Fedic

Day 8 continued Then back on-board, lunch at the Seaside restaurant buffet (Theme: Asian). There was a circumnavigation around Daphne Major island at 1:30, but we returned to the cabin to rest beforehand and promptly fell asleep. We did manage to wake up in enough time to make our afternoon excursion! Dragon's Hill:

You're going to absolutely love it. Excited for you!

The length varies, but they do go into detail in the briefing the night before (Example: They'll list that the long walk is 1 mile and the short walk is 1/2 mile). The short walk is generally about half of the long walk or less. They do occasionally go off-script, though. We were on a short walk and saw three Flamingos flying over-head and agreed to walk further to try to spot where they landed.

It's an estimate. I definitely do not have receipts. 😀

Wife: "You think that's a lighthouse?" Me: "No way. It's too small. Maybe some kind of weather device?" Wife to Naturalist: "What is that?" Naturalist: "It's a lighthouse." Me: "..." Score: Wife 1, Husband 0 Actually, more like Wife: 104,910, Husband: 3

Day 8 – South Plaza and Santa Cruz Islands Friday, April 12 By Day 8, having skipped the last two afternoon excursions, we determined that "short" walks were in order for the rest of the trip. I did find it amusing that they waited this long to have a "long, fast-paced fitness walk" as an option, but there was absolutely no way we were signing up for that at this point! South Plaza Island:

Thank you so much! I read a ton of reviews before we left for Ecuador, but I believe I got the link to the Keen water shoes from yours.

It depends on which ship you are on. The Flora uses these newer Zodiacs: The front section you see here lowers down and there is a flat platform to get back onto the boat. The naturalists also help pull you back up. The other Celebrity ships use different tenders, though. Here is the one for the Xploration, which looks like it has some steps they can lower down?

We made it back to the ship in time for the 10:30 snorkeling and when she got back, we had a Spanish-themed lunch, freshened up briefly in the cabin, then it was time for her to head back out again for the 2:30 deep-water snorkel. This is where the snorkeling was on Punta Vicente Roca: While wifey was off on her latest adventure, I sat on our balcony and took some pictures of this recent shipwreck: We were originally scheduled for a 5:15 Tender ride, but as you might imagine, two snorkels and a walk in the hot sun was enough, so we cancelled this one. We actually managed to stay awake and watch that documentary we started the night before ("The Galapagos Affair"). Final step count for Day 7:

Day 7 – Isabela and Fernandina Islands Thursday, April 11 After specialty coffee and breakfast, we arrived at the Discovery Lounge promptly at 8:15 so we could check in on the earliest possible tender for Option 2 this morning, which was the short walk. We needed to be back in time so wifey could make the advanced snorkel at 10:30. Punta Espinoza, which I nicknamed "Iguana Island":

Thank you!

Sure. She snorkels everywhere we go. Her previous favorite was in Hawaii, but she said this was the best and by far. She saw a sea lion zipping around playing with her, multiple giant tortoises, sting rays, iguanas and a ton of fish. She said the only negative to the snorkeling is that they try to keep the entire group confined to a relatively small area and she almost got hit in the face with a flipper a couple of times. But she still loved it and would highly recommend. The advanced snorkeling requires you to get into/out of the water from the tender. They also request that you are a strong swimmer. Someone showed up to one of the advanced sessions with the yellow snorkeling vest; they let her get into the water, but then she needed to be rescued. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I'll ask.

The long walk and the tender ride ended being over 3 hours long in the hot sun. Once back on-board, we showered and changed out of our sweaty clothes, then went for lunch. We were originally signed up for the 3:30PM short walk and swim at Urbina Bay, but we were still exhausted from the morning activity, so chose to skip this excursion in favor of an extended nap. We went back downstairs for the 7:00PM briefing, then had dinner in the restaurant again with our new crew. We were in bed by 9:30PM and we tried to watch one of the free documentaries on the Galapagos Islands, but didn't make it 15 minutes before we passed out! Final step count for Day 6:

Day 6 – Isabela Island Wednesday, April 10 As was becoming our routine, we were both up early, got coffee at 6:00AM, then made our way to breakfast, followed by check-in for our morning excursion. Today we had chosen Option 1, the long walk and short tender ride. The entire walk was on lava rock with very uneven terrain. We saw at least two people fall and need first-aid (lava rock is sharp!) Punta Moreno: White Tipped Reef Sharks:

All excursions, food, drinks (including soda, alcohol and specialty coffees) and even laundry service is included in your cruise price. The only thing on the Flora we paid extra for was the Glamping and Massages.

Day 5 continued: We were back on-board by 10 with plenty of time to make the 10:30 snorkel, which took place around Champion Island: Wifey got back from snorkeling about 12:30 and we made our way down to the Seaside restaurant, where today's theme was Italian. After lunch, we had about an hour before we needed to report back to the Discovery Lounge for our afternoon excursion. We selected Option 4, Tender ride and beach walk. Post Office Bay: Hundreds of years ago, sailors would leave mail in the barrel at Post Office Bay and if another sailor happened to be headed in the right direction, they would take the mail from the barrel and deliver it. In continuing with the tradition, tourists now leave post-cards in the barrel and when groups visit, they sort through the post-cards and take any that are from somewhere close to their home and then hand-deliver them after the trip. We were back onboard the Flora at about 6:00, which meant we had less than an hour to get back to the Discovery Lounge for tomorrow's excursion briefing. Notice a pattern here? This is a very active trip with not a lot of downtime. We attended the briefing, selected our excursions, then went to eat in the Seaside restaurant with our new friends that we had dinner with back in Quito after the city tour. There was great food and great conversation and when we finished up at 9:00, we all decided to go up to the "Stargazing" area on Deck 8 forward: By 9:45, we all decided we were worn out from the day's activities, and headed to our cabins. Final step count for Day 5:

Thank you.

Thanks! Thanks. As for the spiders, I'm using a 700mm zoom lens. We weren't as close as it may appear. I only remember a couple of times when webs were across the trail and the naturalist had to gently re-locate them. I believe the black and white birds in 26 are indeed Nazca Boobies. My wife would know better, though. She took notes on all of the animal names. I was mostly like, "Oh, look! Bird!"

Day 5 – Floreana Island Tuesday, April 9 We were up again this morning before dawn, had coffee at 6:00AM when they opened, then ate breakfast and got ready for the day's first excursion. We selected Option 1, Long, easy walk, but skipped the optional swim/snorkel so that we could get back to the ship in time for my wife to go on the Advanced deep-water snorkel at 10:30. Long walk at Punta Cormorant:

Your days are absolutely packed, if you want them to be. But as long as you can get over the fear of missing out, you can elect to skip some of the excursions. There were a couple of days when we didn't go on an afternoon session just to relax on the ship.

Yes. I believe it was $299.

Once back on the Flora, we had about an hour to shower, change, download our pictures and get back downstairs for the excursion briefing at 7:00. This usually consisted of two parts: First, a presentation about the conservation/restoration activities in the Galapagos and then a detailed description of the options for tomorrow's excursions. As soon as the briefing had completed and we signed up for the next day's excursions, a member of Guest Services collected us and escorted us up to Deck 7 for our Glamping experience. This menu was actually brought to our cabin earlier in the day in case we had any requested changes. There are two cabanas: one with a table and chairs for dinner and breakfast and the second with the bed, as circled below: Andres (the Hotel Director) and Boris (the Maitre D) came by to check in and welcome us to Glamping and introduce Zarella, who would be our waitress for the evening. She was wonderful and took great care of us! After dinner, we placed our breakfast order with Zarella, then moved over to the cabana with the bed and enjoyed looking at the stars and listening to the sound of the waves. Final step count for Day 4: