#Galapalust Adventurelust Meet-Up : Cruising the Galapagos Islands with Enchanted Expeditions

In August 2020, I got a DM: “Hello Kellie - Do you have any interest in Galapagos/Ecuador?”

…

😧

Reading on.

“(In the future, of course) We loved following your past adventures in South America. We own 2 small yachts & a lovely lodge in Galapagos & a tourism company on Mainland Ecuador. We’re very new at working with influencers like you, and I know it will be a while before travel gets up & running again, but I thought I would ask. Your passion for travel is contagious!”

…

Okay amigos, I have to tell you. You know I have had some pretty crazy things happen for me over the past few years. I truly have manifested my dream life, I have built a fantastic relationship with the universe, and it’s hard to even process some of the incredible experiences that have come my way.

BUT AS FAR AS DMS GO, THIS HAS GOT TO BE THE CRAZIEST!!

Do I have ANY INTEREST IN GALAPAGOS?? DID THIS PERSON (who is Juhli Selby, the social media manager for Enchanted Expeditions, owned by Judy Carvalhal — both from Vancouver Island and the nicest women ever, who I am honoured to know and work with) HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BADLY I’D BEEN DYING TO GO TO GALAPAGOS AND TRYING TO MAKE IT HAPPEN OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS?! WAS THIS A PRANK?!

Sorry for shouting, it’s a lot.

The reason I hadn’t been to Galapagos up until this point was because I wanted to make sure that since it is such a BUCKET LIST trip, I wanted to make sure that when I went, it would be done right — the right price, with the right people, on an ideal trip, I didn’t want to skimp out or not be with fun people. I didn’t want to fall short on any part of it.

So this opportunity falling from the heavens to visit Galapagos with Echanted Expeditions truly felt like a gift from the universe, and since I have my business Adventurelust (which was still in pre-launch stage then!) I realized I could invite my friends/clients/Insta audience and get an epic group together for this adventure of a lifetime. This is exactly what I want to do with my biz, and it’s been a weird pandemic year, but it’s all happening…

… and it’s just the beginning! Before I dive into this trip, allow me to share that this one was so amazing that I am hosting another Galapagos cruise with Enchanted in 2022, so sign up for the waitlist here!!!

It’s hard to put our trip into words, because it really is all about the feeling you have when you’re here in Galapagos. You know there’s going to be wildlife everywhere, and wildlife that you won’t find anywhere else in the world, but it hits differently when you’re actually surrounded by it, in such a peaceful, natural, raw setting with no one else around, just you and the animals living in harmony.

Getting to experience Galapagos with Enchanted Expeditions is as good as it gets. We all had our anxieties coming into this international trip with a few hoops to jump through, but Enchanted’s team has been so supportive and responsive through the whole process. I am forever grateful and am honestly so happy to continue working with them. Everyone around town knows our yacht, the Beluga, is one of the best and people say Enchanted’s service and experience is the best out here in the islands — I would have to agree.

Enchanted arranges trips all over mainland Ecuador (more on that in my other posts!) and you can just tell their crew are passionate about what they do and where they do it. They take care of everything to make our experience as seamless and enjoyable as possible.

On our cruise, the food was amazing and we ate till we were gonna burst, our rooms were always being tidied up and joined by new towel animals, our guide was the queen of Galapagos, we were always greeted with fresh juice and snacks when coming onboard, itinerary was literally impeccable. I honestly wouldn’t have changed a thing.

I was joined by an amazing group of adventurelusters for our meet-up — some I’d met before, some I hadn’t — Linda, Michele, Andrew, Jenn, Katie, Tyler, and Shawn.

I went to marketing school with Linda about 5 years ago, we’ve met up for adventures a couple of times like in Bali and for the Juan de Fuca Trail. She is spontaneous, adventurous, and awesome person who is always up for a last-minute bucket list check.

