Trip Index
Our last day on Xpedition; amazing how a week flies by so quickly! There was only one morning excursion and one in the afternoon.
While we and the "BBC" group were waiting to get on the zodiac, we watched food and supplies being delivered to Xpedition via small boat.
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| civilization |
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| both vessels were rocking; it had to be timed right to toss the heavy items across, balanced on two pieces of wood! |
The zodiac dropped us off at the Municipal Pier in Puerto Ayora. Fatima was our naturalist today, and she directed us to a waiting bus. We rode a few minutes to the drop-off near the Darwin Station and Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. The buses would be waiting there after the excursion for those who want to ride back to the pier, or you could walk the couple of miles back and do some shopping along the way.
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| bus drop off was next to this tribute to Darwin |
The trail into the breeding center was easily walkable, with a couple of restroom stops along the way. The weather was somewhat hot, so it was good to bring a hat.
Our first stop was to observe the cute little tortoises roaming around. Each one was marked with a number, so it looked like a very slow mini-derby was going on. We even got some footage of some baby tortoises fight over some food, just like "
Hungry Hungry Hippos".
Video of food fight:
A fourth gets into the ring:
Baby tortoise bullying:
Tortoise being like
E.T.:
Then we visited Lonesome George, the only turtle left of his kind. A couple of females from a different breed were put in his pen to try to mate, but there had been no success. We saw him resting in the shade, then as a female was walking past, he walked around to see her. (
Editor's note: Sadly, Lonesome George died the morning after; it will be discussed in the next blog entry)
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| Lonesome George resting |
We visited other pens with tortoises and land iguanas.
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| pretty easy walk |
That was pretty much the end of the excursion, and Kaleb and I decided to walk back into town versus taking the bus. There were "official" Darwin Station souvenir stores but I didn't find anything I wanted. Other independently owned souvenir stands lined the street, and I heard that fellow cruisemates found items like a colorful backpack for $10 and a beautiful pair of blue footed booby earrings carved from tree nuts for $5.
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| marine iguanas all stacked up on one another, seen while exiting the Darwin Station |
I had a mission to locate a pair of silver blue footed booby earrings for a fellow Cruise Critic member, which I ended up only finding at the
Galapagos Jewelry store just outside of the Darwin Research Station. The prices were fixed, but you could use your credit card without paying an extra surcharge. The store was pretty busy, especially with only one lady manning it (she said normally there would be two), but to my surprise, she offered me a choice of silverplated bookmarks for free to make up for the delay! (which I selected a frigate bird design) We also purchased a sea turtle pendant for Kaleb's sister as it was her birthday in a few days. There was another Galapagos Jewelry store closer to the pier, but that one contained more intricate (and more expensive) merchandise and not much was duplicated between the two stores.
There was a fish market near the pier with sea lions, pelicans and other fowl begging for scraps, a stark contrast to what we had experienced on the cruise so far. Their antics provided a lot of amusement for the tourists, but it made me sad to see these creatures accustomed to being fed by humans. Hopefully it is only limited to this particular area.
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| fish stand |
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| all sorts of creatures were begging |
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This sea lion was good and didn't steal the fish:
It was so hot that when we passed by a cafe right across from the pier, we had to stop and get some gelato as well as an ice cold beer. (the beer on the ship was never ice cold, so it was worth $6 for a tall frosty glass, even though you could "drink all you want" on board) I tried maracuya (passionfruit) and chicle flavors. Chicle is supposed to taste like bubble gum, but it reminded me more of birthday cake.
We returned to the ship and found the art and jewelry exhibit in the Discovery Lounge. There were more Galapagos Jewelry items on display. The art was very beautiful and the artist was on hand to answer questions.
There were luggage tags and ties in our room along with the next day's disembarkation instructions.
Lunch today was an Ecuadorian buffet. My favorite dessert of the whole cruise appeared for the second time, the
tres leches cake! (muy delicioso!) I took pictures of the buffet since it was the last one:
As today was the last day that the gift shop was open, I went in to purchase a few lightweight drawstring backpacks printed with the yellow warbler, Darwin finches, and Darwin himself as souvenirs for myself. I also submitted a credit card imprint to Guest Services to pay for ship incidentals (which was only that gift shop purchase...never needed to buy anything else on board), and Kaleb and I also submitted a separate credit card imprint in order to donate $250 each to the
Galapagos Conservancy; when you donate, Celebrity will match it (up to $250) in future cruise credit, and it's tax-deductible if you are a U.S. citizen, so it seemed like a win-win situation for all. I read on Cruise Critic that the future cruise credit was issued around 9 weeks after the donation is posted, so don't plan on using the credit anytime soon.
We rode the zodiac to the pier again for the final excursion of the cruise, a trip to the highlands guided by Soto. This was the only time on the entire cruise where we experienced any perceivable precipitation, and even then, it drizzled mostly when we were riding on the bus, and not when we were out and about so no need for umbrellas or rain ponchos. It made the air slightly humid, but the temperatures were cooler.
