Baltra - Celebrity Xpedition Land/Cruise Tour - November 11, 2023 - Embarkation Day

We enjoyed another breakfast in the Executive Lounge and even managed to snag a table on the balcony with a view.  

We met in the hotel lobby with our same small groups from yesterday's tour where we received our Galapagos transit cards and boarding passes for the flight.  We then boarded our bus for the 45-60 minute drive to the airport.  At the airport, we collected our checked luggage outside the terminal so that we could each physically check our own bags at the Avianca counter.  Our guide introduced us to the Celebrity rep that would be flying with us and then left us at security.  There was a short wait for our flight which gave people time to do a little airport shopping and then we boarded our plane in zones.

Because we were in the Penthouse, we were assigned seats in the premium section.  With only two couples in the premium section (and 3 rows of seats), we were able to each get a window seat.

They served a light meal on the plane.  They had record of my dairy restriction and so provided me with an alternate version of the smoked salmon option.  Paul had a chicken wrap.

The flight was about 2 hours.  Upon arriving in Baltra in the Galapagos, we deplaned on the tarmac and were greeted by a welcoming party of a land iguana and some lava lizards.

This is North Seymour Island which we would visit later in the week.

Land Iguana

Lava Lizard

One of Darwin's Finches (I assume a ground finch)

After going through customs, we met Cristina, our Excursion Director who assigned us to a zodiac group with a Naturalist.  We boarded a bus with our group and one other group and headed to the port.  

From the port, you could see the Celebrity Xploration, Celebrity's smallest ship which only holds 16 passengers.  Our ship was further out in the distance.

Celebrity Xploration

We were handed life jackets, handed over our carry-on luggage so we could board the zodiac hands free and then took our very first of many zodiac rides this week.

Our ship - the Celebrity Xpedition

Once on board, our group was introduced to some of the important staff and then each person was escorted to their cabin.  As I always do, I recorded a cabin tour and then I headed down to the bar to get my first drink and meet Anita, a bartender and server who would take good care of us all week.  She was the one who showed me where all the water bottle re-filling stations were.

Relaxing on our side balcony which was shadier until it was time for the muster drill

We actually had to do an in-person muster drill but it went fast with this small of a ship and was pretty painless.  All our muster stations are on deck 5 next to the two life boats for the ship (they also have some life rafts I noticed later in the week).

Here was our original itinerary for the week.  The stops in Genevosa Island (Darwin Bay and El Barranco) were substituted because of the avian flu so the map isn't perfectly accurate.

Then it was time for our first briefing of the week with some safety information and then an explanation of this afternoon's excursion, a wildlife zodiac ride with no landing.

Being the first excursion, I'm not sure we knew exactly what to expect but this by far exceeded our expectations.  We saw our first Blue-footed Boobies, quite close, plus so much more wildlife.

Blue-footed Booby

Brown Pelican

Lava Heron

Sea Turtle

Striated Heron

Sea Turtles

Another group on their zodiac

Brown Pelican

Snowy Egret

Magnificent Frigatebird harassing a Blue-footed Booby (likely trying to steal it's dinner)

Blue-footed Boobies

Our Naturalist, Jorge

Re-boarding the ship

After the zodiac ride, we enjoyed the sunset from our balcony before getting ready for the nightly briefing and then dinner.

Every night we had a briefing at 7:15 or 7:30 p.m. to talk about the next day's activities.  During this evening's briefings, they also gave us a little information about the passengers of the ship.  There were 40 passengers on board which included to park rangers we were hosting so they could get out to the various sites and check on the status of the wildlife and sites.  There was a couple from the UK and about 28 from the US plus a handful from Canada.  There were 59 crew members on board.

During this talk, they also highlighted those with loyalty.  There was one couple who were Elite Plus.  We were one of two couples who are Elite.  And in addition to pointing us out, it was also mentioned we were staying the penthouse.  As people who prefer to hide a bit more, I wish they hadn't pointed us out.  We already stood out a bit for being the youngest couple on board.  

Dinner that evening was very good although I came to be very disappointed in how they made ceviche on board.  Ceviche is fish or seafood marinated in things like lime juice, onions, peppers, stock, etc.  It is "cooked" by the acid of lime juice (or something similar).  I have never heard of it including dairy but almost every ceviche they offered on this ship I was told contained milk.  I've tried searching to see how ceviche is different in Ecuador and all I can find is that they leave more of the marinating liquid in the dish so it is more soupy.  I can't find anything about adding milk.  Ceviche is one of my favorite dishes and something I looked forward to eating as much as I could of in Ecuador so this was a bit of a disappointment.

We didn't stay up too late this night.  Each evening, there was a documentary (or dance party on two nights) we could have stayed up for but we didn't.