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Published: July 11th 2008
The Galapagos is a truly magical place with stunning scenary, gorgeous beaches, great snorkling and the highlight is the incredible animals that let you come up really close!!! Its very expensive to get there from Quito but its worth every cent and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see the Islands which are probably most famous for Charles Darwin´s visit in 1835 which spurred him to formulate his theory of evolution by natural selection. The Islands were claimed by Ecuador in 1838 and are officially known as Archipielago de Colon and consist of 18 Islands. I booked a 5 day 4 night tour with GAP Adventures which took in the Islands of Santa Cruz, Seymour, Santiago and Bartolome, Santa Fe and Isla San Cristobal. As part of the tour you also stay in Quito at the Rio Amazonas hotel for the 1st and last nights.
The tour stared in Santa Cruz Island where after a long journey from Quito via Guayaquil and two bus and one boat journey we eventually got to Puerto Ayora and boarded the boat. The first hour on the boat I surprisingly felt a bit ill as I don´t usually suffer from
sea sickness but I was fine after a few hours i think it just takes time for the body to adjust to the constant rocking up and down!!! We visited the Charles Darwin research station which exhibits information on geology, conservation is where many scientists are based. We saw the tortoise rearing pens which was funny seeing the little ones crawling around , marine and land Iguanas, Lonesome George the giant tortoise and lots of other ones you can get really close to and have your picture taken with them. After some souvineer shopping ( more shot glasses for the collection and NYE parties!!) we boarded the dinghies which took us back to our boat ( GAP Adveturer 2) for Dinner and most of us crashed quite early at around 9ish. The boat left harbour at 11.30pm and sailed around Santa Cruz Island to Isla Seymour. What an experience that was!! The sea was rough and I was awoken to the anchor being lifted and then it was 5 hours up and down and sideways!!!! Didn´t get much sleep that night but my stomach was ok!!
At 6.00am the next day it was time to get in the dinghies
Sea lions on Seymour Island
First time I´d seen a Sea Lion. They have flappy ears for hearing, whiskers that they use to aid navigation and detect vibrations from prey in the water, over 12,000 senses in their noses and their milk contains over 35% fat!! after taking a few pictures of the gorgeous sun rise and hit Seymour Island. Here we saw lots of Blue footed boobies, Great Frigate birds, sea lions, marine iguanas and land iguanas. Here´s an interesting fact for you which our guide told us-why are some animals certain colours for example the Boobie had blue feet and the frigate a red chest? Its becuase all animals are colour blind for the exception of the certain colour on them so they can identify each other. Amazing eh? So Blue footed Boobies can see blue and fortunately on that day I was wearing a blue top and I could see them all staring at it!!
After Seymour we headed to Chinesse Hat Island which was a fascinating volcanic Island with lots of sea lions. We then sailed to Bartolome and arrived just before sunset. The next day we hit Isla Bartolome for some Penguin spotting and a hike to the summit and a great panoramic view. We then hit the beach and went snorkling. Around the pinacle (see picture) we were very lucky to find a friendly juvenile sea lion who swam with a few of us for about 15 minutes. He
was named Lional! He was so funny doing these flips under water, blowing bubbles and pecking the girls. We also saw two white tipped sharkes ( they are harmless but I wasn´t getting close I´d seen Jaws as a kid!!) In between here and Santa Fe we visited another small Island which I can´t remember the name of but had a huge Land Iguana which is the main picture for the blog and there is also another picture of me taking a picture of it. Also on the Island were finches, doves, mockingbirds and herons.
We also spotted a huge humped back whale which rose gracefully out of the water right in front of our boat so quickly that I could only get a picture of her when she came back up again some distance away´. Hopefully I´ll see some more whales when I go to the coast on Saturday to Puerto Lopez as its whale season down there.
The last main Island we visited was Santa Fe which is famous for its many sea lions on the beach. Be careful of the Bull sea lions here they are huge and move very fast!! We went on
Charles Darwin Centre
On Santa Cruz Island a short hike and then snorkling. We saw a Manta Ray and I got really close to a sea turtle! The last night we had a cocktail and a few beers and played a really complicated Canadian card game called screw your neighbour with two decks of cards. The last day we visited San Cristobal Island which had a nice museum and more souvineer shops. Well I hope you´ve enjoyed the blog and the piccies the last 12 of which were taken by the guide so I can´t claim credit for them. The Galapagos have been one of the top highlights of the RTW trip so far.
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Jude
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Factoid
What an amazing fact! I'm at my sister's and have just shared it with her. That's a fantastic one to remember. I love the blue footed booby's blue feet.....they are quite spectacular! Looking forward to seeing you soon. J/x