The flight from mainland Ecuador lands on the island of Baltra, where we will be greeted by park guides and staff from Xpedition. (Luggage will be sent directly to the ship.) As you approach by air, observe the rocky plateau of Baltra emerging from the blue waters of the Pacific. The terrain is flat and arid, specked with red volcanic rock and sparse growth of cactus.

The airport is your first taste of the isolated, unspoiled, out-country--it's a former WW2 military airstrip set up by the US to guard the Panama Canal during the war. You will have some time to browse the small village's shops before one of island's three buses will pick you up for transfer to the Zodiacs, which will deliver you to Xpedition.

A short sail away is North Seymour, the first island we will visit. After lunch onboard while we reposition, we will be briefed on the afternoon's tours and head toward the Zodiacs awaiting you at the Beach Club deck aft. Don your life jacket, grab the bosun's arm with a sailor's handshake, and get comfortable for the short ride to shore.

At the rocky landing, we will climb a small cliff and be immediately immersed in the animals of the Galapagos. Sea lions romp in the water and sun on the rocks. Female boobies will be nesting right along the trails, remarkably nonchalant about human presence. Galapagos mockingbirds provide the music as you take it all in. Our guide will explain the mating rituals, and if we are lucky, the males will be strutting for the females. Male frigate birds pump their red throats to entice the ladies, while blue-footed boobies wobble comically like circus clowns. Note: With all animals we encounter, WE need to step around them, NOT the other way around.