Mingle With Giant Sea Turtles in the Galapogas Islands

If you happen to be fortunate enough to visit these islands, you’ll be within the 100,000 tourists maximum allowed per year. There are 19 islands but only five inhabited ones, having escaped the influx of tourists until the 1960’s when they decided to expose their haven to help support their economy. Santa Cruz Island is the sanctuary for 2,500 giant sea turtles. The male turtles keep their sexuality to themselves until age 40, when they decide females are not such bad creatures after all. Their saddle shaped shell is the reason the Spaniards who arrived here called the islands after galapago, which meant a riding saddle in Spanish.

The islands are also home to the Green Turtle, and several other species of turtles. The Green Turtle can be observed throughout the year during any season, but December and January are the main months for turtles to lay eggs. If you want to watch more turtles than usual, November through February is when males are searching out females. The Black Turtle Lagoon and Los Tunelos on Isabela Island are just two of the major spots to observe the turtles. It becomes quite a thrilling event for those observing the hundreds of female turtles coming ashore. Tour companies can provide you with some of the best locations to watch. The sea turtles are endangered, so there are strict rules, including no touching, littering is forbidden, and this is likely not the place to look for shells. Rent a kayak and find yourself enthralled with the marine life swimming around you in the turquoise blue waters. There were 15 species of sea turtles, and four are now extinct. There is one surviving member of the Pinta Island race, named Lonesome George, The Charles Darwin Research Station will be an informative base to explore more about the species of marvelous creatures on the islands.

The male sea lions however probably wish they had never seen females, as they have to defend them for three weeks from other male conquests. There are three species of iguanas, lava lizards, mantras and more. There are over 650,000 birds migrating to this area, miniature dinosaurs, Albatross, penguins, and if you are a scuba diver, you can mingle in the waters with the sea turtles, all the while not touching them.

So where are the islands? Try almost 1000 km from Ecuador, with your international airport being Quito, Ecuador. From there, you’ll have a 2.5 hour flight from Quito to the Galapagos, landing in Baltra via the airline AeroGal. Continental Airlines has travel arrangements to this destination. If you are heading to Santa Cruz, you can take a bus from Quito to Itabaca canal, which is about 10 minutes. From there, you’ll take a ferry to Santa Cruz which will cost about 90 cents. There are cruises precisely to take in the wonders of these islands. The Galapagos Legend has several options for cruises, starting at 3 nights and going up to 7 nights. There are some health precautions to take prior to heading out, so see your physician before leaving. The sun may be the most dangerous of all seeing how close to the equator you are, but the ocean breeze creates a lovely temperature. March is the warmest month, from 75 to 90 degrees, while August has cooled down to 65 degrees and up, so you are not going to experience normally a great fluctuation.

Truly, your best way of exploring the island or islands are by tours, either tour guides or cruises with organized tours. There are luxury yacht tours, to provide you every comfort while giving an outstanding guided exploration, kayaking tours, tours for those wanting comfortable accommodation and laid-back exploration, cheap and expensive hotels on the islands. If this is your first visit here for a family beach vacation, it is recommended you plan well with tour companies who know the area.

continental.com
aerogal.com.ec
purecuador.ec for information on both Ecuador and the Galapagos.
o.a.r.s. is a green adventure tour, recognized by the National Geographic Adventure magazines for their quality tours and excellent carbon footprint record.