Advertisement
Published: January 25th 2008
Johnny English
.. was grateful for the helpful directionsOK ... this is a lot of a monster ... so apologies all round. We have been out of touch for some time ... and we have some catching up to do. This will take some time to read - please don´t get into trouble on our account!
Some scene setting.
Galapagos is considered one of the world´s treasures. And having been there - it is. We can confirm it.
The short version is that these islands have never been connected to the mainland and so the flora, the fauna and the animal life is more or less unique. At some point in the last millions of years - there have been one in a million events which have resulted in the arrival of an animal or a plant species. Either they have got lost - and swum here; they´ve floated here on vegetation (after major storms), they´ve flown here and got lost or they´ve arrived on the bodies, the feet or in the stomach of birds. All unlikely - but all life has got here somehow...
Since then - evolution has taken its course and the species have evolved into entirely separate species to those you´ll
Nathan 4 Betsy
January 2008. In Paradise, Galapagos fine elsewhere. And because these animals don´t see humans as predators ... they´re very friendly ... and it´s kind of odd.
Charles Darwin came here in the 1830s and based his Theory of Evolution on what he saw. Many others have been here too (from the initial western contact in the 1500s) and there are many stories about curses, murder and penal colonies. If you´re interested then read up on it ... we have too much to go through to pause on this here ....
Enjoy....
Day 13. January 13 2008. Guayaquil - Ecuador Fresh from the marathon internet session. Johnny English (Nathan) and his Welsh Princess (Lizzy) woke to another day in Guyaquil. Both of us were frankly getting tired of hanging our pants out of the window - over Guayaquil´s main thoroughfare - trying to dry them after washing our clothes in a sink. Spending substantial amounts of money at the hotel laundry were unecessary we felt. Luckily - the (breezy) evening of the 12th seemed to have helped and we were almost there ...
Nathan was getting very concerned about the ability to see his ribs in the mirror and wondered whether Lizzy
Nathan
... at the (IMAX) cinema ... in Ecuador... with his lunch (popcorn, salted) was putting him on a diet covertly. No Squash today ... didn´t think we´d survive another game without a groin injury.
Walked down Malecon 2000 and marvelled at a country which has largely stuck to the Sabbath as a day of rest. No shops open. That won´t help the purchase of a snorkel and fins ... or a healthy supply of crisps for the Galapagos trip.
Liz is putting Nath on a diet. And it´s not covert any more. "If we get you an ice cream - this can act as your lunch" is something Nathan never thought he´d hear... but he did on 13th January 2008.
And we didn´t have an ice cream. We had popcorn instead. And it was salted. We had the popcorn at the Imax cinema watching a film about the Cosmos in Spanish. We could have done that in Bradford (and we could have gone to Mumtaz for a curry lunch...)
Walked through the "Mall" which was open. We estimate there are 150 shops. Nath is of course prone to exaggeration but all 150 sold the same "trendy" clothes. They looked pretty good to Nath. However Lizzy helpfully informed Johnny English
Boobies Everywhere
Look at my feet man ... that these trends were trends in 1990.
Had a fondue in the evening - and a bottle of good Malbec (Mendoza - Argentina). Liz thinks we´re going to need to charter our own cargo ship to get this stuff home when we visit. Marvellous.....
Seem to have lost some weight in the bags too ... much calmer than before but still nervous about getting our bags to Galapagos ... they say you´re only allowed 20kg you know ...
Rib Watch:
Nathan: High - not sure that this was how God designed Nath.
Liz: High - how does Liz eat so much and remain stick thin? Day 14. January 14 2008. Guayaquil - Baltra - Galapagos Settled nerves today. Confirmed LAN Argentinian flights by speaking to a very nice lady from America. We´re sorted. Nathan´s bag spot on the nose at 20.1kg ... Lizzy must try harder at 22.5kg ... learning that rules are actually not rules at all and are simply guidelines. The bloke didn´t even question the 2.5kg discrepancy and waved us through ... assume he won´t go far in the organisation of AeroGal.
Arrived in Galapagos. This is more like it. Sun.
What do you Want?
Seriously - any closer and I´ll get my Dad ... Blue Sky. White skin sizzling. Transfer to Estrella Del Mar II a fantastic 16 berth boat (probably short of being a flash yacht but it now comes highly recommended). Not sure that Maurizio - our reserved Galapagos Islander guide and tour leader was quite sure of us when he confirmed that we were on his boat.
