One year ago, my wife was in the process of getting vetted and tested for a promotion and she was a little stressed out. Earlier that year we had gone to Africa, accounts of which you can find here and here. After that most amazing trip she kept asking me if the next big vacation should be the Galapagos.
My usual response was "Why? There aren't any predators. Are turtles not going to be a bit boring after watching lions hunt?". Boy was that a stupid reponse and thought.
Since my wife was so stressed out and her birthday was coming up, I decided to go out of my way, spend more money than I should on a birthday present for her and bought a trip to the island that triggered Darwin to come up with the theory of evolution.
What followed was one of the most amazing vacation we have ever taken.
We started by staying two days on the biggest Island (Santa Cruz) in the Galapagos and taking day trips from there. This was not too amazing, because the weather was bad and rainy. The first thing we did on day one is go diving but the water and weather was so rough that my wife did not even stay in the water. The visibility was probably 10 feet if that much. On day two we went on a speed boat to a different island, the Isabella. The weather was still bad and rainy and 2/3 of the people on the tiny boat had to puke. But we were rewarded with an amazing group of marine iguana. The biggest specimen we saw that day was a wonderfully colored male. He was occupying a large part of a beach, chasing little boys away and mating with the females.
After those two days we finally went to stay on a cruise ship. There are about 100 small boats, which usually have 15-40 guest staying on them, circling the islands in a rigorous schedule, regulated by the park authorities.
We stayed on the Yolita II and as soon as we were on that boat everything went from rough to amazing. The first thing we went to see with our guide "Washington" were some amazing tortoises.
Then we headed off to a new island and woke up at a new place called Chinese hat.
Every day on the boat was action packed, usually involving some snorkeling in clear water,
followed by excursions on land each time discovering the most amazing creature and animals that were rarely scared or spooked by our present.
Some times we just went out on the little boats to places were we were not allowed to step foot on, but still enjoyed the amazing views.
My favorite animals were sea lions. They were so curious and completely fearless. When we were in the water they would circle us and one even came so close to sniff my GoPro. I could not believe it when it happened. They were so playful. Want a selfie with a sea lion cub? No problem.
Overall this was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had and one of the most action packed vacations.
Here is a 30 sec video I compiled with the most amazing memories including that sea lion sniffing my camera 
. My youtube channel has plenty of other videos from the trip.
Since the Galapagos are so amazing my wife and I decided that life is to short and we have to go back again this year again. So over Thanksgiving we will be going on yet another Galapagos cruise and see some of the islands and spot we did not see last time.
This time I will take you along and will make sure to report and document the experience with what I hope will be some amazing steemit posts and travel & photo experiences.