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The land that time forgot
Wow, wow, wow! I knew this was going to be amazing, awesome, stunning, spectacular, out of this world....but I didn't quite know how much. What a fabulous place. We arrived on our boat via plane, mini ferry, taxi and zodiac - it was a 22 berth G4 but there were only 10 of us on it - plus 9 crew - the naturalist guide (Wilo), 2 chefs (Avel and Edison), 2 sailors (Alfredo and Arnaldo), the cabin boy (Francisco), the waiter/barman (Wilma - the male version!), the mechanic (Nixon) and they were all led by our captain, none other than Darwin so I think we're in good hands!! There was a mixed bag of passengers - myself and Vee, 2 older Kiwi ladies, 3 baby Norwegians beauties, a Scottish lady and her brother and an Ozzie girl. The boat was really nice with a top sun deck, covered sun deck and 4 cabins (that's where Vee and I were) and then the main deck has the lounge area and dining room and below deck there are further cabins. We all have ensuite cabins and the showers are possibly the hottest and best we have had for a while! The food was absolutely wonderful and the service also great. We got breakfast at 7am, a snack after our first activity, 3 course buffet lunch, further snacks in the afternoon and a huge 3 course (and more!) buffet dinner!. Basically we got fed about every 2/3 hours! So much for trying to be fit and healthy! In fact, all we seemed to do was sleep, eat, look at some fluffy and not so fluffy creatures, eat, sleep, eat, look at more fluffy and not so fluffy creatures, seat, sleep, eat, sleep and so the cycle started again - heaven!!! Not even much drinking took place as I was nodding off by 8.30pm which I think was a combination of the fresh sea air and rocking boat and the influence of the motion sickness pills - still, 10 hours of sleep every night can't be bad!
So, the Galapagos Islands - set in a volcanic hotspot right on the equator, they are moving several inches southeast every year via the Nazca tectonic plate. Some islands are disappearing and dying while new islands are being created. The islands were discovered about 500 years ago and when people first landed there, they thought it was a prehistoric land and very unwelcoming. It was Darwin, of course, who made them famous when he published his 'The Origin of Species' in 1859. Mass tourism began in 1970. The islands are truly unique in the biodiversity - there are 140 species of birds, 2,250 invertebrates (50% of which are endemic) and over 400 types of fish. Because of the lack of fresh water sources and the barren landscape, there are very few land mammals, only around 8 species, including the bat, rat, feral dog and donkey. Most of those probably arrived here on boats. The word Galapagos actually means 'tortoise' in Spanish - well, did you ever?
Day 1 - Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz
After a flight from Quito, a small ferry, a taxi ride and a zodiac, we finally arrived on the boat just in time for lunch then set off to the highlands of Santa Cruz where there are wild giant tortoises. On the way, our taxi driver stopped and shouted 'tortuga' which actually means turtle but we knew what he meant. It was huge and just there by the side of the track. He told us that it was probably 400 years old, which we believed until our guide told us that they generally only live to be around 150 years max! There are 11 species of giant tortoises on the Galapagos and only about 20,000 left on the islands. Some of them can grow to be 250kg! We saw about 5 or 6. They were pretty cool - prehistoric, chomping away at the grass, oblivious to us staring at them. Apparently they used to be taken aboard ships in the olden days as food - they can last for months on end without any food or water so the sailors could always have fresh meat.
We then went to a lava tube which is like a huge underground tunnel, created by molten lava as it pours from a volcano. There are probably loads of them on the Galapagos but they are only ever discovered when they collapse. It was pretty cool - about 12-15 feet high and maybe 6 feet wide. At the end there was a very low part that we had to crawl through (getting filthy in the process!) but it was definitely interesting to see.
That night was a shocker for me. We were anchored in the harbour but the sea was pretty rough and I started to feel queasy (and I'm supposed to be the sailor! Vee had stocked up on pills as she thought she would suffer!). So, I christened both side of the boat and the toilet and missed out on the welcome cocktail and delicious dinner - boooo.
