Celebrity Xpedition - Day 3 North Seymour Island

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North Seymour Island is located at the central area of the Archipelago, just north of Baltra. Following the mandatory Life Boat Drill, the ship's Zodiacs began loading passengers for our first activity.

There were two options, a High Intensity Activity - Dry Landing at North Seymour Island and a Low/Medium Intensity Activity - Zodiac Ride and Dry Landing. In order to accommodate all passengers, the Zodiacs first drop the groups doing the dry landing on the island and then return for those that opted for the medium intensity activity.

You may be wondering what a Dry Landing is. It is exactly as it sounds. You can wear hiking boots or any other sort of comfortable shoes without fear of them getting wet. It is advisable to wear sturdy, yet comfortable shoes and use a hiking stick on most Dry Landings.

Those that took the Dry Landing walked on an uneven path which took them inland to observe frigate birds and possibly Land Iguanas. Eventually, they arrived at a beach area where Galapagos Sea Lions, Blue Footed Boobies, and Marine Iguanas were observed.

We opted for the Zodiac ride along the coastline which searched for Galapagos Fur Seals, Lava Herons, and Swallow Tailed Gulls. The Geology of this region is quite impressive due to the limestone trapped between two layers of basalt lava.

Following the Zodiac ride, we too made a dry landing on North Seymour Island where we hiked along a portion of the trail observing Blue Footed Boobies, Galapagos Sea Lions, Marine Iguanas, and Frigate Birds. The male Frigate Birds have red throat pouches that extend to attract the females. Blue Footed Boobies have blue webbed feet. We'll see them again later in the week.

The only difference between the two activities was the length of the hike. In both cases, you had a good opportunity to see the inhabitants of North Seymour. Our Cruise Director had joked that we would take our first 300 pictures of Sea Lions during this activity. That wasn't far from the truth since we definitely did see quite a few of them during our visit.  View our Galapagos - North Seymour Island  album.

We boarded our Zodiacs for the return ride to the ship which was anchored nearby. Back onboard, Captain Fausto Pacheco, Master of the M'V Xpedition and his officers welcomed us with a toast which was followed by the briefing of the next day's activities. Our first day in Galapagos had been amazing. There hardly are words to describe our first experience following in Darwin's footsteps.

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Galapagos - Day 3 - Welcome Aboard

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Passengers gathered in Discovery Lounge for a welcome aboard drink and check in. The Guest Relations staff made their way through the passengers to complete the embarkation process. the process went rather smoothly and soon we were off to our cabin and then on to a lunch buffet in Darwin's Restaurant.

We had time to settle in before returning to Discovery Lounge for a briefing about the afternoon activities.

At 3 PM, Jorge Parrales, our Cruise Director, made a short presentation, explaining the shore excursion we'd be doing later in the afternoon. As was the case most of the time, there were two choices - High Intensity Activity - Dry Landing at North Seymour Island or Low/Medium Intensity Activity - Zodiac Ride & Dry Landing at North Seymour Island. The presentation showed the terrain and the wildlife we were expecting to see. The major difference between the two excursions was the length of the hiking.

I'll detail the shore excursion in a separate post. Following the excursion, we returned to the ship, freshened up, and once again met in Discovery Lounge for drinks before dinner. Every evening, around 7 PM, the Cruise Director gives a briefing concerning the following day's activities. At the conclusion of the briefing you then sign up for the activities that interest you. This helps the crew plan for Naturalists and Zodiac crew needed.

Dinner was served at the conclusion of the presentation. Other than the extra briefing when we got onboard, this is a typical day aboard the Celebrity Xpedition in Galapagos. For some more pictures, see our Celebrity Xpedition - Welcome Aboard Album.

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