Life's a beach: Isla Santa Cruz

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Thursday 27th November 2014



We noticed that in our last blog the photographs were not reproduced correctly. All of the photos seem to have been moved slightly off-centre, and one of the Marine Iguanas has his nose chopped off; most mysterious, because the original photos are all fine. So we have included another Marine Iguana photo with this blog. There are so many of these creatures here in Santa Cruz, that we have hundreds of photos of them. We meet them on the beach, swimming with us in the sea, or they are to be found sunbathing on the pavements or walls.



Yesterday we took a water taxi across the harbour and then walked along the shore. It was a dull humid day so we didn´t snorkel. Today we had to move out of our little flat by the fishing dock, because it was already pre-booked by other people. We have checked in to a hostel down the road. There is plenty of availability at the moment; it isn´t peak season, so there is never a worry about finding somewhere to stay. After moving all of our gear, we walked to the first little beach that we visited on Tuesday, to swim and snorkel. We took a picnic lunch and our trusty “Stanley” flask full of coffee and once again shared the beach with dozens of Marine Iguana, as well as a few people this time. The water wasn’t particularly clear today, but John still managed to photograph some pretty fishes. We stayed a bit too long in the equatorial sun, so Viv has a few red patches on top of the tan and John looks like a lobster. No beach for us tomorrow!



Tomorrow we are heading inland with a guide, to go through some lava tunnels and also, hopefully, to see some wild Giant Tortoises. On Saturday we are off on a snorkel tour; not quite sure what the tour entails or where we are going, but white-tipped sharks were mentioned! On Sunday we are leaving Santa Cruz Island and taking a boat to Isla Isabela, 45 nautical miles further west. We have only booked a one-way ticket. Obviously we shall be returning here; it is the only way to get back to Baltra Island and get our flight back to Quito on 8^th December. It is just that we want to decide when we get to Isabela whether to stay there a week, move on to another island or get back here to Santa Cruz, where there is still so much to do and see. Decisions! Decisions!

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Photos

Marine Iguana
...without his nose chopped off!

Puerto Ayora, the "capital city"
This little town is the metropolis of the Galapagos!

'ol Blue Eyes
...posing for the camera

Shy Black Fish
...swimming away from the camera

Life's a beach
Snorkels and masks in the apple tree