The Galapagos Experience (continued)

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Sunday 5.04.09
´Rough night on choppy seas, the boat rolled a lot but Iwas so tired I had no trouble sleeping. The engine was cut about 2:00 am and anchor dropped but there was quite a swell so the boat continued to roll. We had breakfast at 7:00 after which we went across to Español Island where we trekked for an hour and a half - saw different species of iguanas, sea lions, lizzards and a wide variety of birds( the Galapagos Albatros-with a wing-span of 1.5 mtrs, nasco and blue footed boobies, Galapagos doves and hawks ..to name but a few). ´Back to the boat for a snack, then sailed round to Gardner´s Bay and Rock where we did some snorkling. Besides some of the previousfish seen ´saw a giant turtle and two manta rays. At about 3:00 in the afternoon we went over to the beach where I lay on the sand among 50- 60 basking sea lions and read a book for a while, watched various species of crabs pass by leaving an usual trail before disappearing into a hole in the sand. Unfortunately got sunburnt, despite the sunblock - the sun is very strong especially between 9:00am and 4:00pm but it´s an idyllic postcard setting ....with clear blue water, white sand and the boat just off shore. Back on board I put some aloevera on for the sunburn; we had dinner and a chat with the passengers over a beer. We travelled overnight to Floreana Island.

Monday 6.04.09
The boat dropped anchor off Floreana at about 2:00 am. We were all so keen on snorkling that we were all up and in the water for 6:00am for an hour before breakfast. However the sun was not up fully so vision in the water was not good. After breakfast we went for a hike around the island. We had a look at the Old Post Office (which still operates... no stamps needed; visitors/guides post the cards for you! I took some to post back in the UK.). We saw some pink flamingoes and went trough a lava tunnel(tube) - a long dark tunnel under solidified magma. ´Back to the boat for a snack, after which we were in the water again snorkling for about two hours. I found a friendly Pacific green turtle and swam holding on to its shell, saw some more rays and played with a pair of sea lions....great! This was all around the Devil´s Crown - large outcrops of jagged volcanic rock some underwater others jutting out of the water ...lots of underwater caverns and coves. We swam over towards the coast line where we did some further snorkling and saw some species I hadn´t seen before - frogfish, batfish... ´Back to the boat for our last lunch together and then we journeyed to Santa Cruz - four hours away. As I was laying on the top deck reading (The Goodbye Summer ..Patricia Gaffney) Marcos shouted "Dolphins". I made my way down to the bow of the boat and hung over the rail - there were 2, 4, then 6 dolphins swimming in front of the fas-moving bow, playing with us. They´d turn over, jump out of the water and interchange places - fabulous to see and managed to get some photos. They swam off after about 15 minutes.
We were a cosmopolitan group - 4 Swiss, 1 German, 1 Japanese, 1 American(US), 1 Argentinian and myself and we gelled together well. Everyone was eager to try everything, considerate to each other and good fun, even though there was quite a span of ages and backgrounds.
We dropped anchor in the harbour of Puerto Ayora at about 5:30pm and had our last dinner together with a cocktail of bananna and rum, and a bottle of wine. After dinner some of us took the small boat to the mainland where we found a bar and had a few drinks together. While there I booked a place in a local hotel for the following night.

Tuesday 7.04.09
Up at six, finished packing and watched the sea lions hopping on and off other boats. The harbour was like a mill pond, disturbed only by the wake of the odd motorboat passing bye. After breakfast I left my luggage on board - the crew said they´d take it to the hotel for me. On the mainland we went to the Charles Darwin Foundation Centre where we saw many giant tortoises and iguanas in conservation areas - it seemed unnatural to see them confined, after seeing the rest in the wild. The giant tortoises were magnificent - huge, heavy, slow-moving and graceful. Alfonso gave a background history to the place and what they were planning for the future. The $100 entrance fee goes towards the continuing consevation and research. ´Said my goodbyes to the groupwho were travelling on to the airport to catch their plane back to Equador - all except Franco who was going on to Isabella (another island) in the afternoon. As I had a further 2 days before my flight back I decided to explore Santa Cruz. My luggage had not yet arrived at the hotel so I had a bite to eat with Franco wile he waited for his boat to Isabella. I tried a cobollo calmari (a conglomorate ball of shrimps and plantain - very nice) which seems to be a speciality of the Galapagos. As we had some time to spare we took a water taxi across the harbour and walked to Las Grietes - about 1km across volcanic rock through lovely scenery to a rock cove where people were bathing and snorkling. It was v. hot but we didn´t have our swimsuits with us so we went back to the town and had a drink. Franco got his boat to Isabella and I went back to the hotel for a siesta. 'Found an internet site and caught with some of the blog but on the island it was so slow, especially with uploading photos I had to give up after a couple of hours. After a pizza at a seafront restaurant I had an early night - v.warm humid night !

