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Published: October 28th 2006
Seal Emulation
Make like a seal! Just flop.....i think she likes me....I am not really where to start…..writing about my experiences in the Galapagos. The beginning would probably be a good idea but starting to write by saying "in the beginning" is far too ominous, so will just jump right in I guess.
There are a few different ways to see the Galapagos Islands, however cruises are the most common and in the end most effective (you see more). Access to many of the islands is totally regulated and requires a licensed guide etc etc (which is probably a good thing as people wandering everywhere would make a terrible mess I am sure). The standard "packages" are 5, 8 and 10 days cruises but in actual fact you lose nearly two full days, as it takes a day to get there and the last day is rather short as they stop back on the main island in the morning (Isle Santa Cruz).
The Mariscal (Gringo/Tourist) district of Quito has about 500,000 tour operators all offering basically the same thing at different prices, and of course the price range for cruises in the Galapagos varies dramatically even when you are getting basically the same thing!... so after talking to a few
Avner and I Munching on Lobster
Galapogas Lobster!! MMMMmmmmmmm tourists and getting an idea of what you should pay for the kind of boat, food, itinerary (actually the itinerary does not vary radically) etc I hunted down what I thought was a pretty good deal (middle of the road).
I opted for the 8 day cruise, as I figured 5 would just not be enough and 10 on a boat is too much. The boat I chose (The Flamingo) was 10 berth, so the group is quite small (some of the MEGA "FOR OLD RETIRED PEOPLE CRUISES" pack over 100 people onto super luxury cruise boats! errrr no thanks). I was given an itinerary and a sticker and told to stick the sticker somewhere visible when I arrive on Isle Baltra, so off I went with sticker (and plane tickets) in hand.
Getting there
I flew from Quito, to Guayaquil, 3.5 hours ( I wont talk about the transit in Guayaquil which was almost a disaster as my hand luggage and my body were on different planes at one point) and then onto the Islands (there are two airports in the Galapagos, we landed on Isle Baltra which is basically just an airport and nothing
The Proud Seal
Isla Rabida, Galapagos..... else). Upon arrival, hundreds of people queued in fashion similar to clearing immigration after filling in forms (which resembled immigration documents), we had to fork out $100 USD for which we received a ticket (park entrance) with not so much as a chop in the passport :-( oh well. At this point, there were lots of tour operators running around madly trying to identify their tour victims. Needless to say, there were hundreds of people with different stickers stuck to various parts of their anatomy (heads, hats, shirts, etc) well I stuck my sticker on my chest and looked around for others with the same markings, but before I could find anyone some guy called me over (our soon to be guide for the next 8 days, Oswaldo) and continued to round up the rest of our crew (with equal efficiency) and so our initial complement included
- Anna and Ed (Brits)
- Rachel (British Malaysian)
- Avner (Israeli)
- Emma, Louisa and Danny (The Oxford Three, also Brits).
- Me.
The Oxford three earned their names as they were all students attending Oxford..... need I say more.
Actually the excess British quota, resulted in a shortage of tea (we
ran out on day 6, and there was nearly mutiny... but that’s another story).
Having collected our luggage, our guide bustled us onto a bus, then ferry (connection between Isle Baltra and Santa Cruz) and another bus. ( i really felt like a lemming by now) It was at this point that we really kind of started the tour that is, at the Giant Tortoise sanctuary (which also had giant cows). At this point, there was only the eight of us and a guide so it was kind of pleasant to be away from the hordes......
Now these babies (tortoises actually) weigh up to 250kg and live for over 200 years. Basically no human will see baby tortoise mature. Also their reproductive cycle doesn’t start until they are in their mid thirties so they are not exactly like rabbits. After taking lots of photos we all jumped back in the bus and headed for a lava tube, which is basically a big tunnel of extruded rock (yes I have photos).
Heading for the southern tip of Isle Santa Cruz, to our boat (not ship) there is a small town called Peurto Ayora , with a few shops,
A view to a kill
Volcan, xyz circa Isle Bartolome hostels, cafes, Internet cafes and so on.... it was here we picked up some additional supplies (munchies and cheap grog/wine)
Now the various islands of the Galapagos a fairly large and dispersed with the largest being Isle Isabella (approx 150km long) and the most remote islands being about 250km apart, many of which have no human inhabitants.
Taking our supplies (and packs) aboard our trusty boat "The Flamingo", we had a quick bite to eat, got to know each other a bit and then settled in for a 10 hour overnight voyage to isle Rabida.
Arriving at sunrise, I headed for the observation deck to see my first seals (adults and pups) rolling around on the red sands of Rabida, and a few huge pelicans and frigate birds floating overhead (actually the pelicans were basically resident in our dingy for most of the trip)
An "average" day in the Galapagos
At first I thought I would break down this log, day by day.... but this is really not practical as you simply see and do so much. The Galapagos is basically sensory overload in terms of flora and fauna on and off land. So
The Mighty Flamingo
Our trusty sea going vehicle instead, I will give you the basic itinerary and mention my all time top #5 highlights....
Each day consisted of the following.
1. Wake up and Land Visit 6.30am wake up, with 7am breaky and onto the dingy by 7.30am for a shore visit and tour (each day was a different island)
The land visitations usually lasted a few hours with our guide spotting various plants and animals and pointing out some of the geological formations. As our group was quite small (only 8) this worked quite well (rather than a stampede).
2. Back to the boat for snorkeling After returning to the boat, depending on where we were, we would raise anchor and move to a suitable snorkeling spot and then spend 1 to 2 hours in the water, after which we would get on board for a pre-lunch snack (these were really good).
