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Published: August 25th 2008
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(Matt) -
Each Parrot on it´s perch, each Monkey on it´s rope-
We changed our minds about whether or not to go to the Galapagos Islands about 10 times an hour, every hour, for weeks. The main items in the against column were: the high cost, the time committment and a stark warning in Lonely Planet Guidebook about attempting to travel there independently. To be fair it´s not just Lonely Planet, everywhere there is advice that the
only way to see the Galapagos Islands is to book a five day to two-week cruise, for us it was never really an option as it would be too expensive.
Then on our two week volunteer placement we met an Australian called James who´d just been in the Galapagos for nine days and travelled there cheaply, independently and had a fantastic time, before you could say ´Did Darwin really eat the Giant Tortoises?´(he did!) we were booked on a flight from Quito and were on our way. It was with some trepidation that we decided to dismiss the organised cruise route and do it ourselves but in the end we thought´each to his own´... or as the South American´s say ´each Parrot on
it´s perch, each Monkey on it´s rope´.
Where are all the animals? I thought when you got off the plane in the Galapagos you´d have to jump over sleeping Tortoises and dodge diving Pelicans in order to get to immigration. This proved not to be the case. We started off staying on Santa Cruz the main tourist Island and to see the really cool stuff we needed to organise day trips by boat to neighbouring islands.
Steady, as she goes ´The sea in the Galapagos is roughest during the months of August and September´ . On our first day trip to the island of Santa Fe the boat was crashing down on waves and lurching all over the place, five of the ten passengers on the boat were seasick (I counted to pass the time)... Catherine wasn´t... this might seem like an odd thing to report but anyone who knows her knows that Catherine never used to travel well, even on short car journeys but using what can only be described as some kind of
´horizon focused meditative trance´© she got through the two hour journey with breakfast intact...the boat didn´t cope nearly so well. Rough crossings became
a normal part of our nine days in the Galapagos, I spent more time than was healthy thinking about that film/book ´The Perfect Storm´and how to divide five lifejackets between ten passengers.
Open all hours We´ve both been getting more confident in using our Spanish which was a good thing when we visited the Island of Isabela, it´s only just emerging as a place for tourists and has a real local feel to it, everyone ignores you in the shops because they´re watching television or chatting to friends and the ´main´road is covered in sand. I didn´t really improve South American - English relations when I went through a phase of going into restaurants and loudly enquiring ´aburrido´ rather than saying ´abierto´. Note to self - ´aburrido´means ´boring´, ´abierto´means ´open´. To be fair one of the restaurants was playing Brian Adams ´Everything I do, I do it for you´so I was probably right the first time!
¿Es Peligroso?, ¿Se Puede Comerlo?(Is it dangerous? Can you eat it?)´
So, rough seas and expense aside, has it been worth visiting? Absolutely, in nine days we´ve seen: Blue footed boobies (a type of bird with blue feet), Frigate birds (a type
of bird with a big red balloon at it´s throat), Pelicans, A Humpback Whale, Flamingos, Dolphins, Penguins (weird, on the equator!), Giant Tortoises, Storks, Land and Marine Iguanas (that was strange seeing a lizard on the ocean floor) and we´ve snorkelled with lots of big coloured fish, some Sea Turtles, Ray Fish, Sea Lions (one of my top experiences of all time) and Sharks. It really has been an amazing experience.
When we went to the Darwin Research Centre there was a good exhibition about conservation and the huge efforts to maintain the local wildlife, so it made me laugh that someone had written in the visitor´s book
´Before visiting the Galapagos I´d never eaten a Sea Lion, Thanks I´ve had a great time´!
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Georgie and Craig
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Wow so you really did it!
The Galapagos really look like they lived up to the hype. A once in a lifetime experience. Shame we couldn't enjoy it with you but pleased that you did get to go there - now you can give us tips for when we save up for it some time in the future!