islas galapagos

the trip of our lifetime

In 1970, while reading "The Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin for a college biology class, I decided that the Galapagos Islands were a place I had to visit. A geologically young volcanic archipelago, this living laboratory is unique in one way above others: the animals do not know humans as predators, and therefore simply show curiosity and in interest in playing with us.

Playing? That's all it took for me to want to go, and after 40 years, I finally got it done. No, we got it done. I probably would not have made the trip if my partner was not as fanatic as I am about animal life and the planet we've been blessed to live on. This trip was a dream for us both in a way.

Highlights included: face-to-face with a reef shark in a shallow bay, thousands of other species including sea turtles, scorpion fish, and a high-velocity water ballet with a family of sea lions. On land, it was also sea lions, and iguanas, and giant tortoises and amazing species of fowl found nowhere else. These included nesting Albatross', blue-footed, red-footed, and Naszca Boobies, Lava Gulls, Galapagos Doves, Mockingbirds, and more. All of which were close enough to reach out and touch. And those pink flamingoes were just a little more shy.

Quito Ecuador, our mainland base, was the biggest surprise. At 10,000 feet elevation in the Andes, it's an incredibly picturesque mountain valley with colonial Spanish architecture, sounds, smells and people that were amazing and great. It's also right on the Equator, where we stood with one foot in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern, the Mindo Cloud Forest where we ziplined through the canopy, and visited a stunning butterfly farm, and more more more.

The three links at the right take you to our albums of photos and videos. Also below are links to our cruise operators, hotel, and guides, should you wish to consider this itinerary for yourself.

Thanks for visiting. We welcome your feedback.

Robert & Laura

The Albums
(includes 810 images and eight videos)