In this type of ‘my experience’ blog, not nearly enough love goes to the service the amazing staff provides. They really surpassed the level of luxury service I would reasonably expect on a luxe cruise. Let’s just say, I needed to adapt to normal life after this Grace Kelly experience.
I am lucky enough to say that between professional visits and personal vacations over the last ten years, I have lost track of how much time I have spent on the Galapagos Islands. I know the main islands (Santa Cruz, Isabela, and San Cristobal) like the back of my hand, and made countless trips to the uninhabited islands to snorkel, dive and hike. Still on my Galapagos bucket list: the northern islands. Why are these the only ones I had yet to visit, you ask? Well, they are too far out to visit on an island-hopping experience, and the authorities only allow a handful of cruise ships to visit them to preserve their precious ecosystems.
I booked myself onto the Santa Cruz II, one of the top luxury cruises, with the creme de la creme of guides (local biologists that speak multiple languages), onboard jacuzzis, kayaks and even a glass-bottom boat to check out the wildlife swimming underneath. An in-house photographer even takes the best wildlife pictures so you can just be present (you’ll receive them at the end of the cruise). You can also participate in a workshop dedicated to snapping wildlife pics. This was not my first solo female travel trip, so I knew I’d connect to like-minded travelers soon. Turned out, I met my first two new mates (also solo travelers) at the airport already: Yannick, a video game designer from Quebec, and Laurence, a London based consultant.
On board, the captain welcomed all passengers as we lifted our Pisco Sours and cheered to our five-day adventure. Staff accompanied me to my cabins where my luggage was already waiting for me (luxury really is in the big and small details). I met my roommate Olivia, an English doctor traveling through South America. We instantly clicked. Over lunch, we also got to know, Jason, a London based finance consultant, and… these amazing people formed our clique. We called our little group the Condors and would be inseparable for the rest of our journey, having late-night talks over a glass of wine, and watching the surreal shadows of the sharks swimming around the ships, attracted by the lights.
The first afternoon activity did not disappoint. During our first snorkeling experience in the gentle waves of Las Bachas Beach, we witnessed a baby sea lion and its mom playing on the beach shore. My new friends were incomplete awe of the curious character, so typical for Galapagos wildlife. Animals usually don’t run away when approaching, and sometimes even try to get closer to you! Funny enough, while this cute bambino confidently walked towards us, we actually backtracked a bit to respect our distance (this is necessary to not interfere with their natural life). That didn’t stop the amicable little sea lion, who kept on hobbling towards us until he got bored of the retreating humans. This kind of inquisitive behavior is so ordinary for these animals that mama sea lion didn’t even pay attention to her critter running off looking for a human playmate. Every time we went snorkeling we got a beautiful surprise like this one.
Our most extraordinary snorkeling experience was at the shores of a hidden beach of Bartolome Island. In the shallow waters along the shore, we swam alongside an abundance of bright and colorful fishes, a small gang of frolicking baby sea lions, and a ton of vibrantly colored sea stars. Crossing the gold-sand beach, we also explored the impressive rocky bottoms around the island. In those deeper waters, we were head down snorkeling above all the reef sharks swimming underneath us. Looking back up, we suddenly noticed the colony of penguins in front of us, sunbathing and chilling on the rocks, not feeling disturbed by our presence at all! My personal highlight of the trip is the blue-footed boobies diving deep into the water right in front of our eyes while snorkeling at Pinnacle Rock. Pure magic, right there.
HOW DIFFERENT CAN ONE ISLAND TO ANOTHER BE, REALLY?
The best thing about sailing at night? Waking up to a completely different island every single morning. Please don’t imagine this as anchoring daily in front a copy of the dreamy Caribbean, waving palm tree, a white-sand island you visited the day before. The differences are day and night. Every single island seems to have a different color. I am not talking 50 shades of yellow sand here, but golden, pitch-black, rusty red or even greenish sand or stones. The proximity between neighboring islands seems to be irrelevant. This is why: all across the archipelago, the formation process of each island (born as a result of a passionate/steamy underwater volcanic eruption/affair, or a steady accumulation of sediments, being a + 1,000,000-year-old great-grandfather or a cheeky little boy) makes all the difference. Flatter versus more mountainous; lush, aromatic vegetation or enormous cacti in a bare landscape. Stones can be yellow, green stones. Older lava is black, newer lava reddish. Some beauties have erupted more than once showing off their earthy color chart.
Top tip for early risers: go out onto the deck to see the Nazca boobies diving down the cliffs, fishing for breakfast.
On day four, we hit up Genovesa Island for which I had high expectations because it is an endemic bird paradise. Blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, Galapagos owls and hawks, and Darwin’s finches use this particular island as a breeding ground. We hiked up the short but steep Prince Philips’ steps, following a trail through a palo santo forest up to the islands’ rocky plateau. Literally thousands of boobies were nesting or feeding their fuzzy, newborn chicks along the way. Here’s an unexpected trivia: to protect their offspring, parents do a 360° poo, encircling the eggs. As we got to the sunbed to relax, three frigate birds (the black birds that can inflate their red bouche) landed a few meters away to hitch a ride on the boat!
