Hola Travalas! My name is Mirjam, I am from The Netherlands and I have been living in Ecuador for more than a year now, working in tourism. During this year I had the opportunity to experience the variety of the country to its fullest. I travelled to the Amazon, the coast, the Andes and last but not least: I got to work and live in Santa Cruz for five weeks (one of the amazing Galapagos islands)! My position at Rebecca Adventure Travel has made all these amazing travels possible! I love to share all of my favorite memories with you all! During my 5 weeks of working for the company at the Galapagos islands I was sent to go on a little adventure to the mysterious inhabited island: North-Seymour.
Playas Bachas and North Seymour: The mysterious island
Early in the morning at 7:50 AM, we were expected at the meeting point in the town of Puerto Ayora. Here we met the naturalist guide who took us to the dock. Here we got to enter the beautiful Promesa boat for the first time. The staff was already waiting for us on the boat, it felt like a warm welcome. I found the boat very comfortable and, although I get seasick very fast, I didn’t have any problems this time throughout the entire tour!
The first stop was at Playas Bachas, a hidden part of the island of Santa Cruz. We entered the beach by water taxi and after that went for a walk, while the guide explained us everything about the flora and fauna of the beautiful white beach. The sand there is incredibly soft and it felt so nice walking barefoot! After the walk, the guide provided us with snorkeling equipment, so we were able to enter the clear water and see some wonderful, colorful big fish.
When we returned to the Promesa boat, the tables were already prepared and we were served a great lunch while heading to the next part of the tour: North-Seymour island. There is no-one living on this island, except a lot of species of birds, sea-lions and land iguanas. It was like entering the set of a Lord of the Rings movie… This made the island very mystical and special to me.
The first thing we saw on the island were a mother sea-lion together with her baby. The baby just woke up and started playing with us. The animals at the island are not shy at all and you can take close-up pictures of them. There were a lot of blue-footed boobies with their cute babies (those are very white and fluffy!) and other species of birds. Also, we found a lot of land iguanas hidden under the cactuses. They have a very nice combination of colors! After the guide took us for a walk around the island, we got back to the boat where they had snacks and juice. I enjoyed the way back to Santa Cruz on a very comfortable sofa at the upper deck of the boat next to the captain. It was an amazing day!
Favorite travel quote:
“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.”