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Published: August 10th 2007
Postcard viewpoint
Tuesday, Bartolome.Obviously I'm cheating a little bit by backdating this entry by more than a month - but it has been a very busy month. Unfortunately it turns out that in my absence travelblog has managed to lose half of my entries due to some sort of server crisis, so for those of you that have forgotten, the last time I wrote I was all packed and ready to fly off for my well-deserved and long-awaited trip to the Galapagos.
The Galapagos islands are mostly well known for Darwin's research there on finches and evolution and the like, but he was only there for two weeks, and spent his time conducting "experiments" like flinging iguanas by their tails and so on, so I feel that after my eight-day experience, I am very much as enlightened as him. The islands are located west of the coast of Ecuador, slap bang on the equator line. They are relatively new in comparison with the rest of the earth, and were created by volcanic eruptions. Some of the islands are so young that they don't really have any plant life, and as such no mammal life either, and as most of the animals living in the Galapagos
Rockpooling
Tuesday, Santiago. arrived there thousands of years ago, and henceforth lived in total isolation, it is the perfect environment to observe evolutionary change in action.
So that's the sciency bit over, phew! Imogen and I had the good luck to find (after a month's worth of solid travel agent shopping) a first-class cruise on the delightful 90-person ship Santa Cruz for a mere pittance of the usual, extortionate price. It didn't come as much of a surprise that we were sharing our little luxury liner with passengers that fell into the categories of pathological bird-watchers, rich OAPs, even richer businesspeople who were there on a conference, and had more interest in fine liqueur and partying than wildlife, and a few other odd-bods like us who were just along to enjoy the ride.
Each day of the cruise (which the ship's staff sniffily told us was actually an
expedition) consisted of an early rise, buffet breakfast, then a trip to one island, usually a nature walk for a few hours, lunch back on board, then an afternoon expedition which was often diving, before returning to the ship for a soak in the jacuzzi, a briefing of the next day's activities, a three-course dinner, and bed.
The whole affair tended to leave us absolutely cream-crackered, and any spare time was spent napping or sunbathing. In general the weather was fairly optimum, the water was clear to perfection, and there were plenty of older passengers to buy us copious amounts of wine or champagne. Life could not have been better!
And now to the best bit: the expeditions. We visited around twelve islands in total, each distinct from the next. The main thing that is so amazing about the Galapagos is how totally fearless all the animals are. It would get to the point where you would fall over sealions, or be tempted to nudge iguanas out of your path, before realising that we had begun to totally take our environment for granted. Ours guides has the easiest job in the world, because they could guarantee sightings of every sort of wildlife on every trip, and if you went diving you were certain to come face-to-face with a penguin or sea turtle every single time.
The first island we visited was Bartoleme, where we climbed to the classic Galapagos postcard viewpoint, before descending to the beach for a spot of snorkelling, spotting our first Galapagos penguin, and lots and
Pelicans!
Wednesday, Rabida. lots of fish. The afternoon expedition was to Santiago, where we walked along the rockpools, sighting marine iguanas, sealions, gulls and crabs galore. We learnt that it was prudent not to get too close, as they have an unnerving habit of spraying saltwater from their nostrils whenever you get too close.
The next day we visited Rabida, where we were greeted by a very raucous bull sealion, as well as lots of females and pups lazing around, generally getting in the way. Later we were dispatched in a panga (rubber boat) for a spot of snorkelling in very chilly water, and without a wetsuit - but were very much rewarded by sealions playing around us, and the sighting of a lazy sea turtle. The afternoon destination was North Seymour, a hotspot for frigates and the infamous blue-footed booby. We came within touching distance of their nests, complete with ungainly, fluffy chicks, and watched the male frigates puffing out their impressive red chest pouches as part of their mating ritual.
On Thursday we went to San Cristobal, one of the few inhabited islands. We saw a very misty lake in the morning and visited a sanctuary for giant tortoises where we got up
Snorkelling Sarah
Wednesday, Rabida. close and personal with the babies, who were not very giant, but nevertheless very cute. In the afternoon we were taken to a gorgeous white-sand beach, where Imogen and I declined snorkelling in favour of a spot of sunbathing, followed by a beach long-jump competition with four other travelling friends, observed by several sleepy sealions. After the evening meal we were treated to an impromptu, deck-thumping party on U-deck, courtesy of the conference group and the over-excited restaurant staff. Plenty of live salsa, and fountains of Bacardi Gold, courtesy of one very rich man, made for a very lively fiesta!
Friday was change-over day for the majority of the passengers, who were leaving after their five-day tour. They were replaced by a whole bunch of other rich Americans, including nine teenagers from Oregon who were there on a school trip. Honestly! The trip of the day was a dive off the coast of Santa Cruz, where I spotted a couple of pointy-looking reef sharks swimming around, and of course, lots and lots of fish.
On Saturday we visited Española and Floreana, the two southernmost islands. The bird fanatics in our group practically wet themselves when they found out that today they would
Check out those feet!
Wednesday, North Seymour. be treated to a sighting of a group of albatrosses. In fact, this was somewhat of an understatement, as once we had clambered over boobies and iguanas and shimmied past sealions, we arrived at a large clearing containing no less than around 40 albatrosses, who promptly began their peculiar mating dance for our personal enjoyment. Those birds certainly know how to shake a tailfeather! Each couple has a finely choreographed routine, involving a kind of beak jousting, accompanied by clicking and bobbing, and sudden stops where each bird who stand stock still, before beginning the routine all over again. The males also did a funky sort of swagger to attract female attention - very smooth indeed. Further around the island we spotted nests with tiny fluffy albatross chicks, as well as the evil-looking Galapagos hawk, keeping a beady eye out for an unattended nest. The afternoon trip was a deep-sea dive around the rocks of Floreana, where I ticked my last diving box with a sighting of a stingray, gliding along the seafloor. That was followed by a visit to a brackish lake to see some lovely pink flamingoes.
On our last day we were given the option of a "lie-in"
I am a dragon!
Wednesday, North Seymour. (wake up call at 7am rather than the standard 6am), but opted to get up early anyway to see the sunrise over Fernandina. In fact, the sunrise wasn't fantastic, but we did spot a school of dolphins, and before we knew it they were swimming and leaping alongside the ship just for the fun of it. It was definitely worth missing breakfast for! Fernandina is the youngest island in the archipelago, and therefore has no native mammals. Instead we were looking out for the unique flightless cormorant (no prizes for quessing why), pelicans, turtles, rays, and a couple of cheeky penguins. After a delicious Ecuadorian style lunch we were off to our last destination, Isabela. Unfortunately, the diving spot was a little overcast, and unbearably cold without a wetsuit, so Imo and I opted to step out in the glass-bottomed boat instead. We could not have made a better decision, as our guide seemed set on the idea of finding the elusive sunfish, or mola-mola, which had been sighted in the area a couple of weeks before. The sunfish is extremely rare, so chances of us finding one were fairly minimal, although sightings of a phantom fin on the horizon
spurred us on. After a couple of hours of searching we were ready to turn in, when that pesky fin showed up again just a few metres away. Lo and behold, we had found the sunfish! They swim at the surface of the water, using two large fins on their back and stomach to balance, and move in a strange rocking motion. They are also impossibly huge, like a baby killer whale, and incredibly placid. We followed our find around for about ten minutes, before turning back to the ship, and practically bumping into
another sunfish! I thought our guide might actually die of excitement, but luckily she survived the encounter, and we all made it back to the ship, babbling about our lucky find. It may possibly have been the perfect end to a perfect trip.
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