20240603 Celebrity Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip, Day #5 - Galapagos, San Cristobal Island

Celebrity Xpedition Galapagos and Machu Picchu trip - San Cristobal Island - Punta Pitt & Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Today was a two-stop day. But before we get into that, I keep forgetting to mention the population of this ship. There are 31 out of a possible 48 guests on this sailing. Our crew complement is 58. That means the crew-to-passenger ratio is 1.87:1. I keep trying to find a terrible or useless crew member, but try as I might, I simply cannot. Every single crew member who has served us, led us on excursions, or interacted with us in any capacity has been gracious, polite, and eager to ensure that we are having the best possible time. The crew, in a word, is incredible.

I pulled back the curtains this morning and was treated to this beautiful Galapagos sunrise.

Looks like it will be another terrific day

We ate breakfast and headed out on a Zodiac ride, ending on a small beach for optional snorkeling. The other activity was an extremely steep and rocky hike. Those who did it said that it was most certainly properly named.

Early adventurers, heading out on a Zodiac

Let's start with a look at some of the landscape here. It is very interesting.

We spent time along the coast in several spots, taking in the wildlife. Before we go further, let me just say that these were taken at a distance from a Zodiac that was moving quite a lot in the surf. These are not up to my standards, but they will have to suffice as the day gives you what the day gives you. Here are the birds we say today.

Frigates

Interesting flight technique

That's better

A juvenile frigate

A frigate on the left with a booby on the right

Male frigates inflate a bright red sac on their neck when they are trying to attract a mate. we saw several looking for love.

Looking for love on the left, unimpressed males on the right

Nasca boobys

Red-footed boobys

There are six boobys and one frigate on the lower left

Both the white and brown versions of the red-footed booby

Baby booby

It's so fluffy!

Parent with child

The parent brought a stick home for Junior to play with

What do you do if your face itches and you have goofy red feet? You use them to scratch the itch, of course!

A great blue heron

We have tons of these at home - I didn't expect to see one in the Galapagos

Storm petrels

This is a tiny petrel species. It is much smaller than the petrels we saw in southern South America and Antarctica.

The sky was littered with them

We ended the tour at a small beach where we snorkeled with playful sea lions.

Who is that good-looking snorkeled?

After lunch on the ship, we split up for afternoon activities.  To go anywhere, we need Zodiacs. They are stored on the ship on Deck #5 aft and are raised and lowered by a crane.

Picking the zodiac up

Swinging it over the side

Lowering it to the water

Arlona went on what was described as a fitness walk - more walking, less talking. I looked at it as a death march. It had long inclines and around 150 stairs. Two things that are not my friend are long inclines and lots of stairs. That tour would then make a brief stop at the Interpretation Center before ending in town. I opted for a longer tour of the Interpretation Center that explained the history of the area. My tour also ended in town.

Arlona

The walk was along a paved walkway, up to a lookout where we could see both sides of the island and an overview of the city. There are roughly 8,000 residents in town.  We stopped at three different viewing platforms, the highest one coming first after perhaps 100 stairs. The second platform overlooked a lagoon where Darwin had anchored the Beagle (his ship). The third stop overlooked the ocean and we could see sea lions. Our stop at the Interpretation Center lasted perhaps ten minutes so that was a whirlwind walk-through. When I got into town, I looked for Garry and discovered a cool fountain toward the end of town.

Sea Island Cotton flower

The first lookout

We think this was a species of hummingbird, but it was too fast to get a good photo - 40% of the world's hummingbirds live in Ecuador

The second lookout and a statue of Darwin

Sea turtles!

Third lookout

Galapagos Lava Lizard

Garry

I arrived in town on a separate Zodiac. 

Arriving in town

We took a bus for a short ride to the Interpretation Center.

The center is a museum about the history of the Galapagos. Dominican friar, Fray Tomás de Berlanga, Bishop of Panama, was credited with discovering the islands in March of 1535. It explained the Spanish influence and the annexation by Ecuador in 1832. We only had about 25 minutes to explore.

We returned to town and had some free time to wander. There isn't much to see beyond some bars and a few small shops. I did spot this sculpture near the pier.

The harbor

Arlona returned to town shortly before 5:00 and confirmed that I had made the right choice to avoid the walk. We were able to catch the first zodiac back to Xpedition and have a little downtime before tonight's excursion briefing for tomorrow's activities and a planned dinner under the stars in Darwin's Restaurant, outside on Deck #4.

In the 7:15 briefing, we learned about tomorrow's options for Floreana Island. We will be taking a Zodiac ride, walking to the postal barrel (more on that tomorrow), and snorkeling. After some downtime on the ship, we will snorkel again at Champion Island. We're hoping to see sea turtles tomorrow. Finally, at Punta Cormorant, we plan to take a nature walk. It will be another full day.

After the briefing, we headed outside to Darwin's where they had the resident keyboardist playing soft background music and we dined under the stars. Eight of us formed a table together and it was a terrific time getting to know folks better.

Dinner under the stars was true to its name. The cool thing about being this close to the equator (we're roughly 60 miles south of it) is that you can see both Northern and Southern Hemisphere constellations. The ship was moving a lot, so I apologize for the blurry star trails.

The Southern Cross in the upper right

The Big Dipper - upside down since we are in the Southern Hemisphere

Just a final note about staff service on this cruise. We all ordered dessert - I chose the chocolate mousse and mentioned that I love chocolate mousse. Everyone's desserts were delivered, but not mine. our server was nowhere to be found. After several minutes, I asked another server to see where our server was. A moment later, she arrived with my mousse. But, unlike everyone else's, she whipped up a special one, eliminating some of the filler layers like whipped cream and replacing it with more mousse. In addition, she added more chocolate to the top. she did all this because I made a comment about really liking chocolate mousse. Incredible. I can't say enough good things about the crew on this ship.

Just another great day on Celebrity Xpedition.