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Published: November 19th 2006
Leaving the Ecuadorian mainland bound for the Galapagos Islands, I was hugely excited. With my 8 day live aboard cruise around the islands already booked, all that was left for me was to enjoy what would surely be one of the most incredible experiences of my life, as well as being a great way to bring the curtain down on what had been a fantastic 9 months of travel through Latin America.
Rather than go for a blow by blow account of each day, I’ve tried to summarize the essence of the trip and mentioned some of the highlights - hopefully letting the pictures do more of the talking.
The cruise was a “live-aboard” trip. Therefore, we generally spent the days exploring the various islands on foot - arriving through a combination of dry-landing (when we moored up against a pier), and wet-landings, (when the launch headed straight for the beach and we jumped out in the shallows). We also spent as much time as possible snorkelling, either in the shallows around the beaches we visited, or using the boat as our launching point. We tended to visit two main locations per day, setting sail at lunchtime and then
again after dinner in order to ensure we were able to experience as much of the Islands as possible.
Boarding the “Free Enterprise”, I was greeted with a pleasant surprise as I saw the familiar faces of Daniela and Isabel, Israeli and South African girls who I had spent some time with back in La Paz. It great to catch up with them in such a fantastic location, and we had an absolute blast in the time we were together.
After boarding on the large island of Santa Cruz, the first three or so days saw us head to the southernmost of the Galapagos islands - Espanola and Floreana. On Isla Espanola, we were blessed with sensational weather as we visited Gardner Bay, site of stunning white sands, beautiful blue waters and a wonderfully engaging Galapagos sea lion colony. It was great fun watching the sea lions. I found them as tame as I had hoped, given the reputation which precedes wildlife on the Galapagos. They hardly stirred as we picked our way around them. Those that were a bit more frisky, the young ones especially, were endlessly comical. Shuffling around on their bellies, they constantly bumped into
to each other, and at one point they even inadvertently managed to form a pyramid! Their apparent lack of coordination was highly amusing! However, this was all to change in the afternoon as we got our first opportunity to snorkel with the sea lions. They may be comical out of water, but they are almost balletically graceful within it - zipping around us like bullets and expending seemingly no effort while doing it! Swimming with the sealions was a fantastic experience. They were such engaging creatures, who, once you held their interest underwater, would duck, dart and generally swim circles around you for long and hugely enjoyable periods!
On our hikes around the islands of Espanola and Floreana, we encountered the endemic land iguana and blue footed booby as well as albatross and marine iguanas. While the snorkelling and underwater wildlife is probably the stand out feature of the Islands, the time spend on land hiking around the volcanic landscapes and viewing the animals who dwelled on terra firma was extremely. Before sailing back north to Isla Santa Cruz , we were able to snorkel at the aptly named “Devil’s Crown”, where the swirling currents made our time
in the water extremely exciting.
Back on the main island, we visited the Charles Darwin Research Station, home of a tortoise breeding project and the unfortunate “Lonesome George” - the last of his species of tortoises which once occupied the island of Pinta. Despite the repeated introduction of females into his enclosure, George refuses to mate! On Santa Cruz we also took a trip inland to view giant tortoises in the wild. These creatures may not be the liveliest, but they are fascinating to watch simply due to their immense size and the measured, considered manner in which each action was taken.
This was the halfway point in my trip, with a new bunch of travellers boarding and Isabel and Daniela unfortunately having to move on. We now found ourselves sailing north to the islands of Bartholomew and Santiago. Before reaching these islands we were able to stop off at the “Chinese Hat”, a tiny volcanic outcropping with many marine iguanas and a large sea lion colony. On our hike we were fortunate enough to come across our first sea lion baby, which was incredibly cute - as well as being very bold and adventurous.
The penultimate
day of the voyage turns out to be an unforgettable experience. First stop was Isla Bartholomew, which is know as the “Machu Picchu” of the Galapagos as its summit is the most visited viewpoint in the island chain. Upon reaching the summit we were afforded a great view out across the nearby islands, starkly illustrating their volcanic origins. We then were able to swim in the shallows around the island, where the snorkelling was just incredible. Up to this point I had found myself to be no Bill Odie when it came to spotting wildlife underwater - frequently missing out on spotting the fish and animals which had apparently been “right next to me”! Luckily, on this occasion I has swum around the headland and bumped into my bunk-mate - the blessedly sharp-eyed Ian. What followed was possibly the coolest 30 seconds of my life. First I followed Ian’s gestures to see a marine iguana feeding about a metre underwater. I was so engrossed that I managed to miss the sea turtle, (not a small creature), that had swam to within a metre of me. I turned my attention to the turtle, only to hear Ian’s frantic yells as he
Baby sea lion
The bold baby sea lion we came across on our walk around the "Chinese Hat".points out the shark that has just glided past within a metre or two of both of us. That brief period of heaven was exactly the type of experience that I had dared hope would be provided by my trip to the Galapagos islands, and it was incredible to find it realised. Ian took off in pursuit of the shark, whereas I decided to remain shadowing the sea turtle. I was on my own for 15-20 minutes with this incredible creature that just seemed to be nonchalantly moving through the water as if it was flying. Absolute bliss!
Later on that afternoon we were back in the water, and one of the guys pointed out a penguin that is darting past me, (as usual I had missed it). I headed off in pursuit, and was able to watch this most agile of creatures darting back and forth through the waters trying to feed on the myriad of fish.
Back on the boat that evening, the moon was full and I enjoyed a few ice-cold sundowners as the sky turned a wonderful combination of yellows and purples. It was a wonderful way to wind down my final night of
View from Isla Bartholomew
We climbed to the summit of the island to enjoy this view. an unforgettable tour. I was so glad that I decided to spend out the extra money to not only come to the Galapagos
Islands, but to do my tour aboard a decent boat. This place is like nowhere on earth, and I feel incredibly privileged to have had the opportunity to enjoy it.
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Tanya
non-member comment
Not an Albatross
The picture entitled 'Albatross(?)" ... hail to the question mark, that is certainly not an albatross.