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Galapagos Ecuador Trip ReportGalapagos has been considered by many as a diving mecca, a place where all your diving dreams come true! This description may be a bit of a stretch, but after spending two weeks diving several of the islands of the Galapagos archipelago, I can definitely say it ranks at the top for me! |
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| Week One August 19 to 29 |
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YouTube videos courtesy of Brian Miller Movies and Wetlens Productions. Click to watch video clip. |
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| Week Two
August 27 to September 10 |
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| Our home for the trip was the Galapagos Aggressor II, where we were spoiled daily by the chef, Jose, with his son Javier, pampered by our host Winter, expertly guided by our divemasters Solon and Ramiro, and rescued at the end by our sailors, Manolo, Giovanny and Davio. Our captains, Hector and Julio, along with engineers Manuel and Enrique, kept the boat humming along and always in the right direction! |  |
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The amazing diversity of life on these islands is astounding. Reef fish by the thousands, schooling Eagle, Mobula and Golden Cownose Rays, hammerhead and silky sharks, frogfish and sealions were all highlights under the water. But perhaps the biggest prize was seeing the elusive Whale Sharks! These behemoths can grow up to 60' in length, and our crew was delighted to have several encounters with the largest fish in the sea. |
| Many in our group also delighted in seeing a Salema baitball being driven to a frenzy by a pair of sealions hunting. The ball was alive with motion, bending and bowing to escape the jaws of the hungry sealion. |
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Along with our underwater encounters, we also had the opportunity to venture on shore to see the terrestrial creatures. Land and marine iguanas, sealions sunning themselves, Blue Footed Boobies and Frigate birds with chicks, and penguins all welcomed us ashore during these hikes. And anyone that has seen "Master and Commander" would recognize our pictures of the pinnacle rock of Bartholome Island. |  |
But my biggest highlight came from a most unexpected surprise. On the dinghy ride back to the boat after completing a dive at Darwin's Arch, Jill spotted a blowhole spout in the distance. This is a telltale sign of whales, so we headed over hoping to spot a Humpback, but were very taken back when three Orcas appeared! A mother, calf and large male escort were in the area, making several close passes to our glee. We continually spotted them for the next two days on our boat rides, always having an eye to the surface during our dives with the hopes they would make a close pass. Although a school of several hundred dolphins zoomed over, the Orcas were elusive, and our sightings were limited to topside.
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Sasha Lodge Video
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To round out our adventure, we then headed to the Sacha Lodge in the Amazonian Region in Ecuador. Jungle hikes and canopy viewings netted numerous bird sightings (every time we saw a toucan I got hungry for Fruit Loops!), poison dart frogs, walking sticks and spiders galore, and three different monkey species (Pygmy Marmocet, Red Howler, and Common Squirrel monkeys). This is an add-on I would recommend to anyone planning on visiting the area as the accommodations are excellent, the food delicious and plentiful, while offering a great abundance of critter sightings.
Capping the tour with a shopping excursion to Otavalo for their fine alpaca and leather products brought our journey to a close, ending an epic adventure that has already topped my repeat list. |
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