Smile like an iguana

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So far on our trip we've found travel by boat to be the most fun and relaxing method of transport, so when the chance arose to take advantage of a last minute deal to the Galapagos, we didn't have to think about it for long. Having been so lucky with the people we met on the Antarctica trip, we were fully prepared to have to put up with a boat full of American pensioners this time, stocking up on books and fully charging the ipods, just in case. However, lady luck shone on us once more when we met our 7 fellow passengers for the first part of the trip, three couples our age from Holland, Italy, Switzerland, London and Australia, plus a Swedish lady in her fifties. All had been travelling independently in South America for anything from two to 17 months, so our fears were unfounded.

Our boat, the Tip Top II proved to be one of the better boats around and we quickly settled into life on board, enjoying the sunloungers on deck and being spoiled with great food, canapes on return from site vists and daily siestas. A nice slice of luxury which we all appreciated after months on the road.

Over the next 8 days we visted a range of the islands, each day consisting of 1 or 2 landings, plus at least one snorkelling expedition. Most of the islands are volcanic, with sand differing from picture postcard fine white grains through tiny green glass-like fragments to black lava. Some of them were formed by shifting teuctonic plates, rather then eruptions, whilst others allowed us to visit lava tubes and sink holes. The weather was beautiful on all but one day so it was hardly surprsing that most of the islands are arid and fairly barren of plant life, outwith the rainy season. Cactus are common though, growing tall like trees on the island with saddleback tortoise species, so to keep their pads out of from the animal's reach.


On the second day, we visited the most remote island of our trip, Genovese, which is well known for its birdlife. Here we had the first opportunities to see Nasca (masked) Boobies, Red-footed and Blue Footed boobies up close, in addition to herons, pelicans, red-billed tropic birds and finches, amongst others. Reading about Galapagos you always see comments about how the birds and animals are so unafraid of man, but it is still something special to see this for yourself. Courting Nasca Boobies fought over how best to build their nest, whilst blue footed boobies sat unconcerned inches away from us with their tiny white fluffball chicks. We were also lucky enough to catch the Frigate birds in mating season, when the males display a magnificent red airbag-like sac on their chests, fully inflated to attract the female birds flying by.


Having not had the opportunity to snorkel for several years, the daily (sometimes twice daily) trips were a revellation to us, opening up a magical underwater world. Vibrant parrotfish, surgeonfish, wrasse, angelfish, pufferfish, eagle rays and numerous others were found all around each day and over the week we had the chance to swim with numerous turtles and even observe the Galapagos penguins underwater.

Off Santa Fe the sealions decided to come out to play with us, delighting in zooming by like torpedos, then turning and twisting all around us, curiously examining our fins, before porpoising off, then returning seconds later to do it all again. Most of the others spotted sharks on the second day, but I had no luck until day three when I decided to return to the water and was rewarded by the sight of 3 swimming by close togther. This was topped on the last day when we visited the best site of all, Devils Crown, where we swam in the crater of the submerged volcano. The water was fairly shallow there so we spent ages admiring the blue starfish, chocoate chip stars, conches, needle sea urchins etc on the seafloor. It was carpetted with a huge shoal of black striped salemas, which were being examined closely by several reef cornetfish, then suddenly parted as a white tipped reef shark languidly swam over them. We'd seen those sharks from the shore a few days earlier, but it was something special to have it swim by just a few metres away. After this taster, plans are rapidly forming to take scuba lessons in the next part of our trip so we can fully appreciate the sealife.

Due to its remate location, the Galapagos doesn´t have many mammals, apart from introduced ones like goats and pigs, which over the decades have caused numerous problems by eating the vegetation, destroying habitats and killing the young turtles and tortoises. Consequently, a significant part of any Galapagos tour is spent snorkelling and looking at birdlife, since it wasn´t whale season. Most of the islands do however have large populations of fur seals and sealions, many with pups around 6 months old, still being nursed by their mothers. They seem to have a great life, mainly sleeping, swimming, sleeping, eating, sleeping some more - you get the picture.


We did see some typical displays of young males, their testosterone levels already high, fighting each other, trying to establish the pack heirarchy at an early stage. The youngest ones still were full of childish curiosity, bounding up to examine us or playfully porpoising through the water at speed. To be honest though, having seen them en masse before, the novelty wore off towards the end of the trip, especially after one of the bulls decided to defend his territory somewhat vocally and went for our guide as we attempted to get back into the dinghy.

Midway through our trip we visited the Charles Darwin Research Centre, where we learned about the tortoise and land iguana breeding programmes being undertaken to help repopulate the islands where the natural populations were wiped out, largely due to the impact of the arrival of man. Our German guide, Angelica, was always keen to get her group first on the beach, so we arrived in time to see the impressive giant tortoises being fed and also to see Lonesome George, the last surviving Pinta island tortoise, in action.

Having had a pet toroise as a child, the size the adults can grow to was amazing in comparison. Later that day we went into the Highland to spot wild tortoises which were even more immense, munching on the local vegetation. On our way back, one half blocked the path and shrank back into its shell, hissing as we passed. Our guide assured us it wasn't an angry noise, just the sound of air being expelled so it could fit into the shell. However, having seen one at the centre take a chunk out of another's leg, we didn´t hang around long enought to verify this.

There were three yellow land iguanas to see at the centre, one female and two males, kept apart since the researchers can't establish if they come from the same subspecies or not. This didn´t stop the males trying to get the females attention, smiling at her and putting on their finest courting displays, bobbing up and down at the window between the pens. The fact it's not mating season didn't seem to be an issue - it's still unusually warm for the time of year. Both marine and land iguanas seem to smile, but it's especially visible on the yellow ones, who look permanently pleased to see you.


Having given up on finding a new species - my hopes were on encountering the lesser known Galapagos elephant - our attention was taken instead by the waved albatrosses. Smaller than the wandering albatrosses we saw in Antarctica, they nonetheless still have an impressive wingspan and are only able to launch thenselves into the air with the aid of the up currents from the edge of the high cliffs nearby. Again we were in luck, seeing their comedy courting rituals in action, as the pairs waddle, bob and weave together, clacking their beaks together and making skycalls.

The last few evenings onboard were spent savouring wine and good company on deck, watching the stars and sharing onward travel tips with our new found friends. Having been taken by the islands, not to mention the warm evenings after so many weeks at altitude, Luke and I decided to change our flights to spend a few days relaxing at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz. Waving goodbye to the others at the airport, we spent the next few days lazing around the town, watching dozens of pelicans eye up the fishmongers scraps, and boobies dive bomb fish in the harbour as normal laid back island life went on around us. We ventured out to Turtuga Bay, along the Great Wall of China-esque path to a sheltered bay where we swam for the last time, spotting more turtles, herons and iguanas. On return to the town, we discovered none of the cash machines were working, and prepared ourselves for a very frugal final night. The discovery of an emergency 20 dollars in the bottom of my rucksack came to our rescue though, as we enjoyed a hearty meal in the Calle de los Kiosks along with the locals, before resigning ourselves to a return to the reality of Quito.

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