Day 2 - Sante Fe and Plazas Island
We had a rough night as we had set sail at around 3am. It was so rough that I thought I was going to fall out of bed. Survived though (and no more christenings!). After breakfast we were waiting to leave the boat when a pelican suddenly landed on the side - he just sat there nonchalantly minding his own business - great! Got the zodiac to Santa Fe where there were loads of sea lions sunbathing on the beach. Some of the younger ones were surfing on the waves and thoroughly enjoying themselves. There are around 25,000 sea lions on the islands, some of the males can grow up to 250kg. Fur seals are much smaller growing to a maximum of 100kg - there are only around 6-8,000. They were fantastic - cuddling eachother with their flippers, growling when they got on eachother's nerves and just generally enjoying a happy and peaceful life! We also saw a number of birds including the mocking bird, blue footed boobies (tee hee!), and the endemic Galapagos dove and cactus finch. As if that wasn't enough, we saw some land iguanas - true dinosaurs, looking like mini stegosaurus - fab! There were also lots of cactus trees called the opuntia (or prickly pear) cactus.
We got back to the boat and went snorkelling - oh my God! Sea lion upon sea lion playing with us in the water. Awesome! Of course, it was at this point that my waterproof camera decided to break - couldn't have done it last week or 2 days ago, oh no, it had to wait til I got to my paradise destination to do it - bloody typical! I was devastated as I also only had a huge zoom for my SLR so couldn't take any landscape shots or anything large that was close by. Anyway, despite having no photographic memories, it was fantastic - the sea lions were making eye contact with their huge, big-lashed eyes and twisting and turning, copying what we were doing. I think we all experienced a 'moment' with a sea lion - very emotional experience, similar to my dolphin swim in NZ.
After lunch we went to Plazas Island where we saw more sea lions, more land iguanas and lots of birdlife - swallow tail gulls that have red rings around their eyes for seeing as they are the only nocturnal gulls, red billed tropic birds which have long white tails, frigate birds and lava gulls. We also saw some tiny lava lizards and marine lizards. Marine lizards can dive up to 30 feet in one breath for 10 minutes - just to eat the algae from the bottom of the sea! Everywhere we stopped there were brightly coloured crabs scurrying around - sally light foot crabs - bright red and speckled orange with very comical faces. The red and yellow 'carpet' you might see on some of my pics is called sea purslane, also known as carpetweed.
Day 3 - Cerro Dragon and Bartolome
I got up early to do some crunches (got to after all the food I've been eating!) on the upper deck and there were some frigate birds sitting there. There was a male and clearly his female as he kept chasing all of the others away, including a young female who was finding it a struggle to land. It's truly amazing how not bothered all of these birds and animals are and they just coexist without any fear.
Another early start as we got the zodiac ashore to Cerro Dragon on Santa Cruz which is home to lots of marine and land iguanas. It's also home to a few flamingos although they weren't home today! The land iguanas were a lot bigger than the ones we saw yesterday but they were equally as lazy and 'not bothered'! The landscape on this island was very dry and barren and full of volcanic stones scattered all over the ground. We also saw more mockingbirds and a ground finch and some painted locusts.
Sailed for a few hours until we reached Bartolome which is home to Pinnacle Rock, the remains of a volcanic cone (made entirely of ash) and what some would say is the most famous landmark of the Galapagos (can't say I'd heard of it or seen a picture before but there you go!). The island was formed by 2 barren cinder cones, connected by beaches. On the way to shore we spotted some Galapagos penguins, the world's only tropical penguins, of which only 800 pairs exist here. 2 of them were apparently mating but it was over so quickly, you wonder why they would bother! On land you could clearly see the volcanic history with the remains of lava streams in the hillsides and lots of ash underfoot. There was little growing there except for lava cactus which looked like woolly socks to me!
We got back to the boat to pick up our snorkelling gear and headed out to the beach next to Pinnacle Rock. The visibility wasn't good but we did manage to see 1 penguin whizzing underwater (which I may or may not have captured on my crappy disposable underwater camera - we'll see when the pics get developed!) and a few fish. We went to shore and walked to the other side of the spit where there were sharks (white tipped reef sharks and Galapagos sharks) about a metre from the shore - cool or what?! Of course, I didn't have my bloody camera with me did I?!! Grrrrrr!!!!! I decided to get back into the water (around the other side!) with one of the guys and I'm so glad I did. We saw a huge marble ray on the sea bed (at least 1.5 metres wide which was big enough for me but they can have a wingspan of up to 7m!!) and 2 white tipped reef sharks so it was well worth it. Got back to the boat and was just about to settle down for another nap when one of the crew yelled that there was a sea lion on board. A young pup had jumped aboard as we had set off. He sat around for a while and then went wandering up to the bow. He kept sticking his head out, obviously wondering if he should jump and then finally, near the front, he slithered through the rail.
