Galapagos Islands Vacation Cruises

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The Galapagos Island chain, situated close to 600 miles west of the region of South America, is quite probably the best place to observe evolution in all of their natural beauty.

Called, in Spanish, after the animal that’s without doubt the most popular of the island archipelago: The Galapagos Tortoise; the Galapagos offers numerous groups of minor dainty islands all of which are created of undersea volcanoes eruptions.

Positioned on the equator, the Galapagos gains all the bonuses of this perfect location in that the 16 islands have warm weather all through the year! If that wasn’t enough they are on the crossroads for 2 really important trade winds: The North East trade winds (coming from North and the South East trade winds (coming from South America). All these winds are in all probability what started the influx of self-sufficient life around the island chain – and are believed to have been the reason for the huge forests covering the higher hills of the islands.

These island of extraordinary natural beauty have generated the evolution a number of varied, and really extraordinary, environments that have in turn granted the local wildlife, both plants and creatures likewise, to evolve in ways that quite simply has some scientists stunned.

The rest of the Galapagos island chain is also a place of exceptional, as well as fairly beautiful fauna.

When is a good time to travel the Galapagos?

The Galapagos is a place that could be visited whenever you want. There are two seasons. The hottest is between December to May when the air is generally clean and the sun lights powerfully. If you like to dive, a good time to go to is between June and November as the temperatures are a little cold, and you’ll have a better chance to observe the Galapagos’ popular ocean life.

The Galapagos were discovered by chance at 1535 by Father Tomas Berlanga, priest of Panama.

Due to the long distances involved, the only practical way to explore the Galapagos is by live-aboard ships, which travel between islands, mostly at night, and create different stops every day. Over 80 boats are licensed to operate in the archipelago and there are countless combinations of stops and routes. Most cruises go ashore twice a day: 10 total days on the ship typically means 20 shore landings, 10-20 snorkels, and many panga rides (pangas are little, open outboard-powered boats) to approximately 10 different islands.

Exploring on your own is considerably harder. Getting around independently is catchy and all visitors should be accompanied by a qualified naturalist guide at all landing sites. However four islands (Santa Cruz, San Cristobal, Floreana and Isabela) do have hotels of varying sizes and standards and a few vessel operators provide day-trips.

Following in Darwin’s footsteps calls for a flight from Quito or Guayaquil, on the mainland, to Baltra or San Cristobal. Some cruises leave from Baltra (the dock is a five-minute drive in the air terminal).

GalapagosInformation.com provides a variety of tailor-made live-aboard tours on many different boats carrying from 4 to 16 passengers.

Wildlife activities vary, and each month has its own highlights. By way of instance, green turtles start their egg-laying in January; penguins socialize with swimmers on Bartolome mainly from May until the end of September; humpback whales start to arrive at June; July through the end of September is the best period for most seabird activity; peak pupping for sea lions is approximately August, while their pups play aqua-aerobics with snorkelers in November; and December is the month for hatching giant tortoise eggs. So, always there is something going on.

The seas are usually calmer and clearer now of year (using 60ft-80ft visibility average) and the water temperature averages 79° F (26°C), therefore this period is ideal for snorkeling.

The trendy, drier, windier season (with occasional drizzle or mist) is from June to November. Sea temperatures in the time of year fall to as low as 66F (19C) and visibility often goes down to 30ft-50ft, while sea swells may make some landings tricky.

Each of these Galapagos’ official visitor sites has something special to offer, but travelers are going to have the ability to experience the best hits — sea lions, marine iguanas, lava lizards, endemic birds — on the majority of islands. Here are a couple of the most popular spots.

Santa Cruz features the Galapagos’ most populous “city,” Puerto Ayora, and is the island chain’s most important tourism hub. The island offers people the only chance to experience the Galapagos’ interior high-lands, among a couple areas to spot giant tortoises in their natural habitat. The Charles Darwin research laboratory, a visit to which is contained on every cruise, can be situated here.

