Everyone leaves the Galapagos with a unique experience. No two trips are ever the same, whether it’s the wildlife you see, the people you meet or the different trails you hike.
Some of our recent guests, the Ralston Daniel Family chose to document their trip through photos and a blog post that their friends and family could read and experience their trip through their eyes. What we love most as we read through their adventure, and see their photos is they point out at the beginning that most of the photos are taken by their 13-year-old son.
You can read their full adventure on their blog, but here are 5 things we learned from the Ralston Daniel Family trip to Galapagos:
1. Don’t miss the opportunity to snorkel twice a day
If you haven’t snorkeled with a sea turtle, penguin or sea lion, Galapagos is the place you want to travel to next. The Ralston Daniel family talks about how the sea stars lit up the ocean floor, the marine iguanas were eating algae, and some of the most beautiful small fish swam around them.  She points out that during one particular snorkel she told herself “remember this!” because she may never see something quite so “ripped from a nature documentary” again.
This is great advice for not just snorkeling in the Galapagos, but during each new adventure you take – slow down enough to relish the moment and be able to carry that memory with you.
2. Don’t wear yellow on a hike
This one made us laugh. The Galapagos is full of beautiful yellow “Galapagos Cotton”. While on their trip some of the non-indigenous wasps would congregate around Will’s yellow shirt, and it became enough of a problem that our guide had to announce “please don’t wear yellow on the hike”. You never know what wildlife you will experience on your hikes, but if you don’t like bees and wasps, leave your yellow shirt at home!
3. Sea Lions are found on every beach
Almost everyone who visits the Galapagos, returns home with a sea lion selfie. As the Ralston Daniel family puts it “sometimes they even seem to be posing for pictures”. The Galapagos sea lions are rarely bothered by the tourists as they walk the beaches, but be aware of the males in the group and of course respect their space as you snap your photos.
4. The sandy beaches of the Galapagos come in all colors
During their cruise, they walked on 3 different colored sandy beaches. The first was the typical white sand beach made up of crushed shells, followed by black sand from crushed lava and finally red sand from the high iron content of oxidized lava on Rabida Island. The diversity of the topography in the Galapagos keeps you in awe each time you step off your panga onto a new island.
5. Children should travel to the Galapagos, because children who see and understand, might be inspired to care.
This final lesson was one that stayed with us. The Galapagos continues to fight to keep the islands pristine, to stop over-fishing and large-scale tourism in order to save the beauty that the area has. This is an ongoing battle and the more people who can travel responsibly to the islands, with tourism companies who respect the wildlife and way of life, the more we will be able to better understand and be inspired to make a difference.
Inspired to bring your family to the Galapagos? Check out our 2015 spring break departures and book your cabin with other families today!
Don’t forget to check out their full trip recap and more great photos on their blog!
