Hello,
We are planning a trip to the Galapagos islands. We won't have as much time as we like, so we are trying to choose our itinerary wisely to see the best places. We already have an idea of which companies to go with, we are just trying to decide up routes.

Could you possibly rank or tell me which islands you liked best and add a small blurb as to why. I would appreciate the help. Thanks!

I’ll give my opinion of the more memorable islands based on 2 trips, one at the end of April and one at the start of August. For a more thorough explanation of the islands, get Barry Boyce’s book <u>A Traveler’s Guide to the Galapagos.</u>

Espanola/Hood—Most itineraries include this island since it has such a diversity of animals. The Waved Albatross are here except Jan-Mar. They come here to mate and raise their young. You can watch the bonding rituals that include open-beak kissing and you can see young birds learning to take off from the cliffs. Usually big colonies of blue footed boobies live here. But on the April trip there were more blue footed boobies on Seymour. The Marine Iguanas with their bright “Christmas tree” colors are present and are some of the biggest of the islands. The Hood Mocking Birds are unique to this island and you can approach within a meter or two. Nazca boobies are here. Sea lions are here, but they are most everywhere.

Fernandina—The most marine iguanas are here. Lava lizards sun themselves on the heads of the marine iguanas. This is lizard land. This island is one of the few places to get a good look at the flightless cormorant. You can get close enough to see the blue eyes.

North Seymour—Blue footed Boobies live here too, along with Nazca boobies. This island has the largest colony of Magnificent Frigate birds and also the Great Frigate Birds—in Aug their pouches were not inflated, in April most were. Good sea lion activity, sometimes surfing.

Tower/Genovesa—This island is in the north and not often included on the shorter trips. The red footed boobies live here. Little black marine iguanas live here. The swallow tailed gull is here, but you can see that elsewhere.

Santa Cruz—This has the Charles Darwin Research station and every tour visits this place. There are tortoise pens here. You may also take a road trip to the highlands where wild tortoises roam. The highlands are a good place to find the vermilion flycatcher. You can take a panga ride (small boat) through Black Turtle Cove and see rays, reef sharks, and marine turtles. Turtles are more common Nov-May, but I did see some in Aug, especially while snorkeling in the ocean.

South Plaza—Bachelor colony of sea lions here. You can see the red billed tropicbirds and swallow tailed gulls fly along the cliffs. This island has a desert-like atmosphere with cactus that support the land iguana.

James—The fur seal (not sea lion) grotto is here. It was also one of the best places I found for Sally Lightfoot crabs. I got within a couple meters of several Galapagos Hawks here.

Isabella--If you take a panga, you can see penguins along the rocks. You can also snorkel here and get close to the penguins. The waters around Isabella are very good for whale watching. On the Aug trip we saw sperm whales, humpbacks, orcas, and a minke right next to the boat. The whales were not just seen near Isabella. Just a couple of whale sightings in April. But in April we snorkeled near bottle nosed dolphins.

Fasincating - thanks for posting!

Thanks so very much!

Duh...I obviously meant FASCINATING.

I loved Espanola!! The diversity of animals here was the best and the scenery was beautiful! In May the albtrosses were showing off for each other.

I also liked the frigates on North Seymor, also in full display in May.
What ever islands you go to you won't be disapointed!!!

Got back from an 8 day cruise on 3/21/07- everything was awesome but I think my favorite might be Genovesa. It reminded me of a movie about prehistoric times. It's also a birder's paradise- their sheer numbers were amazing. We went in the early morning and saw hundreds of boobies diving, countless frigatebirds trying to attract mates (saw a female lay an egg!), dancing blue footed boobies, newly hatched boobies, older fledglings being fed, white morph boobies and our favorite- red footed boobies- and so much more. Unforgettable.

Genovesa and Espanola. I realize this is a cop-out, but they were all good. But Genovesa (the boobies, the frigates, and the abundane of birds generally) was amazing. Espanola was also very good (especially the beach with the sea lions). It probably would have been even better if the Albatrosses were there - we were there in Early March.

Oh, man, reading this is getting exciting! We leave next week for the first time to Galapagos. I generally file trip reports here, so in about three weeks I can give an opinion also.
Hasta luego! BillJ

It doesn't sound like you're into diving (or will have the time), but no analysis of the Galapagos is complete without mentioning Wolf and Darwin. They are the two northernmost isles in the Galapagos and unparalleled for scuba diving.