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Visiting the Galapagos was an incredible experience that we won't forget any time soon, and definitely the highlight of the trip so far.Thanks to a great recommendation from a guy we met in Panama, plus a little bit of gentle negotiation with the operator, we bagged ourselves a discounted cabin on a luxury eight day cruise around the archipelago - a trip that we would never normally be able to afford.Our boat took us to seven of the islands and each day there would be one or two visits to sites on foot, plus at least one chance to do some snorkelling.By the end of the week we had spotted red- and blue-footed boobies, nasca boobies, marine and land iguanas, lava lizards, giant tortoises, whales, albatrosses, mocking birds, pelicans, herons, hawks, finches, flamingos, flightless cormorants and frigate birds - to name but a few - and we had got to swim with sea lions, manta rays, sharks, penguins and sea turtles.I say 'spotted' as if we actually had to look closely to see the wildlife, but within seconds of our first landing we realised that the islands are just bursting with fearless creatures only too happy to come up close to show off their vibrant colours and fancy plumage. The whole trip was a photographers dream!
Whilst Sarah already knew quite a bit about the Galapagos, I had arrived there fairly ignorant of the unique nature of the islands.Since the whole archipelago was born out of molten lava from volcanic eruptions, it was never connected to any other land mass; so all of the creatures living there (apart from the numerous plant and animal species introduced by man over the years) must have either flown, swam, floated or been carried over from elsewhere in the world.Arriving on these baron islands, most of the species found themselves without much competition and were allowed to evolve in dramatic ways; cormorants no longer needed to fly away from predators, so lost the power of flight; cacti lost their defensive needles and evolved soft hairs to collect water instead; and without any mammals around to eat them, the land tortoises that had floated over to the islands were allowed to grow to monstrous sizes.Often, having colonised the numerous islands, separate populations of a species would each adapt to their different environments and evolve into distinct species totally unique to the Galapagos, yet all sharing a common ancestor from somewhere else in the world.The result is a curious, eclectic mix of plants and animals, all thrown together by chance.
Our boat, the M/Y Flamingo I, was fantastic: a luxury vessel with room for 20 passengers with a pretty grand dining area, bar, lounge and massive sun deck.Business is pretty light in September and our boat was only half full, which meant everyone got one of the nicer cabins - ours was in the stern on the 'Booby Deck' and was really comfortable with a big cosy bed, a steaming hot shower and a priceless sea view. The group consisted mostly of Americans, plus a Canadian couple about our age who were on their honeymoon, and an older English guy called Mike; they were a really lovely bunch and we had a real laugh.The crew were awesome too: our naturalist guide, Alexi, had been working in Galapagos for 25 years, and was first-class; and each day when we returned to the boat our reliable barman Luis would be waiting on the top deck, dressed in a black tie and waistcoat, with a tray of refreshments.
It's difficult to pin down exactly what the highlights were for us, as the wildlife was just incredible both in and out of the water.The snorkelling was amazing though, and I was able to tick off two burning ambitions from my wish list: to swim with turtles and sharks.The sharks were fairly timid, but the turtles were perfectly happy for you to come and join them for a swim while they chewed a bit of lichen off the coral.Another bonus was swimming with sea lions, who were just crazy and loved to come and play under water - you would be quietly snorkelling along and suddenly one would appear out of nowhere and swim somersaults around you.On land the sea lions were really sociable beasts too, but the real stars were probably the blue-footed boobies who had some really endearing habits.In order to impress potential mates the males would do a little dance where they flapped their big blue feet about and threw their wings forward in a big display.I've got some great videos of this which I will try to put up on the blog when I get a chance.
After such a dramatic week we had lots to reflect on, so we headed back to Quito to take stock for a few days and get acclimatised to the altitude again.
R&M
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