The Galápagos Islands. A piece of paradise. Heaven on earth. An oasis in the middle of the ocean. The epitome of travel destinations. The top of the bucket list. These are the responses I received when I told friends and family back home that I would be traveling to the Galápagos. In reality however, the Galápagos Islands have far surpassed even my reasonably high expectations.

The Galápagos themselves truly are a private paradise, but it has been the friendships I've forged on this trip that have made them especially wonderful. Our first stop on the islands was to the island of San Cristobal, the second most populated island in the archipelago. I was blown away by glimpses of the incredible beaches there as we landed in the tiny bunker-like airport. The beaches, however, were even more beautiful up close. We spent most days snorkeling with an array of sea turtles, tropical fish and sea lions while enjoying the luxury of never having to leave the beachy waves. The most incredible experience I had there though was the days a few of us spent scuba diving and snorkeling at places I've only ever dreamed of in magazines like Kicker Rock, home of the shark mating grounds. I've never felt such a blissful terror as when we were swimming 30 ft from a pair of hammerhead sharks. Prehistorically ominous sea turtles swam by and it was almost as if we had turned back time and dove into another time before history, a time before man dominated the animal kingdom. It was a world welcoming us with brilliant colors and warning us with curious dangers.

We bid adieu to that beautiful underwater jungle as we traveled by boat from San Cristobal to the island of Isabella. Along the way, we stopped on the island of Floreana to catch a glimpse of the 11 different species of land tortoises that lived there. We also received a unanticipated but intriguing history lesson as we learned about the Pirates that inhabited the Galápagos as well as the fascinatingly strange story of the Philosopher and the Duchess (if you want to hear more about this story, watch the Netflix Documentary "The Galápagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden").

Isabela is the least populated and least touristy island, but in my humble opinion, by far the most beautiful of the islands we visited. In the mornings we volunteered with a non-profit organization called IOI that is affiliated with the national park services. From digging wallows for land tortoises to removing invasive species from swamps—basically a fancy way of saying weeding—and from snorkeling to clear debris from mangrove ecosystems to planting trees for tortoise food. We learned about the goals of IOI and their aim to educate locals in order to create a fusion of community outreach and natural resource protection. We all bonded over the sweat and swamp mud that soaked everything but our spirits. With greater understanding and passion for the cause, we all labored on. Most afternoons were spent on white sand beaches, the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Even more shocking was the lack of tourists and even local peoples on those sandy shores.

We passed the time as a group on unbelievably picturesque private beaches. We had the place almost to ourselves. It was almost as if the waves were beckoning to me specifically with their rhythmic tumble and fall. Some nights we spent looking at the night sky on the beach trying to name all of the constellations--very inadequately I might add with our collective yet sadly limited knowledge of the stars. In all honesty, there was much more laughter than actual star identification.

Those moments as the waves came crashing on the shore will stick out like gems in the folds of my mind. The waves were my melody and the skies my poetry. It's those nights of blissful serenity with good friends on the white powder beaches that I will forever remember as my Galápagos journey.

Shelbie Embrey

Galapagos snorkeling

Galapagos sunset

Lifelong friends!


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Author Shelbie Embrey Posted

Category South America Departure Spring 2016