Not sure how to spell Maurizio but lets go with what we´ve got eh?
Transferred to the boat. Our first glimpse of the wildlife was on the quayside. And they were sealions. And they were just chilling on a bench on the quay. Completely oblivious to us. The male was enormous. And he would bite if you went within 3 metres of him (didn´t test that so can´t confirm).
Were introduced to our fellow passengers (and I won´t just be nice about these people because they are now on the distribution list for this blog ... 😊 honest - they are great folk)
Patricia and Stuart (originally Scottish - now living in Belgium)
Barry and Fanny (US of A. Portland, Oregon)
Eva (Travelling with Barry and Fanny - Born Germany, Brought up Columbia, Lived in LA ... now in a
Good God
... and there were Iguanas as big as boats ... smaller town on the way to San Diego. Eva has had both knees replaced and is in her 70s. Inspiring lady)
Rab and Cheryl (Hitchin UK. On Honeymoon ... funny honeymoon though ... they are here for 6 weeks and are on their way to the Rio Carnival ... )
Miriam and Dominik (Originally Berlin - now Hamburg)
Denny and Linda (US of A. Michigan)
Man from Finland and Lady from Finland (ashamed to say that I don´t know their names however they were a bit shy and liked taking lots of photos (1500 photos in 5 days - some going)
Imagine Nath's delight when we had Americans and Germans on our boat .. devastated when it turns out that Barry has his sense of humour and Eva doesn´t complain about anything (figure her pain threshold must be similar to Nathan´s -NOT!). Miriam had lived in England speaking environments for 2 years and spoke better English then us. Even Dominik spoke better English than us.. all were absolutely 100% diamond ... a fantastic mix of people.
Even so - we won´t invite any of them to a pool party at Papa Juju´s house ... just in case ...
Giz a bit
... quick .. before Maurizio sees us ... Made (our) first landing on Santa Cruz and saw lots ... like ... LOTS
We are going to go on about this for some time unfortunately but you need to get down to Thomson Cook and get some tickets to this place. The Islands FIRMLY belong to these animals. They really really really don´t care that you are there. Within the first hour we had had to step around fur sea lions, hundreds of Blue Footed Boobies (wonderful birds - and luckily we like them .... so we can say that we really like Boobies), Frigate birds, Marine Iguanas, Land Iguanas ... and then some more sea lions. Amazing, incredible, wonderful.
Maurizio deserves respect. Born in the Islands and cares like hell. There are strict rules about where you can and can´t stand ... and flash photography isn´t allowed.
Lizzy breaks all the rules in 30 minutes and is in Maurizio´s bad books. Learn that he isn´t bothered about snapping at you and will reprimand you like a teacher. He´s pretty chilled though and knows his stuff (like ... he really know his stuff!!)
Nevertheless - Feel like Bill Bryson in Durham.
Rib Watch: Nathan: High - FOR NOW - but they are going to feed me 3 COURSE MEALS 3 TIMES A DAY. YYYEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Liz: High - hmmm... err..... well .... didn´t start well when Lizzy told the man that she ate eggs .... I feel starvation on the horizon ...
Day 15. January 15 2008. Española Island - Galapagos Tony wouldn´t have liked our first night aboard Estrella del Mar II. We sailed from Santz Cruz for 7 hours down to Española overnight ... and it wasn´t too nice. Our cabin is down below at the front (or is that brunt) and we swayed ... man did we sway. Even a session of Tiger Woods on the PSP didn´t help (d´oh!). Nathan didn´t feel well and even needed a sea sickness tablet - delicate one that he is.
Woke in Gardner Bay (sorry - on the boat in Gardner Bay). Started with some snorkelling to see what all the fuss was about. Best snorkel of our lives in Bahia Beach, Gardner Bay (to date). Sea Lions everywhere - in the water - and they wanted to play. Several panic moments as they careered towards you - looked you directly
But I want to play with you ...
... do one sunshine ... I´m not interested ... in the eyes - and then veered off into the crystal blue. Took the focus away from the thousands of fish down there. Think we might learn to dive in French Polynesia.
We think we will get 3 seals instead of Labradors. They are ace. So so clumsy and seemingly uncomfortable whenever they are not asleep. There is a lot of moaning, barking, fighting and fidgeting. They will also walk straight over their brother if they are in the way ... but they are hyper-cool.. especially the pups.
Having said that - the Hood Mockingbird is also pretty cool. Talk about not caring ... would have taken water from my hand ... if I hadn´t been stopped by Maurizio that is ...
