Galapagos Islands - 23-27 Mar 2014

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March 27th 2014

Published: June 20th 2014

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AJ amandajane

Getting There

An early morning flight from Quito

Sunday 23^rdMarch (Odyssey Day 135)

After 135 days travelling the roads of South America in a converted truck, it was about time for a vacation. And so the majority of the group headed off for a break from our life on the road. This mini holiday within a holiday was spent in the beautiful Galapagos Islands, where the yacht ‘Darwin’ became our home for four unforgettable nights of amazing wildlife, beautiful scenery and fantastic food.

First however, we had to get there and so our taxi this morning was at 0300, as one of the hotel staff said it might take 1 ½ hours to get to the airport. Mind you, another said it was 45 minutes. In the end it took us about 35 minutes, due to our rather speedy driver and the completely empty roads. We felt just arriving alive at the airport was achievement enough at this point and were rather reluctant to seemingly put our lives on the line again by getting onto another vehicle in Ecuador.

There are 12 of us on this trip,

Galapagos

The yacht 'Darwin'

with 3 others on a different boat tomorrow, and 3 left in Quito. Arriving at the airport so early meant we had a lot of time to waste, as the Galapagos counter didn’t open until 0500. Fortunately most of us had brought breakfast with us, as the food prices here were extortionate, even for an airport.

Our flight was with AeroGal, departing at 0630. There was a $10 fee for travelling to the Galapagos and then we went through security. All checked luggage was first scanned and then fastened closed. Understandably there are no fruits, vegetables, nuts or grains permitted onto the archipelago. I was able to get a window seat here which was nice, and we saw the country slowly lighting up from the windows of the plane. The plane made a stop en route and we waited on board for about 30 minutes while some people disembarked, and others joined us. The next fight was longer and we got some breakfast at this point, which was needed after such an early start.

Time goes back an hour on the Galapagos and we arrived around

Galapagos

The 'Darwin' captain, crew and guide

0900 local time. Here we had to pay the US$100 entrance fee for the Galapagos National Park. The Galapagos are actually an archipelago formed from volcanic activity and the movement of tectonic plates. Situated on the equator, there are about 20 islands in the archipelago, five of which are inhabited, and many more small islets. The Galapagos became a national park in the 1950’s and as of 1978 the islands were named a UNESCO World Heritage site and to explore all of them would take months. Since we only had a few days, our naturalist guide took us around just a few of the islands. Traffic here is strictly regulated – just a limited number of boats permitted in a strictly controlled number of areas/islands. Every boat must have a guide who works for the National Park and whose job is to not only show the tourists around, but also ensure they obey the rules.

Arriving on the island of Baltra, we got a very crowded bus to a ferry, a ferry across the channel to Santa Cruz Island and then jumped into some utes for a 45 minute drive across the island

Galapagos

Eagle ray

to Puerto Ayora where we would meet our guide Alberto. This is where we jumped aboard the dinghy and got our first view of the yacht we would spend the next four nights and five days aboard.

The ‘Darwin’ is a 28m motorised yacht, able to host 16 guests in 8 twin cabins with private bathrooms. There is a lovely lounge and dining area which is air-conditioned and some covered seating up on the top deck as well. All in all a very comfortable place to spend a few days. The dinghy went back for the rest of our group and those of us in the first lot, had a quick look around the yacht and saw our first glimpse of wildlife. A brown pelican sitting on a buoy out back of the boat, and a rather large eagle ray gliding past. We have been looking forward to this part of the trip for months and now we are finally here.

Once we were all on board, we were given our cabin numbers. The 4 other guests who were not part of our group were given

Galapagos - Santa Cruz Island

AJ, Johnny, Andrew & Mike make friends with a sea lion

the cabins on the top deck and the rest of us paired off and drew lots. Ellie and I (along with Hannah and Ann) were lucky enough to get the outside cabins on the main deck while everyone else got the lower inside cabins which are at sea level. Ellie was kind enough to offer to take the top bunk, since she didn’t think I’d even be able to get up there – they were quite high up and everyone knows how short my legs are.

Once everyone was settled in their cabins, we had lunch on board and from the quality of this meal, we are going to be very well fed indeed. Then we were taken back to the island for our first activity with our guide Alberto.

