At the beginning of this year, Katja van de Merwe traveled with Aves Travels to the Galápagos Islands. Based on her wishes, budget, the wildlife she wanted to see and the atmosphere she was looking for, we opted for an 8-day cruise on the adventurous sailing ship the Beagle. Read all about her experience here:
“I’m never going home!” this is what I thought while boarding the beautiful sailing ship “The Beagle” and enjoying the overwhelming peace and beauty of the flora and fauna.
In February 2019 I booked an 8-day cruise (northwest route) on “The Beagle” via Aves Travels. This route takes you to various islands that all have their own nature, wildlife and charm. During this special trip we saw large breeding colonies of Nazca Boobies with countless chicks as well as Red Footed and Blue footed Boobies, hundreds of iguanas, huge tortoises, sea lions, fur seals, rays, small penguins, countless birds. We even saw the short eared owl and the Galápagos hawk.
The islands are all unique, from walks on beautiful sandy beaches to jet-black lava, from beautiful green trees and shrubs to lonely cacti, from gigantic open plains to steep climbs. We made several boat trips with the panga (local name for small boat or zodiac) through mangrove forests, along cliffs and at sea among turtles, penguins, cormorants, etc. Almost daily we made snorkelling trips where we played among sea lions, hammerhead sharks, pelicans, cormorants, turtles and hundreds of fish. We even saw a seahorse.
During sailing on “The Beagle” between the various islands, we regularly saw sea lions and also a huge number of dolphins that swam for kilometres along with the boat, really a fantastic experience!
The crew and guide of “The Beagle” were fantastic, the food was great, everyone was super friendly and they were very willing to give us the time of our lives and show us everything the Galápagos Islands have to offer (and that’s a lot).
Marianne from Aves Travels listened carefully to my wishes and found a wonderful trip. It was really an unforgettable experience! ”
