In past posts, I’ve made the case for why it’s far better to explore much of the natural world from inside a kayak, rather than aboard a behemoth cruise ship…the same holds true for the Galapagos Islands.
While you won’t find large cruise ships in this fragile tropical environment, the fact is that most trips still operate aboard tour boats, and some of the most popular involve up to a hundred passengers – not the optimal way to experience a natural setting this unique, wondrous, and rich with wildlife so unperturbed by human presence that you can approach them comfortably at close range.
Why opt for a Galapagos hiking and kayaking adventure, rather than a standard-issue tour of the islands? Here are 10 good reasons:
1) No large tour boats to contend with!
2) The only crowds you’ll find are thousands of sea birds and scores of marine iguanas hauled out to lounge on the black lava rock.
3) In a kayak, you paddle right next to sea turtles as they swim gracefully alongside you and surface for air.
4) You’re also nearly eye-level with dolphins, which may approach you with friendly curiosity.
5) A kayak can enter small coves, channels and rocky grottoes – getting you close enough to see the veins in a blue-footed booby’s webbed feet!
6) A paddling trip is a laid-back journey, with plenty of time to swim and snorkel with playful sea lions.
7) Paddling is great exercise! On other Galapagos trips, you’re somewhat restricted with onshore hiking due to the ecological impacts and are often confined to a tour boat, making for a rather sedentary experience.
8) Sail from island to island about a sporty catamaran, enjoying the wind in the sails, rather than the drone of a motor (conditions permitting).
9) You’re not consigned to a kayak: we still hike inland to see giant tortoises in the Santa Cruz highlands and journey ashore to tour the Charles Darwin Research Center to see evolution in action.
10 You won’t get closer to nature than on a Galapagos Islands kayaking adventure, where the only sounds are the drip of the saltwater off your paddle, the fresh ocean breeze, the scree of gulls and, at times, the barks of sea lions!
To see the Galapagos Islands in the most natural way possible—from the seat of a kayak, in a very small group—join Natural Habitat Expeditions, which holds one of the few kayaking permits allowed in the Galapagos!
Under the spell of the “Enchanted Isles,”
Wendy
