The Galapagos is a collection of islands and the best way to visit and explore is by ship.

The waters are not rough, but in transit from island to island, the water can get a little choppy and motion sickness pills are recommended.

All stops are made via Zodiac transfer that can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes max. Here you see a snorkeling expert providing some tips to other passengers in advance of our expedition.

But the real highlights are the fauna and flora you can discover on some of the hikes. We were lucky one morning to come across a Galapagos hawk.

He was likely looking for one of these guys. They are careful to hide out when the hawks are around and most actively when it is sunny and hot out.

We did not see any sharks on our hikes along the coast, but you do see many swarms of local fish around the shore quite often.

This is a famous site on Sante Cruz where there is a 100 year old cactus and the local sea lions like to climb up on top its neighboring rocks and take naps on it. I have no idea on how they can climb up these rocks.

In July, the young sea lions are constantly nursing on their mothers. They are all quite noisy…just wait for the upcoming video additions!

In addition to hiking, you can also go snorkeling. The water is SO salty, you can literally float perfectly with just a 5-7mm shorty wet suit,

and find cool friends like these very large sea turtles. I hope to add a video of the turtle swimming when we return to the mainland as the Internet is very limited here on the boat.