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Published: April 4th 2006
Octopus Trying to Hide (Baltra Island)
While we were uncerimoniously dropped off on Baltra, we spotted this octopus trying to hide under an old rusty drum. Eventually, he was successful.So, for the next two days, you are back to entries by Matt. After our trip down south, the boat was pointed north for the period I will be covering, crossing the equator along the way.
After Floreana, the schedule required a trip back to Santa Cruz. I´m not sure this was so much for seeing sights as picking up a new set of guests. Another bumpy, rolling night on the high seas brought us back to where we started, Santa Cruz Island. Since we would be exchanging passengers at 9 am, the day got off to an early, 5:45am start a Caleta Tortuga Negra, or Black Turtle Cove. The main attraction was, of course, to be the green sea turtles. The black refers to the cove, not the turtles. The panga sped into the cove and once reaching it, turned off the engine and went to paddles. Priscilla was not too skilled with a paddle, so the going was a bit slow, but we managed to see the turtles along with eagle and golden rays, endemic lava herons, the three mangrove species, and black tipped reef sharks. The sharks were very small, about 2 to 3 feet, and inhabit
Blue Footed Booby Display (Seymour Norte)
These guys could, and will, do this all day, displaying to win a female. The Seymour Norte page is going to get a bit crowded. the shallow areas of the park. I enjoyed this part quite a bit, but Sara had a sore throat, which led to overconsumption of tea, which led to the need for a bathroom. By the end, she was quietly cursing the guide every time we headed in a direction other than the boat. We eventually got there (to the boat and the bathroom) and once adequately settled (or relieved), had breakfast. Shortly after breakfast, the boat pulled anchor, while we pulled up a pillow and took a nap.
By the time we awoke from our slumber, the boat had stopped and all the passengers but one, Myrta from Switzerland, were gone, headed to the airport. We were docked off the island of Baltra, next to the petroleum tanks. That could only mean one thing: they were going to try and get rid of us. Not permanently, of course, but after four days at sea the boat needs more fuel as well as a good cleaning. Since we could only get in the way, they dropped us off at the nearest beach which, in comparison to the rest of the islands, appeared free of life.
This was quickly dispelled,
Great Frigate Bird Displaying (Seymour Norte)
What a great image, it almost captures the action of the bird as he waves his wings at the females above and tries to attract their attention! when a quick walk revealed several marine iguanas, sea lions hiding in the shade, several bird species (yes, more unidentifiable finches), ghost crabs, so named for their habit of disappearing into their holes, and a small tidal pool with two octopus and a land squid, though he seemed quite anxious to find the water again. After exploring the beach Sara and I relaxed by what was either an old resort or a school. I brushed up on my soccer skills while Sara tried to get good enough pictures of finches to identify them. When we returned to the boat, lunch was waiting. Also, after lunch, we returned to one part of the trip that has not been mentioned. Every time that we went ashore, or snorkeling, or for a boat ride, we returned to a freshly cleaned cabin. Usually the towels and blankets would be nicely folded on the bed, with the towels occasionally rolled into swans to other shapes. Needless to say, we found the service to be a perfect addition to the trip. Anyway, once lunch was finished, we immediately destroyed all of the crew´s work, threw off the towel and blankets, and took a nap.
By
Great Frigate Bird Close Up (Seymour Norte)
A great view of his inflated pouch and striking green feathers! the time we awoke, the new tag alongs were receiving a briefing from our new guide, Jose Luis. The remainder of the afternoon was spent travelling to and visiting Seymour Norte. Since Baltra is also know as Seymour Sur (or south), it was a short trip and we headed out at 3 pm for the hike across the island. For me, this was my favorite moment of the trip to date. Though we had seen hundreds, perhaps thousands, of frigatebirds to this point, we had yet to see one with their famous red balloon pouch blown up. This was because they only perform this display near nesting sights. Well, Seymour Norte was a nesting sight, and the frigatebirds were definitely prepared to impress. Now, I doubt they cared much that we were impressed, but everyone was eagerly taking pictures of these large birds with a balloon sized pouch, shaking their heads and making all kinds of sounds, attempting to impress the females. A few seemed settled, but most only had our attention.
