The day after the wedding, we flew to San Cristobal Island, where we were immediately shuttled onto the Flamingo I, our home for the next five nights.

The boat held 20 guests, 2 naturalist guides, and 10 crewmembers. There was a sundeck, a dining room, and a lounge with DVDs to watch (which we didn't) and fish identification books (which we looked at every time after going snorkeling). Each day was action-packed: breakfast at 7:30, a walk in the morning followed by a snorkeling opportunity, sailing to some place nearby during lunch, another walk and another snorkel opportunity in the afternoon, and then sailing to a completely different island overnight.

We sailed: to Genovesa Island, with countless nesting boobies; to North Seymour, with countless nesting frigate birds; to the north side of Santa Cruz with a flamingo lagoon; to a peak on Isabela and a panga ride along its shore; to tidepools and lava on Fernandina with hundreds of marine iguanas, many seabirds, and sea turtles; back up around Isabela watching for dolphins, whales, and the green flash; to Santiago to see a hawk, fur sea lions, and many more seabirds; to Bartolomeo to snorkel and to see Pinnacle Rock; to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, where we visited the Darwin Center, and then drove around the island tracking a vermilion flycatcher and seeing giant land tortoises in the wild on a ranch. We stayed another two nights in Puerto Ayora which allowed us some time to rest from the busy schedule on the boat, to get used to being on solid land, and to shop.

Our guides Orlando and Juan Carlos.

One of several occasions where the guides drew maps of the Galapagos in the sand.

Most of the rest of the crew.

One day as we walked along the shoreline, the crew members from our boat and another one had a chance to play some soccer.

Here are most of the guests on our cruise. (A few of them didn't feel like climbing up a lot of stairs on an island with no wildlife.)

Harvey, Tom, Bryanne, Peter, and Tina.

Rosemary and Harvey (from Florida).

Narelle and Rob (from New Zealand).

Rob on a peak on Isabela.

In front of the same peak.

Joe and Karynne (from Ohio).

George, who took as many pictures as Ray.

Gayl, Ernie, and Pearl (all from New England).

Bryanne and Tom (from New York).

Relaxing in the boat's lounge.

Bryanne, and Robin and Michael (from New Zealand).

On to Birds