Gardner Bay also had Oyster Catchers ... with long red beaks ...
The bounty continued at Punto Suarez ... Hood Lava Iguana, more seals, more Mockingbirds, Red Billed Tropic Birds, Galapagos Hawk and more Boobies (snigger). Saw eggs actually hatching ... in the wild ... from 1 meter away ... and the Blue footed Boobie just watched us ... Nazcar Boobies also there.
Went to bed at 2030 and the trip to our
The Power of the Nikon D80
... fast shutter speed ... a Blue Booby diving (very fast) for his family´s lunch next island - Floreana - again overnight was calmer than the previous day. The cabins have air conditioning but they are making things damp ... not sure this is good for the weight of our bags ... (but this is the least of our worries ... we´re in paradise)
Rib Watch:
Nathan: Lower ... Eaten everything put in front of him to date ... getting bigger ... and eating Lizzy´s eggs too ... this is too good to be true ... 10 courses today ...
Liz: Higher still ... regretting the decision to tell the cook that she ate eggs. How can eggs (and a slab of cheese) make it into every single meal?? Day 16. January 16 2008. Floreana Island - Galapagos Today was to surpass yesterday but as Nathan ate his 4 course (including Lizzy´s eggs) breakfast - looking out in Post Office Bay ... this was as yet unknown.
Post Office Bay is an interesting place. The idea is that people put a postcard in the post box with an address ... and then other people from across the world look through the postcards and where there is a card for a nearby
Happy Families
The original group from Estrella Del Mar II, at Post Office Bay. place .. you take it on your return. Either this - or you can leave cards for people who will be passing by in the future... some of you have cards waiting for you ... ! Based on early communications used by whalers and pirates.
Incredible ... truly incredible ... (there were approx 300 cards from across the world) ... we stumbled across one with a Halifax address. Nath keep telling people that Halifax is the centre of the Universe but they still won´t believe him. This card had a "Do Not Deliver" message on there ... it was for collection in person ... but all the same ...
Saw Sea Turtles .. and then set off to Devil´s Crown Rock. Maurizio proudly declared this as the best snorkelling in the Galapagos ... so put his wet suit on to join us. We got in the panga (the motor dynghy) from the main boat to the rocks and then saw in the distance some splashing ... Maurizio asked whether we wanted to swim with dolphins ... DOLPHINS?? True enough - a pod of 40-50 dolphins were passing by and we swam with them ... and again ... they
Poised for Action
... a Galapagos Hawk ... sort of poised for action .. didn´t care. You could clearly hear the sonar clicks as they checked us out, jumped out of the water and generally played with us.
We´re even happier given that swimming with dolphins makes you cleverer. We saw it on the tele. This surpasses our last snorkelling trip and is now top of the list!
Snorkelling around this there rock was a come down afterwards ... but still we saw more sea lions, sea turtles chilling out underwater ... White Tip Reef Sharks, Eagle Rays, Sting Rays (in a school of 20) and a galaxy of Starfish ... can this get any better?
Yes - it can ... because we then saw Penguins (yes Lily ... Penguins) and Flamingoes and walked a white sand (Whitehaven Sands-esque) beach in Turtle Bay ... watching sea turtles preparing to head back to land for the evening ...
Again ... fed Nathan´s (getting) fatter face and went to bad ... at 2100 ....
Rib Watch:
Nathan: Didn´t notice ... although they´ve now introduced a sweetie bowl on the boat ... and biccys
Liz "Do you want my eggs" Tomkins: Seems to be ok ... she´s still breathing ... but how I WILL peck your eyes out
.. a Pelican hitches a lift on board Estrella Del Mar II is this possible? Living off toast in a morning and fruit (and the odd grain of rice) during the day ...
Day 17. January 17 2008. Isabella Island - Galapagos The largest island in the Galapagos - with 5 volcanoes - some of which are still active. A geological tour this morning ... saw the lava tubes - the rock casings of lava flows. Quite strange really - couldn't help thinking that if these fragile phenomena were in the UK some youth would have detroyed them years ago. Went to tortoise sanctuary (saw tortoises from 5 days old to over 120 years old). Nathan had to start taking notice of some chat which had been bothering him for some time...
Goats.
Now - to some people reading this blog - goats are a sign of hope but are also a sign of danger. When things go wrong Goats appear. Galapagos seems to be a case in point everyone. As people from Ecuador arrived in droves they brought with them domestic animals (e.g. dogs, cats, rats, horses ... and Goats). Ultimately these animals destroyed the fragile vegetation and were a menace to the young of tortoises etc.
