Ok, how on earth do I sum it all up!?
It was brilliant and I'm amazed the amount we managed to fit into every day (though getting up at 6:15 most mornings probably did the trick). The boat was a very luxurious start to my travels and I had my own cabin with ensuite :) All the cabins were named after creatures and mine was Hammerhead Shark :)
The list of creatures I saw is just too long to list, but needless to say includes Boobies (Blue-footed and Nasca), Sea turtles, Sharks, Giant Tortoises, lots of fish, Sealions, Flightless Cormorants, Finches, Iguanas (Marine and Land), Rays (Manta, Golden and Eagle Spotted) and even the spout and dorsal fin of a Humpback Whale!!
Went snorkelling at least once a day even though it was bloody freezing, walked on the islands and had boat rides along the coast. The meals were plentiful to say the least and am sure I left the boat heavier than I arrived on it :S There were 4 courses in the evening and buffet breakfasts and lunches....very dangerous.
We crossed the Equator on Sunday evening and had to ubiquitous King Neptune party, which I watched from the bar with a rather stiff cocktail (the measures were more than generous!).
I entered the photo competition and won 3rd place with my photo of the mating turtles we found in the mangrove lagoon (see gallery), which was a suprise as everyone was sporting expensive cameras with myriad lenses and gadgets!
The creatures really were as unafraid of humans as they look in the photos - at one point we disembarked onto a lava field to be find marine iguanas (as black as the lava) quite literally underfoot.
Probably the highlight of the trip for me, was the snorkelling and boat ride on Vincente Roca Point (Isabela Island) on Sunday afternoon where we saw the Humpback Whale and 3 Mola Mola (sunfish) - the perfect goodbye from the Galapagos.