Champion Islet’s waters transform into a aquarium teeming with life during September and October, when the water temperatures drop. Sea plants flourish, which attracts the marine monsters, which in turn brings from the sea birds. Sea lions, especially the interested juveniles, often zip past and around the awkward humans in masks and fins.

South Plaza encircles less than one-tenth of a mile in area and is among the Galapagos’ smallest visitor websites. Nevertheless, the very small island, which was shaped by volcanic uplift, makes a strong impression with its color-changing ground vegetation, sea birds and colony of Galapagos land iguanas. The successful male iguanas can be seen standing guard before a cactus tree, waiting patiently to offer a hungry female with a part of prickly fruit.

Rabida: makes a bold statement when you arrive during its iron-rich red shore. Just inland is a brackish lagoon where visitors often see flamingos, heads plunged underwater to scoop up crustaceans and algae with their bowl-like beaks.

Espanola is the southernmost island, home to the famous waved albatross, a child-sized bird having an eight-foot wingspan. According to the Galapagos Conservancy, annually the Whole world’s population of adult Waved Albatrosses returns to Espanola throughout the nesting season from April to December. “Spiritual experience” is a frequent descriptor.

Fernandina, the Galapagos’ youngest and westernmost island is famous for its not-infrequent volcanic eruptions, the most recent of which was in 2009. It is located at the locus of this “hot spot” which created, and is still forming and creating, the Galapagos. As people step across lava flows and around the huge population of land iguanas, they develop a first-hand understanding of the ancestral roots of the islands.

Floreana is the place you can find the Galapagos’ very famous barrel-mailbox in Post Office Bay. For centuries, those visiting the famous Ecuadorian isles relied on the unspoken duty of pirates and whalers to acquire letters to a planned destination. A mariner would render a dispatch, then pick through the stack for missives he can personally send (travel schedule allowing). The tradition continues today; cruise passengers visiting the site can leave and take postcards out of a (contemporary) barrel. Floreana is home to the Galapagos’ famous barrel-mailbox in Post Office Bay. For centuries, those visiting the famous Ecuadorian isles relied on the unspoken responsibility of fellow pirates and whalers to Puerto Villamil and Nearby Areas – Isabela Island Cruises take in a variety of intriguing points around the large island. Puerto Villamil is a little port in the south east of this island, and it’s home to the clear majority of the island’s population. You can take pleasure in the fishing-community vibe, sample tasty freshly caught fish, participate with all the merry children, shop for souvenirs from the stores that are vibrant, and respect the islets that dot the coast. Stroll along the boardwalk, resulting through mangroves, and see flamingos, gallinules, whimbrels, and more. The Tortoise Breeding Center sits in the end of the boardwalk, helping to conserve sea tortoises. The harbor is frequently filled with little luxury yachts and other sailing boats, many of which take passengers on exciting Galapagos cruises.

Galapagos Facts

Abundant wildlife, visitors can get up close and personal to some of the world’s rarest animals. The convergence of three major oceanic currents brings an unbelievable mixture of marine life to Galapagos. The endemic Galapagos marine iguana is known as the only lizard able to float in the ocean. Darwin’s study in Galapagos led to the groundbreaking theory of The Origin of Species.

In 1978 UNESCO nominated Galapagos as the first World Heritage site. The film Captain and Commander was filmed on the islands of Bartholomew and Santiago. The name ‘galapagos’, a classic Spanish term for ‘saddle’, was initially employed by Bishop Tomas and his team to describe the giant tortoises but the name stuck. As a result of early existence of both Spanish and English inhabitants in Galapagos, the Islands have both Spanish and English names.

Darwin sailed to Galapagos on board the HMS Beagle in September 1835, when he was 26 years old. Throughout the five weeks that he spent there, he moved to collect plants, rocks, birds and insects. He observed the unusual life forms and their adaptations to the harsh atmosphere. He noted it had been possible to differentiate which island that a tortoise came from by the form of their shell. His most well-known study is of the several species of finches which inspired his revolutionary theory The Origin of Species, published in 1859.

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