Additionally, the blue-footed boobies were going through their upswept wing display and making lots of noise. Other inhabitants were marine iguanas, the largest land iguanas to date,
Marine Iguanas Obeying the Sign (Seymour Norte)
We loved the image of these iguanas appearing to obey the stop sign made for humans! and the always present sea lions. After displaying alot of island knowledge and the ability to stay on the trail (you would be surprised how many people have trouble with this), Sara was knighted by Jose Luis as a temporary guide while he tended to the slower members (one in particular) of the party. Sara loved this and tried her best, but the only person with questions spoke only Spanish, so her knowledge was not passed along. After more encounters with the frigatebirds and many baby seals, we headed back to the boat for the crew introductions, the new guest introductions, Piña Colada cocktails, and dinner. Our new passengers were from Poland, the US, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, and Finland. The French lady was only who did not speak English, but her Spanish was excellent so she could talk with the guide as well as the Finnish gentleman and one American girl who worked in Ecuador with the peace corps. Anyway, after dinner, new guest not withstanding, Sara and I headed to bed. She to identify finches (since our new guide had a bird ID book), I to my Les Miserables (1200 pages worth). And then, sleep, and another
Frigate Bird in Flight (Seymour Norte)
This male is flying with his pouch still inflated, a dramatic sight! rough boat ride of which I have no recollection.
Though my memory of the ride was fuzzy, it had made quite the impression on many of my fellow passengers. Some had enjoyed little sleep due to the long 7 hour ride to Tower, or Genovesa, Island, the most remote that we would visit. After our usual breakfast of cereal, fruit, cheese and eggs, we headed out to the Prince Philip´s Steps. On the way there, we looked on the cliff walls for fur seals, of which we saw two. They tuck themselves back in cracks in the walls, so all we could see was a small bear-like face. Also, someone yelled that they saw a whale, but if you notice the entry date, that turned out to be false. After arriving on the island and negotiating the 20 steps of Prince Philip, the first bird observed was the Red-Footed Boobie, the last of the three boobie species to be seen in the Galapagos. Both other types were present as were many of the sea birds, especially petrels, frigatebirds in full display, and the Short-Eared Owl. Since there are no other predator birds on the island, this owl hunts during
Marine Iguanas Cuddling (Seymour Norte)
Here is the happy couple enjoying a siesta in the waning light of the day. the day and had captured something when we saw it, though it flew past so fast that only about half the group saw it. Sara and I shouting ¨Owl, Owl, Owl!¨ sounds alot like ¨Ow, Ow, Ow!¨, so the other half was worried that we were hurt. Regardless, we had another successful trip with Sara spotting another 5 new species of birds to bring her total, at present, close to 200.
After a short boat ride and shorter time to get ready, we hit the pangas again for another round of snorkeling. We immediately had a white tipped shark swim past, then many seals, and four species of parrotfish, including a new one. There was an undersea arch about 15 feet down which I decided to swim through, though I didn´t have much air left when I got back to the surface. After a bit more swimming, most notable with 4 sea lions included a large male, I found a cave that had very few fish near its entrance. I soon found out why when a very large fish with very large teeth swam closer to the entrance to see if I was good to eat. It never really
Another Happy Couple (Seymour Norte)
Here is one of the few successful great frigate birds cuddling with his female. came into the light, but I managed to show Sara before it swam further back into the cave. Our guide came over to check it out, but it was gone. I believe that everyone else assumed that the date was once again to blame, but Sara and I beg to differ. Anyway, a few minutes later we were swept into a different type of sea, this time of small jellyfish. They did not seem to sting, but started to stick to everyone, so our trip was cut short. Back to our routine, Sara and I ate lunch, and immediately took a nap.
After a rough awaking, due to sleeping a little too deeply, I was finally arosed to get on the panga on head to the Genovesa beach. We had a short hike to see frigatebirds displaying (at this point, yawn) and red-footed, blue-footed, and nazca boobies. The short hike was made much longer by the fact that the high tide covered much of the walk. Since I was down to my last pair of desalinated shorts, I declined this section of the hike, but Sara said that there was more of the same further on. We had a
Happy Couple Product (Seymour Norte)
Here is a great frigate bird chick from last year, not the most attractive baby balancing precariously on its nest. bit of time on the beach during which Sara tried to snorkel, though the beach snorkeling usually disappoints. Once again, it did not disappoint in disappointing. Another dinner, another early bed time, another day finished. One long trip deserves another, as we head back south, crossing the equator at about 2 am.
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