Wednesday 8.04.09
Puerto Ayora, though not the capital of the islands, has the largest population (10,000). After a long shower I still felt as though I had my sea legs. ´Had breakfast a local cafe - no arepas or empanadas so I had an egg ballon with coffee. ´Hired a bicycle for the day ($15) and decided to to go inland to look at some lava tubes and hunt for some tortoises in the wild. As I didn´t want to cycle the full 17km to the lava tube I got a taxi part of the way. All the taxis on the island are 4X4 pick-up trucks so I put hte bike in the back and travelled to Santa Rosa, a small village where the road ran out. I cycled the further 2km along the road which they were in the process of building. It was tough going and it didn´t help when, as I was going up a steep hill, the chain came off and I came off the bike. Apart from a couple of scratches adn a torn shirt I was fine. However it took me longer than I expected to get the chain back on and ended up with very dirty, oily hands. Eventually got to El Chato where the entrance to the tunnell was. At El Chato there was a restaurant in a lovely position overlooking the surrounding area. The owner also owned the land where the tunnel was. I cleaned up, bought a Coke and paid the entrance fee to the tunnell (only$2). Fortunately there were electric lights in the tunnel as I was alone and it went down to about 40m below ground. The tunnel itself was amazing and took about 20 minutes to walk through, some of it very low with water dripping from the roof of it; the floor was solidified waves of lava. ´Came out the other side and walked back to El Chato where I finished my Coke and had a chat with a National Park Guide who had just arrived with a group of Japanese. She strongly advised against going into the park area to hunt for tortoises as many people in the past had got lost and some are still missing! I said I might see some on private land if I cycle further down the unmade road, which i did, but no sign of any. ´Cycled back to Santa Rosa where I had arranged forthe taxi to meet me. When I reached it I was really hot and hungry so I found a small general store (the only one in the village) and bought an orange juice and a bun with chocolate in the centre. The bun had just come out of the oven and was hot and fresh. I sat in the shade and enjoyed it. No sign of the taxi, so I continued on the bike. After a few stops, and just over an hour I reached Bellavista (another small village) where I found another store, and bought a drink. While sipping it on a chair outside the store who should pull up only the taxi driver, apologising profusely for being late. I took the taxi the last few kilometres into Purto Ayora, ´had a siesta for about 20 minutes and took the bike back to the hire shop, where I was partly reimbursed when I complained about the gears and the chain. I had a walk along the seafront to where soem fishermen were gutting and preparing some of their catch. They were surrounded by a motley collection - two sea lions, two pelicans, a stork and a variety of smaller birds.. all waiting for scraps from the table . One of the sea lions was upright with his head resting on the table where the fishermen were working ... unfortunately I hadn´t my camera with me.
´Took a taxi as close as I could to Toruga Bay as I wanted to have a swim but found when I got out of the taxi I had a further 30 minutes walk to get to the beach. The paved path to it was surrounded by lovely scenery and saw a variety of colourful birds. ´Went straight in for a swim when I got there, but couldn´t go out too far or stay in long as the currents and the waves were strong...however really envigorating! ´Made a hasty return as they were closing off the beach area at 6:00, to allow the turtle to come ashore. ´Had a seafood meal with rice and an early night ..so tired after an energetic day.

Thursday 9.04.09
Early start at six to ensure getting to the plane on time. I had to to the airport which was the other side of the island; this meant getting a taxi to the bus terminal, a bus to the ferry, the ferry across the channel and then another bus to the airport. It all went like clockwork, fortunately. I checked in, ´caught the 10:30 flight to Quito with a 45minute stop in Guayaquil and landed at 3:10pm. ´Checked in at 9th October Hotel (Martha & Guido´s) and had a domestic evening.

Friday 10.04.09
´Had breakfast in the hotel and caught the ecovia (double length bus with its own lane) to the historic centre where I plan to see the Good Friday Procession around the city centre. There are lots of people in the city for it and all businesses and shop are closed today. It starts at midday and finishes at four.

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Photos

Sea Lion ..just out of the water
Sleek wet and shiny as she comes out of the sea ready to bask in the warm sun.

Young Nazda Booby
They are like their blue footed sisters and are common on most of the islands. They nest on flat areas ringed with guana.

A Blowhole on Floreana
The incoming waves send a huge spray of seawater in the air as they are confined to the crevices of the rocks.

Perched Pelicans
These two pelicans followed our boat and perched themselves on the small towed boat, waiting and watching for some unexpecting fish.

Our Group on the Flamingo Boat
We were ten including the guide (Alfonso) - second from the right. This was on the beach at Español, as we came ashore before our hike.

Sunset in Gardner´s Bay
Sunrises and sunsets were beautiful ...picture postcard scenes. This one has Gardner´s Rock in the foreground.

Giant Tortoises at Charles Darwin Centre
It was easy to get close up to these at the centre. They were magnificent creatures .. some even older than me...!

Entrance to a Lava Tube
On my way down to the entrance of one of the lava tubes. These are amazing rock formations from molten lava.

Post Office on Floreana
This is an unusual post office which is still in operation; cards are left unstamped and collected by visitors & guides and posted on.