The Galapagos Islands are a dream destination for many travelers, an ecological paradise mostly untouched by human development. These remote islands located off the western coast of South America are famed for their unique wildlife: giant tortoises, iguanas, penguins, and more types of birds than visitors can count. Getting to the Galapagos Islands is not easy and traveling between them after arriving can require some serious logistics. We were fortunate enough to find a great deal on airfare to the Galapagos and planned a vacation heading there for the summer of 2020. We booked everything mere weeks before the arrival of the COVID-19 virus in the United States and then spent the next 18 months delaying and re-booking our trip to the Galapagos. There were many times when I wondered if we would ever get to take the trip that we had planned (not least because this was an expensive pre-paid vacation). Fortunately, the arrival of the COVID vaccine in 2021 allowed us to travel to the Galapagos in what we felt was reasonable safety and finally enjoy the trip that we'd been waiting to take. We were treated to an amazing experience during our ten days in the Galapagos: hiking on the slopes of an active volcano, snorkeling with sea lions and sea turtles, biking on the beach to see giant tortoises in their natural habitat, and sampling the delicious local Ecuadorean cuisine. This is one of the most amazing places in the world to view wildlife and we were fortunate in getting to see everything that we hoped would be there, up close and personal.
As usual, the pages that follow contain some of the pictures and stories that we accumulated along our travel through the islands. We hope you enjoy seeing them!
