in for swim, crazy girl – the water was cold, but she assured me it ‘was beautiful once you are in’. Whatever. I didn’t fancy getting wet so I just lay on the beach, enjoying the sun and the beautiful pristine surrounds.
We had a couple of spare hours back on the boat – again I found a sunny spot and spent some time reading and relaxing, as did everyone.
We had a quick game of dominoes before dinner between Hubs and I, and by the time the dinner bell was called, I was in the lead. The game no doubt will be continued.
Dinner was pretty nice – palm heart and avocado salad followed by chicken, potatoes, salad and rice, and for desert we had a delicious cooked banana in cinnamon – yuuum! Lunch I might add was pretty good too. I think we are going to eat well this cruise! After dinner, Washington our guide, gave us a presentation of what we would be seeing and the islands we would be visiting in the next week. We are in for a treat and I am just so EXCITED!! I am also excited that Mum and Dad will be coming to the Galapagos Islands in a few months – they are going to love it.
Early night to bed, our wake up call the next day is at 6.45am. When Hubs discovered this, she shouted, “hey, someone tell the captain we’re on holidays!!” ha hahah! She is not a morning person, not at all!