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I took an 8-day, eastern itinerary on board the S/S Mary Anne, run by the excellent Andando Tours. Here’s a short video I made that shows you what it’s like on board the S/S Mary Anne… Every time we went snorkeling I said to myself that I would only stay in the water for 20 minutes or so and every single time I ended up out there until the end, usually an hour or more. And I can’t imagine a better way to visit this mind-blowing destination than on the beautiful S/S Mary Anne, a ship as unique as the islands she travels around!

All I knew is that my Galapagos Islands trip would involve: a) Sailing for 1 week on board the S/S Mary Anne Here’s a taste of the experience that is an incredible Galapagos Islands trip (photos and a pretty cool video)… When I mention my Galapagos Islands trip, one of the most common questions I’m asked is whether I saw any blue-footed boobies. If you’re interested in taking a Galapagos Islands trip, the 8-day experience aboard the S/S Mary Anne with Andando Tours is beyond incredible!

We signed some paperwork at the office of the local Rio de Janeiro hang gliding association. And so her Rio de Janeiro hang gliding adventure began. Harness, instructions, safety checks…and before I had a chance to really soak it all up, I was also running down the ramp, attached to this huge green triangular wing. This Rio de Janeiro hang gliding experience takes off from a mountaintop above the dense jungle of the Tijuca National Park.

When an adorable baby sea lion scratches its belly for two minutes straight, when a bright red crab hangs out on a lava rock right next to a huge multi-colored land iguana, when two albatrosses engage in a beak to beak mating ritual, when a white tip shark swims right by… Over the course of 8 days, we visited the islands of Santa Cruz, Genovesa, Santiago, Bartholemew and Chinaman’s Hat, Rabida, Dragon Hill, South Plaza, Santa Fe and Espanola (here’s a list of all the Galapagos Islands). When a baby sea lion popped out of the bushes and ran after a red and black land iguana, I pulled my head back in shock as the sea lion bit onto the iguana’s tail. And it’s why I’m smiling so widely right now thinking about the stunning red sands of Rabida Island and the wacky albatross dances on Espaniola, the thousands of boobies building nests on Genovesa, the hammerhead sharks in Black Turtle Cove and the snorkeling off of South Plaza Island where we encountered hundreds of types of marine life.