In the summer of 2015 Kees and I had an unquestionable Sihpromatum when we were forced by altitude to reroute our South America trip and ended up in Ecuador.

It took me quite a bit of effort to persuade him to take the relatively far journey to Galápagos Islands, his argument being, “How could a bunch of birds and lizards possibly be interesting?!” I was secretly asking myself the same question, but having seen photos and most importantly heard word of mouth reviews, I knew it was something you needed to see to believe. I can confidently say I am now one of those people raving about Galápagos Islands!

Wow. As an animal lover, the experience was even more wowing. Everywhere you step there are exotic creatures running out from beneath your feet. Like a secret paradise they have inhabited, the penguins, sea lions, bright red crabs, iguanas, pelicans and blue footed boobies fear no one.

Landscapes so bizarre, you’re certain you’ve travelled between solar systems rather than oceans. A place so rich in discovery that you feel you can instantly SEE Darwin’s evolution theory, especially as you watch iguanas swimming on the ocean surface morph from sea creature to leathery, scaly earth dwellers.

Scuba diving with sharks (including hammerheads!), spotting sea horses and giant sea turtles, snorkeling with sea lions who swim RIGHT up to your face to take a good look, watching blue footed boobies’ mating ritual from just feet away and swimming with penguins in the harbour were just a few of the highlights of our week in Galápagos!

Below you’ll find a photo essay of our adventures but I fear they just won’t do this exotic retreat of land and sea justice.

Stay tuned for more #FridayFotos. Next week is GABON.

View more photos of Ecuador  here.

For more of my travel photography, find me on Instagram. See you there!

Savannah Grace