twangster

Paúl offers to take pictures with our phones.  Fashion has gone out the window, I'm all about protection from the sun.  Doh!  I should have smiled.

It's not a hike with a very much of an elevation change but you do have to watch each step as there is loose broken lava bits with many cracks and crevices.  It would be easy to catch a toe and stumble so it's all about watching where you step.  


Our trail will take us around the back side of that brown hill pictured above where we will circle around and loop back to the start.  

Compared to staring at black lava the hill appears to be dirt but it too has a volcanic origin so it's really lava rock that has been discolored by centuries of exposure to the elements compared to the relatively young lava flow we have been walking on at around 125 years old.   In another couple of thousands of years the black lava probably won't be as black.

This lava rocks reminds me of what one might find in a gas grill back home, at least the small bits.

Today's nature walk will take place on a relatively young lava flow.  But first, now that we are all zodiac masters, we take to the sea.

The short ride in from the Silver Origin.

Pinnacle Rock is another icon of the Galapagos and it looks very different from what we saw from the ship.

They offer walking sticks for this hike.  

It was hot and the sun was bright.  Walking on black lava contributed to the effect.  


This lava flow is from an eruption in 1897 which in geological time is pretty much yesterday.  Once again pictures don't do it justice.


This is Pahoehoe lava named from Hawaii which roughly translates to rope like.
Paúl our guide provides all the details for this hike and encouraged frequent water breaks.

There were a couple of drivers for me that led me to Silversea.
Celebrity rarely offers a reduced single supplement on the fleet.  Even when they do on ships elsewhere in the world their policies are still unfriendly to the solo guest.  Even if you do find a solo fare their Always Included packages remains priced for two guests.  For example you pay for two drink packages but as a solo you only get one, and what would as a solo guest do with a second drink package?  Drink twice as much? It makes no sense. When X does offer a solo fare it's generally 'no perks' because it never makes sense to pay for two perks for a solo guest.  Plus, I've never seen a solo fare for Flora in the Galapagos.   
Silversea sometimes (but not often) offers a solo fare on the Silver Origin.  When you can get a Silversea solo fare it's actually several thousand less than Flora would be for a solo guest.  I can sail Silversea and fly business class for less than the cruise fare alone on Celebrity.
Silversea has always intrigued me.  I've wanted to try Silversea to experience a level of cruising above and beyond Royal or Celebrity.   
The Galapagos Islands are not going to be an inexpensive experience no matter how you choose to come here. If I am going to invest this much into a Galapagos visit I might as well do so in luxury.  
When I was on the Edge I attended a Galapagos presentation.  Everything looks fine and for a couple it would be a different equation but for me Celebrity rarely makes sense as a solo.  It's why I don't sail them that often.  Their ships, their rules.  I generally cruise other lines mostly but I do have an X booking next year.  
Putting all of these factors together and choosing Silversea and the Silver Origin was the perfect choice for me.

A couple of the Expedition team guides were hosting an event in the observation lounge overlooking the bow of the ship.



Frigatebirds were doing Frigatebird things.



Including trying to steal a meal from another bird.



The pirates of the skies maintained a lookout above the ship.

There were a number of Frigatebirds gliding above the ship.

There were dozens and dozens of Galapagos Shearwaters skimming the service.

Then the sun made an appearance.


 

The patterns of the Pahoehoe flow are mesmerizing.

Or maybe I've been out here too long and the heat is getting to me.

I think I'm going to find one of these pictures to blow up and put on my wall at home to remind me of this trip.  It's basically like art.

Behind the cone of lava rock we find an oasis of growth, at least for a volcanic island.  Over thousands of years vegetation has taken root.  We are in the western or youngest part of the chain of Galapagos Islands.  In thousands of more years this island may look like some of the islands we saw in the beginning of this trip.
This is just a start.

We continue after a water break.

Back here we find an area where the lava flow stopped in its tracks having run out of magma for this eruption.  Looks like a photo op!


Onward back onto the black lava towards our Origin.

A cactus has taken root.  Where the hill has broken down from exposure indeed we see it too has a black lava base.

Paúl offers to take pictures with our phones.  Fashion has gone out the window, I'm all about protection from the sun.  Doh!  I should have smiled.

It's not a hike with a very much of an elevation change but you do have to watch each step as there is loose broken lava bits with many cracks and crevices.  It would be easy to catch a toe and stumble so it's all about watching where you step.  


Our trail will take us around the back side of that brown hill pictured above where we will circle around and loop back to the start.  

Compared to staring at black lava the hill appears to be dirt but it too has a volcanic origin so it's really lava rock that has been discolored by centuries of exposure to the elements compared to the relatively young lava flow we have been walking on at around 125 years old.   In another couple of thousands of years the black lava probably won't be as black.

This lava rocks reminds me of what one might find in a gas grill back home, at least the small bits.

Behind the cone of lava rock we find an oasis of growth, at least for a volcanic island.  Over thousands of years vegetation has taken root.  We are in the western or youngest part of the chain of Galapagos Islands.  In thousands of more years this island may look like some of the islands we saw in the beginning of this trip.
This is just a start.

We continue after a water break.

Back here we find an area where the lava flow stopped in its tracks having run out of magma for this eruption.  Looks like a photo op!


Onward back onto the black lava towards our Origin.

A cactus has taken root.  Where the hill has broken down from exposure indeed we see it too has a black lava base.

While at lunch we started underway to our second stop of the day... Sullivan Bay.
I knew a Galapagos cruise was all about visiting the islands of the Galapagos but the scenery today was unreal.  You can't do it justice in pictures.  The slow cruise through the passages to reach Sullivan's Bay was breathtaking.





When we arrived the unloading of the zodiacs began.

The Galapagos Islands have always fascinated me.  I'm not entirely sure why I'm drawn there but it has always been a bucket list destination I wasn't sure I'd ever get to.
Perhaps it was the remote location and overall difficulty getting that added to the attraction.  Maybe it's too many National Geographic type episodes on TV or the idea of so much wildlife to see and photograph.  Maybe it's knowing Darwin himself formed so much of his knowledge right there on the Galapagos Islands.   To walk in the footprints of Charles Darwin.  Can there be a better excuse than that?
Many decades ago I once took a marine ecology course during my high school years.  It was in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas.  Although life and my career went in another direction the exposure and knowledge acquired has stayed with me over the years.   Perhaps that opportunity so many years ago lit a small flame that has piqued my interest in a small island chain several hundred miles off the coast of Ecuador.  
This is a reboot cruise for me.  Originally booked in the fall of 2020 unfortunately the world had other plans.  As a solo cruiser SilverSea was attractive at the time since they offered a solo fare on their ship specifically built for the Galapagos Islands.  In the aftermath of the pandemic and immediate restart those Galapagos those solo fares disappeared, until I recently found one. 
YOLO!  Booked.

After dinner I ventured outside to see how the night sky was looking.  The cloud cover from earlier remained so I returned to my cabin to go through some pictures. 
Around 10:00pm I went out on my balcony and saw what I thought might be the Milky Way off my balcony.  Sure enough an app confirmed it so I went out to the deck eight forward star gazing deck that I took the pictures of Kicker Rock from.
I haven't spent a lot of time tweaking this just yet, but here is what I captured with a long exposure. 

 

The ship offers a premium internet option which I knew I'd have to purchase if I wanted to post very much at all.  $183 unlocks higher speeds and up to four devices.


 

At 7pm we had our destination talk specific to our next day at Prince Philip's Steps.  This back in the Explorers Lounge.
The bar menu for the lounge.

I saw the dinner menu outside the main dining room while walking through this area.

 

At 4:30pm we had the mandatory safety briefing.  We had been instructed a number of times to watch the safety briefing on our cabin TV's and acknowledge the video on the cabin TV.   After the safety drill we all gathered in the Explorers Lounge on deck four for our first orientation talk.  

After the talk some groups were asked to meet in the marina on deck 3 to secure snorkeling equipment.  I headed up to deck 8 forward to see Kicker Rock up close as we had been sailing slowly in this direction since the start of the safety briefing.
Sunset was taking place and a National Geographic ship had completed their sail past Kicker Rock.





With the naked eye you could easily spot hundreds of birds flying around or nesting on the rocks.





With that it was my turn to visit the marina to get my snorkel gear.

Once through immigration we collected our luggage and rolled them outside to a waiting truck.  From there we would board busses for the short 10 minute trip to the harbor. 


There are a limited number of busses on this island and so we had to wait for a bus to drop off the first set of guests and come back for us.  
A benefit of waiting is that our naturalists were talking about various things and wait...  along comes a giant centipede measuring about six inches long.  These are pretty rare apparently and our guides were excited to see one.

