Galapagos Islands Dec. 2011

Author: Mary Slaughter
Date of Trip: December 2011

We just got back from our Dec 4th sailing, we were in #305. It was a great little cabin, 165 sq ft. The window was a good size and we never felt like we were a sardine in a can. Great closets (2) and shelves. We had plenty of room.

The bathroom was also larger than most. It had a nice size shower. We used 2 duffelbags and they fit nicely under the beds. We kept the configuration of 2 twins. They were narrower than a twin andmummy shaped. I did not want to get stuck against the wall. When not at home we sleep on our own side of bed. Be sure to take a power stip for charging cameras, etc. The ipod connection on the alarm clock was loose so had to play with it to hear music. The news on the TV was 3 weeks old. Get the daily print out of news from guest relations. There were some good old movies. We were never in the rooms except to sleep, including, almost daily naps. Go rested up as you are in for a real treat of trecking around enjoying al of the animals. We saw everything, including the albatross – wow what big wing spans. We had the best cruisers on our trip – can’t say good enough about all of them. The average age was maybe early to mid 60’s. Had some in 40’s and several in 70’s who were in great shape, better than us. Everyone switched around at night to eat with new people, had such a great trip!! Could go on and on about it.

The first two days the hiking was the hardest, on round smallish boulders. After that it was much easier. Loved all of the sea lions, especially the curious babies. So adorable!! The snorkeling was wonderful, so glad we got the Canon D10 waterproof camera. It is 12 megapixels and was excellent. The movies underwater and above were excellent. The above water pictures were also excellent. Jim has an SLR Canon EOS20 and my pictures were almost as good as his. What was good was it is a sealed cameral so water, dust and sand would not hurt it.

I love my penguin pictures of it coming out of the water and hopping and waddlig up the hill of lava rock. Sooo cute!!

I only liked one meat meal at night. Lunch seemed better, especially the cookouts. The fish was fresh and very good. All around I would say the food was fine, not there for the food. Always a good variety. A highlight was the lunch at the Opera House. We had Stahl, an opera singer sing for us. WOW, what a surprise, he was excellent. He is from Ecuador, but was also raised in the NW US, Houston and Toronto, Ontario. His english is excellent and he did some Sinatra, Crosby and then a mix of other music. Super nice person, bought his cd and proceeds to to a childrens charity in Quito.

We had Alex Lomas for a tour to Octavalo on Friday. We learned so much, he is very attentive, along with the driver. He is very knowledgeable, speaks excellent english and did everything to be sure we were happy with our tour. We learned about him from previous Expedition cruisers, and saw only excellent reviews o him. We also did a tour on Monday after returning to Quito after the cruise. That tour was to the Mindo Cloud Forest. David and Iris from England joined us. Have never seen so many hummingbirds in my life. I was so excited as some landed on my fingers! Made my trip!!

If I think of something that is important to you I will write again, if you have any questions ask away.

Celebrity did an excellent job on this trip 5 Stars across the board!!