Day 1 of 7-Day Galápagos Expedition: Baltra and Daphne Islands
Our expedition to the iconic Galápagos Islands started in Quito, after a week of remote work in the beautiful capital of Ecuador. At 8,000 feet, Quito is the highest capital city in the world, surrounded by towering, active volcanoes. Plus it is located by the equator. The combination of high altitude & equator creates unique and surprising conditions, found nowhere else on earth. But let’s not digress, I should save the details of our Quito experience for another time. For now let’s get on with Galápagos.
In this article I’ll journal the first day of our Galápagos Expedition onboard Quasar Evolution including the activities and general daily routine.
Travel from Quito to Baltra Island
The trip essentially started on Friday night when a Quasar staff brought us our goodie bags at the hotel.
On Saturday August 27th, 2022, we arrived at the Quito airport bright and early. We were greeted by a Quasar staff member who gave us all the information and led us through the airport. Soon we saw other travelers with the same Quasar bag and excitement. We slowly started conversations with our expedition companions. Unlike us, no one had stayed and enjoyed Quito. Together 30 of us left Quito for a flight to Galápagos Islands.
It felt like some reality show where we were meeting 28 complete strangers to later becomes friends on expedition and possible for life.
10:48 am: Plane arrival and luggage pick up
We arrived at Baltra island in the Galápagos around 10:45am, under blue skies and lovely weather. To my surprise Baltra island looked like a desert of sand, rock and cacti. Also known as South Seymour, Baltra Island is a small flat island located near the center of the Galápagos archipelago. Unlike most other islands, created by volcanic eruptions, Baltra was created by geological uplift from the ocean.
During World War II, Baltra was established as a US Air Force Base. Crews stationed at Baltra patrolled the eastern Pacific for enemy submarines and provided protection for the Panama Canal. Now it’s the starting point for many visitors arriving to this wonderful world of extreme wilderness.
11:30 am: Baltra Airport to Pier to Evolution
From the Baltra airport, one Evolution team took all our luggage and another one drove us to the port where we boarded pangas for the first time on the trip.
The pangas took us to the Evolution yacht for a warm welcome.
We unpacked all other things in the cabin and gave the big bags away for storage. Then we explored our new home for the week and met new friends over tea and snacks.
Believe it not, the room was always kept pristine by housekeeping staff despite our many changes in & out of hiking, swimming, snorkeling, dining, and resting outfits. They must have made the room at least 4 times a day. Each time they left a towel in a new animal shape and Ecuadorian chocolate.
On the first day, much of the action was on the main deck where we had the indoor and outdoor dining areas, lounge, coffee bar loaded with healthy snacks, a little shop tucked away, staff desk or information hub, and hot tub at the front of the yacht with areas to change in & out of wetsuits, dry clothes and hangout.
The top deck had a couple of rooms, a covered lounge with a bar and snacks and random places to hang out.
Noon: Orientation on Evolution
After unpacking we got a fun orientation by the very humorous general manager. He also talked about schedules, room set up and make overs, dining, drinks, snacks, wifi, cellular coverage etc. The chefs, servers and fun bar tender came out too. One of naturalists shared information about Baltra and our first activity – circumnavigating Daphne islands.
The 30 guests were split into 3 groups – Albatross, Boobies and Dolphins. The groups stayed together for most activities and 3 naturalists took turns leading a group on excursions. On the last day, the three groups competed for bragging rights and cool surprise prizes.
1:00 pm: First Lunch Onboard
The food on the Evolution is worth talking about. All of us 30 residents at together but we picked our seats, usually changing tables so we got to know everyone on the yacht. Most of the guests were from the US except one large family was from Australia. Sometimes we ate indoors and other times we sat in the outside dining area, usually depending on the weather.
Each lunch and dinner had an appetizer and a dessert that were served at the table. The main meal had a 2-3 salad options and four hot main course dishes. All freshly made on board, as fas as I could tell. The salads were vegetarian and so were two of the main dishes. Plus, the chefs made a special vegan main dish for us. All the meals were super delicious, some local specialities and almost no repeats, except for the vegan dessert which was usually a sorbet served with different toppings.