3. Land Visit #2 Again depending on location, we would cruise for up to 3 hours for the next land visitation. This usually involved sunning your body on the top deck, having a quiet beer while photographing the frigate birds that hovered only a few meters above
Our Crew at Post Office Bay
Established in 1793, post cards to no where.... the boat.
You could also enjoy spotting pods of dolphins, the occasional manta ray, turtles, and even schools of plankton..... I was very lucky and managed to see a hump back whale ( I had a witness too so I’m not making it up…. but they only saw the tail.). We also managed a large pod of about 16 of dolphins.
Another few hours on land was followed by more snorkeling and by this time, we had had a pretty long day and were ready for some tucker and a glass of red (or two), cards and good conversation.
Most nights we would traverse to the next major island which was usually up to 10 hours cruising. We had only one night of really rough weather, and overall no one got really sick, just some slight nausea.
My All Time Top #5 Galapagos Experiences
#1 - Snorkeling with a seal pup on Isle Española
I spent about 45 minutes swimming with a seal pup; she would swim up to my mask (within about 10cm) and blow bubbles before turning tail and "running". These animals are so incredibly nimble in the water, that when you
attempt to mimic them, they make you feel like a Boeing 747 passenger liner (you, the human) Vs a
Mig29 (the seal) fighter in a dog fight. Well I attempted to "mimic" anyway and well, she got more and more confident getting closer and closer until she started to nip my wetsuit and fins (a bit like a puppy dog), brushing her flippers against my legs.
This was an amazing experience, something that cannot be appreciated unless you are there in the water....
#2 - Snorkeling with three Giant Green Turtles
On Isla Santiago, we were exploring the surrounding waters when we chanced upon three very large (over 1m long) green turtles feeding on the sea weed. We were approximately 2m away and well they could not have cared less. Watching them for about 10 minutes, they finished their feeding and slowly headed off into the depths. There was also a very large male seal lion in the waters about 10 feet long (3.5m) with a girth of 2 feet (0.6m) I think I got a bit too close, as he nipped my fins (after this, I kept my distance).
#3 - Isle Bartolome
Climbing to the
A pack of Iguanas
What can i say...? top of an extinct volcano cone/lookout, we were presented with superb views of isle Santiago, various volcanic pools, paper white beaches and no less than 15 smaller extinct volcano cones. The ground was like a moonscape.
#4 - The Volcanic Rock Pools of Isle Seymour Norte
Although Isle Seymour has sandy beaches, a large part of the coast is formed by volcanic flows which entered the sea. The waters edge consists of pitch black volcanic rock and lava bridges. It was here we encountered two seal pups playing in a small rock pool while there mum was sun baking nearby. These two fellas were just flopping around, blowing bubbles, squirting water and splashing about. I think i got at least 50 shots of these guys fooling around before moving on...... it was here we also spotted lots of bright orange crabs, sea iguanas and herons.
#5 - The Birds, Squawk Squawk!!
I’m not exactly a birdologist ( well not the ones with wings anyway ) however the variety of bird life and how tame they are (in fact all the animals in the Galapagos are ridiculously tame) has to be experienced first hand to be appreciated. My
Giant Tortoise meets Giant Cow
This padock aint big enough for the both of us..... favorites include, The Albatross, Blue footed boobies, Galapagos Hawk, Masked Boobies and Frigates
The Snorkeling
While snorkeling, we saw lots of rays (up to 2m), eagle rays, pipe and trumpet fish, parrots, white/black tip sharks various angel fish and all sorts of reef fish. We had a few days of excellent visibility (up to 50m) and a few days of average vis, but overall the snorkeling was excellent.
On top of all this there were various species of marine iguanas (red, orange, yellow), lizards, snakes and flamingos
*** End of Cruise Party! ***
Of course no cruise is complete without a party or two. So on the last night, we arrived back in Peurto Ayora and had a farewell party at the local pub/club (this place, was a few notches lower than clubbing in Pt. Macquarie in the early 90's - note, this is a private joke for Alan) lets just say that there was no cover charge and bare feet were okay, you only had to be human to qualify for entrance. The next day we were all pretty hung over..... it was at this point that the group split, with Ed, Anna, Avner
and I extending our stay and heading for Isle Isabella and the rest of the mob, heading back to the mainland.
Isle Isabella
Being the largest island, it can be reached by speed boat transfer (3 hours) and is one of the few islands that can be visited without guides. However once on the island some parts of the island require a guide.
Isabella is pretty much undeveloped with few roads, vehicles and no post office its population is approx 1,000 only (but they managed to build four churches!)
Arguably the highlight of visiting this island is
1. Vulcan Negro The largest active volcanic crater in the world, measuring 10km in diameter, it erupted a few years back.
2. The Seafood Really fresh, tasty and cheap.
Isabella is also a great place to chill out, as the accommodation is great value and there are few tourists (most people do the cruise thingy and leave!). So you can just wander down the virtually deserted pristine beaches or take a mountain bike down some of the nearby trails. There is also a tortoise breeding sanctuary where they have no less than 2,000 tortoises of
varying species and ages being bred (they are having trouble competing with the cows, which were introduced - no they didn’t float in on a log (the cows that is) like the rest of the animals, if you buy that story). The Galapagos hosts 15 tortoise species (of which 4 are now extinct), of these, several are found only on the Galapagos islands.
So that’s about it folks…. I uploaded a few select photos for your viewing pleasure, but it was a tough choice as I managed to snap about 3500-4000 shots during my time on the islands!
Next….onto PERU!!
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Amazing
The lobsters look absolutley"DELICIOUS"..mmmm. What a place ...What an adventure........ I do hope the "withdrawal symptoms" when you arrive back in KL won't be too difficult to handle...:-)