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Published: July 25th 2010
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This morning we met our new guide, William, who had arrived overnight. He seemed great, but I was going to miss Hanzel. His enthusiasm for every island and every creature, even after 20 years, was touching, his demeanour and story telling delightful, his sense of humour great. He was an excellent guide.
Our first excursion was to Bartolome island, one of the most photographed in the archipelago due to its dramatic volcanic landscape and the famous "pinnacle rock". There are two main types of lava in the Galapagos: "Pahoehoe" (meaning ropey; describing the rippled effect) and "Aa Aa" (Hawaiian for hurt, as it is sharp and hard to walk on, and can collapse underfoot). We took 275 to the top for a great view. After returning to the boat to grab our snorkelling gear, we sailed the dingys around the coast searching for Galapagos penguins. William said we would be lucky to see 2 or 3, and in the morning they should be in the water fishing. So we were very lucky to see not 1, 2, 3 or 4... but 7 penguins atop various rocks along the way! Adorable tiny little things! We then went snorkelling from the beach,
and those of us brave enough and fit enough to swim around the pinnacle in the cold water were rewarded with 4 penguins fishing (spotted by Chris)! They were so fast it made me a little dizzy trying to keep focus (exacerbated by the fact I only had one contact lens in and thus only one functioning eye, as I think I've scratched the other one - you often saw the shoals of tiny fish parting before, or indeed instead of, seeing the fishermen! Chris, Sarah and I floated for ages, captivated by them. They were so fast and agile, it was like watching a nature documentary as they played cat and mouse with their prey. They were inquisitive too - they would occasionally float like us with their heads above water, and one swam straight towards me looking me in the eye. It started trying to nip me so I swam off, but Chris tells me it followed - fascinated by my flippers. When the water got too cold (every other boatful of people had wetsuits! But there were none for hire on ours) we jumped in the dingy back to the beach, excited to tell the others about
the penguins, and almost forgetting the huge coral beds covered in fish - some almost neon in colour.
The afternoon was just as rewarding. We took a two hour dingy ride into Black Turtle Cove, a mangrove bay. For a while we didn't see anything, but in the shallower waters we soon came across 2 eagle rays, 4 sting rats together and 5 or 6 Pacific green turtles - one with a gorgeous multi-coloured shell. William explained that a few months ago, in mating season, the cove would have been full of the, and that mating season is when they face their highest mortality rate. The females suffer in one of two ways. Firstly, males copulate with them all day long, biting them and drawing blood until eventually they escape to the beach, where they overheat and die. Or else, after laying approximately 80 eggs during the night, they don't go down to the water soon enough, and when the sun rises and heats up they become disorientated and get lost! After laying a few hundred eggs in various nests (4 eggs at a time!) it is the hatchlings' turn to face life or death. Only one or two
per nest survives, due to predation from sea birds, crabs and sharks. For a long time it was unknown what happened to the baby sea turtles after they were seen racing to the sea at night, but at 4 or 5 inches long they begin a long journey west, to Australia and back! For some time locals would steal the eggs to eat, but there are now patrols to prevent this, plus the punishment of 2 years in jail and removal of the right to reside in the Galapagos in a local kills any animal.
Pleased with the day’s results, we returned to the boat and sailed one and a half hours to tomorrow's destination, with about 15 frigate birds following suit, stunning.
Chris's Corner Swimming with the penguins was amazing, and so glad we had our waterproof camera cover! Maybe next camera will be waterproof. Trying to keep up with them darting around after fish was almost impossible and it surprised me how quick the fish got out of the way! Billy had shown us earlier in the Zodiacs the nesting site of the penguins just round the peninsula rock and swimming round all that way
had worked out fantastically for us!
The afternoon in Black Turtle Cove was amazing if a little crazy... what do you do if you spot a shoal of Golden Rays in the shallow water... shove in your hands holding a waterproof camera in search of the perfect picture! A couple of points were inaccessible by motor due to the mangrove trees and very shallow water and so our boatman, and I at points, had oars to steer us round in the zodiacs.
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