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Published: March 9th 2008
Introduction
Well, the travels continue! Just got back from two weeks in the Galapagos Islands. Computer access is a wee bit slow there, so I figured I'd update you once I got back to the lovely, warm (brrrr!!) Ontario heartland. So here goes:
First off, this update will be in two parts. I spent the first week on a tour with Ecoventura, on their boat called the Letty. This was primarily and island tour - you'd go from island to island, have a tour on one of the islands, and perhaps a snorkel, and then motor off to the next. The second week was also with Ecoventura but with their partner Peter Hughes Diving, on the M/V Sky Dancer. This was primarily a week of scuba diving. Again, you'd go from site to site, but there were only a few shore excursions. More on that next week.
Days One and Two - Getting There
So, the flight out of Toronto on the morning of Saturday, February 9 to Miami was fine, barring a delay to plow the runway. Silly snow. Miami was shiny and bright, until a huge thunderstorm roared in. While it could have
delayed the flight, it didn't really matter since our plane hadn't arrived from Guayaquil, Ecuador. Not that Miami International Airport isn't exciting - not too many airports where you can buy a Samuel Adams beer and walk around the terminal with it (although having the pourer ask me if I wanted a $3.00 shot with it seemed a bit much ...) - I really just wanted to get to Guayaquil and get some sleep.
Had a few hours to kill, and watched the other passengers waiting. One group of four guys looked like they might be divers, but then I overheard them talk about marlin fishing in the Galapagos. Didn't know you could fish for marlin there. I mention this because it's important for the story.
Eventually the plane arrived and we had a good flight to Guayaquil. My flight out to the islands wasn't until the next morning, so I got the shuttle to my hotel. And guess what - the four marlin fishermen were there as well. Introduced ourselves - Wade, Jim, and unfortunately I forget the other two guys. They were somewhat freaked out by the armed and armoured (bulletproof vest) security guard who got
in the shuttle with us. They decided not to go our for a drink, but instead have one in the hotel bar. And they kindly invited me to join them.
After I got checked in, I was still really excited about getting to the islands (I've been wanting to go to the Galapagos for about 20 years now), so I thought I would join them. They were having a grand old time at the bar and were great company. The talk kept on coming around to baseball, and I said, "Wow, you guys are huge fans ... oh, of course, you're from Florida" (they knew I was Canadian) and the one guy said, indicating Wade at the end of the bar, "Well, yah, but he played professionally."
"Really?" says I, "AAA?"
"Uh, no, the Majors."
"Wow, that's great!"
And with a look on his face that was saying, "Are you an idiot?" to me, "Uh, yeah, and, uh, he's a Hall-a-Famer."
"Get out, really? What's his last name?"
"Boggs."
"You're kidding me ... he's not ..." and then I took a second look and yup, I was having a beer with Wade
Boggs and his fishing buddies. Needless to say I was a little embarrassed, I mean, at least I know who Wade Boggs is, but I had no clue until his buddy pointed him out. Well, there was an awkward pause at the bar as they all looked at me like the village moron. Of course, in my mind I was thinking, "what the hell? It wasn't like he was Bobby Orr or Wayne Gretzky or Alfie was it?" Thank god I had the Canadian excuse.
In any event, they were four good ol' boys and fun to have a beer with. Hope they caught themselves some great marlin. It's a catch and release program before anyone yells at me, by the way.
Day Three - San Cristobal Island and Kicker Rock
An easy hour and a half flight to San Cristobal Island got me to the Galapagos. Finally, after all these years, I was there. It was cloudy and rainy, and the rest of the week would be overcast, with sunny breaks here and there. Hot on the islands, the cruising between the sites was perfect. But man, the sun was killer. 30 SPF every
day and I still got a great tan!
Our guides for the Letty boat were waiting for us - Harry and Alexis. These guys were great - good English, enthusiastic, and oh so knowledgeable about all the animals and plants. A quick shuttle to the dock and then a panga (the local name for the zodiacs that transferred you from boat to shore) ride to board.
The boat itself was very nice. Beautiful wood, a great observation deck with lots of shade up top, and 11 crew for the 20 passengers. And the service was excellent as well. If you every decide to go to the Galapagos, Ecoventura is a great company to go with.
An introductory briefing about the boat, and then a quick run around Kicker Rock off the west coast of San Cristobal. Tons of frigate birds, Nazca boobies, and Galapagos shearwaters. The rock itself was very pretty, but it would have been better with a clear, sunny sky and a beautiful sunset. Ah well, that would come.
We crossed the narrow strait to shore and stopped for our first shore excursion, Playa Ocho. Here, we snorkelled. Saw my first of many stingrays,
as well as our first sea lion experience. Remember, there are no seal in the Galapagos, only sea lions ($1 fine for calling them seals with Harry!).
The dominant male was a hoot - he saw, from his end of the beach, a bag left by one of the snorkelers at the other end. From the water, its silhouette was exactly like a sea lion. The male barrelled into the water and swam all the way down the beach, barking and calling nonstop. It carefully hiked up the beach to challenge this interloper sea lion - and then realized, after smelling it, it was a bag. I’ve never seen a chagrined sea lion before, but this guy certainly was embarrassed.
Back on board for a quick snack, and then the Captain’s welcome and dinner - excellent. During the night, we sailed for Genovese.
Day Four - Genovese Island
Slept amazingly well - a little rocking of the boat but no seasickness at all. I seem to have lost that problem (or at least, haven’t had it for years) but always nice to have it confirmed. Of course, the seas never got too rough, although
the Letty wallows a bit.
Genevese was fantastic. A perfectly semi-circular bay (the remains of a volcano’s caldera) forms a gorgeous harbour. Got escorted into the bay by a pod of bottlenose dolphins. A quick panga ride to “the Cliff” (also known as Prince Phillip’s Steps, but that’s too much of a mouthful for the guides), and then a spectacular walk along the lava. Thousands of storm petrels whirled and flew as they came to land, and a short-eared owl, the only species to day hunt, waited to grab the short-sighted petrels. We were lucky to see the owl - it’s sometimes very shy. We also saw our first marine iguanas, although these ones were very small.
We also saw red-footed boobies, at the only place on our tour where we could. They nest in trees, the only species of booby to do so, and are so very funny looking. Take a look ...
Then, off the panga to snorkel. Saw my first hammerhead sharks, a mobula ray, and a hunk of whale blubber from a dead whale in the next cove. Didn’t need a wetsuit here, the water was warm (in contrast, Playa Ocho was a little
chill, but tolerable).
Lunch, then a siesta and then our second excursion on the beach. Saw lots of swallow-tailed gulls (these are the only gulls to hunt at night; with bio-luminescent eyes they flock on the sea to draw up the squid, attracted to the light, and have a bit of a feed), a yellow-crowned night heron, a lava gull (only 500 in the islands total), as well as semilpalmated plovers. Had another snorkel off the beach, but visibility was pretty poor. Still fun, and got a good picture of a baby sea lion (maybe two weeks old) who tried to sniff everyone to find it’s mother. Eventually it did.
As we hauled anchor and left the harbour, a pair of mating sea turtles passed by on the starboard bow. A dolphin leapt up and spun off in the distance as the sun went down. Then a pilot whale passed by as if to say good bye for now, and we turned in for the night. I stayed up to star gaze, and although a little cloudy, did see one shooting star. Made it all worthwhile.
Day Five - Isabella & Fernandina Islands
Another
night passage (the longest of the trip) and then a panga ride along the western shore of Isabella, the largest island in the Galapagos. Saw blue-footed boobies, the Galapagos penguin (the only tropical penguin in the world), marine iguanas, a Galapagos hawk (a rare find usually, but we’d see eight on our trip!), and a sea lion with a group in it’s mouth. As it flipped it back and forth to rip it into bite size pieces, frigate birds and a brown pelican watched carefully to grab up any left over bits. The sea lion finished off the large grouper and swam off with a particularly pleased look on his face ...
In Targus Cove we met up with the Letty. In bygone ages, when yachts, whalers and pirates used the cove, they would write the name of their ship or boat and the year on the hillside overlooking the cove. You can still seem them today, although it seems crazy that they would spent the energy to put their names so high up the cliff.
A fantastic (although cold - got a wetsuit this time) snorkel before lunch. Got to swim with sea lions (one decided my
camera was a mirror and would charge with teeth bared, scooting off at the last second - so cool!). Saw turtles, tons of fish, and then got to swim with penguins as the dove around us, catching up small fish to eat. Wow!
After lunch, motored across the strait to Fernandina Island, the youngest (although not the smallest) island, which is principally a large volcano. As an aside, there are six or seven active volcanoes in the Galapagos Islands, and many dormant or extinct ones. The further west you go, the younger and more active the islands.
On the panga ride in, saw tons of turtles (at one point I counted 8 at the surface), hundred of marine iguanas, and one woebegone hawksbill turtle on the beach. She, or he, may have been ill, but Harry hadn’t seen one there before, so he didn’t really know. We got to see the nesting sites of marine iguanas (they make 3 or 4 foot deep nests that a shallowly dug under the sand; you have to be careful where you walk on the trail so as not to crush them by mistake). We also we very luck - a Galapagos
hawk waited for its photo to be taken and then proceeded to catch a marine iguana. The hawks juvenile offspring came to watch mom hunt, and then a slow motion scene played out. The iguana, not dead, would try to make it to the ocean while mom, in between trying to get junior to figure out what to do to attack an iguana, would flap its wings and be barely able to bring the iguana back. Once the iguanas get too big, they aren’t prey for the hawks anymore, and this one was, unfortunately for the iguana, just a little too small.
We left before the drama was finished, but another tour group reported the iguana was dead and being eaten about ½ hour later.
The whole area we were walking on was actually under the sea in 1970. It was uplifted during an eruption that year. You could see an old engine that had been under the water, from a shipwreck, before that time, now high and, mostly, dry.
In addition to the hawks and iguanas, also saw lots of boobies, the famous flightless cormorants (poor bastards with the woebegone wings), a striated herons and hundreds of
sally lightfoot crabs (the bright red ones). An amazing day!!
Day Six - Santiago Island
After motoring overnight again, we came to Puero Egas on the west coast of Santiago island. A little crowded (at most sites there would be three to five other boats, but usually they would stagger or change the tours so we weren’t always together; here, a lot of boats unloaded at the same time) but still incredible. Saw my first big scorpion, as well as another beautiful Galapagos hawk. Saw Galapagos mockingbirds, American Oystercatchers, black and ruddy turnstones (they turn over stones with their beaks looking for food) and tons of lava lizards (the females have red undersides, while the males have red undersides and red heads) as well as some beautiful morning glories. The guides were amazed at how green everything was - two weeks ago it was all brown and dead-looking, but that’s the Galapagos during the “rainy” season (it was never really rainy except for one morning).
Also got to see fur sea lions for the first (and only) time. Less common than the sea lions, they are smaller, have a shorter muzzle, and very thick fur
with longer ears. Very, very cute. Like the sea lions, they are a separate species endemic to the Galapagos.
Snorkelled off the beach and got some great pics - the huge dominant male checking up on the young females as they played with me, a blue-eyed moray eel, and a conch shell eating a pencil sea urchin.
Back on board and then motored around the south of the island “Chinese Hat”, Sombrero Chino, a tiny, barren island that looks like a Chinese hat. It’s the remains of an old volcanic cone. There, we snorkelled. Got to play with sea lions again (one played keep away with me with a small piece of coral), saw a huge marbled ray, and some of the other snorkelers got to see marine iguanas feeding on the algae under the water.
As the hot sun disappeared, it started to rain and we loaded up to get the boat to a spectacular island. An old caldera holds back the sea, but one wall of it is only six or seven feet tall, and inside is a brackish lake that has Galapagos flamingos. The boat manoeuvres carefully and we can see dozens of flamingos from
the top deck. Even the crew comes out to take photos - they have never seen this many flamingos here before. A great sign, and another great viewing for us!
We cruised to Bartolomé island before we anchored for the evening. Up tomorrow at 6.00 for an early hike to the top of the island for one of the most famous views in the Galapagos.
Day Seven - Bartolomé & North Seymour Islands
Sadly, the rain kept up all night and the climb to the peak of the island was wet and cloudy. Still, it was beautiful - this island is a barren rock of lava, ash and moonscape. But the view was still incredible, even if we couldn’t see the sunrise.
Back on the ocean for a snorkel - got to see more penguins and a beautiful cornetfish. It was huge - the largest I’ve every seen (at least 4 feet long).
Motored to North Seymour island after lunch. The sun had come out by now, and the land tour was hot. But got to get very close to nesting blue footed boobies (many had hatchlings and fledgings, as well as eggs),
land iguanas (bigger and yellower than their marine cousins), nesting frigate birds of all ages, as well as a beautiful lava gull.
After boarding, and picking up the scuba divers who had left after lunch for their first (of two) dives, we motored around Santa Cruz island and anchored for the evening in Puerto Ayora, the largest town (30,000 people) in the Galapagos.
Day Eight - Santa Cruz Island
This morning, we boarded a bus to the highlands while the divers left for their second dive (on a small boat that was based in Pto. Ayora. First off, we drove up to see Los Gemelos, the Twins. These are two collapsed lava tunnels that look like giant sinkholes. They show the rainforest which makes up the highest ecosystem in the Galapagos. We were lucky with the weather - it was still early enough that it wasn’t raining or cloudy yet. Normally, these are cloud forests - always in cloud.
We then drove to enter a lava tunnel - named “Pinchera” after the unfortunate cow which disappeared and led its owner to look for it, finding the tunnel and the expired, former cow that had
fallen down into it. Got to see a barn own that was quietly waiting for us to finish our tour.
From there, we went to see wild giant tortoises. These guys (whose face inspired Spielberg’s E.T.) are vegetarian giants, living, it is thought, for over 200 years. Placid and spectacular, they have made a comeback from the brink of extinction (at least some subspecies of them) by the efforts of the Darwin Research Centre, our next visit.
There, we saw the breeding pogram (the new-hatched tortoises are the size of your hand, and so adorable) as well as the land iguana program. Both species have suffered in the past, and one subspecies is all but extinct (many of the islands have their own subspecies of tortoise, although not all). The Pinta subspecies (which used to be on Pinta Island) is down to one male - Lonesome George. He resides at the Darwin Centre. And he, sadly, refuses, will not or cannot mate with female turtles of other closely related subspecies. They have tried everything - including tortoise porn.
There is also the international tortoise gigolo, Diego. Diego, a Galapagos tortoise, came from the Darwin zoo, and was
able to show two resident males how to have sex with the females. As a result, the breeding program was able to really take off, so to speak.
For the rest of the afternoon, Pto. Ayora was the stop. It was nice to wander the waterfront, and have a cold beer on land, but not much souvenir shopping for me. That’ll wait until next week!
That night, we sailed off to Isla Espanola.
Day Nine - Espanola Island
This morning was a beautiful beach day. Dozens of sea lions lying on the beach, and also at least five sea turtle nests (likely green turtles) that had been laid the night before. The turtles tracks up and back the beach look like snowmobile tracks, and the holes of the nests are clear. No hiding the nests for these guys!
A snorkel before lunch - lots of rays, a few whitetips sharks, and my first lobster of the trip. Plus my first cownosed ray. After lunch it was another fantastic land excursion on the east side of Espanola. Blue-footed boobies galore, two pairs of mating Galapagos hawks and a blowhole with a spectacular view of the
Pacific Ocean. We also got to see where the waved albatross nests come April, and surprisingly, an old egg from last year was still there. That sucker was a good five inches long! Plus, got to see one of the many Darwin finches on the island - this one was the warbler finch. A good picture.
Best of all, we got to see the Christmas marine iguanas. They are the same species as the other marine iguanas, but eat a different kind of algae that give them their banded red and greenish blue colour.
Day 10 - San Cristobal
That night, sailed back to San Cristobal, after a week away. In the morning, killed a few hours while the rest of the passengers went off to the airport. I stayed in town by the harbour (and a cute little harbour it is) while waiting for the crew and passengers of the Sky Dancer, the dive boat I would be on for the next week.
This trip had been incredible - the wildlife, and the guides, were fantastic. While the weather wasn’t perfect, it was nice to see the islands all green, not brown and
dried out as they are during the rest of the year. If only the diving is as good ...
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Popp
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Wade Boggs?
Where is the picture with Wade? I call bluff .. Your confused you met Youppi (Mtl Expos mascot) for beers .. close ..