Live: Nov 18 2023 Xpedition Galapagos Southern Loop

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

We had 40 passengers on the ship but I believe 4 of them had connections to the Galapagos National Park (2 rangers and a mother/son pair that I never got a chance to talk to).  I remember two people having their own flight plans to Baltra fall through and so they paid to join us on the charter flight.  They might have been the only ones (aside from those four I mentioned earlier) who didn't book the package.

 

I never realized the charter flight was something that could be purchased without getting one of the cruise tour packages.  Or perhaps it is only offered on the spot to a cruise only passenger if a problem comes up.

[prmssk]

49 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I never realized the charter flight was something that could be purchased without getting one of the cruise tour packages.  Or perhaps it is only offered on the spot to a cruise only passenger if a problem comes up.

I think this was a unique circumstance so I don’t think anyone should count on it but if someone truly gets in a bind, it is definitely worth reaching out to Celebrity. 

[mahdnc]

There's this thing called the Galapagos Big 15 which is an arbitrary list of the must see wildlife on the Galapagos.  We only saw 13 of them as we did not see any Galapagos Fur Seals nor any Red Footed Booby.  There were wildlife not on the list that I was happy to see.

 

Here is a spreadsheet showing which of the Big 15 we saw along with some comments.  I made space for @prmssk to include her scores and comments as well.

[mchell810]

15 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Because of the expense involved + the fact that it is not a leisure cruise, I cannot recommend this trip for everybody

 

 

I agree it's not for everyone.  The details you provide are helpful so that people can make informed decisions. 

[mahdnc]

In summary, this 11 night cruise tour was an awesome trip. It was expensive but I felt like I got my money's worth and we got exhausted in the process.

 

I very much enjoyed the fact that Xpedition was sailing half full.  As a result, the ship was never crowded and there were no lines to speak of.  The crew knew our names (as well as the and gave what seemed like personalized attention to all of us.  All us passengers got to know each other pretty well, too.  I would like to go back again some day although there are other things I want to do first.  If we were to return, I definitely want to give the Northern Loop a try so we can see Bartolome Island and Daphne Major.  Until then, I will just have to enjoy the photos I took. 

 

Well, it's time to finish packing as we fly out to Singapore tomorrow.  We will be doing a 12 night Solstice trip from Singapore to Hong Kong over Christmas and New Year's Eve.  We usually only take one cruise a year, but these two cruises bumped into each other because of Covid delays (we had this Asia cruise booked 4 years ago!). 

 

I wonder what the jolt will feel like to be on such a large ship again where many things are not included in your cruise fare.  It will really hit me when we visit ports where the people greatly outnumber the wildlife (e.g. Bangkok).  At least I don't have to lug my heavy long lens with me on this trip.

 

Thank you for reading along with me.  If you have questions now or later, I will be happy to answer them.

 

Yes--the trip, the ship, and the crew received top marks on my survey.  Thanks for everything, Xpedition!!

[prmssk]

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

There's this thing called the Galapagos Big 15 which is an arbitrary list of the must see wildlife on the Galapagos.  We only saw 13 of them as we did not see any Galapagos Fur Seals nor any Red Footed Booby.  There were wildlife not on the list that I was happy to see.

 

Here is a spreadsheet showing which of the Big 15 we saw along with some comments.  I made space for @prmssk to include her scores and comments as well.

I'm guessing your original itinerary included Punta Pitt (San Cristobal).  I think it is normally on the southern loop.  If so, you would have seen the Red-footed Boobies.  The larger colonies in the Galapagos are on Genovesa Island and Punta Pitt, San Cristobal but unfortunately both those ports were closed due to the avian flu.

 

We missed the albatross, red-footed boobies, and Santa Fe Iguanas.  I added to your spreadsheet which is a neat way to summarize what you see.

[mahdnc]

24 minutes ago, prmssk said:

I'm guessing your original itinerary included Punta Pitt (San Cristobal).  I think it is normally on the southern loop.  If so, you would have seen the Red-footed Boobies.  The larger colonies in the Galapagos are on Genovesa Island and Punta Pitt, San Cristobal but unfortunately both those ports were closed due to the avian flu.

 

Punta Pitt was originally on our itinerary:

 

 

But we never visited Punta Pitt.  It looks like they substituted a trip to the Giant Tortoise breeding center instead.  I actually never caught that until now.  

 

 

 

 

 

[prmssk]

@mahdnc  This has been a really great live.  It has really kept me in a Galapagos mood as I finish my blogging, videos, photo printing, etc. related to my own trip.  

 

Enjoy your next adventure in Asia!

[mahdnc]

33 minutes ago, prmssk said:

@mahdnc  This has been a really great live.  It has really kept me in a Galapagos mood as I finish my blogging, videos, photo printing, etc. related to my own trip.  

 

Enjoy your next adventure in Asia!

 

I haven't yet, but I do intend to check out your blog, Rebecca.  Based on the underwater video that you posted earlier on this thread, I am sure your blog is very high quality and excellent.  Your writing skills are very well, I mean good.  Your bird photos on your live thread are exceptional, I was sincerely impressed.  I believe that you said you have been practicing for this trip and if so, the results speak for themselves.

 

Can you tell me what bird this is in the photo below (it's not a quiz, I really want to know)?  Also the red stuff behind the tail--is that a crab (dinner) or part of the bird?  I saw this guy on Espanola Island.

 

David

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by mahdnc

[prmssk]

8 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I haven't yet, but I do intend to check out your blog, Rebecca.  Based on the underwater video that you posted earlier on this thread, I am sure your blog is very high quality and excellent.  Your writing skills are very well, I mean good.  Your bird photos on your live thread are exceptional, I was sincerely impressed.  I believe that you said you have been practicing for this trip and if so, the results speak for themselves.

 

Since you  know more about birds than me, I have a question for you.  I took this photo of a bird flying away from our zodiac during our day at Espanola.  What do you make of the red area behind the tail?  Is this a crab being carried away (dinner) or part of the bird?  BTW, I don't know what kind of bird that was.  I don't know or remember if our naturalist said anything about it.

 

David

 

 

Thank you, David for your kind words.

 

That photo is a lava heron.  The orange is its legs and claws.  They fly with their legs extended and some of the ones I saw did have very bright legs.  Here is a photo I took to give you an idea of what their quite large claws look like.

[mahdnc]

10 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Thank you, David for your kind words.

 

That photo is a lava heron.  The orange is its legs and claws.  They fly with their legs extended and some of the ones I saw did have very bright legs.  Here is a photo I took to give you an idea of what their quite large claws look like.

 

Yeah, based on this mug shot, I would say that this is the bird I saw--"that's him, officer".  Oh, and another razor sharp, perfectly exposed photo as well.

Edited December 15, 2023 by mahdnc

[sandiego1]

15 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

I never realized the charter flight was something that could be purchased without getting one of the cruise tour packages.  Or perhaps it is only offered on the spot to a cruise only passenger if a problem comes up.

I called Celebrity but was told we could only book the flights IF we were on the land portion of the trip. Since we will be in Cuenca before the cruise and we’ve been to Machu Picchu , we opted to book our own flights.

[Beachlover1989]

18 hours ago, prmssk said:

I'm guessing your original itinerary included Punta Pitt (San Cristobal).  I think it is normally on the southern loop.  If so, you would have seen the Red-footed Boobies.  The larger colonies in the Galapagos are on Genovesa Island and Punta Pitt, San Cristobal but unfortunately both those ports were closed due to the avian flu.

 

We missed the albatross, red-footed boobies, and Santa Fe Iguanas.  I added to your spreadsheet which is a neat way to summarize what you see.

A big thanks to both of you for filling that out and providing the information!!!

[Ken the cruiser]

Just curious, were you able to go to either Punta Pitt and/or Espanola Island on your Southern Loop itinerary? For us, even though we are currently on the Inner (northern) loop on the Flora, Punta Pitt was closed to us because of the Avian Flu outbreak which started here a little over 3 months ago from what I was reading. Then also mentioned Espanola Island was closed to tourists as well.

 

Unfortunately, Punta Pitt is the only stop that has the Red-footed Booby and Espanola Island is the only stop that offers access to the Waved Albatross. Just curious if you were able visit either stop on your cruise.

[TimidTrav]

Hi.  Do you know what time the Avianca flight gets to Quito from the Galapagos at the end of the trip?  Trying to figure out timing, and possible activities.  
Thanks. 

[mahdnc]

5 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just curious, were you able to go to either Punta Pitt and/or Espanola Island on your Southern Loop itinerary? For us, even though we are currently on the Inner (northern) loop on the Flora, Punta Pitt was closed to us because of the Avian Flu outbreak which started here a little over 3 months ago from what I was reading. Then also mentioned Espanola Island was closed to tourists as well.

 

Unfortunately, Punta Pitt is the only stop that has the Red-footed Booby and Espanola Island is the only stop that offers access to the Waved Albatross. Just curious if you were able visit either stop on your cruise.

We did not visit Punta Pitt. A giant tortoise breeding center was substituted instead. 
 

We got to go to Española Island. I think a hike in the morning was substituted with a zodiac ride instead because of three avian flu.  We went to a beach on the island in the afternoon. 

[mahdnc]

6 minutes ago, TimidTrav said:

Hi.  Do you know what time the Avianca flight gets to Quito from the Galapagos at the end of the trip?  Trying to figure out timing, and possible activities.  
Thanks. 

We landed at 11:31 am local time for GPS airport. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by mahdnc

[TimidTrav]

Hi.  Just to clarify - you got to Quito (UIO) at 1:31pm?

Thanks. 

[mahdnc]

I edited the time in my earlier post because it was wrong. But I corrected it. So please note that.  
 

We landed at 1130am local time GPS which is 1230pm local time Quito (UIO). 
 

We took off from UIO at 1027am Quito time. The flight was nonstop. 

Edited December 15, 2023 by mahdnc

[prmssk]

42 minutes ago, TimidTrav said:

Hi.  Do you know what time the Avianca flight gets to Quito from the Galapagos at the end of the trip?  Trying to figure out timing, and possible activities.  
Thanks. 

I assume you are talking about on disembarkation day. Our flight (northern loop the week before) landed in Quito about 3:30 pm (Quito time). We were back at the hotel around 5 pm. I don’t know that I would plan any activities that day. 

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, TimidTrav said:

Hi.  Just to clarify - you got to Quito (UIO) at 1:31pm?

Thanks. 

sorry. I didn’t read your post correctly in the rush to answer it before we took off from ORD. I only realized my error when I read Rebecca’s post. 
 

The most accurate answer to your question is this screenshot of our charter flight schedule information which included actual performance:

 

 

[TimidTrav]

59 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

sorry. I didn’t read your post correctly in the rush to answer it before we took off from ORD. I only realized my error when I read Rebecca’s post. 
 

The most accurate answer to your question is this screenshot of our charter flight schedule information which included actual performance:

 

 

Thanks to both of you for the clarification.   

[alexkrn46]

Thanks we will be going in 2025.  I really enjoyed your review

[Beachlover1989]

On 11/16/2023 at 11:29 PM, mahdnc said:

We have hired a private guide for the two full days in Quito where we are on our own: Sun Nov 26th and today.

 

I took some of @Shiba_Lover's advice and decided to ask our guide today to take us to place around Quito that we won't see during tomorrow's Celebrity tour.  The tour was to start at 9:30am so we could sleep in and end around 4pm.  The cost was $100USD not including lunch or admission fees.

 

 

Can you give me the contact information for your guide?  Thank you!

[mahdnc]

2 hours ago, Beachlover1989 said:

Can you give me the contact information for your guide?  Thank you!

 

His name is Lincoln Guaman.  His website is https://www.lincolnjabra.com/.

 

He was recommended on Cruise Critic over in the South America forum.