Play Darwin with your family on an educational, unforgettable trip around these ecologically amazing islands with Lindblad Expeditions.

We just finished our beginners' snorkeling lesson. As we went to retrieve our towels on the white sparkling beach of Gardner Bay in the Galapagos' most southeastern island of Española, we came across a family of sea lions and found the father of the clan lying comfortably, with his head resting on a beach bag. Not wanting to disturb our new friend, our naturalist guide subtly coaxed him away so the rightful owner could claim his belongings. Our sea lion family was one of the many amazing wildlife and interesting flora we came across during our Lindblad Expeditions adventure to the archipelago of the Galapagos, located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

Timeless Adventures

Have you been tantalized by those scenes from "Master and Commander" of Russell Crowe and his crew fighting their way across the Atlantic in search of Darwin's isles?

The best way to explore these mostly uninhabited islands is still by sea. The remote islands of the Galapagos were made famous by Charles Darwin, who spent five weeks there in 1835, shaping the theory of evolutionary science that would inspire his belief in natural selection and the theory of survival of the fittest.

After a night's rest in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, we flew Ecuador's Tame Airlines to the island of Baltra, a former US military base in the Galapagos. We were fitted with life vests, handed off our carry-ons, and safely boarded onto a motorized Zodiac (inflatable dinghy) bound for the 80-passenger, ms Polaris, our home for the week. The Polaris has 41 outside cabins, allowing all guests to wake up each morning to a new and beautiful view of nature. The ship is large enough to operate in remote areas, yet small enough to enter narrow inlets inaccessible to larger vessels. It took us a few hours to get our "sea legs." The waves at Baltra were the worst we encountered all week, but not bad enough to cause seasickness. Happily, the rest of the week, the ship's movements were very smooth.

Loaded with SPF 25 sunblock, a brimmed hat, life jackets, binoculars and plenty of film for the camera, our morning expeditions would begin as early as 6am to avoid the heat of the noonday sun. After a yummy buffet lunch back on board, and a few hours to rest up, we commenced our outdoor activities mid-afternoon. We would anchor and, under the watchful eye of our expedition leader and five naturalists, choose between a vigorous hike, a casual walk, snorkeling under the sea, a beach swim or a relaxing Zodiac ride.

All excursions on the Polaris are complimentary, be it coming face to face with a dozen hammerhead sharks while snorkeling at the cliffs of Tower Island, visiting Floreana Island's Post Office Barrel to swap mail as whalers did in times gone by, enjoying the sea world from Polaris' own glass-bottom boat, or walking amongst the penguins lounging on top of black slabs of lava on Fernandina Island. The ship actually crosses the equator six times during the week. So, one minute we were in summer, and the next in winter. 

Friendly & Knowledgeable Crew

Passengers are invited to visit the ship's bridge, the control room, at any time to chat with the captain and his crew. The elevated bridge was also a favorite for shutterbugs hoping to capture the Galapagos' rugged terrain, sandy beaches, crystal waters, starry nights and every animal that showed its head, fins or feathers. Many of us gathered on the bridge and held our breath the day Captain Fausto Hinojosa carefully maneuvered the Polaris in and out of a narrow, shallow, underwater channel through a huge submerged caldera left by an ancient (now dormant) volcano in Darwin's Bay at Tower Island.

The naturalists make it especially fun for kids with animal-sighting contests. Wildlife seen on our adventure included manta rays, golden cow-nose rays, dolphins, whales, hammerhead sharks, land and sea iguanas, sea turtles, Sally Lightfoot crabs, frigatebirds, Floreana mocking birds, masked boobies, albino boobies, red-footed boobies and dive bombing blue-footed boobies in search of prey. Although you are told not to touch the animals in the Galapagos, they have never learned to fear man, so they may come up to you.

We encountered civilization mid-week when the ship anchored in Santa Cruz. The morning began with a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station where a number of species of giant tortoises are bred for eventual return to their natural environment. At the station we met Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his kind, who has refused the advances of all the enticing Georgina's brought forth for mating. The afternoon was spent in the Highlands, visiting a pair of huge pit craters called Los Gemelos, as well as a farm situated in the middle of a tortoise migratory route. In the evening, a group of local musicians came aboard to entertain us with a lively folkloric show.