Galapagos

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We arrived in Quito on the evening of the 14th and checked into the Amazonas Inn which was a little different to what we´d been staying in for the previous two weeks but had everything we needed, even hot water and cable tv. That evening we walked up and down a few of the nearby streets but didn´t find any restaurants open and so opted for a take away pizza. Fortunately the lady who owned the hotel was very helpful and ordered the pizza for us, as our Spanish still doesn´t stretch that far!

The following day, after catching up with our folks, we updated the blog then took a stroll around Quito. The streets around the hostel were much like any other functional city, with offices and shops and some nice little restaurants and cafes. We wandered around some of the souvenir shops (which sold some very nice stuff but we decided not to buy the first things we saw, which turned out to be a bad decision!), got some supplies for the Galapagos trip then headed over to the Old Town. The Old Town has some really impressive colonial architecture which is a complete contrast to the New Town area which is mainly comprised of drab grey concrete buildings. Again we wandered around here for a while, were accosted by some Ecuadorian students who asked us a load of questions in English and then headed back over to the New Town for dinner. We ate in a very nice little café that looked more like someone´s patio than an actual restaurant but the food was really good nevertheless.

On the 16th we were due to meet up with the Geckos group and so moved to the hotel they´d booked for us, checking in just after 2pm. The hotel, Junior Plaza, was nice enough, though we were on the fourth floor and there was no lift. This wouldn´t usually be too much of a problem, but at just short of 3000m above sea level, the thin air certainly takes its toll, and we were exhausted by the time we got up the stairs! In the afternoon, Dani got her camera cleaned and then we chilled out until the Geckos meeting, scheduled for 6pm that evening.

Dani was a little apprehensive about meeting the Geckos group, but soon realised that she had no need to be. Everyone was really nice and friendly and we made some good friends who we´ll hopefully keep in contact with. The meeting didn´t last too long and basically just covered much of what we´d already been told, and then we headed out for dinner. Most of the group ate together (we heard later that guinea-pig was on the menu!) but we ended up in a little Ecuadorian restaurant that did good food and even had some traditional music for entertainment.

The following morning we were up at, what we thought was 6am, to get packed and ready for breakfast at 7am. Unfortunately we´d (Dan) forgotten to change the time on the phone and as such we were actually up at 5am and didn´t realise until we started to head down to breakfast at 6am! After waiting around for an hour we finally got to breakfast and then all clambered in the bus at 7.30am. The drive to the airport only took about 20mins where we then had to get our luggage checked for all the usual dodgey stuff, as well as any organic substances, as they´re very strict on what can be transported to the Islands (alien species are a major threat to the islands well being).


The flight itself was a little bumpy at times but not too bad and only took about 3 hours, including a half hour stop over in Guayaquil. Arriving in the Galapagos was incredible. The airport is located on the tiny island of Baltra and as we approached it, we got an awesome view of the neighbouring islands, all complete with stunning turquoise sea. The airport was essentially just a runway with a roofed area at the side and a small café. After paying our park entrance fee ($100) we grabbed our luggage, met up with our guide, Alberto and boarded the bus to the dock area. The ride took all of about 10 minutes, winding across the largely barren Baltra landscape, with little evidence of the wildlife extravaganza to come!

Upon arrival at the keyside, we had our first encounter with the Galapagos wildlife, several sea lions crashed out on a bench in the shade, while more played around in the shallows and clambered over the rocks. There were also Marine Iguanas basking in the sun on some of the rocks. Needless to say, we all had our cameras out and were snapping away with little idea of just how many sea lions we were going to see over the forth coming week! While you read about the fearlessness of the animals on the Galapagos and you see it all on TV, you still can’t help but be in awe of the apparent boldness of the animals when you witness it first hand. They really couldn’t care less about your being there, which means that, for the most part, you can walk right up to them, without them so much as battering an eyelid! The accepted reasoning behind their tameness is that in the absence of tertiary (land) predators, over the millennia, shyness and timidity have become unnecessary attributes and as such few species demonstrate any degree of fear. In fact, adopting a bold and inquisitive approach can often prove to be advantageous when trying to survive in such a harsh and competitive environment.