It was not mentioned in the daily activities handout, but our first stop was to a lava tube. There were other groups of tourists there too, making me feel truly spoiled from the week's worth of excursions almost exclusive to our ship. People who are afraid of Xpedition's 90+ passenger count being too many...it's nothing compared to the amount of tourists we saw today. Plus, I had read a blog about someone deciding to go on a 16-passenger ship, expecting that it would be more intimate, and it turned out that other 16-passenger ships were sailing together to the ports, so he ended up traveling with a larger group anyway, but riding on separate vessels! (plus, you don't get the opportunity to discuss what you saw that day over dinner with all those folks)
Anyway, back to the lava tube description...it was a very large lava tube, which to me seemed taller than
Thurston Lava Tube that I had visited in
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
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| easy walk |
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| stairs were a bit precarious |
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| Soto explaining the lava tube origins |
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| end of walkable lava tube area; we were not allowed past |
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| climbing back up |
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A tour bus had just arrived and people were coming down the stairs as we were ready to go up. At the tail end of that group was a gentleman with a four-pronged walking cane, who was slowly making his way down the wet, slippery staircase. I cringed at every step he took, afraid he would fall, though there was another person helping him down. To me, the lava tube wasn't worth the effort or the risk as we had witnessed someone in his party slip near the end of the staircase.
We returned to the bus and continued on to a private farm to observe tortoises in the wild. If you didn't have hiking boots on, it was recommended to wear the provided rubber boots in case of fire ants and muddy trail conditions. I didn't want to wear the boots and prepared to go in my water sneakers, but at the suggestion of cruisemates who were coming back from the outing, they convinced me to stuff my bare feet into still-warm boots. The boots were marked with European sizing, so best to
know your size so you don't have to sit there and try each one on as your size could run out and you have to wait for the next group to return (or wear ones that don't fit properly). Also, bring socks if you aren't already wearing some.
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| Kaleb in rubber boots two sizes too small |
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| last yellow warbler sighting |
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| a cruisemate stuffing himself into a shell |
After the tour was over, we returned our boots (I did not see any fire ants the entire time!) and visited the requisite souvenir shops. There was a snack bar if you were hungry or thirsty. There were plentiful restroom facilities, though I wasn't observant enough to tell that that one side was for men and the other side women. Fortunately I was just washing my hands at the sink closest to the entrance on the baby blue-colored side...the women's side was decorated in a baby pink color.
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| men's side is on the left; the other partition was the women's side...hard to tell! |
We rode the bus back to the pier and took the zodiac back to Xpedition. There were some beautiful ships parked out in the bay.
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| zodiac filled with the next supply transfer, including mattresses |
Since tonight was the last night of the cruise, there was no excursion briefing in the evening, but a slide show compiled from pictures that the naturalists had took over the course of the week. The music that accompanied the presentation was very moving, and watching the whole week pass by again in pictures was very emotional, invoking some tears in the audience. At the end of the slide show, Alexis announced that we would all receive a copy of the Powerpoint presentation and the pictures on CD, and that we would have full permission to use them, to the joy of the audience. (
Editor's note: when we got home and tried to read the CD, it was corrupted...Kaleb managed to recover most of it, but unfortunately, the Powerpoint presentation didn't include the music. We also weren't sure if we recovered all of the pictures. Before you leave Xpedition, try the CD out to make sure it works before you leave.) Then all the crew of the ship came to the stage and we were able to applaud their hard work. When the captain showed up, we were asking ourselves, "Who's driving the boat???" :) Alexis told us that he would be leaving the ship with us tomorrow as he was on vacation for a few weeks, and another cruise director named Jorge would take his place in the meantime. (different than Jorge the naturalist)
For dinner, we ate again with France and Michel, and Steve/Linda/Scott.
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| spinach turnover, not bad |
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| salmon mousse, very good, and some people ended up ordering two of these |
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| grilled cod, good as usual (since it's fish) |
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| overcooked lobster again...I don't know why we keep ordering this... |
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| baked alaska...okay |
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| tiramisu, though not as good as the one at Carmine |
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| sides of coconut ice cream and tropical fruit sherbet |
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| Scott ordered a fruit plate instead of dessert |
Since we were already at Santa Cruz island, the ship
didn't have to sail very far to get to Baltra, meaning that it would be anchored during the night. We had heard
from Steve/Linda/Scott that earlier in the week when Xpedition anchored at
night, the ship's exterior lights lit up the water, triggering a frenzy
of activity with flying fish, sea lions and sharks,
including an incident where a flying fish slammed into the side of the
ship and fell to the water to a sea lion's delight. So once we felt the
ship slow down a little bit after dessert was over, Kaleb and I, along with France and Michel, scurried outside to take a look. We were
not disappointed...sometime after the lights turned on and the anchors dropped, we observed flying fish skipping across the water
and several sharks swimming around, but nothing like the events that
happened earlier in the week. I don't remember which night that the
ship anchored previously, but if you don't feel the ship moving at
night, go outside and see if there is anything happening! Though the lights were illuminating the sides of the ship, it was still too dark to take any photographs or video of the action below with my point-and-shoot.
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| waiting patiently on deck for the lights to come on |
Afterwards, we returned to our cabin and packed our bags, leaving the zip-tied checked luggage outside our room. Since the ship was anchored, I got a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, we return to Quito, boo hoo...
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