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Published: February 26th 2009
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Apologies for the lack of blogs recently but the internet access has been intermittent and, more to the point, we have been far too busy enjoying ourselves !!
Being on some of the Galapagos Islands was like stepping back into the dinosaur era with 1 metre long iguanas camouflaged against the rocks and large pre-historic shaped birds castings eerie shadows.
We stayed on a GAP Adventure boat designed to take a maximum of 20 passengers.There were twin cabins on the upper and bottom deck with two double suites on the middle deck.The mid deck also had the dining area and a sitting area ideal for briefings.There were loungers at the front of the boat and tables&chairs at the back under cover.We were very lucky to be given a cabin on the top deck with a large window that opened.If only the shower had worked !!
The islands terrain varied as much as the wildlife.Some of them had were covered in trees and bushes while others had luna type landscapes caused by molten volcanic lava.There were also mangrove lagoons,sandy beaches and flowering cactus.
Typical day
7am breakfast - Scrambled eggs and sausages or pancakes ; cereal ; fresh
Frigate Bird
Male bird with the red crop fruit ; toast ; juice and tea/coffee.
8am - Panga ( small dinghy ) to visit an island. Wet or dry landing- more of this later!
8-11 Split group island visits with a naturalist to see the wildlife.
Midday lunch - Normally soup followed by fish or meat with potatoes and a variety of vegetables and salad. Dessert was fresh fruit;cake or kiwi jelly !
Sail to new location and the opportunity for a short siesta.
2-5pm- Panga for another island visit. We also had opportunities to snorkel and/or swim from beaches or the pangas at some locations.
Shower and change for dinner.
7pm dinner - Similar menu to lunch.
**6.30 or after dinner - Briefing for next day.
Recover and early night before next hectic day except when entertained by Liam and his rendition of Wind Beneath My Wings on imaginary pan pipes over discussion about Middle Eastern politics with Jenny,Marissa,Jackie and Avril.
There were 19 of us on the boat and we were on it for 7 nights but 9 people left after 4nights to be replaced by 9 newbies. Interesting dynamics ensued. Most passengers were English but Ireland, US, Australia, Finland and Canada were all ably
represented as well.
We had 2 guides , Billy and Luis who had never worked together which provided entertainment in itself. Both were extremely friendly and very knowledgeable about the area. Billy was the most outgoing - why this ? - and enjoyed telling tales of the grisly plight of tourists who were drowned by sea lions, had their eyes pecked out by friendly mockingbirds, or pointing out cute baby animals who would die - 100%.He also played the guitar and sang very well.
Luis was more serious and enjoyed telling the gruesome tale of his first to visit to the islands at the age of 15 when his friend drowned and Lonesome George should have been called Lonesome Luis. He entertained the passengers with his slide show of 320 photos or a film about a disabled musician?!
Our landings were all unique and footwear was always an issue depending on the nature of them i.e. wet or dry. Actually this didn't matter in the end as Mother Nature often determined that all landings were wet by providing 3 foot waves over the dinghy as we docked or the tide coming in quickly as we headed towards the dinghies
upon our return. Fortunately it was warm enough that we soon dried off.
Wildlife
On the first afternoon we saw giant tortoises on a private ranch. Originally the owner had killed the tortoises as they strayed onto his land from the national park but was persuaded to open the ranch instead and is now making $3 from every tourist so everyone is happy - especially the tortoises.
We saw iguanas,sea lions and the colourful Sally Lightfoot crabs on most islands. However the iguanas were either land or marine iguanas and they only interbred on one island. As we were there during the mating they are very colourful with yellow,orange,green and red skin making them very photogenic.
We were really lucky to see lots of green sea turtles , including ones mating ,in several locations which was really incredible. They were in a lagoon ; swimming off one of the beaches and even seen very close to the boat.
We also saw 2 pods of pilot whales from the boat and a few penguins but I think it was the manta rays jumping in the sea that I enjoyed watching the most. They were black on top and a silvery
white underneath. It was easy to miss this display as they were so quick but when you did see them it was incredible to see these large marine creatures leap from the water with droplets of water catching the sunlight.
The birds are plentiful and although we saw the much talked about Blue Footed Boobies we saw more Masked Boobies but no Red Footed Boobies which was a shame. The male frigate birds were resplendent with their red bags inflated to attract the ladies. Apparently it is their nest building skills that the lady frigate birds are interested in but we enjoyed the ritual. There were also the aforementioned mockingbirds,flamingos,hawks,laughing gulls and pelicans.
We had several opportunities to snorkel and although the visibility was not always ideal we did see some very colourful fish,manta rays,sharks,sea cucumbers,starfish and sea urchins. A sealion also swam in front of me at one point which was pretty cool. I didn't think much of the blue strand jellyfish though that stung several of us on one outing. Small they may be but they certainly know how to leave their mark. The handlebar moustache look does not suit me !! Not sure how Steph
managed to escape untouched.
All in all an amazing trip and nice to celebrate Darwins bi-centennial actually in the Galapagos even if the guides seemed unaware of the date.
Coral and Steph
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Clare
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Galapagos
I have been really looking forward to this blog, and not disappointed ! What fantastic wildlife and for you to be so close to such unusual animals and birds - lucky you. Darwin-mania is alive and well in the UK. Hope you saw my adopted giant tortoise Steph. With you in spirit, Clare.