The animals of most of the islands have few natural predators and are completely unfazed by humans and it is therefore easy to get close without scaring them. Alberto’s two simple rules for the trip were to always stay on the path, and to remain 2m from the animals. Mind you we later found this much

Galapagos - Santa Cruz Island

AJ in the shell of a giant tortoise

easier said than done when the iguanas sit in the middle of the path and the baby seals follow along behind us…

We were taken to see the craters on Santa Cruz and the various trees growing at different altitudes on the island. Since the islands are all volcanic, the terrain is quite different to what we have previously seen.

Next, we headed to a privately owned place where we could see some Santa Cruz tortoises wandering around the grounds. We took a walk through the area and saw some rather large ones plodding slowly along. They also had some tortoise shells, which gave us an idea of their size. They just keep getting bigger and bigger as they age. Each island that has tortoises, have slightly different ones. They have slowly evolved in isolated groups and therefore are all slightly different according to which island they are on. Since they don’t swim, they have never been able to interbreed. There are ten subspecies remaining, all others have died out. These reptiles can reach over 400kg in weight and grow to be nearly 2m in size

Galapagos - Santa Cruz Island

These things are huge

and it is quite amazing to see them in the wild. They were once commonly taken as food for sailors as they could be held alive for over a year without being fed and still provide a lot of meat.

Having seen our first tortoises, we had an hour in the town of Puerto Ayora to do some souvenir shopping and send some postcards. This was definitely the most expense place for postage, with a stamp to Australia costing $3. After this, we headed back to the yacht for a briefing of the next day and then a delicious dinner. The food here is definitely first class.

Monday 24^th March (Odyssey Day 136)

This morning we woke to a beautiful bright day and had our breakfast at 0700. By 0800 we were out on the dinghy taking our first view of some blue footed boobies and then being landed on Islote Tintoreras, where we saw so many marine iguana’s and bright red sally lightfoot crabs it made our heads spin. They were laying in piles

Galapagos - Santa Cruz

A stunning sunset over Puerto Ayora

on the rocks and over the path, enjoying the morning sunshine. We then went for our first dip into the warm waters, snorkelling around the area we just walked. We saw sea lion, star fish, rays, and tropical fish. Life doesn’t get much better than this.

After a lovely lunch we went to Isabela Island, where we had a brief tour of the ‘wall of tears’. This is an old prison camp where the prisoners had to build the wall with hard labour. Many died, as they had to bring the rocks for the wall a very long distance, as well as carving the lava rock itself – not an easy job. However, they did also manage to build the wall curved in order to make it easier to escape.

The lagoon we visited in order to see some flamingos only had 2 birds in it today, but at least we have seen them. A pink bird is a pink bird, and personally I’m much more interested in the tortoises and iguanas. This was also our chance to visit the breeding centre on the island and

Galapagos - Islote Tintoreras

A little golden lava lizzard

see the Isabela tortoises there, where they are raised for a couple of years before being released into the wild. We then had 30 minutes, in the town of Puerto Villamil, which was just enough time to post some postcards and have a drink on the beach before heading back to the ‘Darwin’ for dinner.

Tuesday 25^th March (Odyssey Day 137)

Another beautiful morning saw us taking a trip to Rabida Island, where we had a wet landing – simply meaning our feet got wet when we landed so we had to carry our shoes and put them on after arriving on the island. The island had a red sand beach and red cliffs with some very large cactus. Just two boats can berth here at a time, and the other was an old style sailing ship.

After seeing the various birds and cactus on this island, we went snorkelling around the cliff. This is where we saw lots of white tipped reef sharks, inquisitive sea lions and colourful starfish. It was beautiful and it’s

Galapagos - Islote Tintoreras

A pile of black and grey Marine Iguanas

nice that we are not in any hurry and can enjoy our time in the water. The equipment they hire out to us is quite good and some of us opted for a wetsuit as well. This makes it easier to spend more time in the water, and helps avoid sunburn as well.

For lunch today, we were served ceviche, a local dish of South and Central America consisting of seafood cured in citrus juices. Oddly enough, it was served with popcorn – something that drew a few confused glances from most of us until the crew told us that you eat the ceviche with popcorn. A bit odd but delicious none the less.

After lunch we moved to Dragon Hill, and we all gathered at the front of the yacht to watch the dolphins that decided to escort us there. We had a chance to walk on the island here and see the yellow and orange land iguanas. These ones are more wary as they have introduced predators and competitors on this island, such as wild dogs and donkeys.

