Three months into our backpacking trip around South America and a depleting bank account, my travel buddy Jess and I decided to go our separate ways... her to do voluntary work in Peru and me to (more selfishly) tick the Galápagos Islands off my bucket list.

Two hours after leaving Ecuador –  the country whom the archipelago of volcanic islands that forms the national park belongs to – I landed in the Galápagos, where I had to pay a $100 entry fee. There goes my lunch and dinner, I thought. Being an extremely expensive place, I had to fit in as much as possible in four days. Thus, it was more of a journey to discovery than a vacation, a journey in which you experience the best kind of physical and mental exhaustion possible.

Sea lions are literally everywhere on the Galápagos Islands.Sea lions are literally everywhere on the Galápagos Islands.

A trip to the Galápagos is a trip to an alternate universe, a strange utopian colony led by sea lions. And they are everywhere! Resting on benches, lounging next to motorcycles, on boats, even inside children’s water slides. They typically pay very little attention to people, although I had one bark at me as I was walking over a bridge, which I ended up sprinting across in absolute terror.

The impulse I had to fight in order to stop myself from approaching and cuddling one was unbearable. Why? Because touching sea lions at the Galápagos is illegal. As annoying as this law may seem, there are justified reasons behind it. Touching a sea lion would change their scent. The baby pups become unrecognisable to their mothers if human scent rubs off on them, which may result in them being abandoned and left to die.

However, swimming with them isn’t against the law, as long as you don’t touch them. Our guide took us to a gorgeous bay with good underwater visibility. With my snorkelling gear on, looking like an alien with lip-fillers, I swam somewhat hesitantly behind the other, braver travellers, suddenly doubting whether being underwater with untamed mammals was one of my wiser ideas in life.

A trip to the Galápagos is a trip to an alternate universe, a strange utopian colony led by sea lions

Around three minutes of snorkelling later and no sight of anything but rocks, flippers and buttocks in front of me, there was a sudden sense of muffled excitement. A few sea lions were floating above the sea bed, others wandering aimlessly through sea plants. My heart started pounding in my chest at the sight of them so close, but as per usual, they didn’t show much interest in us.

Puerto AyoraPuerto Ayora

Our guide started spinning around to catch their attention with the bright-coloured movement of his flippers. Within seconds, the 10 of us were doing the same. I’m sure we wouldn’t have impressed a panel of Olympic judges, but it seemed to do the trick with our mammalian peers.

It is hard to put into words the pure joy of having a sea lion racing towards you and tugging at your flippers. I may or may not have screamed and swallowed a mouthful of water the first time one did, but I soon relaxed as I realised they were just being playful. Not because they were trained to do so at Sea World, but in genuine curiosity, in their natural environment. I will admit though, that nothing can prepare you for the heart-stopping shock of a sea lion shooting up towards your face and nipping at your underwater camera.

Swimming on Santa Cruz island.Swimming on Santa Cruz island.

Words really do fail to do such a surreal experience justice. Not only is the scenery amazing and the experience itself a dream, but you get to share this moment with like-minded people who crossed the world for the same reason you did. It is the same indescribable, shared feeling you have at your favourite band’s concert, where you feel connected to the thousands of strangers around you. Everyone is singing in unison and is still buzzing hours after the concert has ended.

Indeed, I was buzzing for the duration of the trip, which I spent with people I had met on the boat tour. I felt so far from real life that it might as well have been a four-day out-of-body experience. I couldn’t help but think that that is what life should be about; discovery.

­I hated biology at school. Double lesson on a Wednesday afternoon was a killer and a never-ending one at that. Yet, I found myself on these unique Pacific islands, where many of the birds, reptiles and animals there can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

It is hard to put into words the pure joy of having a sea lion racing towards you and tugging at your flippers

Isabela island, for instance – the largest of the Galápagos islands and the product of the merging of six volcanoes – is the only island to have the equator run across it and where the Galápagos penguin is the only penguin that can be found in its natural habitat in the northern hemisphere.

A Blue Footed Booby sits on rocks in Black Turtle Cove.A Blue Footed Booby sits on rocks in Black Turtle Cove.

Try following a sea turtle through the water, admire flamingos at the flamingo lagoon, explore lava tunnels and shiver at the sight of lava lizards and prehistoric land iguanas. Feed a Galapagos tortoise, take a boat trip to (and perhaps a nail-biting dip in) Black Turtle Cove, where you will share the waters with sea turtles, rays and reef sharks.

For some nerdier, land-bound activities, one may visit the main populated centre and touristic heart of Puerto Ayora. It is there that one can visit the Charles Darwin Research station. Darwin himself who went there in 1535 and whose research and observations there contributed to the inception of his theory of evolution by natural selection. It is one thing reading about him, but a whole other experience altogether walking through the very places he studied.

Young tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station.Young tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station.

The Galápagos was declared a national park in 1959. In 1986, the 27,000 square miles of ocean surrounding the islands was declared a marine reserve, second in size only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It is for this reason that small groups are allowed to visit the Unesco world heritage islands in shifts, in order to limit impact on the area.

Taking anything from the islands is strictly prohibited, be it a shell or a vial of sand. Leave everything exactly as you found it – except for yourself. You can’t leave as the same person you entered.

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