We were ferried across to the aptly named ´Darwin´ in a 10 person dingy (we had to be ferried to the shore and back to the boat every time we disembarked) and got our first look at our home for the next 7 nights and we were both very impressed (relieved!). It all looked to be very clean, tidy and generally well maintained. There were 8 cabins, four below deck, two on the main deck and two on the top deck, a dining area, a bar, a kitchen, a lounge area, an area on the top deck at the rear of the vessel where there were some sun lounges and a further sitting area at the bow where we’d often congregate when travelling between islands. Even though our room was below deck, it was quite spacious, with a desk, wardrobe and ensuite, although the bunk bed could have done with being a little larger (you had to bend in a certain way to get into the top bunk because it was so close to the ceiling, Dani even woke up one night hammering on the end wall and calling out that she was in a coffin and couldn’t get out!). At first we were a little disappointed to be below deck, but it quickly became apparent that we had one of the biggest rooms and had little cause for complaint.

The crew were excellent (though unfortunately we can’t remember their names!). The chef was superb and you couldn’t fault the food he served each day. We’d always have a main course and pudding and sometimes soup to start along with a range of snacks throughout the day to keep you going, particularly when returning from snorkelling. He even did a great range of vegetarian food which kept Dani happy. Then there was Smiley, the bar tender who’d also help with the food. There was the driver of the dingy who ended up in hospital with some unknown illness, the guy with the beanie, the tall guy and of course El Captiano, who did an excellent job extracting muchos dollars from us! (he also didn’t do too bad a job at helming the ship either!). Alberto was our guide for the whole trip and was brilliant. He was very informative about every aspect of the islands and even if he didn’t know something, he’d always look it up for you.

Our itinerary remained pretty much the same for each day: breakfast at 7am, disembark at 8am, lunch at 12pm, afternoon tours until about 5pm then briefing at 6.45pm and dinner at 7pm. We´d have various trips mixed between snorkelling which meant we were on and off the boat quite a bit on some days and others we’d have a couple of hours travelling from one island to another. We remained onboard to sleep every night and only disembarked after dinner on one evening when we were moored offshore at Puerto Ayora, a small town on Santa Cruz. We travelled at night on a few occasions which was good for some people and bad for others. For Dani it was bad as the bed creaked loudly with the rocking of the boat but Dan didn’t notice it too much. Travelling by day was nicer because most of us would sit out front looking for dolphins and whales (but for all the hours we put in we didn’t see one!) but trying to do anything in the cabin while moving tended to make both of us feel a bit queasy.

After a spot of lunch, we set sail for Las Bachas (named after the barges used by the Americans in the Second World War that were moored here, only the locals couldn’t pronounce barges and thus it became known as Bachas) on the island of Santa Cruz. The place was really beautiful with perfect sand and blue sea and no one else there but us. While ashore we saw our first Sally Light-foot Crabs (a really bright red/orange colour), Greater Flamingos, a Marine Iguana and several Turtle nests. After walking a trail with Alberto, we were given some free time to explore the beach and so wandered to the opposite end of the beach where we saw some Black-necked Stilts, a Great Blue Heron, Brown Pelicans, Blue-footed Boobies, Frigate birds and a couple of White-tipped Reef Sharks. It was while we were here that we experienced one of the most impressive spectacles of our trip so far. The beach went from being largely empty one second to completely overrun with birds the next. A huge shoal of fish must have become trapped against the shore and within seconds a cloud of different birds began to plummet into the waters around us, literally a few metres from where we were standing! There were hundreds of them, continually diving, resurfacing, flying off and the diving again, over and over. It was incredible to watch and very difficult to explain but hopefully you’ll get the idea from some of the photos. Dan’s also got some video footage which you’ll be expected to watch when we get back! It wasn’t just a bird lovers thing either, Dani and some other normal people were present and were equally taken aback…it was quite frankly awesome!

