I asked Lisa, “Are you glad we came here?” Her reply is different from mine, “Yes, I'm glad we came.” I asked “why?”

“Well, it's Galapagos, it was on my bucket list. If we didn't stop, we would regret it.” She couldn't point out to anything that spectacular we enjoyed here. Neither can I.

We did see some very cool wildlife. We saw giant tortoises, Pacific sea turtles, white tip and black tip sharks, sea lions and rays. All were quite close and seemed not to notice us in their world. There were a plethora of birds of different and rare species. The lava terrain was interesting, especially the Tunnels on Isabella. But the setting for these animals is not beautiful. These are desolate islands with sparse growth. The sea is not clear in most of the areas we snorkeled. Worst of all was the way we were treated by the bureaucracy, cost and red tape on entering Galapagos. We paid about $1,800 just to drop anchor here! At one inspection we had nine officers on Uproar all with clipboards and stern looks. We were forced to sail 40 miles out to clean a few spots of green off our bottom with a toothbrush and return for another $100 inspection. Galapagos clearly does not want cruisers here!

Lisa and I are extremely fortunate that our travels have taken us to places of breathtaking beauty. We have seen a lot of wildlife throughout the Caribbean in more beautiful settings. We have snorkeled in some of the most amazing reefs in the world. So for us, Galapagos was a lot of hype and hassle to see some admittedly rare and unusual animals and the shrine of Charles Darwin. But for visitors who have not had our years of traveling in the tropics, this is a very special place.

P.S. Galapagos treats cruisers like the tortoise on the bottom.