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Published: March 11th 2007
Me with tortoise
Me with Galapagos tortoise in the Charles Darwin Centre, Santa Cruz island Wow! Galapagos really is a paradise. Even for someone like me who doesn’t have any particular interests in animals or birds, it was the most beautiful experience. You can literally walk within a few feet of nesting birds, swim with the sealions and get up close to land and marine iguanas and they don’t bat an eyelid.
I spent a week on Cormorant 2 Catamaran, a good-sized new boat which has plenty of deck space and lots of stability if the seas get rough (so I didn´t suffer from any sea sickness). I was unlucky enough to end up in a cabin directly over the engine room, which meant a constant noise and vibration in the cabin from the generator, even if the boat wasn´t moving, but the sights of the islands helped to keep my mind off it.
There were 16 passengers on board, a nice group of varying nationalities. Our guide, Tommy, led us on hikes over several islands, some formed by lava flow, others formed by land uplifts due to shifting of the continental plates on the earth’s surface. The terrain and the views varied greatly from island to island, but the one thing that
remained a constant was that literally everywhere we went we were practically falling over animals. Colonies of sealions lazing on the beaches (but look out for the bulls patrolling the waters!), penguins jumping off the rocks, frigatebirds puffing up their red neck pouches and calling for their ladyfriends, iguanas basking in the sun, blue footed boobies guarding their chicks or their eggs, and lots lots more!
On the first day of the tour we also visited the Charles Darwin Research Centre, where we posed with giant tortoises and got to see the famous "Lonesome George", who is believed to be the last surviving tortoise of his species. They have been trying for some time to get him to mate with a very similar species of tortoise from another island, but he has shown little interest - hence the name! Seeing animals in captivity really isn't the same as seeing them in their natural environment, however, so it was good on our last day to be able to see some more living in the wild elsewhere on the island.
As well as the hikes, we enjoyed boat trips near to the cliffs and beaches of some of the islands
The 3 amigos
These iguanas look like little gremlins! in the ship's "zodiacs", and were led on snorkeling tours near the islands. Once I got into this and managed to ditch the life vest (I was a bit scared at first, especially as there were currents and I was wearing fins that were too big - the selection on the boatboard was surprising poor for a new boat) it really was amazing. We were able to float along with the sea turtles which were elegantly gliding through the water, dodge the very playful sealions which wove in and out of our legs, and observe sharks, stingrays, starfish and much much more. The highlight had to be the "Devil's Crown", a submerged volcano crater off the island of Floreana which was just teeming with marine life.
Rather than drone on, I think it’s best just to let some of my photos speak for themselves. (There will be a few more once I scan in the ones from my disposable underwater camera.)
Elaine
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