Silversea’s Galapagos Experience, Part One – Ports of Call & Excursions

After a night of sailing, we awoke, stepped out on our balcony and gazed at the vast ring of rocky cliffs that surrounded our ship. The Silver Galapagos was in the middle of Darwin Bay, a volcanic crater in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Think Crater Lake, only engulfed by the endless sea.

Genovesa island is a collapsed caldera made of lava rocks. A treeless, greenless landscape for the most part. The small trees that were there had no leaves. The first deceptive impression is that what we were looking at was devoid of life, monochrome and barren. However, these Galapagos Islands and this ocean are anything but; they are thriving habitats with abundant life – a successful story of environmental recovery after 50 years of protection, conservation efforts and the natural world's own intelligence.

The Galapagos Islands National Park and Marine Preserve are part of Ecuador. (The country deserves to be immensely proud). The archipelago consists of 13 major islands ranging in area from 5.4 square miles to 1,771 square miles (14 square kilometers to 4,588 square kilometers), six smaller islands, and countless islets and rocks scattered across the Equator, 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) west of mainland Ecuador. A marine preserve the size of Florida surrounds these islands.

We were on a seven-day voyage aboard the Silver Galapagos, sailing from Baltra to San Cristobal in September. Silversea alternates two seven-night Galápagos itineraries approved by the Galápagos National Park Service. The 100-guest, all-suite Silver Galapagos will operate both itineraries sailing Saturday to Saturday, with San Cristóbal as a new arrival or departure port for guests.

The north central itinerary which we travelled, departs Baltra for San Cristóbal with a newly added circumnavigation of Isla Daphne Grande (a.k.a. Daphne Major). The voyage also explores Bahía Darwin and El Barranco in Genovesa; Galapaguera Cerro Colorado and Punta Pitt in San Cristóbal; Bahía Gardner (a.k.a. Gardner Bay) and Punta Suarez in Española; El Edén, Fausto Llerena Breeding Center and Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz; as well as Bahía Sullivan, Seymour Norte, Rábida, and Plazas Sur.

The other itinerary, which we want to cruise next year, goes the other way round, departing from San Cristóbal and heading for Baltra. Silversea explains that this new western itinerary adds points of interest such as Cerro Dragón and Playa Las Bachas in Santa Cruz and a circumnavigation of Roca León Dormido (a.k.a. Kicker Rock). The itinerary also includes Punta Vicente Roca, Caleta Tagus and Bahía Elizabeth in Isabela; Post Office Bay, Islote Champion and Punta Cormorant in Floreana; Los Gemelos, Fausto Llerena Breeding Center and Puerto Ayora in Santa Cruz; Bartolomé, Playa Espumilla, and Punta Espinoza.

I have no idea what any of these places are like. If the cruise we just experienced is anything to go by, I am sure it is just as spectacular. The expedition guides aboard Silver Galapagos encouraged us to make the time to sail this alternate itinerary as well, saying it was "incredible."

On our Silversea cruise of the Galapagos Islands, there were several complimentary shore excursions every day, which were guided by an experienced expedition team.  The expedition team are all naturalists and biologists. They participate in an intensive Naturalist Guide certification process required and implemented by the Galápagos National Park Service.

Ports of Call and Excursions

I had never been to the Galapagos Islands before this Silversea Expedition cruise. I had little experience of this region of the world, except for what I read in National Geographic articles back in the day. Galapagos Islands seemed fascinating and very much out of reach.

Prior to our Galapagos cruise, Silversea sent a survey to Venetian Society Members to rate our preferences on a scale of 1-10 what we anticipate in terms of ports of call on the itinerary. I did some internet research and gave my ratings to the 15 shore excursions listed on the survey.

In my research I learned how little I knew about the Galapagos. During the cruise I learned even more. The lessons are in geography, astronomy, marine ecology, biology, global ecology, anthropology, history, geology, to name a few. Every place we visited exceeded my expectations on the sliding scale.

Baltra

I rated Baltra a 5 on the precruise survey because it was an island with an airport. We arrived on Baltra by plane from Quito and took a bus to the dock and then a zodiac to the ship. I would rate Baltra a 6 after our experience.  When we arrived on the island it was as if we landed on another planet. The time spent on the dock waiting for our turn to take the zodiac to the ship was already exciting.

Right there at the dock, the wildlife was busy carrying on their business like we weren’t even there. Pelicans diving, frigate birds gliding, iguanas swimming and bright red crabs scurrying. The show had begun. Everyone had their cameras out, snapping endless pictures. On average I took about 400 photos per day.

This article introduced my anticipations and first impressions of the Galapagos Islands National Park and Marine Preserve. Silversea offered 15 ports of call or shore landings on this expedition cruise itinerary. At each port of call the Naturalist guides provided multiple activities at differing levels of difficulty. This Part 1 article with its photos and videos are an attempt to give the reader a glimpse into the Galapagos Island and SilverSea expedition cruise experience for the first six excursions.  Part 2 article will cover the other nine ports of call.

The post Silversea’s Galapagos Experience, Part One – Ports of Call & Excursions appeared first on Avid Cruiser Cruise Reviews, Luxury Cruises, Expedition Cruises.

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