Goats RIP
... bad things happen to Goats in Galapagos ... very bad things ... As a result an eradication programme has been underway. Wild Goats are most definitely not welcome here ... they do get a very bad press everywhere. From Wide Open to Isabella, Galapagos.
Did some more snorkelling ... and getting braver we swam with a school of Stingrays (6 in total). Trying not to get blaze. Calamari for lunch today. Thought of Branston in Zanzibar. Chuckled. Glorious day to day so some more sunbathing. Nathan pink, in the shade with his hat on. Liz on the deck in the full sun tanning nicely.
Then there was a sea crossing during the day to Santa Cruz to drop Barry, Fanny, Eva and the 2 Finns off. Docked in Santa Cruz (a bit like Newquay) and went for beer and icecream .... tremendous ... beer on our holidays. Magic.
Rib Watch:
Nathan: Mmmm.... ribs .... where? Nath love ribs ....
Liz: Respite this morning ... pancakes ... Nathan gave Liz his pancakes too ... (Nath was ok ... don't worry) followed by a magnum icecream (that should keep Liz going for a few day) Day 18. January 18 2008. Santa Cruz Island - Galapagos Today was where things started
Flamingoes in Paradise
.. at sunset on Floreana Island to tail off a little. Don't get us wrong we were having a wonderful time / but it seemed that we were in Santa Cruz to drop people off and pick some more people up. It was kind of nice but also obvious. No-one was complaining though as we had seen so much so far...
Went to the Charles Darwin Conservation Centre. We were dying to see Lonesome George. George is a giant tortoise - the last remaining one of his type - and he simply doesn't want to do "it". And how they have tried to get him to keep the race going... they even introduced an attractive Swiss volunteer {blonde with big boobs we imagined} to encourage him. But no. He doesn't fancy it. The mind runs wild (and is probably not appropriate here)
5 more people appeared after lunch. Andy (Gravesend) and Emma (Melbourne) are on their way to Oz to emigrate from London... via a 6 month world tour ... sounds ok to me if you can get it. And then there was Frank and Ina - a pair of elderly Americans with many stories to tell. Ina was recovering from a bad fall
What´s your problem Grandad?
... you don´t look too hot yourself you know and cancer (she'd clearly had a tough time) and she was worried about snorkelling with wild animals. Frank (a former Research Scientist) tried his best to reassure her... but she seemed to be a little concerned.
In the afternoon we went up to the Highlands in Santa Cruz to see Giant Tortoises in the wild. And there they were ... Not sure how those legs work ... they see a little awkward to me ...
The farmer clearly doesn't do any farming any more as he has a little cafeteria where he hands out free coffee with more rum in the coffee then there is coffee. He's clearly doing very well from (presumably) some sort of central Galapagos Tourism Board. Went back to the boat drunk.
Started turning out a little more like an 18/20 holiday. We were out on the beer again that night. Got the panga to the shore and back. During the day time - when everyone is stone cold sober they are insistent on you wearing a life jacket to transport you to shore. At night - after several Pilsener everything is seemingly a lot safer ... as you don't need them. Proof
that beer makes you invincible.
Rib Watch:
Nathan: hic ... shall we get a Chicken Kiev Pizza?
Liz: Does the Lime in this Caprinhia count as one of my 5 a day? Day 19. January 19 2008. Santa Cruz Island - Galapagos Went ashore to Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz at 0800. Maurizio set the scene - and answered questions. Baby Iguanas are never seen ... they are very very shy.
And so competitive Betsy set off.
Incredible.
And guess what ... yes ... you're right. We bloody well saw a baby Iguana in a tree. Maurizio awarded Betsy 5 points.
Stung into action Nathan spotted a goat's skull and showed the group. Maurizio docked Nathan a point. The skull was a tree stump (aren't most sightings on safari logs anyway??)
Sailed on to Bartolome - Pinnacle Rock. Snorkelled with Penguins chasing shoals of fish ... incredible. More Sea Lions, White Tip Sharks and Dragon Rays.
Took an evening stroll (hike) up 300 steps to the top of the island and saw the geology of the island. Moonscape on earth as a result of volcanic eruptions. Beautiful sunset and then bed. Early
Competitive Betsy
no juvenile Iguanas anywhere heh? tonight.