Michele was one of my OG Insta friends, who I then met IRL and became friends with in Banff, also hiked the Juan de Fuca Trail with, and met up with again this year in the Rockies. We’ve become super close and I am so grateful for our friendship.

Andrew was one of my first Atlantic Point friends, I met him at the hostel on my first time in Cape Town. He always had my back and I even wrote this article about him and some other buds on my trip. We’ve kept in touch and I cannot explain how excited I was that he came along for the trip, it was amazing to reconnect and this is exactly what I want with Adventurelust — my fave people from my travels to reunite for epic adventures.

Jenn was a new friend from Instagram, she’s also a travel blogger (a way more thorough and helpful one than I am, lawl) and she is always up for a YOLO. I love that she’s married but still takes her own solo adventures, she is super passionate about conservation and the ocean and it was amazing to be a part of her first (of many) Galapagos experiences — I think Galapagos is her Cape Town :).

Katie and Tyler were also new friends from Instagram, probably some of my nicest people I have met over Insta. They were so so kind when I was going through my hard time with my dog Barney missing, as they have a sweet golden doodle Max as well, and their messages made me bawl but meant so much to me (more than they know, I’m sure). They brought awesome vibes to the trip, it was so seamless the way we all clicked and got along and I am hopeful/confident this won’t be our last adventure!

Shawn is Tyler’s uncle, I didn’t know him before but he was an absolute HOOT on our trip, we were always losing him as he was off taking photos with his gazillion lenses (Shawn, if you’re reading this, the Google folder is waiting ;)), definitely an awesome addition to the crew.

So much love for this group of humans. I personally don’t always love tour groups, but in some places like Galaps it’s really the only way to do it unless you want to cruise with a bunch of randos, and I feel so lucky and grateful that we had such amazing vibes, fun, appreciative people, it was truly a dream.

OKAY! Onto the cruise!

We did Enchanted Expeditions’ 8-day Tower Itinerary, cruising to different islands every day, snorkelling, hiking, kayaking, nap/chill/jump-off time on the boat, having 3 amazing meals plus snacks and fresh juice every day, happy hour sunsets on the deck, stargazing the Milky Way at night. The experience was jam-packed but also had chill times, it was the perfect balance.

Our guide Karla was AWESOME, we are all obsessed with her, along with the rest of the crew including our captain and snorkel extraordinaire Jose, our Panga caption Angel, chef Luis, and bartender/butler Jacinto.

Each island brought something super unique and magical. The landscapes were so diverse and unique, from black volcanic rock to crystal clear turquoise water and white sand, to vibrant red vegetation and cacti.

But of course, the highlight is the wildlife.

Galapagos is known for its endemic species (about 300 of them between plants, birds, reptiles, animals) that are native to Galapagos and not found anywhere else in the world. It was the inspiration for Darwin’s theory of evolution because these islands are relatively new, developed from volcanoes 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador, and the animals evolved in ways unlike anywhere else on earth.

Amigos… we saw basically everything. Every item on our bucket list got checked off, right up to snorkelling with hammerheads on our final day. I think the only thing we didn’t see was this owl on our last day (which I didn’t know existed on that day so I’m not too hung up on it). But we saw sea lions (like, EVERYWHERE — they are the seagulls of Galapagos), land iguanas, marine iguanas, albatross, pelicans, blue footed boobies (and red footed and nazca boobies), crabs, giant tortoises, even penguins and flamingoes, snorkelled with so many turtles, spotted eagle rays, golden rays, white tip and black tip sharks, the hammies, and even the DOLPHINS which was a wild and unexpected experience. I had my own My Octopus Teacher moment that made me cry. It was a lot.

