The Galápagos Islands Day 1

This morning we packed up our stuff and headed off to the Galàpagos Islands (with a short stop in Guayaquil). The Island we landed on was Baltra. This is where we met all of the other groups that were going on the same ship as us. The temperature as soon as we stepped off the plane was about 95°F and the water was only a little bit colder than that.We then got on a small boat called a Panga and we rode to our ship.

Our ship had 5 levels with a lot of rooms on each level. We got on the ship at the bottom deck which was the ocean deck. The ocean deck also had the dining room in it with a large buffet table.

We went to the next floor up to check in and find our room assignments. This level was the horizon deck. It basically had the front desk, the gift shop, and all the 100's numbered rooms. My room is room 114 and is pretty close to the front desk.

We only had a few minutes to get ready for our first excursion and have lunch. Every time we leave to go to one of the islands, you meet your group in the library which is located on the floor above my room. This level was called the expedition deck. This floor also has the discovery room and all of the 200's rooms.

Then we left the ship we had a wet landing on Las Bachas. Wet landing means that you do not have a dock to step on to, you basically swing your feet over the side of the boat and jump in to the water ( it only goes up to your mid- calf).

After world war 2, U.S. military barges were beaches and abandoned here. Locals called it barges beach which morphed into Las Bachas. Now you can see the remains of the barges on the beach. Along with the history of the island, we also learned about and saw many different animals from the island...
- Brown Pelican
- Galàpagos Gull
- Galàpagos Lava Lizard
- Blue footed boobie
- Galàpagos Marine Iguana
- Flamingos
- Common Stilts
- Sea Turtle Nests

The most interesting animal I saw today was the Galàpagos Marine Iguana. They are considered indigenous to the area. They are the only iguana that can swim underwater to get their food. They use the wave to get back up on to the land. When they are finished eating they sneeze out the salt because that is the part they can not digest. On the ground in the sand you can see the lines where their tails dragged behind them.