That night we all headed to bed quite early at about 9pm (we ended up going to bed earlier and earlier, the earliest being about 8pm! although we did stay up until about 10pm a couple of nights playing Rummy, which was great fun!) as we had planned on getting up at about 4am to keep an eye out for dolphins and whales, particularly Killer Whales, which Alberto had informed us are frequently seen around the area that we would be travelling in. Dani didn’t make 4am but Dan did, and so did a few of the group, but unfortunately they didn’t see too much and definitely no dolphins or whales! Dan continued to get up early (though it progressively got later as the trip went on) but still didn’t see any. The only marine life we did see at sea were Sea Lions, rays (jumping clear of the water, doing a number of somersaults before re-entering, trying to get the cleaner fish off them - it was very impressive) and sharks (on the first night we saw both White-tipped Reef sharks and Bull sharks swimming around the back of the boat - the water was so clear that we could see their whole body shapes in the light from the boat).

On the second day we went to South Plaza, one of the most scenic islands that we visited, quite arid with great cacti all over the place and overlooking a shark infested channel. As you got out of the dingy there were Sea Lions on either side of the walkway with more at the top of the walkway, basking in the sun. You could see them playing all along the shoreline but they didn’t venture too far out for fear of becoming shark food. We spent a couple of hours walking around the island and saw lots of Land Iguanas and Lava Lizards. The former look absolutely ancient and some of them are really impressive specimens. Alberto said that they can live for up to 60 years.
The island is home to two colonies of Sea Lions, the ones we saw when landing are part of a colony dominated by a harem dominated by a solitary male while at the opposite end of the island there’s a bachelor colony with the would be alpha males in waiting. Along with the bachelors there were also a number of sea birds along this stretch of the island, including Swallow tailed Gulls, Auburn Shearwaters, Red-billed Tropicbirds and Storm Petrels. Probably doesn’t mean much to you lot, but it had me excited!

Before our afternoon trip we went snorkelling in a bay on Santa Fe. We opted not to get wetsuits, despite the fact that pretty much everyone else had them (we´re from England and do not fear the cold, unlike our Aussie counterparts!). Needless to say it was bloody freezing and Dani shook the whole way round! We started off just in the bay (which wasn’t too bad, temperature wise) where we saw a Spotted Eagle Ray and a Green Turtle. We then ventured out over a reef and into the open sea, which, shall we say, was a little cooler. As we were going over the reef we saw a white tip sitting on the bottom which was pretty smart. We saw an enormous number of different fish out here, including some massive shoals, though this was of little consolation to the now blue Dani. The dingy accompanied us the whole way round and Dani could have got out at any point, but instead remained in the water, in the hope that we might catch a glimpse of a sea lion. The perseveration paid off. As we came round back into the bay, we caught our first sight of a sea lion and before long they were swimming all around us. They were as interested in us as we were in them and would swim straight at you, swerving away at the very last second and blowing bubbles as they shot off before rounding in on you again. It was a great fun, and the cold was soon forgotten! Dan would swim down to the bottom and pick up a small rock and then drop it from the surface and the sea lions would catch it on the way down and then play around with it. They’re pretty cumbersome animals on land but in the water they are incredibly agile and elegant. Our only regret was that we didn’t have a camera to record it on.

That afternoon we landed on Santa Fe and took a walk around part of the island. The terrain on this island was completely different to that on South Plaza, with a thick cover of white trees interspersed with some very tall prickly pears. Amongst the trees could be found, Santa Fe Land Iguanas, which are endemic to the island (don’t occur anywhere else), while on the shore line there were several sea lions. On the return journey to the boat we saw a shoal of about a dozen Golden rays which are really unusual, as well as about half a dozen Spotted Eagle Rays and a Green turtle.

