An evolutionary approach to a Galápagos cruise

The newly-launched MV Origin boutique ship provides a stylish platform for a tour of these extraordinary islands, finds Paul Heiney

Just to be sure I wasn’t dreaming, I wrote down a list of all the wild creatures I’d seen in the Galápagos Islands. I noted that I’d been barked at by a sea lion, had a blue, webbed foot waggled at me by a Booby bird, been eyedup by a pelican sitting close enough for me to smell its breath (like a filthy fish factory), and been given a time-weary stare by a tortoise that might have been 100 years old. Then there was a black, scaly creature – an iguana – which looked as if it might eat me for dinner. Meanwhile, a flock of frigate birds, chilling descendants of dinosaurs, hovered above. No, it wasn’t a dream. I really did see all this, and within the first few hours I spent on these volcanic Pacific specks known as “the Enchanted Islands”.

When it comes to wildlife, Galápagos delivers. There are 4,000 species here, 40 per cent of them found nowhere else on Earth, and each of them remarkable, from the tiny, vulnerable Darwin’s finches to the lumbering giant tortoise.

It’s a long haul from Europe, though. It took Charles Darwin, father of evolutionary theory, nearly four years to travel there aboard HMS Beagle; now it takes 13 hours via Madrid, then onwards to Quito, high in the thin air of the Ecuadorean Andes. From here it takes three more wearying hours (by air) to reach the islands themselves. Given that most tours to the islands run for just seven days, adding time either side to absorb a bit of Inca history and mountainous landscape in Ecuador would be rewarding.

Your first glimpse of the islands might be a disappointment. It was Darwin who said “nothing could be less inviting”. The arid, volcanic landscape, scattered with desiccated vegetation, reveals none of the magic these islands hold. This is a close-up kind of place that needs careful examination to reveal its true richness. The exception being the chubby and unavoidable sea lions who stick their noses in everywhere. I first met them sprawled along the harbour wall on San Cristobal Island, asleep, not giving a damn about those of us eager to join our ships. They are everywhere – in the doorways, in gutters and at café tables too, if no-one stops them. “Remember, they are wild,” we were warned. “And they have big teeth.” We took a step back, but were beguiled.

The ship we were about to board, if the sea lions allowed, was the recently commissioned MV Origin, complete with Darwin Deck, of course. From the shore it looked as if an oligarch’s private yacht had steamed into town. Darwin would have recognised that this stylish little ship is, in itself, a good example of evolution in action. This is no place for larger cruise ships. The boutique cruiser, Origin, holding no more than 30 passengers, leaves barely an imprint on the islands it visits. Its hull is designed not just for good looks but for efficiency, too. Its emissions, from both engines and humans, are contained and controlled.

Ecoventura, which built the boat, is a certified Smart Voyager (an ecological programme developed by The Rainforest Alliance) and has raised more than $300,000 (£228,000) for the Galápagos Marine Biodiversity Fund. In 2012 the company partnered with Ecology Project International to provide local teenagers with a field course in conservation. The craft carries two naturalist guides to facilitate the split of passengers according to interest or activity level. Those who want to keep active while at sea can take out kayaks, standup paddle boards and snorkelling equipment, or use the gym.

The expansive windows of my cabin (there are 10 in total) reached down almost to sea level, so I could lounge on the soft, broad bed and feel as if I could trickle my fingers in the water as I read Darwin’s journal of 1835, the year of his visit. Outside the only two settlements on the islands, with a mere Perfectly formed: MV Origin, above; iguanas are plentiful on Fernandina, main; up close and personal with a sea lion, below left GALAPAGOS ESSENTIALS

Paul Heiney travelled with Pura Aventura (01273 676712; puraaventura.com). A one-week cruise on board MV Origin costs from £5,395 per person including all guiding and use of equipment, two nights’ b&b accommodation in Quito with private guiding and transfers, and internal flights to the Galápagos Islands. International flights and the Galápagos park Shipshape: the cabins on the MV Origin, top, offer spectacular views; the spacious deck, above

30,000 people, little will have changed since then.

Darwin deck was for eating good, fresh food from an inventive galley, and enjoying the local beer which, agreeably, comes free (as did whisky). This news pleased two of our fellow passengers, a retired Scottish lawyer and his wife, now world travellers, nervously trying to work out if they’d made the right choice having stated emphatically: “We are not the sort of people who do cruises!”

We were 16 in total – my other co-passengers were retired Americans, “bustin’ out all over” with enthusiasm, as is their way.

It was a shock to discover that the days started at 6am to be ashore by 7.30am with the sun just up. This is clever timing, though, for by 11am we were glad to be back in the cool of the ship. Hot expeditions were usually followed by snorkelling, except on the day the sharks arrived when, for some reason, it seemed less popular.

There are no harbours so ships anchor in sheltered bays. Landings are wet or dry. If wet you will be jumping from an inflatable zodiac into surf and making your own way up the beach.

If dry, you will be able to step ashore onto land, usually rocks. The walking is varied, and some can be done in flip-flops. Others are more strenuous and require a certain sure-footedness to jump from boulder to boulder, remnants of volcanic outpourings. Those who brought collapsible walking poles were grateful for them. With each stop among the islands carefully scheduled two years ahead by the National Park authority, who even determine landing and departure times, this is not a trip for the free spirit. Our ever-smiling guide Billy (all guides must be Galápagos-born and educated to degree level) briefed us on the rules – “no approaching the animals, no feeding, no departing from the tracks”. Then with a sigh and a big grin, he said: “In fact, you can’t do anything much, really.” Inter-island sailing takes place at night. If you meet another group ashore it will never be of more than a dozen people. Without these rules, the place would be as packed as a theme park. And so to the wildlife which seemed to line up to be inspected, as if on parade. Booby birds and frigates you will pass within a foot of, and they will never flinch because they have no predators in this unique world where humans and animals co-exist on equal terms. Darwin found this remarkable, as did I. Lizards do not even scamper, and albatrosses would not dream of leaving their nests at the sight of you walking by. Needless to say, absolutely nothing disturbs a sea lion from its slumber.

We visited six islands in all and no two were the same. We saw pelicans on San Cristobal, unique marine iguanas on Hispañola, flamingoes on Floreana and, remarkably, on the same day, a couple of penguins. Where else in the world can you stare straight into the eyes of these creatures and have them stare back at you as if you’ve been mates all your life? This equality of the species left such an impression on me that when I was sitting on the deck of the Origin in the evening sun and a moth landed on my wrist, instead of swiping it away I felt flattered by its trust.

Despite being on the equator, it was not overpoweringly hot. In fact, the snorkellers were offered wet suits which we Brits refused, finding the water as warm as soup. The Americans all wore them.

The climate here is greatly affected by the cool Humboldt Current which flows northwards from Antarctica, but takes a break from January to May, and this is when temperatures rise to scorching levels, but with rain. The rest of the year is cooler and a fine mist can hang over the islands, which is vital for keeping vegetation alive. Billy said the transition months were the best times to visit, those being May and November.

There is great pleasure to be had here, but a profound experience to be enjoyed too. You must come, as Darwin did in 1835, to be curious about the world and how it, and we, came to be. It takes a better class of holiday operator to leave you marvelling the mechanisms of evolution, and why these islands matter more than anywhere else on Earth. What you take home with you is as much a test of a holiday here, as what you see.