Day 4 - Rabida Island and Puerto Egas
Rabida is known as the 'red island' because of the colour of the sand (that would be red). It is otherwise full of black mangroves and cactus. Once again, we had hoped to see the flamingos in the saltwater lagoon but they had gone out for the day. We did see a few birds, including the American oystercatcher and we watched 2 lava lizards having a fight, although it was more of a stand-off than a full-on scrap. On the trail there were lots of palo santo trees which smell like incense when the branches are burned so they are used as a natural mozzie repellent. We then went snorkelling in amongst thousands of tiny jellyfish that stung my top lip (thought I was going to look like Melanie Griffiths for a while but all seems ok!) and saw quite a lot of fish and some starfish including one that's called the chocolate chip sea star as it's yellow and black speckledl! I was on my way back to shore when I spotted Vee and what looked like a sea lion. I swam over and we played with 4 of them - once again, an amazing experience.
After lunch we arrived at Puerto Egas on Santiago. It used to be a site for salt mining so there are a few derelict buildings there. In contrast to Rabida, this place had very black sand and rocks - pure ash! It's also the best place in the Galapagos to spot fur seals and marine iguanas. We went for a walk around the coastline and saw so many iguanas basking in the sun and swimming it the sea. They really are like miniature dinosaurs with their manes of spikes. They can grow up to 1.5m in length although we didn't see any quite that big. You do almost trip over them though, they are so well camouflaged and look like rocks. Some of them were sneezing which is their bodies' way of getting rid of any excess salt that they took in while eating. We saw a few fur seals but they weren't as active as the sea lions we had been interacting with. While we were watching one in an inland rock pool, a beautiful turtle suddenly appeared. Its shell was quite colourful as apparently it was quite young.
There was a dominant male seal on the beach, staking out his territory with lots of huffs, puffs and growls but we went snorkelling anyway. Just aswell as there was a huge turtle chomping away by the rocks, totally comfortable with us lolloping along beside it. Despite having seen a number of turtles while diving, I still get goose bumps when I see them underwater. There's something about the way they fly through the sea, totally calm with no sudden movements. Stunning!
Back on the boat, we had a collection of birds (mainly frigates and pelicans) flying alongside us for a while, keeping up with the boat and having the occasional fight.
Day 5 - Black Turtle Cove and North Seymour
Woke up to find 2 large (about 2m long) Galapagos sharks circling the boat which were pretty cool. We then went in the zodiacs to Black Turtle Cove where only certain boats have permits to go - we're also not allowed to swim or snorkel there. We had just gone through the mangroves when we saw the most amazing site - a blue footed boobies feeding frenzy. It was incredible. We had seen it on a film a few days ago but never thought we'd actually see it live. A whole flock of them (100s) basically coordinate a synchronised attack on the fish and just dive bomb into the water, catch the fish and then catapult back out. I've tried to capture it on film but it's hard to comprehend the speed involved. Hopefully Vee's video will capture it better. We also saw lots of boobies which are hilarious. They literally look as though their feet have been dipped in bright blue dulux paint. The word boobie comes from bobo which is Spanish for stupid. In the olden days, they were too stupid to move when the sailors came to catch them for food!
This morning we also saw golden rays, spotted eagle rays, green turtles, a striated heron, noddy terns, pelicans and little yellow warblers.
Got back to the boat and sailed around it and then saw a dorsal fin of a pretty massive shark - we were only a couple of metres away! Brilliant!