Here’s the thing about Galapagos. Okay a few things:

At any given point on the island, look around and you will probably see at least 3 species. Some combo of sea lion, iguana, bird, crab, probably.
WATCH WHERE YOU STEP! That log is probably a sea lion and that rock is probably an iguana
A snorkel — hell even a DINGHY ride — is better than any dive I’ve every done anywhere else in the world. Turtles are a dime a dozen. You’re like okay enough with the turtles. (Jk they are still precious).
Galapagos is the REAL WILD. In most places around the world, you’ll book a tour to snorkel with dolphins and you’ll kinda know what to expect but even then it’s fleeting. Our dolphin encounter was not planned, not expected, and it lasted so long that we were the ones to call it and get out of the water while they still kept playing. I’ve never had a dolphin experience like that and it was so so magical.
Galapagos ALWAYS DELIVERS. Going off of the point above, when you book a tour, you hope to see it… in Galapagos, YOU WILL SEE IT (okay we saw it. Depends if you bring your wildlife horseshoe I guess). But on our last day, they were like “okay sometimes there are hammerheads in this area.”… THERE WERE THE HAMMIES. On my dive, I specifically wanted to see a school of hammerheads. I DID. It is so crazy here, the wildlife is just so abundant that the odds seem to be in our favour.

Here are some tips:

About 97% of Galapagos is a national park and you can’t visit the islands without a licensed guide. Day tours from Santa Cruz are about $100 per day but the best way by far to truly experience Galapagos is a cruise like we did (with Enchanted Expeditions obv)
There are some hoops to jump through to get here — you fly from Quito or Guayaquil, have to pay $20 transit card before departure and $100 national park fee upon arrival in Baltra (both in cash). Flights are about $530 USD. It’s not cheap here either — pasta dishes are $25, everything is in USD, they charge 12% credit card fees so bring cash. Makes sense because so much has to get imported from the mainland.
WIFI SUCKS on the island (and you will probably be off the grid on your cruise) so just tell your loved ones you’re safe and hasta luego. I’m here in Santa Cruz and can usually get wifi from 5:30-7am (my sleep schedule is weird ok) and then it’s pretty dunzo. Don’t ask me how many times I tried to upload the exact same Insta story to a Taylor Swift song. Getting a local SIM card will help!
Bring seasickness pills (I got seasick the first day and then picked up their local pills Anautin, available here for 10 cents/pill, and was GOOD2GO the rest of the time!). Apparently the seas are roughest in September, and around the full moon.
Bring sandals and closed-toe shoes, the hikes aren’t strenuous but they are rocky and uneven
The conditions vary a lot based on time of year (we came in cold and dry season, I was FREEZING in the water — wore double wetsuits equalling 7 mm for diving — but the cold water from the Humboldt Current brings a lot of marine life so I ain’t complaining) so check on when you want to go and pack accordingly
You’re on the equator and the sun is no joke, please lather up I burnt my lips on like day 2 and they are still peeling 2 weeks later :|
The weather is always changing in a day so always bring a rain jacket just in case!

Here are some of my highlights:

Definitely snorkelling with the dolphins
And the hammerheads
- Both those experiences were so incredible, bucket list wildlife experiences, my faves
Loved Española island at golden hour, the blowhole, the waves crashing against the cliffs, and we were even treated to a rainbow
The sea lion kindergarten beach — the little bebes are sooo cute and hilarious!
My My Octopus Teacher moment
Loved our sunset happy hours on the boat
Loved living our best and bougiest yacht life
Snorkelling with a fever of eagle rays which are my fave marine animals next to dolphins
Learning that a group of rays is called a fever
Our pizza night where we were rowdily chanting all the crew members’ names
Our pasta night because I think chef Luis realized we were fans of Italian
Stargazing I saw 7 shooting stars and a crystal clear milky way one night
Our last panga (dinghy) ride in Turtle Bay where we saw sharks, turtles, and our majestic rays
Just loved my group of Adventurelusters so much

There’s so much more to say but I think I’ll end it here. So much love to Enchanted Expeditions for making this happen, my Adventurelusters for coming along, and everyone who is supporting from back home (don’t forget there is a cure for your FOMO, and it is called signing up for next year’s trip!!)

Adios for now amigos <3

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