The following day it was time to explore Esponala, the most Southerly Island of the Galapagos Archipelago. First stop was Gardener Bay, consisting of a long stretch of white sandy beach with a rocky area at one end, and backed all along by a thicket of bushes, which were home to a number of Darwin’s Finches. The beach was full of Sea Lions while the rocks were the feeding grounds of a number of Marine Iguanas. This was the first time that we´d really had an opportunity to watch the Marine Iguanas in action and it really was quite bizarre. To see what looks not unlike a Green Iguana (which we have come accustomed to seeing basking in the sun on land, throughout our trip) swimming in the surf and then feeding on the algae on the rocks is fascinating. They grow to 1.5m in length, including their tail, but have a ten fold difference in size among the islands reflecting the amount of food available at the different locations. They are the only ocean-going lizard on earth and can dive to 40 ft, for up to 10 minutes at a time. In between dives, they have to reheat their bodies to a suitable temperature by laying the sun. We were left pretty much to our own devices on this beach and so spent most of our time snapping the wildlife. The adult Sea Lions sleep for much of the time, though occasional fights and confrontations break out which are quite amusing. The younger Sea Lions are a lot more playful and will mess around in the shallows a lot of the time.

That afternoon we disembarked on a different area of the island and set off on what we though was the best trail of the trip, along a cliff top lined with nesting Blue Footed Boobies, Masked Boobies and nearly all of the worlds population of Waved Albatross. Although, before we could enjoy these avian beauties we first had to negotiate our way through hundreds of Marine Iguanas that were strewn all across the path leading from the landing pier. While they’re fascinating creatures they do have some nasty little habits, such as shooting a salty excretion from their nostrils if you step too close. This salty concoction is produced by the salt glands which allow them to drink sea water… quite a useful adaptation in an environment so depleted of freshwater. They’re also rather dense. When Darwin visited the Galapagos in the 1800´s on his voyage aboard the Beagle he conducted a little experiment with the Marine Iguanas, having noticed then when chased they will never seek refuge in the sea. He took one to a lagoon and throw it out as far as he could, only for it to return in a direct line to the spot where he stood. He did this several times, and each time it returned to the same place, often trying to hide in the shallows, but nevertheless still refusing to take a longer route and seek refuge away from its tormentor. Darwin concluded that because the Iguana doesn’t have any predators on shore, unlike the sea where it is preyed upon by sharks, it´s natural instinct is to seek safety on the shore in the quickest possible manner and regardless of what the emergency maybe. Unlike Darwin we did not feel compelled to toss the Iguanas around and were happy just to watch them at work.

The route through the nesting colonies was awesome and on several occasions we saw both Blue Footed boobies and Albatross’s displaying. The former will goose-step next to its perspective mate, flashing his bright blue feet as he does and then will stop, cock his tail up, extend his wings in a crooked fashion (see photo) and stick his bill straight up in the air. This is all about trying to demonstrate his readiness to mate and his commitment to raising a chick. The Boobies, like the Marine iguanas are also fond of squirting nasty liquids, except this time, its faeces and the defecation is used to form a white ring around the nest which represents the limit in which the young must remain when both parents are away from the nest. Wondering young are likely to take a beating from neighbouring adults and so it’s a pretty good system. In flight the Albatross’s are nothing short of gracious as they glide effortlessly over the waves, but on land they resemble something of a cross between a turkey and a gull and look most peculiar. They also have the courtship dance to match their strange looks, coming face to face, bouncing their heads up and down before clacking bills together and engaging in something a fencing tournament.

The next day we headed out to Floreana, a inhabited island to the west of Espanola. A post office barrel was erected on this island in 1793 so that mariners could send their mail home, the idea being that when the next ship of people came past they would pick up any of the post which they could deliver or get delivered. We all wrote a few postcards and put them in the barrel and so fingers crossed they´ll make it home. In return we all (well not actually us two but everyone else) took some postcards of people from their home country to post when they got back. I don´t know if the system really works, we´ll just have to wait and see! After the post office, we headed over to a lava tunnel which we went down and had a look round in, though its basically just a cave created by the dried lava. We then took a walk round to a smallish beach where we saw a Striated Night Heron, some more Sally Light-foot Crabs, a White-tip, lots of Sting-rays and even a Galapagos penguin feeding just off the beach! Well, most people saw the penguin except Dani who was too busy photographing the heron (she was a little gutted to say the least). We returned to the boat around 10am and then headed off to the Devils Crown, a sunken crater in the sea that was supposed to be good for snorkelling. We´d been told that there was a good chance of seeing sharks around here, including. hammerheads, and with this information Dani decided to venture back into the water having sworn never to snorkel again after the last outing(albeit with a wetsuit on this time). We were told that the current would be pretty strong, running at 9 knots at times according to the captain and so we expected it to be a bit tough, and it really was!! At times you had to swim as hard as you could just to stay stationary which made viewing the fish below a little difficult. After circumnavigating the crown, we all piled into the dingy and were taken out into some deeper water in search of the hammerheads. We swam for a good couple hundred metres without seeing any (though we did see a turtle which was cool) and then just as we’d stopped and were about to get back in the boat, one swam below which was wikid and we were all really chuffed. It suddenly made nearly drowning seem worthwhile.

