Galapagos - "More Caribbean than the Caribbean"

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Galapagos was probably top of the list of places to visit on our 6 month trip and it has proved to be a real highlight. The Galapagos Islands are 1000km off the coast of Ecuador, but are part of Ecuador and probably THE biggest tourist attraction the country has. We had decided to treat ourselves with our Galapagos trip, spend a bit more money and do something a bit more adventurous. So we booked an activity based trip, which meant that we were on land at night, but we travelled around between the islands during the day, covering quite a distance and including plenty of activities such as moutain biking, hiking, kayaking and the real highlight - snorkelling.

We met up with the rest of the group in a hotel in Quito the night before, for a briefing and then for an introductory dinner. The group consisted of two groups together because neither group was at full capacity, so we ended up with Richard, from just around the corner from us in Wandsworth (small world!), Didi and Lea from the US, and Barbara, Sharon and Barbara from Vancouver, Canada. An interesting mix of people, but the week turned out to be great fun and there was much fun and Caipirinas!

We flew from Quito via Guayaquil (on the Ecuadorian coast) and to San Cristobal Island where we were met by Tim our Kiwi guide (Kiwis get everywhere!) This is where the action-packed tour began. We were whisked off to lunch, where we were treated to Stock Aitken and Waterman's finest productions, pumpkin soup and local grilled fish. Then it was straight off up into the highlands of San Cristobal for a mountain bike trip back downhill and to the beach; where we saw our first Galapagos sealions. We were all amazed at how close you could get to them and most of us left the beach with a couple of hundred photos of sealions! Little did we know that all you have to do is walk along the seafront and you have to step over the sealions making themselves comfortable on the pavement!! They really are the true inhabitants of the islands.

Day 2 dawned and after an early breakfast, we headed off on the boat (30ft speedboat with 3 x 250 horsepower engines). We cruised close to the coast to spot Blue-Footed Boobies and Pelicans on the cliffs before stopping at a lovely sheltered and shallow bay, called Isla del Lobos, where we did our first snorkelling. Again, we were all thrilled to see sealions swimming, huge turtles, starfish and an abundance of beautifully coloured fish. The water was pretty cold at only around 20 degrees C, but in shorty wetsuits and with so much to see, an hour flew by. Then it was back on the boat and at top speed out to Kicker Rock, in the middle of the sea, where there is a deep channel between the rocks. Back in the water again, it was pretty rough, but we were hoping to see Hammerhead sharks here. Unfortunately, as we swam round the corner into the channel it became apparent that the visibility was zero and it was getting rougher, so we headed back, dissapointed not to have seen the sharks.

Day 3 meant it was time to head to another island, so we set off again on our boat for 3 hours, heading to Isabela Island. On the way, we stopped off for some snorkelling at a place which turned out to be one of the highlights. The place was called 'Champion' and as we jumped into the water we were literally surrounded by beautiful tropical fish. After only a couple of minutes, Sarah spotted something swimming deep below us and called to Tim, our guide "Tim, there's a fish down here with white tips!" They were White-tipped Reef Sharks and there were 8 or 9 of them cruising around below us near the rocks. Here we also swam with some beautiful and playful sealions. They swim around you and blow bubbles, then look at you sideways asking you to come and play.

Isabela is the biggest of the Galapagos islands and has a fantastic laid back feel - a beautfiul lagoon harbour with mangroves down to the water, sand roads and beautiful flowers everywhere "More Caribbean than the Caribbean" according to Steve.
Our next day on Isabela saw us on a day hike up the Sierra Negro Volcano, starting in a very cool and damp mist, climbing up to to therim of the crater, where the mist magically cleared, giving a spectacular view across the 10km wide crater (the second largest in the world after Ngoro Ngoro). Having trekked round half the rim of the volcano, we stopped for lunch under a huge tree, where we were the main attraction for the Galapagos hawk who had selected the tree as his perch for the day. He spent ages posing for photos, hopping between branches, coming closer and closer to inspect the strange species dining under his tree. After lunch, we descended into lava lands created by the last eruption in 2005. It was an eerie moonscape land glittering with black and red volcanic rock and sparsely populated by cacti.

It was a long, hot and dusty slog back up and round the volcano by the route we had come and we agreed that we definitely prefer circular treks! Back down in town, we headed back to our favourite beach bar to drink well-earned Caipirinhas and watch the sunset.

Our next day on Isabela took us first just across the harbour to a volcanic reef, where we disembarked and saw Galapagos penguins, watched marine iguanas feeding on seaweed and more white-tipped reef sharks sleeping in the shallow calm waters….little did we know that next stop was ‘Shark Alley’!

The instructions were clear and to be obeyed - it’s a very narrow and shallow channel, so pull yourself along with your arms. Don’t kick with your fins, you’ll stir up the sand and see nothing. Move slowly or you’ll agitate the sharks! As we swam into the channel, it narrowed to only a metre wide and the water depth was probably about a metre and a half. The channel was full of white tipped reef sharks, meandering around sleepily and passing underneath us with centimetres to spare! Some of them were around 2 metres long and on seeing us they decided not to swim towards us but to turn around and swim back. Now we were in a narrow channel with about 40 agitated reef sharks! Tim, our guide, was at the front with the underwater video - have a look at the video here!

Shark Alley was going to be hard to beat and we swam out of the channel to a sandy reef, where we then got back into the water. It was pretty rough at first, with breaking waves, but we swam around into the sheltered lagoon and spent nearly 2 hours swimming around watching turtles, sealions, starfish and there was even a star appearance by a swimming penguin. All in all, a very good morning’s snorkeling, knocking ‘Champion’ to 2nd place!

The afternoon saw a trip to a giant tortoise breeding centre. It was interesting, but the marine animals are much more interactive!

The following day, we set off again on the boat for the island of Santa Cruz, a smallish island, but with the biggest town and population. This was another harbour with turquoise water and mangroves. After lunch, we set off for Tortuga beach and to do some kayaking. From the end of the road, there was a 2km long path leading to the beach and the walk was well worth it! Tortuga beach is a long sweeping, white sand beach with rollers crashing onto the shore. Another 1km walk along the beach and you reach the mangrove swamps and the most beautiful lagoon. We jumped on the kayaks and paddled around looking for more of our white-tipped shark friends, we watched a school of rays in the middle of the lagoon, one of them jumping out of the water to show us a couple of backflips.

Our final day gave us the opportunity to visit the Darwin research station, which is on Santa Cruz Island and we saw the famous Giant Tortoise, Lonesome George, who is the only one of his species left across all the islands. They are hoping that he will breed with one of his girlfriends - Georgina and Georgetta, who are most similar to him, so that the name Lonesome George will live on. We also saw another Giant Tortoise called Super Diego, who has been busy and is father to hundreds of baby Giant Tortoises!
Then it was time for a quick lunch before heading off back to San Cristobal Island, where we had started. We stopped off for snorkeling on our way and had fun swimming with the sealions again. Sarah was particularly relieved not to see the Bull Shark which Tim, our guide had seen in that spot a number of times before!!

That evening we had a final dinner to celebrate an amazing trip and after some free time the next morning, it was back to the airport and a flight back to Quito.

The Galapagos Islands are a truly beautiful paradise with some amazing wildlife. They have had a history of exploitation and have been claimed by many people over the centuries. Now part of Ecuador, they still need protection from exploitation - overfishing still occurs and there is a great deal of corruption. There is talk of the government restricting tourism to the islands, but it seems unlikely, given that tourism is the primary source of income. It’s definitely a once in a lifetime visit, and worth every $!

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