Galapagos, 11.-21.03.2016.
We just spent a wonderful week on board the Anahi together with people from all over the world (or more precisely: USA, England, Holland, Singapore and Germany). So we decided to give it a go and write this one in English. Google translator would be a funny alternative though…
We boarded the ship in the evening just in time for our guide’s famous briefing in which he described the plan of the following day (at least twice). Every day started with breakfast at 7am, followed by the first landing at 8am, lunch at 12.30, second landing at around 2-3pm, briefing at 6:40pm and dinner at 7pm. So much for the routine. But every day we woke up in front of another island. During our landings we had plenty of time to admire the unique landscapes and to take (loads!) of pictures of all the native animals (like frigate birds, boobies, iguanas, sea lions, giant tortoises, sea turtles, more birds..). Even me, not really interested in birds (except for penguins and ducks of course!), took “a few” pictures of the famous blue footed boobies. Now even Galapagos bestselling T-Shirt “I love boobies” makes kind of sense… But there was more, much more. It reminded us of our first day in Antarctica when everyone took at least 50 pictures of the first outline of what could be a penguin. The giant tortoises and the sea lions had the same effect. My record is 50 pictures of one and the same sea lion pup, just to give you an idea. Last but surely not least came the iguanas. First we spotted only one or two but suddenly they were everywhere lying in the middle of the road. They were the perfect “photo-op” as they are totally unimpressed with what’s going on around them.
Another highlight were the (sometimes a little chaotic) snorkelling trips because we had the opportunity to snorkel and swim with sea lions. They love to come racing towards you changing directions the very last moment and to eat fins and bite into cameras. We also saw a few sea turtles (among them the biggest turtle I’ve ever seen, Gruss an Natalie) and some really nice eagle rays. Sadly the hammerhead wasn’t around but I’m sure he’s waiting for me somewhere (together with the whale shark).
The last three days we spent on shore soaking up the Galapagos atmosphere, drinking mango and passionfruit daiquiris and eating lobster. And already making plans for our next visit to the archipelago with Darwin and Wolf high up on our bucket list. The hammerhead hunt.. to be continued…