We lost 8 people of the boat today so there was only Vee and I left for a couple of hours and then 4 new people arrived - a French Canadian couple, a Chinese Canadian guy and a German guy. After lunch we went to North Seymour which is well-known for being a breeding ground for a lot of birds. We saw some male frigates with their red pouches blown up which was pretty impressive as they become huge and they then squawk, strut and dance around, trying to attract the female. We also saw some blue-footed bobbies dancing to attract their mates - they basically lift their feet up one by one and flap around a bit - quite comical to watch and of course, how can you take anything seriously that has blue feet and such a funny expression on its face?! We also saw quite a few incubating their eggs - the males and females take it in turns to sit on the egg - there's normally one egg but there can be up to 3. There were a number of dead boobies as apparently quite a number die when they are left by their parents to go and fish for themselves. It's a difficult operation so many fail and die of starvation.
Never tired of them, we saw lots of land and marine iguanas and sea lions, including the most adorable little one that was only a month or so old - very very cute. I want one! Also spotted some frigate chicks and the chick of a swallow-tailed gull. We also saw some lava gulls which was lucky as there are only 400 pairs left on the islands. It's actually the world's rarest gull.
It was then time to try and spot some hammerhead sharks while snorkelling - I had been harping on about these since we got on the boat as I desperately wanted to see them. Our first stop was in very choppy water (we struggled to stay on the boat!) as that's the best place to see them. The visibility was terrible (they are apparently usually on the bottom but we couldn't even see 6 inches in front of us) and it was so rough that we gave up on that idea. I think the tide was changing and the currents were all a bit screwed up. Further around the bay, it was calmer and a bit clearer so we managed to see sea lions again and a few fish. I wasn't ready to go back so while everyone else headed back in the zodiac, I swam back to the boat although didn't see a thing! Mind you, if I had seen a hammerhead while out in the middle of the sea on my own, I think I may have had a wee bit of a panic!
As the Norwegian beauties had now left the boat, Vee and I started to get a lot more attention from the guide and the whole crew - harrumph - now they suddenly want to be our friends! The big bellied mechanic took a shine to Vee (you could use his belly as a tray!) and the chef said he wanted to marry me so he could cook for me morning, noon and night (I suspect it was more for the visa!!). I told him I would get too fat so it wouldn't work and he said he likes fat ladies. Hmm, no thanks. He may have the boat (well, access to it) but he's no millionaire with a yacht!
Day 6 - Espanola
After sailing for around 9 hours in total, we arrived in Espanola which is at the far southeast of the archipelago. We went ashore to the beautiful beach - soft white sand and crystal clear aqua water - stunning. The island is thought to be an uplifted submarine lava flow and it's one of the oldest islands. Bahia Gardner (the beach) was full of basking sea lions which were their usual lazy selves, except for the young ones that were surfing the waves. After a wander along the beach (we saw red marine iguanas - so coloured because of the red algae they eat!) we went snorkelling and it was really clear so we saw lots of fish, a huge marble ray and about 4/5 sharks lurking under an overhanging rock. Still holding out to see hammerheads but no such luck as yet. These ones were white tipped reef sharks again.
We then went out to Gardners Island and snorkelled out there. I ended up having to be coaxed back into the boat with the promise of food as I was enjoying myself so much. Everyone else had got back into the boat half an hour before but me being the water baby, I was in my element! I had sea lions following me and playing, saw loads of fish up near the rocks, 2 turtles and then lots of fish in a dark cave I ventured halfway in (wasn't brave enough to go further on my own!). I also saw some miniscule bright purple things that looked electric when the sun reflected on them. Not sure if they were some kind of tiny jellyfish or plankton or something.
After lunch we went round to the other side of the island to Punta Suarez which is amazingly the nesting site to virtually the entire world population of waved albatross, with more than 12,000 pairs coming to this island between April and December to mate. As we landed on the rocks, there was a Galapagos hawk sitting there just minding its own business, probably waiting for some marine iguanas to feed on. It still amazes me how close you can get to these creatures and they show no fear. We also saw hundreds of masked boobies (now called Nazca boobies), blue-footed boobies, a yellow-crested night heron and a lot of red-billed tropic birds which have the most elegant long white tails. We saw 2 blue-footed boobies mating which took all of 10 seconds and they can't be shy as we were surrounding them and we saw lots of males doing their funny dance! The albatross were pretty spectacular. They're not as big as the royal albatross you get in NZ but they were impressive enough. They were also doing a strange mating ritual where they mirror eachother in dance, bobbing from side to side and then they clatter beaks for a while - together and individually - the noise was great! Wilo then took us to the albatross airport which was like a departure lounge of birds waiting to take their first flight. One by one they would wobbly around and flap their wings and then take a running jump off the cliff and start flying - pretty cool!
