After our Amazon cruise last year, we were ready to check off another of Melody’s bucket list with a cruise to the Galapagos this summer with Lindblad Expeditions. We departed early Thursday with upgraded flights through Houston and Bogota to land in Guayaquil just before midnight. We slept in next morning, strolled down Malecon 2000 for trigrillo and empanadas at Cafe de Tere, then visited roaming iguanas at Parque Seminario before relaxing at our hotel with Planet Money’s boardgame and fondue for three. We flew to Baltra on Saturday to embark on the Gemini, whose team of National Geographic naturalists and expansive crew outnumbered the guests. After some instructional talks, we boarded Zodiac boats to Black Turtle Cove to observe green turtles and black-tipped sharks. We awoke early next morning to hike Rabida Island, where we spotted a lonely flamingo chick, oystercatcher sibling rivalry, and a mockingbird missing a locust meal, followed by a post-breakfast snorkel off the red sand beach. After lunch, Westley joined other Explorers-in-Training to visit the ship’s bridge, while Glenn traded photography tips with the Nat Geo-ceritified instructor on board. Hiking around ash-and-lava Santiago Island revealed land and marine iguanas, and oystercatchers unsuccessfully hunting Sally Lightfoot crabs. After sunset, we enjoyed a stargazing lecture on Southern hemisphere constellations, and the first of David Attenborough’s 3-part Galapagos documentary before bed. Our pre-breakfast kayaking at Tagus Cove on Monday got me and Westley soaked. Melody watched pelicans building nests and battling penguins from her Zodiac tour, but struggled with deep-water snorkeling. After a lecture on Darwin and the HMS beagle, we hiked from Punta Espinosa on Fernandina Island, impressed by the stark lava landscape, spurting marine iguanas, sluggish sea lion pups, and elusive land iguanas that were re-introduced after Lindblad helped eradicate feral goats and pigs. On Tuesday, we visited Urbina Bay on Isabella Island, where we witnessed our first Galapagos tortoises and burly land iguanas posturing at each other. Melody skipped another deep-water snorkel at Punta Vicente Roca, unfortunately missing an array of white-tipped reef sharks, marbled and eagle rays, green turtles, and sea lions that brushed by. We returned after lunch to scan the hillside cliffs for brown noddy chicks, mating crabs, and a dramatic climb by a fur seal pup up a rocky shore. On Wednesday, we disembarked on Santa Cruz to visit the Charles Darwin Research Institute for baby tortoises at the breeding center, a taxidermied memorial of Lonesome George, and a microwasp lecture by an entymology researcher. We scooted past sidewalk sea lions and fish market herons to shop for souvenirs at Puerto Ayora, then after lunch, headed to Rancho El Manzanillo where we donned mud boots to roam with land tortoises. Westley’s unexplained vomit cut our visit short, but he recovered overlooking the giant Scalasia daisies at Los Gemelos. Thursday featured a morning hike up Prince Philip’s Steps surrounded by legions of Nazca and red-footed boobies, frigatebirds, yellow-crowned night herons, and one short-eared owl. After Melody prevailed on her third deep-water snorkel attempt and Westley learned to pilot a Zodiac, we ended the day at Darwin Bay amidst swallow-tailed sea gulls and sea lion mom-and-pup pairs. On Friday, we joined an invigorating more-walking-less-talking climb up Bartolome’s peak with its splatter and tuff cones, and most-photographed view of the Galapagos at the top, followed by another amazing snorkel with penguins, sea lions, and multiple sharks. The afternoon drizzle did not dampen our last Zodiac tour as we watched blue-footed boobies and brown pelicans dive into the surrounding shallow waters teeming with sharks and sea turtles. Westley claimed the Valedictorian award that evening, and enjoyed a final dinner with the other kids. On Saturday, we bid farewell to the naturalists, exchanged contacts with our dining companions, and boarded our plane to Quito for the second part of our Ecuadorian adventure.