Galapagos 1999
Galapagos – the holiday of a lifetime! I’m not usually an avid wildlife watcher, but I’d been interested in Galapagos since I studied a genetics course in the early 80s and learned about Darwin’s finches. It wasn’t until I saw a programme on TV about the islands that I realised you could actually go there as a tourist, and booked up forthwith.
In the summer of 1999 we spent four nights in Galapagos aboard the MN Santa Cruz. The ship cruised as we slept or at lunch time, so that twice a day we were taken off by Panga to explore a new island. Life on board was comfortable and sociable, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Before arriving in Galapagos, we visited Ecuador’s capital, Quito, and on our way to and from the UK we stopped briefly in Cuba. I wrote about both of these in 2014’s A to Z Challenge:
Over the next three Thursdays, I’ll take you to the islands we visited and show you some of the wildlife we encountered. NB we didn’t have a digital camera in 1999, so all the photos are scanned. Forgive the quality!
The Glasgow Gallivanter 
You should see how poor the quality was of my ‘film’ shots. Yours are very good. No need to apologize.
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Thanks! They didn’t live up to memory though.
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1999… goodness, sounds… and looks ;-)… like a different planet!
The first time I heard about Galapagos was also in the 1980s, in a very famouse series of documentaries. I too didn’t know one could go visit the island. But is it safe for the environment?
Can’t wait to read your posts! 🙂
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Tourism is restricted – but not as much now as it was then. Also, you can’t set foot on any island without a guide and you have to wash your shoes between islands to prevent transferring anything that would alter each one’s individual ecosystem.
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What a great trip that must have been, Anabel. I’ve been to Ecuador, but would love to go to Galapagos. The Panga looks quite loaded up. I presume it had a motor. 😕
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Thanks, it was! Yes, the Pangas had motors. They wouldn’t have been very comfortable for much longer than just getting us on and off the ship…..
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Very much looking forward to seeing those photos. I’ve always thought it sounds like a wonderful place to visit!
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Thanks Sue! It certainly was.
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Oh, I went to the Galapagos after law school graduation. It was quite the trip – I can’t wait to see your pics and stories from your trip!
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Totally amazing experience!
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It was somewhere I never really thought of going, but one of my friends was going with her family and I went along. It was very memorable, in part because I had no idea what I was getting into!
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Galapagos, the land of my dreams!
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May you get there someday!
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Oh no, I won’t, it is why I so appreciate the posts like yours 🙂
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The Galapagos Islands are another place I’d love to visit. It’s on my list if I ever get the chance. And I think your photos are fine. 🙂
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Thank you!
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I loved our trip to the Galapagos. It was hot and humid, but we swam with sea lions and walked among many other fabulous animals. Loved it.
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The birds and animals were truly amazing! I remember it being quite moderate when we were there, not too hot.
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I feel like you need to rewrite “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” in the same meter, and talk about all of your lovely adventures. 🙂
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If only I were so talented!
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Oh wow, i can’t wait to read more !!! I’m sure it would have been incredible
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It was, though as I said the photos are a bit limited and it’s so long ago I don’t remember much detail, so don’t get too excited! Quite brief posts like this one.
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I understand, i wouldn’t be able to remember a trip from such a long time ago. But even just one picture would make me very excited 😀
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Hi Anabel – I’d love to visit them .. so I do envy you that trip. Looking forward to the next posts of the islands .. cheers Hilary
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Thanks, Hilary! It was a memorable trip.
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Oh you lucky gal you! This must have been an amazing sight to see. The pics don’t look bad at all. It will be nice to meet:) I am game! I took a week off in April too but a staycation plus the A to Z believe it or not.
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Ok, will be in touch!
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That sounds like an incredible trip Anabel – very much looking forward to reading more!!
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Thanks! In one way, it’s the opposite of the Rockies where I had forgotten how spectacular our photos were. With this, the pictures weren’t as good as I remembered – photographic skills and equipment have come on a lot since 1999. Still enough to show how amazing the place was though.
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