December 30, 2024
Isla de la Plata, Ecuador ( some translate to silver or birdshit island )
Booking a fantastic trip to the Galapagos Islands takes time and lots of coordination. Christmas weeks are also premium time and I was late to the game, for doing it on a live aboard boat. The ones I am interested in book a year out - so I will do this in the near future. Isla de la Plata, provided me with a little taste at a really good price point. We were part of a small charter boat that took about an hour to get out to Machalilla National Park
on the Isla. The island is uninhabited and features beaches, headlands and shrubland. It has many marine birds, blue footed and masked boobies, Galapagos' albatrosses and frigates. Trails run from Drake Bay to sheer clifftops overlooking water that attracts manta rays and humpback whales. There was really good snorkeling in Bay.
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I got to go Sailing Again! We were supposed to head to the COOK ISLANDS after the lovely Rangiroa and the Tuamotu Archipelago, but due to stormy weather there, with all unprotected tender ports, they made the decision to head us southwest, back to the protected port in Papeeta (Tahiti). We got lucky and Holly ( pictured below) found us a sailboat available for charter.
Since Janette Emerich is generous enough to share her drone photos with all of us on board the Ship, I have to share them with you all. This beauty is why I said we felt like we were in a screen saver the whole day in Rangiroa! I love the height perspective in the photos it really captures so much more. Blue Lagoon below:
The water in Rangiroa is so spectacular, I wanted to spend more time drift snorkeling and checking out the area called " The Aquarium ". So today I went back out for a 3 hour session to do 3 drift passes in Tiputa pass and then spent an hour in an area with wonderful healthy corals and tons of fish, earning it the nickname " The Aquarium ".