Galápagos Islands - all in one place like nowhere else

Before embarking to the Galápagos islands I had one night in Guayaquil, Ecuador‘s second largest city and gateway to the islands. I stayed close to the airport, stocked up on insect repellent and sunscreen and tried to mentally prepare myself (=calm myself down) for my upcoming first ever dive aboard experience. The next morning, despite arriving at the airport with plenty of time, I almost missed my flight as the procedures at the Guayaquil airport are extremely inefficient; I had to argue my way through skipping both horrendous lines at the tourist card desk as well as the baggage drop after taking forever at the faulty self-check-in terminals.. Phew, my diving boat would not have waited!

After a thorough baggage check by the K9 dog unit at Baltra airport I was picked up by the boat crew and met the rest of the divers: a group of 6 Americans, a French couple, 2 Spaniards living in Panama and another American who I shared my cabin with as we were the only solo travelers. As it turned out I was the least experienced diver on board, all of these have either been on some dive aboards before or have worked in scuba diving.. this did NOT exactly calm me down nor contribute to my level of confidence, I felt tense and scared of doing multiple dives a day in heavy conditions. What is more, it made it more difficult for me to integrate and connect as there was a lot of nerding about diving and bragging about places visited or wildlife encountered.

A quick bus ride took us to the Galaxy diver, our boat and home for the next eight days. We were introduced to the crew and immediately had our check-out dive to get familiar and comfortable with the (rented) gear and equipment. We already spotted the first sharks hanging out in the harbour. And then we embarked on a 14h cruise to the most Northern point of the archipelago, the islands of Darwin and Wolf, known to be the shark sanctuaries of Galápagos. I had a tough time sleeping that night, woke up several times tense and nervous, luckily the first dive went well with minor currents and quite some shark encounters. That gave me a bit more confidence and the next dives were smooth, though I must say four dives in one day not only lead to a certain hectic for getting ready and on the zodiac, but also took a toll on my physical body; I felt exhausted after every single one of the first three days, just the abundance of sharks, dolphins, sea lions and turtles we saw kept me motivated and going.

My GoPro doesn’t allow for good photos, but I have edited the highlight videos to a 2min clip on youtube:

https://youtu.be/AgPogK-aPek

A routine started kicking in: 5.30am wake up call, first dive before breakfast, another two dives and then lunch, a last dive in the afternoon and crushing after dinner. Fortunately, the conditions at sea were nothing near the trip to Antarctica and motion sickness kept to a minimum, though not entering land for 7 days straight was be a mental challenge as well. Passing the equator multiple times, we visited the shores of several islands and while conditions in terms of current, visibility and water temperature regularly changed, the highlights just kept coming: more hammerhead and Galapagos sharks, manta rays, the mola mola, even some huge sea horses, marine iguanas, seeing dolphins and sea lions while diving - a diver cannot ask for much more than this!

Along the shores we could witness some of the rich bird life (blue footed boobies, fregate birds, a solo Galapagos penguin, cormorants..), every time you turned your head a turtle popped up or a bunch of dolphins swam by, biodiversity at its finest. One of the reasons for the abundance under water is that several oceanic streams meet at Galápagos and especially the Cromwell stream from the West brings in cold but nutrient rich water; for divers means that visibility and water temperature can become tricky though.

After eight days on the boat it was time to get back to land and reunite with my life and travel companion Diana. After two months apart we are looking forward now to two months traveling and exploring together, starting with some more of Galápagos. On the two main islands Santa Cruz and San Cristobal not a moment goes by without sea lions playing, pelicans flying by or iguanas chilling in the sun, small rays and baby sharks swimming in the harbour, literally all places are brimming with (wild)life and you don‘t know where to look first. I‘m happy that the decision of Galápagos to strictly protect nature and wildlife some 20 years ago has such amazing results, other places can definitely learn from this.

A few day resp. half-day trips beautifully rounded off our time here, unfortunately a minor ear infection didn‘t allow me to scuba dive in more places, but not only does snorkeling allow for plenty of shark, sea lion and turtle encounters, also the giant land turtles are a good addition to the list of animals encountered. Add on some decent beaches, colorful sunsets, fresh seafood and tranquil vibes - I don‘t think Galapagos compares to anywhere else & I highly encourage everyone to visit this little paradise!