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I Went On A Galapagos Cruise PACKED With Surprises
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Jan 28, 2025
I found that despite my research and preparations, my Galapagos Silver Origin cruise was very different to my expectations. The landscapes, the wildlife I saw, and even how this expedition cruise ran and went were not entirely as I expected from both my past Silversea expeditions, but also from the reading and what I had watched. I came away also wondering if the Galapagos should be on as many cruisers’ bucket lists as it appears to be. GET EXCLUSIVE PERKS LIKE MEMBER-ONLY BONUS VIDEOS BY BECOMING A CHANNEL MEMBER: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTS AND MERCHANDISE ———————————————— * Check out my T-Shirt range at http://bit.ly/TFTStore or https://tips-for-travellers.creator-spring.com SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ
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0:00
despite my research and preparations at
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the end of a busy second day out
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exploring the Galapagos on my silver
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origin Cruise it dawned on me that there
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were five things I could see that I had
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not fully appreciated before coming
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welcome aboard I'm Gary bembridge join
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me to discover what a Galapagos cruise
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is really like and why I found out that
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maybe for many people it shouldn't
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actually be on their bucket list the
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first surprise I had once there was
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about the landscape of the Galapagos
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while I found the Galapagos landscape
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unique I had wrongly from the videos and
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shows that I'd watched expected it to be
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impressive by its constant Majesty as I
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had on my other Expedition Cruisers to
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the Arctic and to Antarctica now while
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there were some memorable Parts like
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walking on the unworldly lava field at
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Sullivan Bay Santiago and an unexpected
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Beach at cheruberugio on San Cristobal
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overall it lacked the Splendor and the
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wow of other Expedition regions what was
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more interesting though was the whole
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story of the Landscapes and how they're
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rough and harsh from their volcanic
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creation secondly has a more casual
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nature and Wildlife fan early on I
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thought the the wildlife kind of lacked
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a wow factor there were no bucket list
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massive big beasts like you the big five
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you see on an African safari polar bears
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and walruses in the Arctic the big
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sprawling penguin colonies and PODS of
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whales in Antarctica but
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through the week I came to appreciate
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this is what makes it unique there are
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no large land mammals because the
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wildlife and the Galapagos had to find
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their way there the islands are a
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thousand kilometers off the coast of
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Ecuador and so Wildlife originally flew
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there or are believed to have drifted
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across the ocean stuck on floating
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vegetation I saw five key Wildlife
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groups that I came to appreciate the
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Highlight for me were the giant
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tortoises probably what the islands are
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best known for the many inquisitive
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Galapagos sea lions at pretty much every
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place we visited lazy iguanas Marina
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iguanas Galapagos Land Iguana lying
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about sunning themselves frisky
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Galapagos penguins in the western for de
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Nina and Isabella Islands due to the
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cold currents that are there
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I came to appreciate the birds too
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including red-footed boobies blue-footed
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boobies NASCAR boobies giant frigid
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Birds Darwin finches and brown Pelicans
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though a big Revelation was the variety
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of marine life I saw snorkeling like
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some of the Apparently over 500 species
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of fish raised sharks and turtles it was
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on my first hike at Darwin Bay on
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genovesa that one of the best parts of
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wildlife viewing in the Galapagos
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revealed itself they are not bothered by
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humans at all I could walk right by and
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up to the iguanas birds and sea lions so
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close I never once needed to use the
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zoom lens I packed and had to use on
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every other Expedition cruise and Safari
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that I've been on over the course of the
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week I estimate 95 of guests ended up
3:14
using their iPhone to take photos as
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they could get that close I did use this
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my small Sony RX100 which has a good
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zoom only so I could get tight close-up
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detail of wildlife like this iguana and
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this baby bird chick to use in my videos
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but just as easily I use my iPhone to
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get these close-ups of baby sea lions
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during my week I realized that while
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Galapagos is probably more of a
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destination for true nature lovers like
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my nephews who adore birds reptiles and
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fish a more casual lover like me can be
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thrilled by getting up so close the
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brochures made it sound like this would
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be pretty much like every other
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Expedition trip that I've been on and as
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I was going with the same company Silver
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City I definitely thought it would be
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however there are again five things that
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I've found were very different and
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unique to a Galapagos one 100 of the
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crew on all Galapagos ships must be
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Ecuadorian Nationals there is no foreign
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crew at any level as on other Expedition
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cruises I've been on in fact the
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Expedition team were all Galapagos
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residents as to be a licensed guide in
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the Galapagos National Park they had to
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be the cuisine was mostly Regional
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dishes using locally sourced ingredients
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it was a fuller more demanding and
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tiring schedule than any Expedition
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cruise that I've been on to date I had
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three active activities off the ship per
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day with early starts of 7 AM or 8 A.M
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for the first one every day there were
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hikes with dry or wet Landing off the
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Zodiac or wet Landing is where you have
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to step off the Zodiac into the water
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like for example I did at Darwin Bay
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most of the hikes were called
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adventurous like at Prince Philip steps
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on genovesa where we had to climb up and
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then down 30 steep Rocky steps to go
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sightseeing or in North Seymour
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clamoring over rocks along the path a
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few are easy like that relaxed walk
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along the sandy beach at Cerro baruja
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Beach in San Cristobal I mentioned
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earlier on another key daily activity
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was snorkeling I quickly realized after
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day one that anyone that didn't go
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snorkeling missed out on a significant
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chunk of what there is to see here some
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of my most memorable and remarkable
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outings were snorkeling on some I had a
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sea lion scooting around me groups of
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turtles wafting by beautiful fish all
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around rays and even sharks another
