'Eclipse' transports guests to gorgeous Galapagos

The comfortable, casual vessel serves as a hotel for the limited number of visitors to the exotic islands each year.

By Maria Smith, Special to the Times
Published October 14, 2007

Looking for receptive females, male red-pouched frigate birds in the Galapagos Islands fluff out their breasts, raise their wings and dance in a mating ritual as old as the species.
	[Michael Smith | Times]

Cruising the Galapagos

- Pack lightly. The weather is warm and the dress is casual, but take good shoes, both for hiking and beach-strolling. A pair of waterproof shoes is necessary for "wet" landings. Flip-flops are inappropriate and dangerous (there are fire ants on some of the islands and sharp rocks everywhere).

- Take sunscreen, and use it liberally and often. The sun is intense.

- The Eclipse is primarily an adults-only ship, except during the summer season and certain holiday periods that are reserved for families; schedule accordingly.

- On family cruises, the Eclipse staff provides separate shore excursions for kids as well as extra shipboard activities and special menus.

- Cruisers visit six or seven islands (depending on surf conditions and local restrictions), with two or three stops on each island.

- A camera is de rigueur, and you may wish to pack a lightweight videocamera. It's no fun hauling bulky photography equipment on the uphill hikes. Other musts: binoculars, backpacks, insect repellent and a hat that shades the ears.

- The Eclipse provides a checklist (including the Latin names) of all the animals and plants passengers might see. It is great fun to run back to the room and cross off the discoveries made on each excursion.

- Look but do not touch or disturb is the basic rule that the guides enforce during shore excursions. Visitors who break the rule or continually wander from the paths and trails are confined to the ship.

- The ship provides snorkeling equipment.

- The fresh fruit juices of Ecuador are amazing. The ship serves a daily variety, including tree tomato (not a tomato at all), guava, passion fruit and blackberry.

- Before leaving, pick up some Galapagos Islands coffee beans at the airport.

- Ecuador's national currency is the American dollar.

Maria and Michael Smith

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Sailing on the 'Eclipse'

The ship has a low passenger-to-guide ratio and has sufficient pangas to disembark passengers quickly.

Rates start at $3,600 per person, per week; there are special family rates as well as high- and low-season rates. Information: www.oceanadventures.com.ec. Quoted rates do not include air fare, overnight hotel accommodations on the mainland, or the $100 per person entrance tariff to Galapagos National Park and Marine Reserve.

The ship sails from Baltra Island every Saturday; passengers will travel either to Quito or Guayaquil to connect to a flight to Baltra and will need to stay one night in either city on each end of the cruise; round-trip air to Baltra approaches $400 per person; air and hotel packages are available on the Ocean Adventures Web site; investigate pricing on your own before booking.

International travelers leaving Ecuador are required to pay a $32.60 departure tax in cash at the airport.

Ecuador is an inexpensive place to visit. Even high-end restaurants charge under $15 for entrees. Good buys include pewter, jewelry and locally made clothing.

Reading list

The Eclipse provides a suggested reading list. Though it is not necessary to learn about the islands in advance, we found that reading a few of the books enhanced our experience. Many of the books are in the ship's library and the ship's boutique. In addition to Charles Darwin's The Origin of the Species, some other suggestions are:

Travel guides:

- Galapagos, A Natural History Guide by Michael M. Jackson (Michigan State University, 1994).

- Marine Life of the Galapagos by Pierre Constant (Odyssey Publications, 2002).

Novels:

- Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut (Delacorte Press, 1985).

- The Enchanted Isles by Herman Melville (various publishers).

Biography/autobiography/history:

- The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin (various publishers).

- Charles Darwin: Voyaging by Janet Browne (Princeton University, 1996).

- Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galapagos by Margaret Wittmer (Moyer Bell, 1990). 

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GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador - The Galapagos Islands are like no other place on Earth. City folks as we are, we were thrilled to observe, close-up, the blue-footed booby, the magnificent red-pouched frigate bird, the Galapagos sea lion, various lizards, sharks, penguins and a host of other species. We loved watching the various birds' mating rituals, males puffing their chests or flapping their wings and dancing. There were plenty of nests, too, with both eggs and newly hatched "babies."

Humans and nature coexist in this wild and remote place, at least during visiting hours. Our weeklong voyage was truly an adventure and an education disguised as a cruise.

Only 100,000 people are permitted to set foot on the islands every year and they must be accompanied by guides licensed by the government. There are no hotels or B&Bs; the only place to stay is on a boat offshore.

