Advertisement
Marine Iguana & our boat
Greeting party
Aida Maria boat Hola!!
Right well this was the one we were waiting for. It cost the most of any single trip we have ever taken, we had been thinking about it for years and it didn´t let us down.
We arrived on Baltra Island on Saturday just gone. Good flight but hairy landing as its only a very small island, the plane banks quite sharply and comes into land at the edge of the island just over the sea. And the runway itself is very short and ends in the sea at the far side! We were met by our guide straight away and brought to our rather fancy boat. It was small but very well kept and judging by the others docked beside us every night we did quite well. Very first thing before even boarding we got up close to seals and a marine iguana sitting on the dock in front of us. We got mad excited and knew we were in for something very special. The first day wasn´t very busy...we were assigned cabins which consisted of bunks and our own private bathroom and aquainted ourselves with the other 16 passengers and 5 crew. We were not so lucky.
Indigenous crabs
6 inches from my face Everyone was nice but there was a strange mix of people and ages so not much fun had. (This one is for you Kieran one of them was an American Pastor of a 7th Day Adventist Church who believes in Creationism. Strange place to meet such a weirdo I thought...and told him so, he reckons God speaks to him!!)
The trip we chose was to do the south loop which consists of seeing more animals than the north. So we got to see Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Espanola and Floreana. The rules for visiting each place are very strict as you can imagine so each days itinery was similar, early starts, walking, visiting beaches and islands, snorkelling ans sailing to the next spots, ususally at night. The second night was pretty rough as we were sialing head on into the waves and I ended up spewing my dinner!
We got to see, Blue footed boobies, brown footed boobies, lava lizards, 5 species of iguana, frigate birds, albatros, a million fish of different colours and sizes, finches, sparrow tailed gulls & pink flamingos including an extremely rare baby flamingo that was still white!
But the best of all was on the
Herron
About 3 foot away from us! second day when we docked in green waters just off a white sand beach were seals live. As soos as we seen the water we all grabbed our snorkelling gear and jumped straight in.
Now up until 2 weeks ago I could not do this and even when I did try it was very bad and freaked out every time water went over my head...but I love it now. I would love to snorkel everyday if I could! I am so glad I did grasp it cos Galapagos is one place you want to be able to snorkel. It was the best part of the whole trip!
The water isn´t the warmest but nobody cared because before we knew what was going on we were looking at sting ray and speckled rays, giant multi coloured parrot fish, razor surgeon fish (these guys are about 2 foot long by 1 foot) angel fish and huge marine turtles. They were the most special. They didn´t pass the slightest bit of notice on us as they swam right by us to go up for air. I mean I had to hold my hands to my chest so I wouldn´t give in to the
urge to touch them as they gracefully floated by me. They were so lovely. We stayed in the water that day for about 4 hours. I was positively blue and shivering when the guide told us we had to get out and dragged us into the dingy. But 5 minutes later as we were about to head back to our boat the guide gets really excited and asks would we like to swim with sharks? Eh...yeah!! So in we jump only in about 2-3 foot of water and about 5 white tipped sharks swam around us. We were definitely not tempted to touch these guys. It was so exciting and so terrifying. Now I´ll make it clear to the Ma´s these are only reef sharks so are unlikely to snap your hand off but still they are about 4-5 foot long and shark shaped...there is no mistaking them. I think we all have a deep embedded fear of that shape and that dorsel fin! If that wasn´t enough we realised we were also swimming about a foot above sting rays. You may remember them from such programs as the day we killed Steve Irwin the Crocadile hunter! Again Ma´s, they
Frigate birds
Pretty but evil, eating baby turtles have to be really really provoked before they impale you on their barded tail! But still the adrenalin was pumping.
The very next day while some of the crew and passengers were playing football on a beach we went snorkelling again. This was at a different location, and this time as well as turtles swimming with us we had seals as well! They are very inquisitive animals and so swim right up to you and all around you.
It was just amazing to get so close to everything we saw, but especially in the sea.
Partically all the photos I took I had my camera set on macro! I mean where would you get that close to wild animals. It really was special.
We were signed up for a 5 days trip but with the sailing times etc and the timetables that have to be aheared for when visiting the islands you only really get 3 days of actually seeing animals and snorkelling. But they are pretty jam packed.
On the other side of it though..trips to the galapagos for tourists is something I hope they stop very soon. (Now that I have been) The damage to the animals and
environment is very obvious. There is a distinct smell of engine fuel in the water when snorkelling, the water we are showering in everyday on our fancy boats mixed with sunscreen, shampoo and chemicals is going somewhere and I´m sure the fish don´t need head and shoulders, parabens or titanium dioxide. We passed a seal with a gash out of his back and when we asked what happened to it were told a boat hit it. Our guide told us that 200 people a day visit the islands and tramp through where these animals are trying to rear their young, mate, build nests and hunt for food. That side of it is sad to see.
So that´s it...was it worth it...well it was very expensive...but the things we got to see and do there, you can´t really grumble.
We are still in Ecuador now at the beach. Tomorrow we will visit the National Park here for more wildlife adventures and then head back to Peru.
Cheers for all the messages as always. Good to hear from you guys.
Go to Andy´s 90´s night it sounds like the craic!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.139s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 18; qc: 72; dbt: 0.0889s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb