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Isnt he precious
Baby seal on the GalapagosLeaving the US behind, I was soon on my way to Ecuador for the start of my Intrepid Tour and of course, a visit to the Galapagos Islands. This was the start of the final leg of my year long adventure and I couldn’t figure out where all the time had gone - but of course of I still have 3 months left and I wanted to make the most of it.
It was on that note that I found myself in the queue at Quito airport waiting to board my plane for the Galapagos Islands the following day. I was beside myself as I stood in there waiting to get my little tourist card, which was covered with all sorts of pretty pictures of what I was expecting to see when I got to the islands. I eventually calmed down, grabbed my card & went through to the Galapagos inspection line (where they run your bag through one of those airport inspection machines without actually looking at anything) before barding the plane for the 2hr flight from Quito to the island of Baltra (one of the two airports on the Islands).
Once in Baltra, I paid my USD100
Giant Tortoises
Santa Cruz Island park entrance fee, cleared ‘customs’ and then went in search of my bags & the tour group that I would be with for my 5 day cruise around the islands. While waiting for the boat transfer to our yacht along with the others in my tour group, I was given a glimpse of what was to come, in the shape of a group of seals sleeping on the jetty benches, on the pier & along the rocks, oblivious to the people gawking at them and taking their photos.
Unusual for me - I didn’t go nuts researching for this particular trip, so I knew very little about the boat, where we were going and what we were going to be doing for the duration of the tour, so I didn’t know what to expect when I got aboard to begin with.
The ‘Golondrina II’ (I think the first one sank?) is classified as a tourist class boat. For the price I paid, which was less than USD 1000, I was expecting it to be in pretty bad shape, especially considering that some of the other boats I had previously looked at where double, if not triple the cost
of my tour. Thankfully, this was not the case when I finally got onboard. I shared a bunk-bed room with another girl, in a not-so-small room (okay, not enough to swing a cat - but this is a small boat after all), with our own ensuite. The eating cabin was cosy & the outdoor seating area reasonable for the 15 people we had onboard. I could not wait to set sail and get going….
Here is an account of how the days work out onboard the yacht.
Day 1: Arrival Day & Bachus Beach After landing on Baltra & actually getting on the boat, we did not set sail until close to 3pm. Our first stop was Bachus Beach (named after the barges that were wrecked offshore during WWII), which is located on the island of Santa Cruz (on the other side of the main town of Puerto Ayoro).
The beach itself is a nesting area for green sea turtles (breeding season Nov - Feb) so there were hundreds of depressed areas of sand where the turtles would lay their eggs. Sadly, there were also a few eaten eggs resulting from attacks by introduced rats &
pigs still roaming the islands.
The lava rocks that line the beach are home to hundreds of ‘sally footed crabs’, also known as the scavengers of the sea. They were so brightly coloured in orange, yellow & red, giving them a very stark contract to the very black lava rocks they were scurrying along. Not timid at all - they had no qualms about walking between the feet of a girl in our group who was standing on the rocks to take some photos, so much so that she had to wait for the crab to pass in case she stood on it by accident.
Next animal we were we on the hunt for were the Marine Iguanas, the only truly marine lizard in the world. They grow in excess of 1.5m and can weigh up to 13kgs. Although rather aggressive & ugly looking, they are pretty harmless and spit salt water if you get too close.
Snorkelling on the beach was rather abysmal because of poor visibility (This is the Galapagos after all - The water should be crystal clear!!), and so we were only able to get a view of some diamond rays & some
Tortuga Bay
Santa Clara parrot fish.
Day 2: Genovesa Island (Tower Island) & Darwin Bay Early morning start today. Genovesa Island is approx 6-7 hours from Santa Cruz. According to my guide - Genovesa is a low, flat, isolated island with a huge sunken crater into which you sail into. The caldera walls form cliffs about 25m above sea level but plunge over 60m below the water. We sailed around the island in our dinghy towards ‘Prince Phillip Steps’ looking at the sea lions mucking around in rocks around the island.
I knew that Genovesa was home to the largest colony of frigate birds and red footed boobies - but I wasn’t at all prepared for what it was going to be like when I actually saw the birds. When we got to the top, trees & shrubs surrounded us, with almost every one of them covered with frigate birds and/or boobies. You could almost reach out and touch them; and they would do nothing but look at you then go back to sleep. I couldn’t believe how docile they were, even with their young around them.
Later that afternoon we landed on Darwin Bay for a chance to walk along
Bartolome Island
Up close & personal with the birds the lava rocks and some snorkelling where I got the chance to get up close and personal with a group of seals on the beachfront.
Day 3: Bartoleme Island & Santa Cruz Island It was a long navigation to Bartolome Island and we set sail very early the night before (8 hour journey). The sea was choppy and I wasn’t feeling the best. I quickly ate my dinner then went straight to my bunk and crashed, hoping that sleep would elude my need for throwing up - which thankfully it did!.
After an early morning start we reached the island - The most photographed island of the Galapagos and geologically the youngest. We landed on the steps of the island and made our way up to the viewing point to get views across the ocean of the growing ‘lava lake’ stretching out across the island.
Later that afternoon we snorkelled around the island towards ‘Pinnacle Rock’. This was the best snorkelling session we have had because of the almost perfect visibility around the island. I swam with a group of 15 or so penguins and attempted to try to get up close to them, with very little
luck. I went hunting for the shark that some of the others in my group managed to find - thankfully I was unsuccessful. I swam above a lonesome stingray on his hunt for food and of course, swam through the myriad of fishes that swarmed all over the place, my favourite being the very large and very colourful parrot fish, that spent their time crunching their way through the coral.
In the afternoon after lunch, back aboard the boat we caught the dinghy for a cruise towards the Caleta Tortura Negra (Black Turtle Cove) off the island of Santa Cruz in search of some green sea turtles, golden sting rays & black tipped sharks.
Day 4: South Plaza Island & Santa Cruz This was our last day on the boat. Our morning visit was to the Island of Santa Plaza for a look at some Land Iguanas (as opposed to the marine iguanas that I had been seeing until that point). We got our last look at some of the seals swimming along the rocks - the most curious being a young seal pup intent on sniffing our shoes and our last lookout at the Islands before heading
back towards the mainland and off the boat for a final night on land.
In the afternoon, we went to the Charles Darwin Research Centre for Turtles to see ‘Lonesome George’ - The 80 yr old tortoise and the last of his species of turtle from the Island of Pinta. He obviously did not want to see us and spent our visit hiding his 200kg form under a shade shack and out of our sight - He was obviously not in the mood for a photo session with a group of gawking tourists.
I finally got to see my giant tortoises - but was disappointed by the fact that I could only see them in a research facility, instead of the wild. Nevertheless, we were still able to get up close to them, watch them munch their way to a truck load of leaves, poo all over the place, yawn and go to sleep!
The tour ended after our trip to the CDRC and we were dropped off at our hotel for the rest of the afternoon.
My thoughts on the Galapagos & the Golondrina II? I loved the Galapagos & only regretted the fact that
Darwin Bay
Seals along the beach I didn’t stay long enough to visit the remaining Islands, which would have been covered on a longer tour.
As for the Golondrina II - The boat was adequate for what I was expecting, with no extra bells & whistles, which I would have had to pay for anyway. My only disappointment lay in the fact that my “5 day/4 night tour” in reality turned out more like a “4 day/3 night” tour given the amount of time spent picking other people up, docking, waiting & faffing about - However, given that I still got to see the majority (if not all!) of the wildlife anyway - I didn’t mind so much! Maybe on a next visit??
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