My Galapagos Islands Trip – 34 Favorite Photos (and a video)

A short time ago, I was on a flight to Ecuador, about to embark on a 7-day Galapagos Islands trip. As I’m traveling constantly, I barely had time to process my plans or to research or to gain a fair understanding of what I should expect.

All I knew is that my Galapagos Islands trip would involve:

a) Sailing for 1 week on board the S/S Mary Anne (run by the wonderful Andando Tours)
b) A lot of animals
c) Probably some other interesting stuff

How naive was I.

First, I spent 7 days/nights on board one of the coolest sailing vessels out there and in my opinion, the best ship for a trip around the Galapagos. As for interesting stuff…between kayaking, snorkeling, hiking, stargazing, constantly learning and just staring in awe at the otherworldly landscapes, I’d say that was easily covered.

And then the animals. A lot of animals?

In one week I ended up seeing an absurd amount of incredible, colorful, unique creatures…on land, in the water and in the sky. If I took a single hour from this one week trip, I would still be able to say that I did indeed see ‘a lot of animals’. Multiply that by 16 waking hours, multiply that by 7 days and you get the idea.

Here’s a taste of the experience that is an incredible Galapagos Islands trip (photos and a pretty cool video)…

Boobies

When I mention my Galapagos Islands trip, one of the most common questions I’m asked is whether I saw any blue-footed boobies. Well, yes I did, along with red-footed and nazca boobies….EVERYWHERE!

Sea Lions

By the end of the second day, we had already seen well over 50 sea lions. You might think this would be sufficient and any further sea lion spottings would become boring. Not the case! I would have been thrilled to see 50 sea lions every day as they were by far the most playful, active, curious and wacky of all the animals we came across (as you saw in the video above!).

Baby Sea Lions

What’s even better than 50 sea lions per day? Baby sea lions. Look at the photos, watch the video and tell me you don’t want to adopt a baby sea lion right away!

Wild Landscapes

I think the photos speak for themselves but every time we hopped onto the little zodiac boat for a ride to shore, we had no idea what we would actually find. Yes, we knew that the nature would be stunning but until we stepped foot onto each island, it was impossible to know just how stunning it would be…

A Galapagos Islands Trip Onboard the S/S Mary Anne

This is the awesome sailing vessel that I traveled on for the entire week during my Galapagos Islands trip!

With the super friendly Captain Mario at the helm…

Iguanas and Lizards

From colorful marine iguanas to spaced out land iguanas to perky lava lizards and more…almost every island we visited was full of such creatures. There they would always be, sitting on the beach, swimming in the water, sunbathing on rocks or just wandering around.

There were actually so many iguanas and lizards that our guide had to constantly warn us to watch where we were walking to avoid stepping on one!

Giant Tortoises

The giant tortoises were naturally impressive, often weighing in at over 730 lbs (350kgs) and living for over 100 years. They don’t move around too much but it’s difficult to take your eyes off of them. They seem to reach deep into your inner being when they stare at you (ok, not that intense but they’re fascinating to observe!)…

Albatross

With their intricate courtship dance, huge size, crazy ability to fly super long distances and the fact that young albatrosses spend 6 years at sea before returning home to find a mate, seeing these birds on Espanola Island was a real highlight…

So Much More

Everywhere I looked on this Galapagos Islands trip there were animals. Too many to remember, too many to even fathom. But every time I look at the photos myself, I realize that I spent an entire week completely amazed, impressed and thankful for such an opportunity, which is why a trip to this remarkable destination is worth every single dollar as far as I’m concerned. It’s a dream trip in every way.

Thanks for reading!

Any questions about the Galapagos Islands? Let me know!

If you’re interested in taking a Galapagos Islands trip, the 8-day experience aboard the S/S Mary Anne with Andando Tours is beyond incredible!

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My other posts about the Galapagos Islands: My Galapagos Trip Was An Experience of a Lifetime