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Published: June 23rd 2008
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Hello
Lava lizard looking to relieve a marine iguana of a few pests The Galapagos Islands. What images do these words conjure up? A land of giant tortoises? Jagged lava rocks covered in prehistoric marine iguanas? Comical seabirds so fearless that you can almost touch them? But this place is so much more; so special, unique and wonderful. Not a static zoological curiosity, but genesis happening before your very eyes; a living tableau of creation and survival.
Entire islands are born from the sea in outpourings of magma from far below the earth´s crust. The newly created lands are carried imperceptibly along, the raw, black lava fields being oh so gradually cloaked in vegetation until finally, after eons pass, each now ancient and eroded island slips away beneath the waves. (A rather romantic version of tectonic plate theory.)
Born from the sea devoid of life, the islands are colonised only by plants and animals able to swim, fly or survive a 3-week, waterless drift from neighbouring continents. To survive and thrive, each life-form must reinvent itself to meet the challenge of the brutally harsh environment: the cold blooded marine iguana learned to feed on the rocky sea bottom; the swallow tailed gull adapted superbly to seek its food at night; the thirteen
species of finch, each a specialist in its own particular food source. It is somehow amusing that these drab, innocuous looking birds should have been the inspiration for Darwin´s Theory of Evolution that shocked the Victorian world to its core.
We spent a fantastic and fascinating week cruising amongst the Islands, appreciating how their characters changed with their stage in life. We walked amongst blue-footed booby birds - they amused us on land with their huge comical feet, but we sat hushed in awe in our small boat in Black Turtle Bay as they gathered in their hundreds all around and above us, before diving in shreiking unison on the shoals of sardines below.
On Santa Cruz Island, we called on Lonesome George, the last remaining Giant Tortoise from Pinta Island. A world-wide hunt is on to find a mate for him of the same species, for none remain in the Galapagos Islands. Meanwhile, Super Diego, recently returned to the Islands from San Diego Zoo, is doing a sterling job boosting the population of his own species. From an initial population of five females and two immature males, there are now over a thousand little Diegos. Elsewhere on
Santa Cruz, wild tortoises can be seen ambling through farmland to graze and wallow in mud pools.
Marine iguanas basked in the sun, heaped upon each other, until warm enough to venture to the sea bottom to feed on marine algae. Forty minutes below the waves, with the heart beat slowed right down, until their muscles are so stiff and cold that they must drag themselves back up the rocky walls and warm themselves once more in the sun, the only sign of activity being the casual squirting of the excess salt from their nostrils over their idling neighbours.
Waved albatros brooded their eggs on cliff tops, unperturbed by our presence just feet away. Obligingly, they stood up to stretch their wings, allowing us a glimpse of the egg resting on their huge feet. Swallow tailed gulls guarded their chicks from maurading galapagos hawks, postponing their feed time until nightfall when the chicks could be safely left, and they themselves would not be victim to the piratical frigatebirds.
We snorkeled around rocky headlands amongst a kaleidoscope of gaudy fish of every shape and size. We were joined by sharks, sea lions, penguins, flightless cormorants and sea turtles.
The sharks glided disinterestedly by, the penguins shot past like fat little torpedoes, but the sea lions swam effortlessy above, below and around, tumbling in loops before us, as if to say "this is how it´s done". Pacific sea turtles slipped languidly by with a gentle wave of their flippers.
Minutes after returning to the Eclipse from a snorkelling trip at San Vicente Roca, we watched a killer whale feeding amongst the fish that we had so recently been admiring. But even on board the ship, raw nature was never far away. As the crew cleaned barnacles from the ship's hull, these miniscule creatures (the barnacles, not the crew; although, it must be said, Ecuadorians are not very tall) attracted tiny fish, which in turn attracted increasingly larger fish, such as tuna, until the sea was a turmoil of glinting silver. Above them, blue-footed booby birds attacked from the skies and the ptereodactyyl-like forms of the water-shy frigate birds dropped down to pick scraps from the surface. Pelicans bobbed on the surface, scooping up fish in their huge bills. Finally, the food chain was complete when fifteen 3-metre long Galapagos sharks appeared to join the feast. It was unforgettable.
As battles of life, love and death were waged on land and at sea, the only battle being fought on board the Eclipse was between will-power and the dessert trolley. Sadly, many fellow passengers had lost the war some time ago but, arriving as I did, underweight, undernourished and on the point of a full recovery of strength and appetite, it was a delight to surrender to the delicious food placed before us. We were entirely cosseted by the fantastic staff and crew; such a delight to not have to think about money, security, food, water, health; those fundamental things that have been constantly on our minds.
It was a shock, therefore, just hours after leaving the Eclipse, to find ourselves clambouring aboard the launch to Isabella Island, where we were to spend a few days before our return to the mainland. Life jackets were an optional extra on the journey and, when the two big engines finally started up, we were instantly deafened and asphyxiated. For two hours we bounced through a wall of sea-spray until we arrived gratefully in Puerto Villamil.
Three days slipped away while we walked up to view the massive crater of
the volcano Sierra Negra, strolled down the long, beautiful beach to the tiny cove of La Playita to watch blue-footed boobies diving for fish, ghost crabs scuttling across the beach, darting down their holes at the slightest threat, and marine iguanas going about their not-very-exciting business. We visited an islet just a few moments away from the harbour hoping to see tintoreras sharks resting there, but none were in residence, so we had a nostalgic last look at the penguins and a brief swim with one of the sea lions. It was the Galapagos Islands in miniature but, to our eyes, a mere shadow of the glorious experience of the week before.
The return boat to Puerto Ayora left at six in the morning; an unfortunate time, as the tide was low and navigation through the narrow rocky channels was achieved by means of a man on the roof waving his arms. It wasn't an entirely unsuccesful method, as we only scraped the bottom once. Life jackets weren't even an optional extra on this journey; they had been safely stowed away in the bathroom so as not to hinder passengers as they were jolted in and out of their
seats and thrown across the launch. Two hours later, twelve deaf and battered travellers climbed out of the launch in Puerto Ayora and went in search of neck braces.
I left the Galapagos Islands with a tremendous sense of loss and longing; we had had such a perfect experience in this unique and special land that I wanted to freeze the moment in time. However, we had heard that the humpback whales had arrived at the breeding grounds off the coast of Ecuador in their annual migration from antartica, and set off in hot pusuit. But tales of whales and rainforest must wait. Meanwhile, enjoy the tiny selection of our Galapagos Island photographs; you may be relieved to hear that words have deserted me and I cannot even begin to describe this marvellous place and its inhabitants. Just come here and let them touch your soul.
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Nora & Dad
non-member comment
WOW & WOW AGAIN
We have been mesmerised by the magnificent photo`s in your last 2 blogs.What an experience!!!! We can tell by the narative that you have been seriously affected by the experience,and that it has made a lasting impression. We are also pleased to note that a serious health improvement has occurred. Continue to enjoy. Love Nora and Dad