Espanola is also home to a natural blow hole, where the surf is forced through a rock formation, spouting seawater up to 20m into the air every 10 or 20 seconds.
Day 7 - Floreana
We stopped this morning at Post Office Bay, so-called because there is a large wooden barrel that was put there by British sailors in 1793 to leave messages for homebound ships. Ships would stop there and leave mail for loved ones, at the same time collecting any mail that was destined for ports on their itineraries. I left 2 postcards there for 2 of you so please do let me know if and when you receive them - they will either be hand-delivered or posted from within your country. I picked one up for the Cayman Islands coincidentally as that is my next stop!
We also visited a large lava tube near the 'post office' which at high tide is full halfway with seawater. Runaway prisoners used to hide in these tunnels looking for ways to escape.
It was then time for snorkelling from the beach. We saw 4 or 5 huge turtles very close to us (in fact so close that you had to move to avoid them!) munching way at algae. A whole load of ignorant Americans kept diving down and touching them, some of them were grabbing hold of their shells. What part of 'don't touch any of the animals' is so hard to understand?! Annoys the hell out of me. Finally the Americans left us in peace and there was only Vee and I in the water. We saw 2 dead sharks which was scary. I mean, what on earth is the predator of the biggest predator? Cue Jaws music.....! Once again, I was last to head ashore and as I did I came across a big sea lion, just chilling in the shallow water near the edge. So, I floated right next to him - about a metre away. He kept looking over but was perfectly happy just floating there. I must have stayed with him for about 15 minutes, during which time a young pelican dived in the water very near to my head (maybe thought I was some kind of tasty fish!) and a penguin starting bobbing around behind me! I then realised I was the only one in the water or on the beach so thought I'd better get out (in case that shark predator appeared!!) and found everyone behind the trees watching our whole crew playing football (in their strips and everything!). Our main concern was who was preparing our snack and making the lunch?!
After lunch (we sent the chef swiftly into the kitchen once back on board!), we took the zodiac out to Devil's Crown and went snorkelling with the captain. Devil's Crown gets its name from the broken remains of a partially submerged volcano cone - the crater is about 100m wide. It's supposed to be the best snorkelling spot in the whole of the Galapagos, according to a lot of the books and, once again, only a few boats are permitted to stop here. The current was really strong so only a few of us went in as the others weren't comfortable swimmers. At times, I was manically swimming and just not getting anywhere! This is usually the best spot to see hammerheads but once again, we didn't see any - gutted! It was an amazing place though - just like an aquarium and we saw tons of fish, lobsters and a school of 15 spotted eagle rays swimming below us which were fabulous!
We then headed to Cormorant Point. There are no cormorants here as they mainly live on Fernandina and Isabela which you can't really visit as they are too volcanically active! As an aside actually, the cormorant in the Galapagos are flightless as when they first arrived here, there was no need to fly to escape any predators so they learnt to dive and fish instead. Now, they just have tiny useless wings. Anyway, the sand here was a kind of green, coloured by olivine crystals which are volcanic-derived silicates of magnesium and iron. This was our last chance to see the greater flamingo on the lagoon but, once again, there were none at home (I decided that they don't live in Galapagos!). We did see a nest in the distance though with one big egg on it. They apparently only lay 1 egg every 4 years or so. On the other side of the island is a turtle nesting beach. We were hoping to see some hatchlings making mad dash for it into the sea but no luck. We did see a frigatebird swoop down and grab what looked like a hatchling but we didn't spot anything else. The shallow water here is usually a hangout for rays but it was the wrong time of day and tide so we didn't see any although there was a lone turtle swimming around.
