The Galapagos Islands

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Oi Oi

As you may have guessed from the title, I have just got back from 5 days in the Galapagos Islands, located just 1 hour by plane from Ecuadors Pacific coastline. I dunno if you know much about these islands but because of ocean currents and equatorial climates and nutrient upwellings...blah blah blah, basically its got a shit load of animals packed into a very small place. The Islands form one very large nature park and the animals and natural environment in general is heavily protected with any misuse of the land or harm occuring to any animals often resulting in prison time or a least a hefty fine. On the plus side this means you can see loads of animals living in their natural habitat doing what they would naturally, on the downside the animals are quite clearly aware of their protected untouchable status and swagger around like they own the place (which i suppose they do).

The wildlife here is truely staggering and the scenery is like something out of a holiday brochure. 10 minutes after we arrived on the Island of Isabella we were walking along a picturesque white sand beach, with bright red galapagos crabs poking their heads out of the sand and all sorts of birds trying to eat them, when a massive bright pink flamingo flew about 10 foot over my head.

The next day was a day of two firsts for me. The first first was riding a horse, the preffered mode of transport when ascending a large volcano apparently. Despite my horse clearly being way past its best and me not exactly the lone ranger, i didnt fall off and we made it to the top where upon the horse collapsed out of shear exhaustion and i collapsed cos my legs were no longer able to support anything. Eventually i managed to walk like a cowboy over to the crator which apparently is the second largest in the world. Its so big you dont even realise its a crator until someone points it out. We then walked over to some smaller volcanoes and looked out over the rest of the Island where you can clearly see the path of the lava which spilled out during the last eruption towards the sea.

After the painful ride back down the volcano we headed to the coast for snorkling (the second first). The waters around the Islands are even more crammed with life than the land and within half an hour I saw more fish than you could shake a stick at. i did swallow a shed load of seawater (it was my first time) and threw up violently over the side of the boat on the way back to shore but it was worth it. The following morning we were back out on the water and i saw even more fish and a turtle swam right past me. Other people resurfaced with stories of swimming with sealions and manta rays but i was pretty happy with my turtle.

On sunday i left Isabella early and headed to the Island of Santa Cruz where i visited some Giant Tortoises and some large volcanic crators and drunk Galapagos coffee (very nice indeed) and ate some of the freshest fish ever cooked with coconut and bananas. mmmmmm.

Today is monday (it was monday when i finished writing but it has taken me til thursday to sort out the photos), and I have just arrived back in Quito. The Galapagos is beautiful and at the moment is natural beauty is not too spoilt by all the tourism. Whether the authroities can maintain this balance as more and more people want to visit, i dunno. Hope so.

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Photos

My Horse
Yeah ud be grumpy too if you had to lug a bug lump of english tourist up a volcano

Blurry Sea Lion Chilling
I tried to get closer but it got pissed off

Beach on Santa Cruz
Its really not that difficult to get a good sunset photo on the Galapagos

Iguana
He spat at me shortly after. Prick

My guide Dario
Hes as cool in real life as this photo suggests

Giant Tortoise
Pretty big

Pelican
Maybe wildlife photography isnt my next career move