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important but less frequent activity was
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heading away from the coast into the
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highlands this is where the giant
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tortoises are we did this twice once on
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Santa Cruz Islands montemar tortoise
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Reserve which is on the tortoise
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migration path here I saw dozens of
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tortoises everywhere the other was to
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sand cristobal's tortoise breeding
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center where I got to see both adult
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tortoises and the baby tortoises that
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they're rearing to release into the wild
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the final activity were his zodiac rides
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in places where we were not allowed to
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land we did one at Punta mangle on
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Ferdinand Island and at the nearby punto
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Moreno on Isabella Island here we got
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really close to Galapagos penguins
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seeking food with Pelicans diving into
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the sea all around fishing for theirs so
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this is how the day went two activities
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in the morning lunch as the ship moved
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to a new location an afternoon activity
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a short break before the 6 45 PM lecture
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and 7 15 PM briefing for the next day
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and then dinner and bed ready for the
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next early start
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now I consider myself fit and I did the
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number of daily and active Expeditions
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early starts and it's a really packed
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schedule it was really rather tiring by
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the way there was no entertainment as
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such other than a Pianist who played
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during drinks before the talk after
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dinner and at lunch there was one
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cooking class and one trivia on the last
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evening
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based on all of this I also realized
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that Galapagos is even less suitable for
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Mobility restricted or less active
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Travelers than any other Expedition
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Crews that I've been on everything
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requires climbing in and out of zodiacs
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sometimes with a swell the ship never
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docks so even to Embark and disembark
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requires going on a zodiac as I
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mentioned the hikes were mostly over
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rocks or steps to get to see the best
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wildlife and going snorkeling is key it
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doesn't seem that many boats or ships by
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the way have accessible cabins either it
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felt to me that the Galapagos has more
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rules than any other Expedition area
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that I've ever been to the Galapagos
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National Park established in 1959
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governs and polices the area they have a
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set number of sites that ships can go to
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and they schedule who can go where and
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when to limit numbers at any site per
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day it seems there are about 90 approved
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sites in around 80 to 90 licenses for
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boats to operate most of those by the
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way are small with 40 passengers or even
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fewer up to a few ships like silver
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origin I was on with the maximum allowed
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which is 100. before we arrived in the
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Galapagos my luggage had to be bios
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searched I handed my luggage over the
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night before at the Quito pre-state
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hotel to be searched and sealed I wasn't
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allowed to break that seal until I got
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my bags on the ship
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during the flight from Quito to the
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islands the plane was sprayed with
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insect spray the Galapagos has a huge
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problem with invasive species wreaking
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havoc in the onboard talks I learned
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there is up to 1 700 animals insects or
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plants that have arrived on the island
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either by accident or designed with
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terrible consequences for example
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goats bought by it man multiplied to
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tens of thousands destroying the
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vegetation the tortoise has relied on
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they called something like 60 000 of
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them blackberries and raspberries spread
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like wildfire breaking down the
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ecosystem blocking the migration of
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tortoises rats have affected the bird
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life eating the eggs bugs foreign bugs
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burrowing into young chicks and wiping
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out flocks once there I found other
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rules to protect the overall ecosystem
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and the wildlife for example we had to
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use eco-suitable sunscreen especially if
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snorkeling now I didn't actually take
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any because I knew that silver sea
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supplied the right kind of stuff on
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board we had mandatory briefings on the
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first night before we could go on Land
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Learning rules like having to stay on
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laid out Pathways I couldn't even take a
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step off them to take a photo for
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example bags were random search leaving
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the island including mine to check
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nothing natural had been taken like
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feathers Stones Flora or baby talk to us
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I guess too let me talk about silver
10:24
Seas silver origin as it is the smallest
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cruise ship I've ever been on holding
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just 100 passengers I had a real concern
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it would feel cramped with few options
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but as I've said there was little time
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to do much on board while it did have
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limited facilities it never felt small
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and I never felt lacking a facility
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there was the spacious explorers Lounge
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for the briefings and the drinks the
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restaurant which could seat everyone at
10:51
one time the grill a casual lunch dining
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and silver sea signature Hot Rocks
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outdoor restaurant
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small fitness center a highly used
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observation Lounge the base camp with
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guest services and an interactive
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information screen and the marina for
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getting on and off Zodiacs my cabin
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which was a deluxe Veranda Suite was way
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bigger than I'd expected lots of space a
11:15
big walk-in cupboard a good sized
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bathroom comfortable bed the reason it
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was bigger is because it had one of
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those Infinity balconies with a sliding
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glass top window while the Galapagos is
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not about Grand Majestic scenery nor
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bucketless big mammals I came to
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appreciate it's more about the story of
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the unique wild bird and marine life and
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how they survive in this very remote and
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harsh environment and how close you can
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get right up to them to experience them
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I did come away thinking this is more of
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a bucketless destination for true nature
11:49
lovers than the other places for
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expeditions that I've been on now if you
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decide to go to the Galapagos watch this
11:55
video of tips I really wish I had known
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be before going starting with one key
12:00
change I would have made to make the
12:03
trip better from the start see you over
12:05
there
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