We were the only vegans or vegetarians on board and one teenager was allergic to a very large number of ingredients. For the kid the team served a special dish at every meal before anyone else was served. Our vegan dishes were brought to us when we arrived for meals. There were always extras for others to try.
Note for guests of Indian origin: I would recommend taking your favorite flavorful things to complement the relatively mellow foods and delicate flavors. We found an Ecuadorian tomato chutney on board which we used to embellish every breakfast, lunch and dinner.
4:00 pm: Safety Drill and Departure
After lunch we were ready to head out, but only after a mandatory safety drill. We practiced the drill in case of an emergency, except… one person fell asleep and ignored the sirens. Eventually it all ended well and we were cleared to go! With life jackets on, we got to undock and embark on our epic Galapagos Expedition.
With much jubilation, we headed out to the deep blue waters on gentle waves, with nothing but frigates and sea birds for company.
4:45 pm: Circumnavigation of Daphne Island
Our first activity was bird watching at the Daphne Major island. The island has kept its full cone, with a main crater and a second lateral crater, on the southern rim.
Closed to general public, Daphne Major island has a small walking trail for scientists that have been studying evolution by studying the famous Darwin’s Finches. This is the place where natural selection can be witnessed in human timescale, unlike Darwin’s belief that evolution takes a long time. Peter and Rosemary Grant from Princeton University studied the Finches on Daphne Major since 1973. Spending 6 months of each year on the island for 40 years, they witnessed evolution in action in the course of just two years. Isolated from the world and subject to harsh conditions, the survival of the species depends on their adaptability and rapid evolution. The conditions make this isolated island an ideal place to research biological evolution in human-time.
We circumnavigated the beautiful cone-shaped Daphne Island and saw tons of boobies, frigates, gulls, iguanas, sea lions, and tropical birds through binoculars and to some extent with naked eyes. We were so excited to see these… little did we know what lay in store through the course of the expedition.
5:45 pm: Snacks at the Bar
After every activity on the Galápagos expedition, we were treated to yummy snacks, fresh juices, cocktail and wines. The chefs had vegan and non-alcoholic options each day for us. The first day was no exception.
The snacks were served on the top deck where we relaxed, got to know each other, and shared stories from our amazing wildlife sightings or other activities. There was a lot to catchup on because we did the activities in little groups and we chose different activities. We could play our music or dance, which we did on the last night.
Snack time welcomed us after every snorkeling, hiking, kayaking or island visiting excursion, throughout the week. The incredible sunset, music and creative drinks created the perfect ambiance to remember for a lifetime.
6:45 pm: Naturalist Briefing
Every evening, we got a Naturalist briefing. The three naturalists took turns bringing their style and wealth of immense knowledge. They provided rich and fascinating information about different topics each day. They closed the talk with a detailed plan for the next day.
On the first evening they told us all about Isabela and Fernadina islands. We learned about the wildlife we would meet that such as penguins, iguanas, tortoises, sea lions, boobies, hawks etc. Most importantly they gave us an overview of snorkeling. The next day we got to size and pick our gear which would be ours to use on the Galápagos expedition.
7:20 pm: Captain’s Welcome Cocktail and Dinner
On the first and last day the captain and the high ranking staff came out for a toast and short conversation. The ~20 staff and naturalists was beyond exceptional, every single day, every single meal and activity. So, to see them in person was a special treat for us all. On most days the captain and his staff were around the yacht, helping us with our activities or chatting with us.
As a special mention, they had a small clinic and really nice doctor, Dr Chavez on board. The young doctor tended to every passenger’s medical needs, joined us on excursions, and got treatments 24 hours a day. When someone had a emergency at 2am, he treated them. When someone had a panic attack, he was right there. When I had an issue, he watched over me every day. He ordered medications from the main island which was delivered by a special boat on the day we passed the island.
We wrapped up the day with a lovely meal and sleep well, so we’re ready to meet incredible Galapagos wildlife in the morning.
