Madrone at anchor at Baquerizo Moreno with our new friends on Belladonna anchored ahead of us
The Galapagos Islands are a mostly pristine natural environment. To help keep it that way, the government of Ecuador and the Galapagos National Park have put in place a strict set of rules. These rules are mostly reasonable (in our opinion), and they severely restrict where visitors can go without a naturalist certified by the park. While private boats are still allowed to visit the islands, they are limited to a handful of anchorages.
We left Madrone at anchor for the first time ever to go on our Galapagos cruise- we were thankful to have Belladonna’s crew keeping an eye on her while we were away
To be able to see more of the archipelago, we took advantage of a last minute deal to join a small tour boat for a 4 night cruise. Finding a suitable trip turned out to be a bit difficult – we needed one that started where we’re currently anchored, that lasted a maximum of 4 nights (since that’s as long as we were willing to leave Madrone anchored without us onboard), and that focused on islands other than the ones we’re allowed to visit on our own.
Our spacious room for 4 nights aboard Solaris
In the end, we were able to find a boat. Advertised as both Solaris and San Jacinto (we’re still not quite sure how that works), the ~100′ boat was just completed and put into service early this year. The boat’s capacity is 16 passengers who are cared for by a crew of 11. We turned out to be very lucky – our trip included a total of only 6 passengers, so there was a lot of room to spread out!
We had a good view of Madrone at anchor out of our cabin door on Solaris before we departed the bay
Our trepidation at abandoning Madrone at anchor was tempered by having our new friends Andrew and Katie, together with their daughters Anna and Florence, aboard their catamaran Belladonna anchored nearby. They generously offered to keep an eye on Madrone while we were gone, and we’re not sure that we would have made the trip without having them in the bay with us.
Relaxing with the other passengers in Solaris
With an itinerary that included Española, Floreana, Santiago, and Bartolome Islands, we hopped aboard with excitement for new destinations!
