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| Celebrity Cruises |
Celebrity chartered a comfortable nonstop two-hour Avianca flight from Quito to Baltra Island airport. From the Baltra airport, it was a short bus ride to a small pier where we boarded onto zodiacs (also referred to as pangas) to bring us to the nearby anchored Flora. and start of our Inner Island tour.
As shown on the map, our itinerary included one to two island stops each of five days. An additional two days were needed for transition from Quito to the Flora and departing the Flora for Quito.
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Santiago and Rabida Islands
Our first outing was a zodiac wet-landing at Santiago Island and a subsequent 1.5 mile hike. A wet-landing required exiting the zodiac in ankle-deep water and changing into hiking shoes. The trail started on a sandy path and, as we continued, to hardened lava. We enjoyed hearing the National Park ranger identify the birds, iguana, colorful crabs, fur seals and sea lions during our walk.
In the afternoon, we had a short park ranger-guided walk at Rabida Island. Here, we viewed pelicans, flamingos, finches and other marine life.
Elizabeth Bay and Tagus Cove
At Elizabeth Bay, our morning outing was wildlife viewing in heavy mangroves from a zodiac. Visitor landings in this area are restricted. We were able to see pelicans, sea turtles, rays and cormorants among the many marine birds and mammals.
In the afternoon, Tagus Cove provided wildlife viewing from a zodiac and, afterwards, a short steep walk to Darwin Lake. We were told that there were once at least 200,000 tortoises on this island but most were killed by early seafarers for water and food. Giant Tortoises have a large bladder that can hold gallons of water. So much water that they can exist in dry climates (i.e., at the Equator) without drinking for up to a year. There are still Giant Tortoises on this island, but they reside in the much higher elevations, where there is water and more plants for food.
A Few Photos from the Galapagos
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Sullivan Bay and Bartolome
Our morning stop at Sullivan Bay included wildlife viewing from a zodiac and a short hike over a rugged lava field. This lava field was over five miles in length. The lava was a challenge for hiking but beautiful with hardened swirling patterns, cracks, and bubbles.
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Las Bachas Beach and North Seymour
I only participated in the Las Bachas Beach hike on our fifth day in the Galapagos. After another wet-landing, we walked with a park ranger to view a brackish pond, where flamingos were found. Along the beach, we could also view evidence of round shallow holes in the sand. These holes indicated recently buried turtle eggs. We were told that about 1 in 1,000 eggs will survive. A few days later during our Galapagos visit, we stopped at a tortoise rescue center, where eggs are collected and hatched. The young tortoises are then raised and released into the wild.
Along the beach, we viewed marine wildlife and even a head of broccoli that was most likely discarded by some ship.
San Cristobal Island
In the morning, we had a dry landing and a short bus ride to visit an interpretive center on San Cristobal Island. We learned that early settlers imported hardened criminals to the Galapagos and suffered accordingly. We also learned of the impact of tourism on the local residents. While tourism helps the local economy, it also brings challenges given the lack of island water, power sources and need to import grocery, housewares and construction material to the Galapagos. Some islands have desalination plants which provide revenue as water is sold to inhabitants of islands with dryer climates.
We had a late afternoon marine life viewing zodiac ride.
Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island
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We only had one stop at this location but had many activities during the all-day visit. We started with a dry-landing and short bus ride to the Charles Darwin Breeding Facility for Giant Tortoises. We learned how eggs are collected, incubated and then raised for future release within the Galápagos Islands. After our visit, we walked back to Puerto Ayora town center for, if desired, a shopping opportunity. We window shopped along the way. I stopped at the Proinsular market, which appeared to be one of the larger local stores offering grocery, health, cleaning and houseware..jpeg)
In the morning, we reboarded our bus to a national park location to assist in a reforestation effort by planting scalezia trees. Our 100-guest group temporarily swapped shoes for rubber boots and walked a short distance to plant a young tree in a remote area. .jpeg)
Departing Galapagos to Quito
As we waited in Quito for our Quito to Lima 7pm flight on LATAM, the schedule became somewhat unraveled. The inbound LATAM flight from Miami to Quito was either cancelled or delayed - we never actually learned what happened. After a few hours of not knowing if we would have any flight to Lima, LATAM announced it would have a 1am flight from Quito to Lima. This meant a 2:30 to 3am arrival at the Lima Airport and, with an hour transit time between the Lima airport and the city center Westin Lima, a hotel check-in between 3-4am. The day became very long for the 22 travelers on this Machu Picchu extension. The day also became long for the Celebrity guide and bus driver that were waiting to meet us in Lima - with the original anticipation our flight would arrive in Lima around 10pm and not 3am the next day.
Celebrity Flora - What's to Like?
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