The Enchanted Islands

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I'm back on the grid after 5+ days in the Enchanted Islands without internet. I've been taking notes each day but so that this blog actually gets done I'll put them all together into one or two posts. It may be long but I promise lots of beautiful pictures!
How to describe this experience...magical, fun, amazing views of volcanos and blue waters, delicious, mostly healthy food, friendly, helpful crew and very knowledgeable and passionate guide, and most of all the giant tortoises, sea lions, sea turtles, dolphins, iguanas, lizards, colorful fish, boobies and so many other birds.

By charter bus, plane, local shuttle, and dinghy ride we traveled from Quito to the Galapagos and boarded the Carina, that was our home for the 7 days at sea. Juana was our leader and naturalist. I had a cabin to myself that was pretty roomy and our group of 9 were the only passengers. There were 9 crew aboard and we got to know them as the days past. 3 cooked meals a day were served buffet style in the dining area, and cold drinks and snack when we came back from an outing. The top level had deck chairs that we sat in every day to enjoy the sun, wind, and at night the stars. Almost every day we went out on a dinghy/panga ride to explore the island where we were from the water, then out to snorkel (more about that later) and again out to hike on the island.
Early mornings I was out on deck to see the sunrise and watch dolphins or sea lions swim by. Evenings, after a briefing where we got the plan for the next day, and dinner, we'd have a drink from the wine we snuck on board and looked at the sky which was filled with stars, if it wasn't clouded over.
We visited the Western Islands, traveling from Baltra, where the airport is to Isabella, Fernandina, and Santiago. The boat traveled the longer distances at night and some days changed locations on shorter trips during the day. Everything is mostly determined by the Galapagos National Park Service which controls all movement and activity on the islands.

On our first day we took dinghies to a local shuttle in Santa Cruz to see the giant tortoises at El Chato Turtle Reserve. They were everywhere, often settled into the muddy spots. These are dome shaped turtles that can live 150 years. Such majestic creatures. The reserve or farm around them doesn't change anything about how they're living. As we walked around we also saw sandpipers, ground finches, and a yellow warbler. We walked through lava tunnels too. All of these Islands were formed from volcanoes and every place we went we learned about the volcanic action that caused what we were seeing.
On our second day we took an early morning hike to Tintoreras. We were walking on lava and white lichens everywhere. We saw Sally lightfoot crabs, marine iguanas, sea turtles, lava lizards. The highlight for me was watching a mama sea lion helping her baby into the water down from the rocks while also watching iguanas fighting for territory. I felt like I was in an episode of a National Geographic show. I wish this blog let me post videos.
In the afternoon we went back out to visit a turtle breeding center on Puerto Villami, took a cheva open bus, saw turtles of all ages, saw 2 mating or trying to, walked on a wetlands path to the beach and saw American flamingo and white cheeked pintail ducks. We saw a sweet beach town, and had coconut drinks 'coco locos' on the beach. It was fun to see another machete carrying woman cut the coconuts for the drinks.
This is getting long but I want to remember it all so I'll talk about day 4 and then post. I woke up to see the boat anchor facing Isabella by Punto Moreno, with a beautiful sun rise and lots of frigates flying around. Waves crashing along the shore means no snorkeling today. Juana called it a Northern Swell. The crew took us out on the dinghys despite the waves to a mangrove bay that was protected from the swell. We saw Galapagos penguins in the water by a Brown pelican, lava heron, sea turtles, flightless cormorant , a great blue heron on a nest with babies, a marbled Ray on a rock under the water which was pretty clear in areas and puffer fish. Volcanes surround us, Negro, Cerro Azul,
We came back over the waves. Our boat moved to bay Isabella with hopes that it would be calmer. When there's been down time on the boat, we've been watching a David Attenborough series on the Galapagos. We watched the second one on Adaptation. Later I sat up on the top level to read about the birds and was watched by a Franklin gull perched on a rail. Juana gave a talk on the story of the giant tortoises and conservation attempts.
We went back out on the pangas to Bay Isabella to see the most incredible sights..cormorants, pelicans, many sea turtles, penguins in the water and on the rocks, rays, and then hundreds of blue footed boobies on a wall of rocks with penguins, iguanas, and sea lions. At one point hundreds flew up into the air and we were on the water watching. Unbelievable sights. Hard to put it all into words.

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Comments

[Shelley]

Enchanting Blog about the Enchanting Islands!
Love hearing about your adventures! Pictures are great! Want to see your videos, too. 😊