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Conversations with sea lions.....
Many years ago I sat in a highschool science classroom, my head full of giant tortoises, finches and Darwin. Ever since then I have wanted to visit the Galapagos Islands. They have certainly lived up to my expectations.
The journey began on San Cristobal Island. Our guide (Danny) took us down to the sea front for a walk to the interpretation centre and within minutes there were cries of delight and wonderment. Lazing on the doorstep of a cafe on the promenade were a sea lion and her baby. Cameras snapped wildly, most thinking it would be a rare sight. How wrong we were..... around the corner on the beach there were hundreds! And on the boats moored in the harbour, and on pontoons and on the jetty and on the rocks.... I couldn´t help thinking that Danny must get tired of his tour group´s slow realisation that wildlife is everywhere in his home town. But our childish excitement didn´t seem to bother him, perhaps just amuse him!
A short while later Tim and I decided to swim off some rocks along with another from our tour group (Michelle). We were treated to the most wonderful display by a juvenile sea lion who swam in and around us. As I ventured onto the rocks to exit the water, the sea lion perched in front of me. We had a good chat before he swam away to nuzzle Tim´s feet.
We were also able to swim with sea lions and numerous sea turtles the next day, before heading out to Kicker rock to float along with some white tipped reef sharks. The water was cold and I was glad we had wetsuits! Its a strange feeling floating along and then making out the sharks deep below you in the gloom. You think you´re OK with it and then your wetsuit cord floats in front of your face freaking you out and you s*** your pants (Tim).
Our third day began with the kind of boat ride my Dad would love (he likes to stand at the front of the Manly ferry in a drizabone during rough weather!). Though many of us professed a tendancy to sea sickness, it was unfortunately Dave who was a little worse for wear (the last time he was sick on a boat he was 5!). Luckily some dolphins chose that particular moment to leap in the wake of our boat, providing a welcome distraction. Had they not appeared I fear there would have been more casualties. Unfortunately at this time of year the sea is very rough, but on the plus side the visibility is much better. So if you´re visiting the Galapagos take your pick! We stopped for a snorkel off Floriana before heading to the island for a walk to a sea lion colony, where we saw more turtles, sea lions and marine iguanas.
Climbing a volcano in the heat of the day is not the best of ideas, but we did it! The Galapagos Islands are actually the top of volcanoes that extend to the sea floor. And the volcanoes are still active. We climed Sierra Negra on Isabella Island which last erupted in 2005. The scenery was bizarre; completely barren save for a few cactus´s. In the afternoon we saw our first giant tortoises in the breeding centre on Isabella. They are the most gentle looking creatures with old man faces. And like the sloth, they really are slow!
We snorkelled again the next day, spotting penguins, blue footed boobies and white tipped reef sharks. This time the reef sharks were only a metre below us. Much scarier than the first time, even though we knew they weren´t going to eat us!
I have to say at this point that the blue footed boobies are my favourite Galapagos creatures, mostly because of their divebombing fishing skills. They´re waterproof, so when they want food they cruise through the air until they spot their target; then they tuck in their wings and nose dive into the water to spear the fish with their long beaks. I could watch them for hours!
There were also lots of marine iguanas on Isabella, which are also pretty amazing. They can dive up to 10m and live off marine algae. They have no way of excreting the salt other than sneezing, so you often find them perched on the volcanic rocks by the sea, their heads white from all the salt sneezing, and their black skin motled red by the marine algae.
From Isabella we went to Santa Cruz, the most populated of all the Galapagos Islands, and my least favourite. I much preferred the quiet sandy streets of Isabella. We did see some giant tortoises in the wild here though which was a pleasure. Tim climbed into an empty shell and I can honestly say he´s the most handsome tortoise I´ve ever seen. Giant tortoises were on the decline after over exploitation (many people used to eat them) but through breeding programs over the last 20 years their numbers have steadily increased.
The last boat trip was the best with a fantastic snorkel on the way back to San Cristobal where we swam with more sea lions and white tipped reef sharks. The visibility was amazing and there were so many fish in the water. In addition, after our snorkel we were treated to the sight of a humpback whale. Not only did we see the flipper raised in the air, but the fluke as it dived. It gets better... the whale then breached and we saw most of it before it dived under our boat!
Our last day on San Cristobal was rather amusing. Tim and I headed to a local beach for a swim where we saw our first sea lion bust up. A male decided to challenge the alpha (sort of) and when the alpha realised, he crossed the beach at such speed that the challenger shat his sea lion pants and jumped over the rocks and several sea lions in a mad panic trying to escape. Sea lions are not the most graceful of creatures on land and this was frankly comical! A great way to finish up our trip to the Galapagos.
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