Some of the sights around the village on the ride to the harbor.




 

TMobile cell phone user.   Ecuador is included.   Here is a speedtest from my hotel as I wait for the shuttle bus.   Tick tock, tick tock. 
 

 

Across the street from City Hall we walked over to the Malecón.  

Ecuadorian Presidents who are from Guayaquil are honored in statue. 


Jefferson talks more about Guayaquil and the commerce associated with the river.


Back on the bus for a short ride to another area along the river.  Cerro Santa Ana is only accessible by stairs.  A number of houses and shops are all only accessible by climbing the stairs.

We don't climb the stairs but instead we walk along a cobblestone road around the base.


Several older houses have been converted to businesses and we stop by an art studio in a former house along the shore of the river.

We continue along the shore...

Eventually we reach a newer area with modern buildings.

This brings us back to the building I saw on my first tour called The Screw.


Here we board the bus and head back to the hotel.

Four passenger stations plus one "technical station" (no passenger traffic, it just manages a turn in the system).  

Once back across the river we left the cable car and started exploring the Malecón 2000.  Our first area would be a botanical garden open to the public.







After leaving the Malecón and exploring some city streets on foot we visited the Cocoa Museum.

I didn't take any pictures inside the museum.  It's a nice museum that goes over the history of cocoa in Ecuador.  It is multiple stories with stairs between floors.  Each floor offered something related to the history of cocoa and the financial impact to the city such as the banking system that evolved from it. A chocolate store nearby smelled really great but I resisted the temptation, for now.
Around Guayaquil you will find a number of murals and wall art such as this one that captured my essence as a photographer.

This discoteque was closed by day but features several prominent people from the history of Guayaquil. 

This one is a tribute to the shipbuilding history of the region going back several centuries.

We continue walking around the city streets of Guayaquil with Corina explaining quite a bit of valuable history and information. 
The Church of San Francisco.


Shortly after a car picked us up and drove us back to the hotel.
I'm really glad I booked this tour and the one on one interaction offered by a private tour.

I booked the optional Chocolate Museum and Cable Car tour.  Given it was a private tour I was able to pick the time.
My tour guide would be Corina and she was waiting for me in the hotel lobby when I went down 10 minutes early.
We start with a short walk to the Cable Car station.

Corina explained that many cars are empty due to the high cost of the gondola service compared to other options like city busses.  At $1.40 round trip it may not sound like much but for a typical blue collar worker the $0.60 that the bus charges is easier on the budget even though the bus takes a lot longer especially in traffic.

I found it quite enjoyable, much more so than I think I would in a bus.

A cemetery we pass is watched over by a statue of Jesus Christ on the hill behind it. 


Corina explained a lot about Guayaquil and I enjoyed the full attention and interaction that a private tour offered.  She talked alot about the city, it's beginnings in the 1500s and things like the first modern hospital we passed along the way. 

Soon enough we approached the Guayaquil river.

We passed the Malecón 2000.  She explained that would be included in the sightseeing tour later offered by Silversea and we would also explore parts of it after the cable car ride.

The tallest building in Guayaquil called The Screw.

Once across the river in Duran we didn't venture far from the cable car base as it isn't the best area for tourists.  There was a bathroom available at the cable car station for those that need one. 

We got back on and made the return trip across the river all the while Corina talked about more than I could ever recount in this post.  It was all very informative.

Buffet breakfast in the hotel's 'El Patio' restaurant is included. 
Hotel internet has been good enough for several wifi calls and is also included.  
Dinner last night was a burger and a couple of beers that came to $25 USD including tip.  The burger was $17 and the beers were $4 each so not bad as hotel pricing goes.
As someone who doesn't speak Spanish I've had no issues so far.

SilverSea has a hospitality desk in the hotel lobby. 

Upon entering the hotel they had us sit down and walked us through some paperwork including waivers for snorkeling and kayaking.   They also explained the schedule for the next two days here in Guayaquil and the charter flight to the Galapagos Islands.

Luggage goes through an agricultural check the morning of the flight to the Galapagos.  

In addition to the included group sightseeing tour offered at 4pm on Friday they also offered private tours at a cost.  This is private to your group with an english guide.

Hotel Oro Verde two night stay is included. 

Guayaquil airport was smooth and frictionless.  Short line at immigration and outside in 15 minutes. 

Complimentary hotel shuttle.