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WHAT'S NEW
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The Galapagos Islands: A nature-lover's dream come true
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Cruise the Galapagos Islands and get up close and personal with sea lions, iguanas, sea turtles, frigate birds and more.
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By Kevin Revolinski
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Click here to see photos from this trip.
A sea lion pup looks up at me with passing curiosity as its mother nurses it at my feet. Three metres away, a marine iguana sneezes out the excess salt from the seawater it must drink to survive. I walk another 10 minutes and find a nesting colony where blue-footed boobies are performing their mating dance without acknowledging me.
The Galapagos Islands have a reputation for animals that have no fear of humans, but I hadn't counted on seeing so much behaviour up close. A frigate bird opens her beak and her chick plunges its entire head down her throat to receive a meal, all while I'm standing just two metres away. For anyone who is fascinated by nature, a trip to the Galapagos Islands is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Where are the Galapagos Islands?
The Galapagos Archipelago straddles the equator 612 miles west of Ecuador and is made up of 18 islands, 40 islets and 200 rocks. The islands were formed four million years ago by submarine volcanoes and though conditions are often quite harsh, life adapted and now flourishes here, in isolation from the rest of the world. Ninety-seven per cent of the land area is protected as a national park and at 45,000 square kilometres, the Galapagos Marine Resources Reserve, protecting the waters and resources surrounding the archipelago, is second only to Australia's Great Barrier Reef in size.
But this is not a weekender's journey or a backpacker's haven. To get here, you have to take a flight out of Guayaquil, Ecuador, and special fees and limitations mean that the independent traveller has no good choice but to join a tour.
I signed on with a cruise aboard the 40-person yacht Isabela II. Typically, I cringe at the thought of a cruise, but rest assured that time aboard an expedition cruise does not include conga lines and trinket-shopping.
What to do, what to see and more on Page 2
Click here to see photos from this trip.
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