Monday, February 14

Our morning began on the Monserrat yacht with foggy skies and some pretty big waves. The boat motored throughout the night from Santa Cruz Island to the west side of Isabela Island. None of us got the best night of sleep — at times, the boat rocked steadily from side to side as it crossed the sea.

Breakfast was served at 7:30am in the dining room and included a spread of bread, butter, jam, cereal, yogurt and fruit as well as scrambled eggs, green plantain, little smoked sausages, bologna and cheese. One of the naturalists came into the saloon while we were eating to tell the group that the boat was behind schedule due to weather conditions. The new plan was to skip the morning hike as planned & go straight to snorkeling when we arrived to our destination on the west side of Islabela Island.

Everyone now had some free time on the boat while we motored along for the next two hours. Most of the passengers, including our family, went up to the top deck to lounge outside on the boat. Tory and Aden used the opportunity to journal about the cruise boat. The weather outside felt weird — warm, wet and clammy.

Tory and I played King’s Corner in the saloon while Andi took a nap and Aden watched a show on his iPhone. We also used the time to try on our wet suits. The naturalists on board told us the waters are much cooler on the west side of Isabela Island due to the three ocean currents that move around the Galapagos.

As we motored along, we heard a few people hollering from the outside deck. “Dolphins!” Everyone on the boat rushed outside to see a huge pod of dolphins swimming alongside the boat. There must have been 50+ dolphins swimming and flipping next to us. The show went on for at least 10 minutes. It was so beautiful to watch.

Shortly after we arrived to Tagus Cove, our group of 20 loaded into two dingy boats and headed off to snorkel. I won’t lie — I was nervous! I am not the biggest fan of being in the water and especially cold water. Tory said she didn’t want to snorkel, but Andi and I encouraged her to at least try it.

During our short dingy ride to the snorkeling spot we saw green sea turtles and Galapagos penguins swimming in the water. So cool! We also saw some of Galapagos’ famous blue-footed boobies perched on a rock. Once we arrived to the swimming spot, everyone threw their legs over the side of the dingy and jumped into the water. I dangled my flippers over & ooh, boy! The water was not warm. It took every ounce of courage I could muster to jump in, but I did it. I made Tory jump in with me and she immediately screamed because it was cold. As we both bobbed in the water, she cried inside her snorkel mask because she did not want to snorkel. I tried my best for about 15 minutes to reassure her that I would be right next to her the whole time we were swimming & encouraged her to at least put her face into the water, but it was no use. Eventually, I let her climb back into the dingy and decided to snorkel by myself. Yes, it is cold and I was scared but this was also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I did not want to miss.

Meanwhile, Andi and Aden were having a blast! They were swimming with penguins, sea turtles, and tons of fish when I joined up with them. Aden was doing a fantastic job swimming and loved every minute of this experience. The three of us snorkeled around the cove for about 30-45 minutes. There was so much wildlife in the water. It was so neat to see penguins diving underwater and sea turtles lazily swimming by us.

Thirty minutes later, everyone climbed back into the dingy boats and we motored back to the Monserrat anchored in the bay. Aden complained that his arms and legs hurt and we could see visible red lines all over his limbs. In fact, we all had tiny red marks on us. One of the naturalists, David, explained that the red marks were jellyfish stings, but they wouldn’t hurt us. He said we could put some vinegar on the stings when we got back to the Monserrat to help with the itching.

Lunch was ready for us when we returned to the boat — lentil soup, chicken, salad, rice and carrots. It was so nice having hot food waiting for us! We were all hungry and needed to warm up after being in the water. While we ate, the boat was already underway to our next destination on Isabela Island. Everyone had 90 minutes of free time before we reached Urbina Bay.

Our afternoon activities included another nature walk and snorkeling. All 20 passengers, plus the two naturalists, rode dingys to shore for another wet landing on the beach. From there, our group split into two and we each toured the island viewing giant Galapagos turtles and land iguanas. The giant tortoise was one of the animals I most wanted to see during our visit to the islands & watching them in the wild did not disappoint. They were huge! The naturalist said giant galapagos tortoises live for 125-150 years, the longest ever recorded living 175 years.

There was a time not long ago that the giant Galapagos tortoise was nearing extinction. The animal was hunted for food and tortoise oil by early island explorers, sailors and early settlers on the island. In addition, the introduction of non-native animals like cats, dogs, rats and goats eat tortoise eggs and babies. Today, most of the Galapagos is a national park and animals are protected by conservation. Park rangers and scientists have implemented methods to control feral predators.

During our nature walk, we also saw land iguanas. There are three species of iguanas in the Galapagos and their coloring and habitat depend upon which island they live.

After a 45-minute walk, we returned to the beach for swimming. Some people snorkeled off the coast, but the four of us decided to walk along the lava tide pools looking sea creatures. It was a cloudy afternoon and the sea was really choppy, so not ideal for swimming.

Aden and Tory played in the sand for a while looking for sea shells.

At 5:30pm, our group took the dingy boats back to the Monserrat where the chef had hot appetizers and hot chocolate waiting for us. This time, Aden grabbed a snack right away so he didn’t miss out. It’s a nice treat having food waiting for us every time we return to the boat.

We all had an hour to shower and hang out before the evening briefing at 6:30pm. Andi and I grabbed two glasses of wine & met a few couples on the top deck of the boat for happy hour while Tory and Aden returned to their cabin to relax.

Dinner was a choice of beef or shrimp, green beans, zucchini, rice, and potatoes with custard for dessert.

We were all tired after a long, busy day so I followed the kids back to their cabin, read to them from our current chapter book, and tucked them into bed. Andi and I were asleep shortly thereafter.

Tonight, we’re anchoring in Tagus Cove, the place we went snorkeling this morning, so it should be a more peaceful night of sleep.