Day 8 - Charles Darwin Research Station (CDRS), Puerto Ayora
Quite a sad morning as we had to say farewell to the crew after breakfast who also seemed genuinely sad to see us go (and I think regretted not getting to know Vee and I earlier in the week when they realised they got some fun banter from us as opposed to just pouty lips from the Norwegians!). We got the boat to Puerto Ayora (it was weird waking up in the port this morning and being surrounded by boats, buildings and people, having spent the last week not really seeing anyone and certainly no buildings) and headed to the CDRS. This is an international not-for-profit organization that provides scientific research and technical information and assistance to ensure the proper preservation of the Galapagos Islands. It has been in operation for 50 years and over 100 scientists, educators, research assistants, support staff and volunteers from all over the world take part in this effort. It's actually where I was supposed to spend 2 weeks looking after the giant tortoises but for reason the volunteering program was canned.
The CDRS is home to Lonesome George, a giant tortoise that was found in 1971 on Pinta Island and was the last surviving tortoise of his species. He's claimed to be the rarest creature in the world. He's 120 years old (and did look on his last legs to be honest!). The station is trying to get him to mate with another species and he is penned in an enclosure with 2 female subspecies. In 2008 and 2009 they successfully mated and eggs were laid but they didn't hatch. As he gets older, the station is considering the feasibility of cloning him - mainly from an ethical perspective as they feel it's unnatural.
The CDRS is also home to a number of giant tortoise species and land iguanas. They keep baby tortoises until they are about 2 or 3 years old and their shells have hardened and they are able to fend for themselves and defend themselves from feral rats and dogs. They are kept in a semi-wild habitat where they can get used to walking on rocks and foraging for their own food. They are then released into the wild. Because of the work that has been carried out here, the population of giant tortoises is now thought to be stable.
It was then time to head to the airport, say farewell to this magical place and head back to civilisation in Quito. All in all, it's been a truly amazing experience. I'd recommend everyone to come here. Even though it's extortionately expensive, it's worth every penny - I wish I had booked for longer so I could see more of the islands as they are all so different in landscape and wildlife - I definitely plan to return, mainly to experience the diving here and get to see those damn hammerhead sharks! In total (and I'm sure I've missed a few things off!), we saw 26 birds, 9 mammals, reptiles and insects (plus a number of non-descript bees, mozzies and flies and other bitey things!) and 18 fish, although these were only the ones I could recognise in the book - we definitely saw a ton more!
Birds
Magnificent frigatebird, great frigatebird, red-billed tropic bird, swallow-tailed gull, lava gull, Galapagos penguin, waved albatross, striated heron, lava heron, common noddy, Galapagos dove, great blue heron, great egret, yellow warbler, American oyster catcher, brown pelican, masked (nazca) booby, blue-footed booby, Galapagos hawk, Galapagos mockingbird, hood mockingbird, small ground finch, cactus finch, yellow-crested night heron, Elliot's storm petrel, Galapagos flycatcher
Mammals, reptiles and insects
Land iguana, marine iguana, lava lizard, sea lion, fur seal, green turtle, giant tortoise, sally lightfoot crab, painted locust
Fish
White-tipped reef shark, Galapagos shark, marbled ray, spotted eagle ray, golden ray, Peruvian torpedo ray, yellow-tailed surgeon fish, azure parrotfish, angelfish, goldrim surgeonfish, Galapagos seabream, black-striped salema, leather bass, flag cabrilla, chocolate chip sea star, jellyfish, giant hawkfish, yellowspotted burrfish
Photos, as usual, are on picasa (http://www.picasaweb.google.com/lindylou73) where you can bore yourself even more silly (if you haven't already dropped off reading this marathon!). And yes, there are tons of pictures that look identical but are actually from a slightly different angle. Just feel lucky that I am not inviting you round for a powerpoint presentation and photo slideshow! I'm still in the process of uploading a few videos (courtesy of Vee) so bear with me on those. I did also buy a disposable underwater camera but the pics are a bit crap. I may scan them in at a later date so you can see bits of sea lions, sharks, rays and turtles (don't think I've captured a whole creature in any of the pics!). Enjoy!!!
- comments
viv memories flooding back yet again... how astounding is that place? I am certainly going to go back to when I've saved enough pennies
Michelle Knox For a moment I wished I had done the boat option then saw the bit about christening both sides of the boat!! Oh the memories. Its a magical place, glad you enjoyed it as much as I did.