We were then taken by bus to the port where we would board our small 16 person cruise ship. Immediately the wildlife of the Galapagos could be see. Frigate birds were in the air. This bull sealion had made himself at home at the port.

Next we boarded our GAP Adventures Cruise Ship for a 8 day cruise around the Galapagos.

Gowri and I were in one cabin and my mother was in another cabin which she shared with another person. We had read that seasickness is a common problem on these cruises so I got seasickness medicine in the form of a patch since I'm prone to motion sickness. This worked out great for me. My mother usually does not get motion sick but her cabin was near the top level of the boat which rocks a lot more. She ended up getting motion sick several times but still didn't want to try the patch. Below is a picture of the cabin that Gowri and I stayed in.

We quickly sailed to Santa Cruz island for our first stop. It was mostly to get our feet wet. To get to each island we would get on small dingy to get to shore. Santa Cruz had many volcanic rocks and numerous Sallylightfoot Crabs.

We also saw very large Marine Iguanas.

Compared to the mainland Rainforests it became clear that it would be very easy to see the wildlife closeup and the 300 mm F5.6 lens was perfect. The diversity of the animals on land was a lot less than the mainland as expected since only so many could make it to the islands. However, it was very interesting to see how they carved out their own niche to survive. Unlike the mainland, the Galapagos are a very climate. Also, to learn about how Darwin came up with his theory of evolution after visiting these islands was an amazing experience.