Rib Watch:
Nathan: Still at 100%!N(MISSING)athan has not left anything on his plate all holiday. Nath is starting to impress Dominik who thought that he ate a lot ...
Liz: If Liz had actually eaten all these eggs she'd be dead with higher cholestral than a very stressed fat person Day 20. January 20 2008. Sata Fe Island - Galapagos Remember Ina and Frank? They were the really timid ones who were afriad of snorkelling with wild animals. Maurizio is chilled about most things in the sea and on Galapagos. But when it comes to male Sea Lions. All 200-250kg of them he promotes caution. Don't get too close ... don't encroach on their territory. So when one male (let's call him Codo) effectively tries to mate with a female on another male's territory (let's call him Tasker) then there is trouble afoot.
Cue loud barking and splashing as Codo hurtles out of the water to ask Tasker what he is doing (quite a sight and very frightening). Cue lots of running from everyone ... except Frank and Ina ... who are more interesed in videoing the action close up. Sea Lion porn. Luckily everyone
Chill Out if You Want
... we will ... thanks ... (including Tasker) was ok ... but it made us laugh anyway...
Maurizio snapped. He had toothache and was sick of everyone asking him the same question. One of the baby sealions was without Mummy. She has left him. And so ... yes ... the cute little baby was going to die. He did some ranting and then got over it. Surprised it took him so long really.
More Eagle Rays, sea lions and a White Tipped Reef shark during today's snorkle.
Headed to San Cristobal island and went to the Interpretation Centre. A history of the islands. Quite an entertaining harbour. Many boats and many sealions sitting on the back of the empty boats. They simply do not care ...
More beer tonight.
And then it happened again. The second time in two days. Competitive Betsy appeared.
There we were - in the bar (again) and we were playing pool against the locals. It was winner stays on. And the locals clearly wanted to stay on - local rules changed every shot. 2 shots for them in one situation. 1 shot for us in the same situation. We only get one shot here? (communicated
Hammerheads, Galapagos
Piltdown Man was closely related ... in that favourite English communication style ... hands and fingers ... the odd word of Spanish ... but just say the English equivalent louder ... they'll understand). The locals had thrashed the Estrella Del Mar II for the first 3 games. The boys getting a bit disheartened offered the girls a go.
OK says Betsy. And Betsy clears up ... she bloody well cleared up - 4 balls and the black. And she'd been rubbish up until then. And then did a little jig (Henderson Gill style).
Then Nathan bet Cheryl that she daren't jump off the top of the boat into the water (3 storey boat...if that's the term used). . She took him on. It was high. But we did it. And then we sailed to Santa Cruz once more ....
Rib Watch:
Nathan: Not Applicable.
Liz: One day left ... can last one ... more ... day .... Day 21. January 21 2008. Santa Cruz Island - Galapagos The end.
Black Turtle Cove early morning. Nathan had a park on his eye which had swelled and so getting up after 5 hours sleep with a hangover was not a good thing.
What a life ...
... what a life indeed ... Turtles? Seen them. Rays? Seen them. Sharks? Seen them (technically not though ... these were Galapagos Sharks but the theme wouldn't work if we admitted that).
Got dropped off at the airport 5 hours before our flight. Good going even by Nathan, Michael and Russ's standards. Nathan lost his immigration form / the bit of paper which they give you when you enter a country just to stress you out when you can't find it as you leave. No point at all in the system. Nath told the immigration man that he'd lost the form and he waved me through. Bureaucracy gone mad.
Got to Quito. Said our emotional good byes. Breifly checked email. Stung my criticism on email we had a pizza. And some crisps. Although Betsy's stomach is small by now ... and we had to liquidize it first ... (of course ... that was a joke ... sort of ... ). We'd had enough of Ecuadorian 'menu of the day' from the boat.
But no time to speak to anyone ... no time to write a blog ... we're going to the Jungle .... and Nathan is going to avoid malaria ....
Can I take him home?
... he looks a bit like Barney .. no?
Advertisement
Tot: 0.136s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 10; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0474s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Westy
non-member comment
Confirmed: goats are not a sign of danger
While it must be said; goats can sometimes act as an indicator that the bungling, the unskilled or the generally incompetent have been left in charge....... I feel that a little over-turned car, wandering goat and random burning action adds a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ to any project situation. Also, think I may have seen some ‘Nazcar Boobies’ at an American race-way in California. Well, she seemed to be very keen on Ricky Bobby, anyway..... geddit? Geddit? (my humour is wasted on you people). Blog looks grand, lad. Keep it coming!