My World With Dance: Galapagos With LOVE

The Galapagos are a set of islands that are 1000 km away from the mainland of Ecuador. They give us a rare chance to experience life as it once was with animals occupying all parts of the land. Anyone that has seen my vision board can confirm that I have wanted to come here for many years. Right in the centre of my board I have a full sized image of a blue footed booby. I always thought of myself as very similar to this unique bird as they are so different, vibrant and have a great courting dance. I don't usually use my dancing for courting even though its not out of the question. The point is dreams do come true and I found myself in this paradise and never wanted to leave. As you can imagine it's not a cheap place to be and I did have to fly away after 5 days but not before I had the experience of a lifetime.
I landed on San Cristobal Island and I was met by friendly crew that took 17 of us on board to the Monserrat. This beautiful yacht had comfortable cabins with ensuites and loads of space to relax and spread out. I was thrilled to have my own room as everyone else was either in couples or male. I knew that being a single female would pay off one day and I took full advantage of my own space along with the hot showers I could enjoy for as long as I wanted.
The first activity was checking out the Jacinto Gordillo Breeding Center were we saw Giant Tortoises of all different ages and sizes in a semi-wild habitat. It was interesting to observe these gentle beasts as they attempt to sprint across the landscape in complete slow motion. We even saw two males battling it out which resembled a slow kung fu.
The next day we got to take in the views from Cerro Brujo which is a magnificent fine powder beach on San Cristobal's north coast. Sea lions occupy the beach and use the water as a playground to get up close and personal with humans that are snorkeling. In addition to the many fish and sea lions I also came into arms reach from a few marine turtles swimming around. I didn't think the day could get any better but I was so wrong.
The next activity was snorkeling through the channel of Kicker Rock. This is a magnificent basalt remains of a crater in the middle of the sea that rises 150 meters above the surface and is divided into two parts by a narrow channel. I almost missed the whole experience as I didn't hear the bell gathering all of us up to take the dinghies to our activity. Panicked, I noticed I was the only one on the boat. I nearly threw myself off into the shark infested water just to make sure I got to snorkel here. Luckily the captain stopped me and turned the boat around to catch up with the dinghies. I still had to swim on my own through half the channel which was terrifying as I was sure no one would hear me if I became delicious shark bate. I reached the group just in time as hundreds of sharks passed below us and completely mesmerized me. There were schools of white tip, black tip, silver tip and reef sharks just casually passing by without taking any notice of us. I froze in this moment for what seemed like forever just taking the site in. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced.
The next day we arrived at Espanola Island which is the south most island making it remote and spectacular. It is the breeding site for nearly all of the world's 12,000 pairs of waved albatrosses and home to colonies of blue footed and masked boobies. Here you can also spot Galapagos doves and mocking birds. There are also thousands of marine iguanas lying around and spitting on each other (apparently that is how they monitor their body salt levels). There are so many of them it was hard to not step on them as we navigated through the paths leading us to amazing cliff top views of this magical land.
On our last day we cruised up to the beautiful Floreana island. First we visited Punta Cormorant beach where the sand is made of fine olivine crystals, which is a glassy volcanic mineral that gives the beach an olive green color. As we pulled up on our dinghies we spotted a few penguins in the water which turned everyone on board into major paparazzi. As the group headed off for a hike I stayed back and decided to go for a solo swim. I didn't have my bathers with me but that wasn't going to stop me. I sprinted into the water and enjoyed the best swim of my life. The penguins took me as one of their own as we swam together in perfect harmony and the sea lions continued their water activities including me in their game of chase. Blue footed boobies circled over top of us landing on the water at times and even the crabs seemed to be intrigued by my addition to the groups. Just as dreams get interrupted by reality, I too had to say a sad goodbye to my new favourite place. I found a new freedom and appreciation to wild life that will remain with me for the rest of my days.