Galapagos Cruise from November 10 to 17, 2013

Thank you for visiting my Galapagos blog.
- Review of Xpedition Galapagos Cruise
- See posts from individual days and all landings below.
- you can read the Quito pre- and post-cruise tour at this link.

A 8 minutes sample video from the Galapagos Cruise

Landings and links to video from each landing

At our 7-night Galapagos island B Cruise (Inner loop itinerary) departing from Baltra November 10. 2013. Link to video from each landing: we did Circumnavigate

Daphne Minor & Major; and visited Puerto Egas (Santiago); Rabida Island; Elizabeth Bay (Isabela); Tagus Cove (Isabela); Sullivan Bay (Santiago); Bartolome Island; Bachas Beach (Santa Cruz); North Seymour Island; Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (San Cristobal); CerroBrujo (San Cristobal); Kicker Rock (San Cristobal) ; Puerto Ayora with Charles Darwin Station and Highlands (Santa Cruz); and back at Baltra November 17, 2013. Click on the map to the left and open the  map with links to videos from the different places we visited on the trip.

We booked our tour direct with Celebrity Cruises at celebritycruises.com.
Flight to Quito was booked direct at united.com.
Get cruise planning details at galapagosexpedition.info
Below you will find blogs with reviews from each of the landings on itinerary B (Inner Loop itinerary) . 

Celebrity Xpedition Review
We found, that the best way to see the Galapagos Islands is by ship. By ship it is possible to visit several different places, both the wester and the eastern islands, in order to experience the different nature and the many special animals on the Galapagos Islands.

It is debatable whether one should choose a small or large ship. Size matters. Larger ships will have better amenities, and smaller boat will have more intimate atmosphere. The maximum size of the ships at Galapagos is 100 passengers and each group visiting the islands has a maximum of 16 guests and a guide (naturalist). The guide must in all cases be certified. The most important thing is the quality of the guides and the places visited
After review of the different offerings, we did select a cruise with Celebrity Xpedition. Virtuel video tour from Xpedition.  We chose Celebrity Xpedition a larger ship with capacity for 96 passengers because this ship is absolutely in the best category in terms of quality of cabins, public spaces, meals on board and guides in the Galapagos Islands.
Although there are 96 people, it was like a big family, and each group visiting the islands was not more than 16 people. At Xpedition, there are several different offerings at each destination - Long and short walks or panga ride only. Also the guides on Xpedition are among the best in the Galapagos. Unlike other Celebrity cruises the Xpedition is an all inclusive tour.

For the 7-night Galapagos cruise we have booked the 10-night cruise tour with two nights at J.W.Marriott Hotel in Quito before and one night after the cruise. inclusive breakfast at fhe the hotel and dinner at the Carmine Restaurant Saturday evening before the cruise, as well as and dinner at the Marriott Sunday evening after the cruise. Also included a Quito city tour and a visit to the 'Mitad del Mundo' monument as well as a local Quito market.

This 10-day tour also include the Xpedition charter flight from Quito to Galapagos. Luggage was brought direct from the hotel to our cabin, both ways.
There are two Xpedition itineraries - The Galapagos island A Cruise and the B Cruise. There is no big differences between the Outer loop itinerary (A) and Inner loop itinerary (B -itinerary) on A you will see nesting Albatross while B will have nesting Frigate birds. The major reason for the two itineraries, is to allow the animals some rest between the visits.

Videos from the Galapagos Cruise:

Videos from the cruise:

- Galapagos Cruise review, November 2013
- Panga Ride, Wet and Dry Landings
- Celebrity Xpedition Tour
- What to Pack for the Galapagos Cruise
See  itinerary and links to videos from each location
See reviews in the posts below including links to videos.
- Birds, Mammals and Reptiles of the Galapagos
- Galapagos Penguins and Flightless Cormorant
- Blue-footed Booby and Magnificent Frigate bird
- Galapagos Sea Lions and Fur Seals
- Reptiles of Galapagos Islands
- Larger Birds of Galapagos
- Orca Whale Watching, Galapagos

- Darwin Finches
- Galapagos Tortoise

Cerro Brujo and Kicker Rock

Landing Wet
Video from Cerro Brujo

A beautiful beach of white coral beach where you can swim and watch birds and sea lions, plus snorkel next to the black volcanic cliffs make this beach another of the Galapagos most spectacular.

We decided not to go ashore, but instead to take a panga ride along the Cerro Brunjo rocks - here there were several caves in the cliffs where there were sea lions, pelicans as well as many sea birds.

 

Cerro Brujo is the remains of a tuff cone. It is one of the first sites visited by Charles Darwin. Captain Fitzroy climbed to the top of the hill to scout out reefs. It has an impressive landscape, where it is often possible to see coastal and migratory birds, including pelicans, Blue-footed Boobies, and Swallow-tailed Gulls, as well as sea lions and marine iguanas. At times the lagoon is completely dry and deposits of salt may be found in the bottom. The people of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno used to use the lagoon as a salt mine.
Located on the north coast of Isla San Cristobal. In the vicinity of the beach you can see seabirds like blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, herons, frigate birds and shore birds

Landing: circumnavigation
Video from Kicker Rock

When leaving Cerro Brujo the ship did circumnavigate Kicker Rock, the striking remains of a volcanic tuff cone, now split in two.

Kicker Rock or "León Dormido," which literally translates to "Sleeping Lion  is a rock formation, located on the coast of  San Cristobal. It is a magnificent island in the middle of the sea, rising 500 feet from the ocean, is shaped like a giant sleeping lion , hence its name. The rocks are remains of a vertical formation of tufa, and is a favorite place for various species of seabirds.

Sullivan Bay (Santiago)

Landing: Dry
Video from Sullivan Bay.

Sullivan Bay is especially fascinating for those who are interested in geology and volcanology. 
There is a path of about 2 km, where we walked over the uneroded, black lava flow covered with lava bubbles and tree-trunk molds in the surface.

The area is covered with solidified lava flows in a corrugated or accordion. This area was very active in the last 25 years of the nineteenth century. Lava from Sullivan was formed in 1897. It's a very young geologically flow. The magma formed is flat, but the movement of underground lava, the rapid cooling and other eruptions led to the break in many places.

Sullivan Bay is located south-east of Santiago Island. It is of great geological interest. Here you can see some amazing lava formations, the result of a volcanic eruption in 1903. This is an excellent example of colors and shapes that contrast with lavas typical of other older types. Volcanological formations attract students and scientists from all sides due to the capricious formations.

Sullivan Bay has an elevation of 114 meters, where you can observe sea and land birds, a colony of fur seal and black marine iguanas have adapted very well to this field.