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Published: October 11th 2009
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An early start from Guayaquil for our Galapagos bound flight, we had decided to book the flights only and try and get a last minute deal on the islands and due to some banking errors we had been confused with drug smugglers and had been temporarily locked out of our accounts.
We arrived on the islands and paid our $100 park entrance fee each and got the bus boat bus into Puerto Ayoura and started scouring the ´cruise´ shops. Picked up a good deal but still $1000USd each for an 8 day trip aboard the Yolitta II.
We got some little basement room for the night and got our snorkeling gear and some wine for the cruise sorted.
Thursday 1st October and we watched our boat pull up and we jumped on board and met the rest of the guests for our 8 days aboard. A very nice modern boat and an suite room on the top deck. A lovely lunch and chat with the folks that had already done some of the days told us how fantastic the islands, food and the snorkeling especially were.
We headed back onto land to see the
huge land Tortoise on the highlands feeding next to cows in the field, the females had already migrated to the coast and the huge males were left.
Some choppy seas gave us a clue what a sailing or un sheltered port for the night entailed!
A good breakfast the next morning meant spelled out to us that we would be eating well for the next 7 days and shortly after we headed onto land after cruising to a new island.. Most of the islands are only inhabited by animals of every species that evolved here, so our first island visit was an eye opener to how tame the animals were. They were not scared of humans and we had to back away from the first sea lion pup as it was so inquisitive. Birds, lizards and Iguanas lazed in the sun and watched the tourist and guide explore the island.
Our Guide was so knowledgeable sometimes a little to much going into detail about every species of plant, bird and animal.. Most of which found a niche in evolution and as the islands were never connected to the main land and are/were volcanic islands all
life flew, swam or drifted from the continent and has evolved separately, to the point were different islands less than a Km apart have different sub species, colors, beaks, shells, palms etc etc.
After going on land in the morning we returned to freshen up before lunch, feed our selves up with some great food on board and then prepare for our first snorkeling session. The guide had prepared an easy beach entry into the water for the new tourists incase they couldn’t swim but just from the beach we saw an amazing selection of fish and marine life.
After a an hour or so in the water we came back onto to the boat before our afternoon walk onto another part of the island after relocating the boat to find a different island terrain and of course some new additions to our photo collection of amazing and weird animals.
A shower and clean clothes and settling into the ship routine nicely we had a lovely dinner, chatted with our ship mates from Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, Israel , Australia, France and I think that is about it.. A great crowd of people either
on a short holiday, like us heading south or others who had been travelling for months. We retired the night shattered from a full days itinerary and so much to take in
The Days rolled by in a similar manner with new islands each day to explore and some times secluded bays to anchor up in for the night which meant a nice calm nights sleep. The variety of animals kept increasing as well as the marine life.
On one trip into the water we watched Marine Iguana´s (smaller version of Godzilla) jump from the rocks and swim down below or in front of us to eat the sea grass or algae from the underwater terrain.. The photo says it all as the Iguana tears the grass and a patient fish waits for a chance for an easy dinner, of course with us watching and camera snapping away.
One of the most memorable times in the water was when we spotted dolphins from the Zodiac and jumped in with them as they played around the boats. We made noises to attract them and though they were to fast for a clear photo there are a few
dolphin tales and heads in the photos. After seeing the dolphins ten minutes later we were snorkeling over rocks to watch a large white tip reef shark appear from under a shelf and glide below the group for while. To add to the fish and other marine life and the seal lion swimming just off shore from us we then saw a sea turtle feeding below us.
We thought Cairns and the Red Sea were teaming with life but the Galapagos for size and variety wins hands down, but maybe the Red Sea for Color.
One of the Island trips early in the morning gave us Frigate birds with the males showing red inflated chests, not far of us when we hit the town at night lads. Blue Footed Boobies galore (which Matt is still trying to find a Blue Footed Boobies t-shirt) and baby chicks which we learned that only one would be taken care of and the other killed or left to die as they can only rear one. We found the same when encountering the odd dead Sea lion pup as the mother can only raise one so sadly the younger or smaller gets to
be bird food, and there was some fantastic Hawks watching the tourists and other animals to see which would be dinner next.
The Plants, trees and Cactuses filled there own knish as well for the animals and finding a symbiosis with the iguanas to spread the seeds or with the aptly named cactus finches (13 different varieties) . On one island a curious Flamingo came over to the group and sniffed round for a while before kneeling down and tucking his head in for a sleep, and of course a great shot to pose.
The days rolled by and some passengers got off after four days and we got an Italian couple and a French couple to keep up the European boat, nice food three times a day and snack when back on board after a walk or being in the water. We jumped off the boat with our Kiwi and young Danish friends a few times into the turquoise water after swimming back to the boat from a few of the islands. I would put the islands names but we cant remember all of them, Espanola, Santa Cruz, Gardener, Rabida, Chinese hat.
There was
time to chill out on the deck to catch the afternoon sun while we cruised to a new destination, a few of us crisped up a few times after falling asleep in the sun.
We finished our cruise back on the main island of Santa Cruz and had a morning trip to the Charles Darwin research centre to see the last Galapagos turtle that they are trying to mate with a distance gene relative. Some endangered species have been brought to the centre and when pests eradicated from the island they and there off spring are returned.
We waved by to our fellow ship mates that headed to the airport or some like us were staying for another day or two. We found some better accommodation for a night and spent the day roaming the shops for post cards and took a walk to Turtle beach and relaxed for a few hours with a book and a swim.
We got the bus, boat, bus back to the airport and wrote our postcards and waited for the plane back to the main land. A good flight back and a nice plane meal (oxymoron I know) and went
straight from the airport to the bus terminal a Km up the road to find a bus leaving in five minutes for Cuenca.
A hair raising journey up and over the clouds with one of the worst bus drivers we have had who wanted to over take everything on the road but managed to time it in with a sheer cliff and a blind corner just for good measure. Joanne had a few choice words for him after making sure we got our bags back first! So onward with our journey arriving in Cuenca where will spend the next couple of days recovering.
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