Galapagos - Islote Tintoreras

A bright sally lightfoot crab

We had the opportunity here to go swimming out the back of the boat and most of us took advantage of it. The water is lovely and warm though the current is quite strong. The crew ran a rope out from the back of the yacht for those in the group who weren’t confident swimmers, so they could still enjoy the water without the worry of being carried away by the current.

This evening before dinner we moved to Black Turtle Cove so as to be ready for an early start there tomorrow. Dinner tonight we were able to enjoy some freshly made pizza and a few drinks on deck before retiring to our cabins. Shortly after, we were brought from our cabin by the excited yells of Hannah. A pelican and a couple of sea lion were feeding on fish at the back of the boat. We could stand and watch the whole food chain in motion – there were little inch long fish swarming in the light of the boat, slightly bigger fish of about 3-5” in length feeding on them with the occasional bigger fish flying through. The pelican

Galapagos - Islote Tintoreras

Galapagos penguins

dove off the dingy at regular intervals after the medium fish and the sea lion chased the bigger fish, sending them flying out of the water and providing us with quite the show.

Just as we thought it couldn’t get any better, we saw a baby sea turtle! It seemed to be eating the tiny fish, and kept going under the boat then coming back into the light. It was only about 4” long and some of the girls were worried it might get eaten but fortunately for their peace of mind, the pelican and the sea lion seemed far more interested in the fish. We all like to optimistically (and rather naively) think that he will manage to survive for many years to come.

Wednesday 26^th March (Odyssey Day 138)

We broke into two groups this morning and at 0800 the first group went out on a dinghy safari. It would be 1 ½ hours and Ellie and I were in this first group. We went around the mangroves where we saw a lot

Galapagos - Islote Tintoreras

Who's giving directions?

of pelican, some baby black tipped reef sharks, golden rays barely visible under the water, blue footed boobies flying past, and some sea turtles under the water. We were then treated to the sight of some sea turtles mating, which meant we could actually see their heads and shells rather than just glimpsing their heads as they come up to breathe. It was an amazing sight with the male very visible out of water, and the female mostly submerged. Three other males were swimming around harassing them and paying the dinghy no mind at all.

After getting back to the boat and seeing off the second group, I went swimming out the back of the yacht with Ellie & Hannah. There was an even stronger current today and you could see the fish swimming below us. It was really deep but quite a few puffer fish hang around the yacht. Ellie screamed a lot, which served to set off Hannah. It was just too easy to tease them about sharks. Even the crew thought us amusing, and stood on deck laughing at us.

After lunch we

Galapagos - Isabella Island

The wall of tears

moved to Chinese Hat Island, where we first went snorkelling and saw lots of fish, a sea lion that followed us, and many sleeping sharks. A few of us elected to swim all the way back to the boat while others climbed into the dinghy to avoid the rougher, deeper water.

We then went for a walk on the island, over three different types of lava to see some sea lions, where we spotted a few babies. The babies are often left for days on shore while their pregnant mothers are in the water feeding. Before leaving we had to check that neither Hannah nor Ellie had managed to slip a baby sea lion into their hand luggage, as it was rather difficult to drag them away. They were rather cute though and the little baby kept following after us, wanting some attention.

Tonight we took the opportunity to thank the captain and his crew for a wonderful time. Then it was time to pack our bags, pay our bar tabs and have one last night on the yacht.

Galapagos - Isabella Island

A very pink flamingo

Thursday 27^th March (Odyssey Day 139)

Those who were interested, met at 0630 on the front of the yacht though a couple of us were up earlier to watch the sun rise. It was red this morning and very beautiful. We sailed around a couple of small rock islets to see a multitude of birds nesting. We saw many boobies, gulls and frigate birds, along with some sea lions up high. They get up there when the tide is high and then stay up there during the day. It’s quite a safe place for the babies to be when waiting for their mothers to return with food.

After our last breakfast we left the yacht and took a bus to the airport, where we arrived around 0900. Our flight isn’t until the afternoon though and we couldn’t check in until 1130, so we all settled in to relax, have a drink, read a book or do some souvenir shopping. And then it was time to head back to the real world. Well sort of, as close to the real world as any