11 Apr

Day 8 – Tortoises are the Grandest of Finales!

 

Today was our last day onboard.  But what a day it was!  I think they save the tortoises for the last day because they are so awesome. 

We were up at 6:45, showered, and had breakfast.

One of the first things we saw from the land was a school of rays!

We started at the tortoise research center. There were so many!

These were little guys!

Then we walked through town and bought some snacks.

This little market was surrounded by hungry birds! And a cute little sea lion who was getting some fish handouts!

Morning video!

Then we boarded the bus to plant some trees! Celebrity tries to give back, and they have all their passengers plant trees! First, we put on our boots they brought for us.

Then we picked up our trees.

Our naturalists were always there taking pictures!

Here’s mine!

Tree planting video!

Then we loaded the busses again to go to lunch. While we drove, we passed giant tortoises in the wild! I was so excited! We couldn’t believe how many we saw!

We had lunch at a tortoise farm, and had a local group come and perform. We had popcorn appetizers! Brilliant.

There were tortoises everywhere and I didn’t know how we were supposed to just relax and eat while surrounded by them!

Drive and lunch video!

Next, we put back on our boots and headed into the fields in groups.

The tortoises weren’t in captivity, they could move through the farm and out at their leisure.

They were just incredible.

Photo op!

Our guide was very excited about this bird. I don’t know what kind it is!

Tortoise video!

We finally boarded the bus back to the zodiacs, to shower and relax before dinner. It was the final night! Here we are with most of our new friends!

We had a group toast, and then our last dinner with our friends.

Beef Wellington is the traditional last night cruise dinner for me!

When it was time for dessert, someone said they just wanted ice cream. Someone else said they would love just ice cream with chocolate syrup, and we wondered if how much we could actually ask for!

We all started ordering crazy desserts and realized we should have done it every night. I had ice cream, chocolate syrup, AND M&Ms.

Crazy.

After dinner it was bedtime!

Day 9 – Back to Quito

I didn’t take any pictures today, but I wanted to give a quick synopsis. We met in the lounge around 10, and then got off the ship around 12 if I remember correctly. They had games and movies to entertain us while we waited.

They also passed out thumb drives full of pictures of our trip that the naturalists had taken during the week. That was a great touch! Of course, I can’t currently locate that thumb drive, but I’m sure it will turn up next time we move!

Oh, and we had cookies! A very important detail.

We took zodiacs right back to where we started so many days ago. Here’s our sad goodbye video:

We caught the buses to the airport, were whisked through security and waited in the lounge for our charter flight. We ate in the lounge and boarded our flight. Celebrity was waiting for us on the other end and took everyone in groups to their next destination.

We were going to a hotel near the airport since we had a super early flight. Some were going back to the JW Marriott downtown. Others were going to their next destination, the Machu Picchu add-on! That would have been amazing!

We said goodbye to all our new friends and boarded a bus to our nearby hotel. They gave us vouchers for dinner, so we ate downstairs in the hotel that night. Some people had crazy late flights that evening, and Celebrity had given them rooms and vouchers as well, which I thought was very nice!

The next morning at around 5 am, we met our small group flying out in the lobby. They had some breakfast-to-go bags waiting for us, took us to the airport, and made sure we all got checked in before leaving us!

Sum Up –

What an absolutely incredible trip. This was Stephen’s bucket list trip, and I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did.  We both agreed it was one of the best vacations we’ve ever had, and we’ve had some good ones!

I cannot recommend it enough, and I probably wouldn’t see the Galapagos any other way. Celebrity was the way to do it. It was first class all the way!

 

Gallivanting in the Galapagos – October 1-10, 2022
Day 1 – Off to Quito 
Day 2 – I May Love Small Ships 
Day 3 – The First Encounters with Wildlife 
Day 4 – Penguins and Turtles and Birds, Oh My!
Day 5 – Lava and Bad Choices 
Day 6 – Glamping in the Galapagos 
Day 7 – Civilization!
Day 8 – Tortoises are the Grandest of Finales!