Ship expedition with baby - is that possible?
5 days on a small ship, accompanied by dolphins and pelicans
Uninhabited islands, deserted beaches, top snorkeling spots
Following in Darwin's footsteps on the islands of Isabela, Santiago, Fernandina and others
After 4 days on Santa Cruz, the supposed highlight of our Galapagos trip awaits us, a 5-day expedition. If you can even call it a highlight; the first few days were a hit in every respect, be it the nature and animal observations, the climate, the food and generally the fact that we didn't have to sleep in the camper. In the last few weeks, the cramped space has annoyed both of us more and more. Here on the islands, we live in AirBnBs, except for the time on the ship. We are very excited to see how we will like it, who will travel with us, how it will work with "baby on board" and ultimately, of course, whether it is worth the price.
We booked last minute (a few weeks in advance) and chose a small tourist class ship (the lowest). Nevertheless, we are paying for the 5 days roughly the same price as the rest of our stay on the Galapagos, including flights/ferries. Diego is also paying (at least he gets a small discount), because according to Galapagos regulations, he counts as a full passenger. That means he has a seat in the dining room and his own bed in the cabin. Since the cabins are two-person cabins, Micha shares one with Liu, another passenger. Originally, we wanted to sleep as a family in one cabin, with Diego on the floor. In reality, however, things are different. The space is so cramped that we use one of the beds in my cabin as luggage storage. Diego still sleeps on the floor. He would just fall out of bed (regardless of the sea conditions); however, as soon as he is asleep, I can no longer leave the cabin - the door opens inwards and is blocked off by his bed. Incidentally, Diego's bed is the same as in the camper: a sleeping mat with a blanket and a pillow. All of this only really becomes clear to me when we are on board. Of course, we had given a lot of thought to organization and logistics beforehand. Not every ship allows children or even babies as passengers. We even had to sign a disclaimer, especially with regard to the fact that there are no baby-friendly facilities or childcare, but also that we would not bother the other passengers. I'm counting on Diego's manners :-) Jokes aside, we know that he is a very independent, flexible and calm baby - it will work out. And we never have the luxury of childcare anyway.
Our meeting point is at the airport, we get to know our guide Roberto and the rest of the passengers. There are 16 of us in total; a very young group, many couples from all over the world. This is probably due to the price level of the cruise. Our ship, the GOLONDRINA, is already waiting for us at the dock on the island of Baltra. We set off straight away, heading towards the island of Mosquera, where we will make our first landing. The landings are similar to those we know from the Antarctic - we get into an inflatable boat (aka panga) and dock. If there is a jetty, we do what is known as a dry landing, otherwise we get out directly on the beach - a wet landing. The name says it all.
Here on Mosquera there is nothing but white sand beaches, black lava stones and turquoise water. The islet is just 600 m long and 160 m wide. We explore the island with our guide and then have the opportunity to snorkel on the beach. The colors are breathtaking, very intense, especially in the late afternoon. We mainly see sea lions and marine iguanas, but we don't go snorkeling - the surf is too rough. Hopefully the other activities will be a bit more spectacular.
Every time we are back on board, there is a small snack to give us strength, in addition to the three meals. We have Diego's high chair with us, so he can sit at the table with us (and we can eat in relative peace :-)). The crew is very friendly and helpful, but we don't feel like we are getting special treatment. Good thing!
We travel a long way overnight, to the west side of Isabela Island. The sea is pretty rough there (for Galapagos standards), but Diego and I still sleep well. We go straight to the cabin after dinner; Diego wants to go to bed by 7:30 p.m. at the latest. It doesn't work out that way every evening; sometimes the food is served later, depending on the sea conditions; then Micha brings me something small to the cabin. That's the price. In total, we do all the activities - whether it's a panga trip, going ashore or snorkeling. That's why we're here. Diego does it all just fine, as long as he can eat and sleep when he wants. And what about his need to move and play? Often he can play on the beach when we go ashore while one of us snorkels. On the ship we only let him on deck when we anchor. There are no railings or other fall protection on the ship; if he falls overboard while we are underway, it would be his death sentence. Even if the waves are not extreme for us, it is still difficult to walk without holding on. So we play with him in the cabin or on the floor in the dining room. But even there we cannot take our eyes off him for a second; there are stairs and open doors everywhere. It is a full-time job. While the others relax on deck, one of us runs after Diego. At least he is not walking yet (we are very happy about that here). But there are relaxed parts, so we are cooked for and do not have to worry about the excursion program.
By the second day at the latest, we are convinced that a multi-day cruise is the best way to explore the Galapagos archipelago. We come to places that can only be reached by water and are far beyond the radius of day trips. On the panga trip in Bahia Urbina, we discover blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies and flightless cormorants. The latter is the only species of cormorant in the world that cannot fly. They only live on the Galapagos Islands. In the course of evolution, the wings have reduced to small remnants that are used for swimming; not necessary, as the animals have no natural enemies and dive into the water for prey. Finally, we go snorkeling and after a few minutes I am blown away. Sea turtles, marine iguanas and colorful fish swim around us. A dream.
We usually snorkel twice a day and have two other activities. Micha and I take turns snorkeling, often going straight into the water from the panga. Then we take Diego with us and change "on the fly". We are very glad we have our wetsuits with us. The water is below 20 degrees in November, completely different to the Ecuadorian coast, where I was able to surf in a bikini. When we go ashore we almost always see marine iguanas. They are cold-blooded and often lie on the warm lava rocks to warm up; the vegetarians only go into the sea to eat, where they dive for algae. We were able to observe this quite often when we were snorkeling. They only swim with their tails, they only use their legs on land. At Puerto Egas we also see land iguanas. They are yellow-orange in color. As babies they are green. The color change comes from the food they eat. They do not eat exclusively vegetarian food, but also eat the placenta of sea lions, etc. Depending on the island and the food available, different subspecies have developed. This is also the case with giant tortoises. However, we do not recognize the small but subtle differences.
On the island of Santiago we see the Galapagos fur seal, a subspecies of the Galapagos sea lion that is endangered. They hunt at night, especially squid. They are also much more shy than their relatives and only stay on lava rocks on land. The lava formations on the Galapagos are the same as those on Hawaii, there is so-called Pahoehoe and Aʻa lava (with the difference that Hawaii is much older).
At some point we managed to take some usable pictures of penguins and a whitetip reef shark. A complete success.
The end of our cruise is marked by the Charles Darwin Research Station on the island of Santa Cruz. This is where the rare subspecies of giant tortoises with saddle-shaped shells are raised. The name of the archipelago also comes from their Spanish name Galapagos (from gallop). They only live on the islands of Pinzón, Española, Fernandina and Isabela and have a longer neck than those with round shells. Due to evolution, the latter has proven to be more effective in places where vegetation is sparse and they have to feed on undergrowth or bushes. The eggs are collected from the beach and closely monitored until they hatch. For optimal reproduction, 70% females and 30% males are incubated (this can actually be precisely controlled by the incubation temperature). The hatched babies are then released back into the wild at the age of 3-5 years. More than 2,500 young animals have now been raised. Unfortunately, despite all the efforts of the research station, one of the 15 subspecies became extinct in 2012. "Lonesome George" was the last of his species to live on Pinta Island. His corpse has been preserved and is on display at the research station.
Seeing the rarer species of animals is just one of the highlights of the cruise. We snorkel in very special places, are accompanied on deck by pelicans and dolphins and are able to enjoy the dusk on deserted islands. Our conclusion: It was so worth it. Nevertheless, we are both happy to be back on land. Looking after Diego is much easier. We treat ourselves to a glass of white wine to relax!
Comments