That afternoon we spent 6 hours on the boat travelling from Floreana to Santa Cruz. That evening we went on shore at Puerto Ayora and bought a few souvenirs and took a stroll around town. Ayora was nice enough, although the prices here were pretty steep compared with mainland Ecuador, but the beer was still pretty cheap (at least they´ve got their priorities right).That night was our last with four of our group who were only on a 4 night trip in the Galapagos and so chef made a big cake for all of us to say farewell.

The following morning we disembarked in Puerto Ayora again and walked to the Charles Darwin Station where we had some time to look around the information centre before seeing ´Lonesome George´, the last representative of a species/race of tortoise endemic to Pinta Island. Originally most of the main islands had their own species/races of Giant Tortoise, which were unique to their respective islands, but unfortunately four of these varieties were hunted to extinction and the remaining populations were so massively depleted that a breeding program has been set up to try and save those that remain. They were primarily hunted for their meat and oil (they made excellent food for long voyages as they could survive for up to a year without food and water). With regard to George, he’s currently being kept with a couple of lady tortoises of a similar breed but as yet something hasn’t clicked and he is still alone. Even if he does mate with one of the females, there’s no guarantee that the offspring will be viable as they could be separate species.

As you can hopefully see from the photos, the Tortoises are incredible creatures, very odd looking and absolutely huge! We expected them to be big but not this big! Some of the individuals we met at the centre weighed 250kgs and were approximately 140 years old and nobody really knows how long they can live, but it’s thought to be at least a few hundred years! To see them ambling along was very amusing and they can actually move quite fast when they have to. Up close they’re not too pretty and someone hit the nail on the head when they said that Spielberg based E.T. on them!

After lunch we took a bus up into the highlands were we visted another, much larger lava tunnel before viewing the Giant Tortoises in the wild at a Tortoise Reserve which was pretty cool, if a little unnatural.

After the tortoises it was on to a couple of craters which we skirted round before heading off into the bush to look for various Finches and Flycatchers. There wasn’t too much doing, though we did see a vegetarian finch which pleased Dani. Upon returning back to the boat we met are new travelling companions for the next few days, a group of five who all seemed nice enough though it was a bit weird not having the others around anymore.

The following day it was time to explore the tiny island of Rabida, with its striking red sand and large lagoons. There were a few Flamingos knocking around which were pretty cool, but generally it was quite quiet. The highlight of the island was probably the nesting pelicans and their chicks which were quite comical looking. After another spot of snorkelling and playing with the sea lions it was on to Puerto Egas on the island of Santiago.

Puerto Egas was really nice, with a long stretch of volcanic rock along the shoreline, which held numerous pools and was home to loads of Marine Iguanas aswell as several Galapagos fur seals. There were also a number of birds feeding amongst the pools and all in all it was a very nice area to watch wildlife. The fur seals are smaller than the sea lions and as they’re name suggests have a much thicker coat. We spent a few hours exploring the rock pools here before returning to the beach and going snorkelling which was excellent. We came across at least half a dozen Green Turtles feeding on the algae on the rocks and they were completely un phased by our presence. We watched them for ages before finally submitting to the cold and returning to the shore. That evening, after returning to the boat, we set sail for our next destination, the island of Bartolome and arrived there around 8pm. The voyage that evening was fantastic, sitting with a cold beer in, watching the sun set, with Frigate birds hovering over head and Manta Rays jumping out of the water all around, you couldn’t help but smile.

