Blogs from Galápagos, Ecuador, South America - page 2

14 fevrier, jour de la Saint Valentin ;) nous prenons l'avion à Guayaquil pour l'île de Baltra, où nous attend le catamaran de croisière TIP TOP II, nous sommes pris en charge à l'aéroport par 2 guides, Angelica, germanophone (12 personnes/16 du groupe sont allemands), et Eduardo, hispano/anglophone "appelez moi Edu, comme education, ça permet de s'en rappeler lol" Dès le premier jour, on s'en prend plein les yeux, petite virée à l'île de Mosquera, des otaries partout, des mamans allaitant leurs bébés, des mâles aboyant fort pour montrer leur territoire et leur pouvoir (comme d'hab), des iguanes marins, un squelette de baleine... on a oublié notre appareil photo sur le bateau et on s'en mord les doigts, mais bon, otaries et iguanes deviendront au fil des jours d'une banalité telle que plein d'autres occasions photos ... read more

Buccaneer Cove was a great place to wake up. A very full day yesterday resulted in a surprisingly decent sleep, despite apparently quite stormy conditions during the night. Panga cruise alongside the cliffs to see yet more seabirds, then more snorkelling, (see a pattern emerging here?) but this time in a sea cave. Massive shoals of fish but little not previously seen. Other folk saw white tipped reef sharks and 6' Lang Ray's, but I missed them this time. We sailed further north east for several hours, to tiny Rabida Island, before mooring in a sheltered bay for the afternoon's hike on Island. There were fantastic views, among lava rock and giant cactii. Beautiful pink flamingos on a green lagoon overlooking the unique red sandy beach, with Pelicans and Blue footed Boobies diving for fish in ... read more

Another rough night, and awoke to mild panic and a less than gentle chiding that I had forgotten to set the alarm....only 30 mins to get ready for breakfast and prepare for another busy day of activity.. We had moored in Elizabeth Bay on the west coast of Isabela..the largest island of the Galapagos. Our Panga took us on a gentle trip around the mangrove inlets, where we saw turtles, and many fish in the shallow water, many more birds, including Pelicans, penguins and the rare flightless cormorant. On return to the boat we were given the opportunity to jump in and swim or snorkel round the boat. The water was a little colder than before, despite being almost on the equator, due to us being now exposed to the cooler Cromwell Current coming from the ... read more

We awoke to find ourselves in beautiful Darwin Bay, on Genovesa Island, then transferred by Panga to Darwin beach for a hike round Genovesa which is mainly volcanic lava fields with dried up trees, some lagoons, and a beautiful beach, populated by sea lions, Marine Iguanas, and dozens of species of birds, many nesting on the ground shrub on the beach. These animals and birds have not learned to be afraid of humans, as the islands were totally uninhabited until relatively recently, and are 600 miles from the Ecuador coast. I could not believe that we could walk right up to them, including ground nesting birds, and they didn't flinch. In fact we had to be very careful not to stand on them at times! In the afternoon we snorkelled off the boat at El Barranco, ... read more

Arrived at Galapagos Seymour Airport on Baltra Island, mid morning and transferred to our Motor Yacht,'Yollita 2'. No one told us what happened to Yollita 1 and we didn't really want to know. Whilst putting on life jackets to board our Panga (motorised rib dinghy) to take us to the yacht, which would take us to the north coast of Santa Cruz island, we saw Galapagos Sea Lions, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, and Frigate birds. Yollita was a large motor yacht with 8 double guest cabins and a crew of 8. Our cabin was spacious although fairly basic, but with a good bathroom including large shower. After a decent lunch, we set off in the Pangas for our first exploration of the beach (Bachus beach) and some beach snorkel practice. Saw Red footed Boobies, frigate birds, marine ... read more