Galapagos on Samba
by John and Susan Clarke
(Alexandria, VA, USA)
It was one of the most incredible experiences of our lives, seeing animals so unafraid of people. What a wonderful holiday to see the wonders of nature.
Travel Agent Performance
We booked our tour through CNH Tours which was wonderful - Heather is incredible.
We had a beautiful hotel in Quito on both ends of our trip and great tours in Quito area.
She was great at answering all of our questions about what to bring and what to expect on our trip.Boat and Guide
Samba is the way to go to Galapagos - 7 cabins and 14 guests. The crew of 7 was exceptional.
We ate some of best and most healthy food we have ever had, served family style on a table for 14. Every meal had 4 veggie platters and one platter of seafood, chicken or beef.
Our guide, Juan, was truly exceptional. He was born in Galapagos and a naturalist by education. He was enthusiastic and knowledgeable with 10 years of experience. He knew where the animals were and the best time to see them.
The Samba was exceptionally clean. Rooms were very small but very nice for a trawler with private bath and shower.Wildlife
What made the trip so wonderful:
We were never in a hurry. In many cases we sat and waited for wildlife and it came to us. If we were cruising between locations, we stopped and turned to get closer to whales and dolphins.
We were there when wildlife were most active which was early in the morning — nearly every morning we started to shore at 6:30AM — nearly 90 minutes before other boats.
Juan knew where best wildlife was.
We swam/snorkeled with sea lions and giant turtles.
We saw giant tortoises not only in the Darwin Center but also in the wild — the Samba is one of few boats that make a special trip to find them in the wild.
We saw three types of whales — giant blue whale, orca killer whale, and Breya's whale. A blue whale came within ten feet of the boat.
Two packs of over 100 dolphins came to our boat — riding the bow of our boat and then jumping out of the water.
The giant sea turtles were incredible — we found ten of them and snorkeled with them for 30 minutes.
We saw thousands of iguanas of all sizes and types (land and sea).
Sea lions were our favorite — we probably saw 500 of them up close and personal on land and in the water snorkeling. Many of them came up and touched our masks while snorkeling, doing underwater flips as they played with us.
Birds - saw hundreds of giant albatrosses flying and mating — doing their mating dance.
We also saw 700 blue footed boobies one morning in a mangrove swamp diving for fish. We then saw them doing their mating dance.
A pack of over 100 beautiful golden rays came up and swam under our dinghies.
Saw the changes in the Galapagos as we walked over recent and old lava fields. Saw the way nature finally turns lava into life.Activities
All snorkeling gear was provided to include full wet suits — gear was very very good quality.
Snorkeling was the best we have seen in the world based on variety of fish.
Two great dinghies took us our once or twice a day shore visits.
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