The morning was spent exploring the lunar like landscape of Bartolome and climbing the summit which wasn’t particularly high but still offered up amazing views of the surrounding area. More importantly the island was also home to several Galapagos Penguins which we saw during landing. This made Dani incredibly happy as these were the creatures she most wanted to see (I quietly breathed a sigh of relief). We were all trying desperately to get a snap of them, thinking that this might be our only opportunity to get a shot. We were wrong.

Later that morning we disembarked along a stretch of beach where we could go snorkelling. There were plenty of fish to see as well as a few lobsters, a white tipped shark and also about half a dozen Penguins! They’re not too sharp on land, but underwater it’s a different story! They literally fly through the water and were running rings round us as we flapped about trying to watch them feeding. They really are very cool little birds.

In the afternoon we headed round to Chinese Hat Island where we went Snorkelling again and saw a Sea Snake, as well as several sharks and even a few penguins! We then went ashore and took a brief walk around part of the island to a rocky area covered in Sally Lightfoot Crabs. When we were picked up again by the dingy, rather than returning straight to the boat we were taken down the coast a short way, to view half dozen Penguins that were resting on a rock. There was a bit of swell, but the dingy driver kept us just a few metres of the rock and the cameras all went into overdrive!

That evening it was time our farewell party and so Chef prepared an awesome meal and a delicious cake, as well as a farewell cocktail of some description. The crew all came in and said there goodbyes and we all thanked them for their hard work. Roy, even did a speech in Spanish which was very impressive and they all seemed to appreciate it.

On our final day, we actually had a brief tour of North Seymour island in the morning before heading back to Baltra and onto the airport. North Seymour island is home to Sea Lions, Land Iguanas and several colonies of nesting seabirds, including Great and Magnificent Frigate Birds. We’d seen these guys all the way along the trip, they’d frequently catch a lift on the boat and were always a source of entertainment. However, until today, we hadn’t seen any of the males inflate their bright red throats which they are famed for doing and which many of the group were desperate to get a snap of. The nests scattered around all over the place and before long we’d seen several males showing off to perspective mates. There were also a number of blue footed boobies nesting on the island which are always good fun.

After returning to the boat we headed off to Baltra and frantically packed before disembarking around 9am and grabbing a bus to the airport. We weren’t overly impressed at being chucked off the boat so early (our flight wasn’t until 12.45pm) but the crew obviously had to get it cleaned before the next set of guests arrived. Leaving so early actually paid off, as upon, checking in, we were asked if we’d like to get the earlier flight at 10.30ish which was obviously result.

The flight was pretty uneventful and we slept most of the way, arriving back in Quito around 2.30pm. The afternoon was spent sorting out flight details for the forth coming flight to Lima, scheduled for 6pm the following day.

On the 25th we ventured out, with Ester to the equator monument, about 30 km north of Quito. There wasn’t too much to do there, just jump between the Northern and Southern hemispheres and a few shops. When we returned to Quito we set about trying to find a chess set that we’d seen before going to the Galapagos and getting some photos burnt to cd. Needless to say we didn’t find the chess set we were looking for, but we did find a similar one after several hours of searching. At 3pm it was time to head off to the airport to catch our flight for Lima!

Apologies if we spelt any names wrong and please note that Dani´s photos are the unnamed ones

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Photos

The group - Dan
Shannon, Alice, Dani, Lisa, Philippa, Tracey, Ester, Anne-Marie, Alberto, Kylie, Roy, Elsbeth, Geoff and Margaret

Comments

[Tracey L.]

Amazing pix
Your pictures are fantastic. I especially love the ones of the yellow warblers. Since returning home I have seen about 15 painted turtles. (not as exotic as the giant tortoises and the flipping speedy penguins)But it is nice to be home. Have looked through some of your blog and have to say, WoW, talk about trip of a life time!!