We found our way to these enchanted islands aboard the 48-passenger Eclipse, which sets sail from tiny Baltra Island nearly every Saturday of the year. By day we explored the islands, by night we made friends, dined and slept onboard.

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The Galapagos archipelago of 19 islands and more than 40 islets is 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. The islands are a wonderland of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. Charles Darwin made the place famous after his visit in 1835 with his subsequent writings on the theory of natural selection and evolution.

In 1968, the Galapagos National Park was created to protect the islands' biodiversity. The islands are further protected by UNESCO, which declared them a World Heritage Site in 1978. Ninety-seven percent of the archipelago is protected as a park.

The wildlife draws both scientists and tourists. The large variety of species, the differences between them among the islands, and visitors' proximity to them are all unique to the Galapagos.

Sea birds (Galapagos penguins, three kinds of boobies), land birds (Darwin's finches, mockingbirds) mammals (sea lions, bats), reptiles (iguanas, sea turtles), marine life (crabs, whales) and plant life in almost endless variety provide an ever-changing natural vista for exploring and watching. Breathtaking turquoise and purple seas invite snorkelers and swimmers alike. The sunsets are pretty spectacular, too.

The islands are endangered. Even with the protection of the state, civilization encroaches, both in the form of man himself, and the never-ending threat of introduced plant and animal life. As in almost every country today, the competition for public money is intense, and Galapagos National Park could use more than it gets.

The epicenter of preservation and restoration activities is the Charles Darwin Center (www.darwinfoundation.org) on Santa Cruz Island. Here, endangered species are nurtured and bred, with the ultimate goal of introducing them into the wild to restore native populations to the appropriate levels. A tour gives visitors the opportunity to witness the extensive efforts that go into maintaining the wildlife and the islands and the tenuous nature of that work.

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The first thing I noticed when I reviewed the brochure about the Eclipse was the weight limit. On the flight to the islands, each person is limited to 42 pounds of luggage (one decent-sized suitcase).

Thank goodness, the ship's dress code is casual - shorts and swimwear for island excursions and jeans or slacks for dinner. So one suitcase was sufficient.

The 210-foot Eclipse spends 46 weeks making seven-night cruises around the Galapagos Islands. Passengers embark early Saturday afternoon and, after a brief orientation and a short sail, take the first shore excursion of the week. For the next seven days, passengers are offered two, and sometimes three, excursions a day to hike, stroll, snorkel, swim or just sit on a beach and observe.

Passengers travel to shore on pangas, small motorized vessels that accommodate up to 15, including their guide.

The excursions vary by kind and intensity. Some are leisurely walks along sea lion-filled white beaches; others are hikes up dormant volcanoes; still others involve deep-water snorkeling.

Every shore excursion is an opportunity to observe the wildlife; the snorkeling trips provide outstanding encounters with everything from sea lions to moray eels and Galapagos sharks.

The Eclipse prides itself on the quality of its guides, choosing carefully from the 250 who are licensed. The four guides on our sailing were informed, patient, flexible and friendly. They knew the answer to every question thrown at them and provided distinct perspectives on the islands and the wildlife.

The singular attraction of the Galapagos is, of course, wildlife in its natural habitat. Amazingly, the animals on each island are different. Species evolve differently among the islands because of kind and quantity of food supply, presence or absence of predators, vegetation and impact of introduced species. Each excursion is different week to week as the seasons change and the life cycle moves on. Even the guides carry cameras, testimony to the unexpected discoveries still found after multiple visits.

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The onboard experience is accommodating without being luxurious. The cabins are relatively large, with lots of storage and a roomy shower, and with either portholes or windows. With only 48 cruisers, it is easy to get to know each passenger and the friendly staff. Our group included adventurers from Australia, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Virginia and California, among other far-flung places.

All meals are buffet-style, with lots of casseroles, local fish, stews, fruits and salads, served in the dining room or al fresco on the pool deck.

There are two bars, a small dip pool, a library/video room, and a comfortable upper deck that is partially covered, giving both sun worshipers and the sun-shy outdoor options. A small gift shop, open on demand, stocks toiletries, books, souvenirs, T-shirts and other clothing.

It was not the typical modern cruise with shopping malls, movie theaters and spas, but more of an expedition . . . not about massages and gourmet meals, but about flora and fauna, and the greater world.

Writer Maria Smith and photographer Michael Smith are a husband-and-wife freelance team based in Dallas.

[Last modified October 11, 2007, 10:47:45]