Facts and quirky stories like these took our cruise to the next level. And we have our guide, Veronica, to thank for that. The Galapagos native studied biology in Vienna and provided us with a wealth of insights and knowledge. By the way, all of the guides on this vessel have a university degree in biology or alike, speak multiple languages (Spanish and English are really the basics) and have years of guiding experience under their belt.
At the beginning of our journey, we all received a wildlife spotting checklist for the BIG 15. On it, only iconic Galapagos species. We saw a whopping 12 out of 15! Two animals actually only live in parts of the archipelago that we didn’t visit, and the Galapagos Hawk sneakily landed 5 meters away from people just in front of us, and took off right before we could get a better spot. However, many of the species we witnessed are not on the list. So what’s the final balance? What animals did we spot? All of the boobies (blue-footed, red-footed and the Nazca boobies), flamingos, the great and magnificent frigate birds, the land iguana, marine iguana, Santa Fe iguana, penguins, sea lions, fur seals and giant tortoises, white and black tip reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, Hammerhead sharks, lots of stingrays, golden rays, hundreds of tropical fish, an abundance of marine turtles, and more!
A FOODIE´S DREAM
As a self-declared foodie, I was salivating over the exquisite meals popping up in my daydreams of this trip. I knew the buffet would always have international, Ecuadorian and Galapagos classics. Certainly, an international Cordon Bleu-trained chef would pass my international dishes-test with flying colors, but how does their ‘encocado’ compare to my abuelita’s homemade one? The chef nailed the traditional shrimp dish! The smoothly balanced flavors of the coconut sauce were spot on. Only the gourmet accents revealed to this connaisseur that my abuelita didn’t sneak into the kitchen. A very good sign!
I am a fan of all food, but for all you vegetarians, vegans (or people with a special diet): you are not considered second-class citizens here. Not only is there an array of mouth-watering dishes to choose from, the chef remembers your dietary preference and directs you to those dishes accordingly. It made me wish I could have gotten a helping hand too (#choice stress).
On the last evening, the clique and I went completely overboard with the creme brulee (burnt to perfection btw), going for seconds, again and again. We have no idea how we ended up with 20 empty cups on our table, we swear 😉
FORGET WHAT YOU IMAGINE A CRUISE TO BE
I know we all think of cruises as a set itinerary, with a set schedule and dito activities. I can’t blame you. Even we described that to be one of the characteristics of a cruise.*link to cruise versus hopping page*
The Santa Cruz II is the exception to the rule. You can customize your experience to be very active, or a bit calmer. Usually, we’d see lots of native birds and vegetation on our morning hike. By late morning there was time for kayaking or snorkeling or viewing wildlife from the comfort of the glass-bottom boat. Afternoons are dedicated to relaxing, sunbathing, swimming or snorkeling. You can basically choose how you’d like your day to look. I’m a bit of a snorkeling junkie, so I fully took advantage of that possibility.
On this trip, we adhered to the itinerary, but a staff member explained that if there’s word of an exciting group of animals around (like migratory whales), the captain will add a small detour so we can spot those exceptional species too.
IN WHAT WAYS DID I NOTICE THIS WAS A LUXURY CRUISE?
The luxury element is visible in the amenities on board: jacuzzi, beautifully designed bars, roomy cabins, having an airport to cabin luggage service, snorkeling equipment, kayaks, a glass-bottom boat, etc….
The attention to details is also notable in the service: remembering your dietary preference, helping you connect with people who have similar interests (or did you think my friends and I just met by accident), an in-house photographer, internationally trained chefs, and the best guides you’ll find on the Galapagos Islands. Many cruises will leave you a little Ecuadorian chocolate (from one of Ecuador’s finest chocolateries). Some cruises go the extra mile by dimming the cabin lights and putting on some relaxing music in the background. Needless to say, I slept like a baby!
In this type of ‘my experience’ blog, not nearly enough love goes to the service the amazing staff provides. They really surpassed the level of luxury service I would reasonably expect on a luxe cruise. Let’s just say, I needed to adapt to normal life after this Grace Kelly experience.
Most importantly, we felt like we were cruising the Galapagos Islands by ourselves. It is really difficult to describe the calm and peace of this remote area. Once we set sail, we didn’t come across any other boats.
The itinerary is very well thought off (little inside info for you: it was entirely created by eminent Galapagos guides). It really was one surprise after another in terms of exciting wildlife and ridiculously beautiful snorkeling. The morning views are unparalleled. And so were the afternoon and evening ones. Imagine laying on a sunbed staring at the bright, star-filled sky. Oh, and you’re sailing around the equator, so you can see both hemispheres at once!
Sunset drinking on the sundeck, an everyday´s favorite.
By now you probably want to know more about traveling around the Galapagos Islands, whether setting sail on a cruise or by hopping from the main islands.
Have any travel questions? Or about this cruise? Reach out to me through the contact form, email, or social media!
Love,
Adriana
BIG NEWS!
Inspired by the remoteness, National Geographic-like experience I created an 8-day safari trip through the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador. You can check it out here!
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