So after not finding what I wanted in Quito, I decided to set off for the Galapagos anyway and hope I might be able to find something in my budget when I got there. And I duly did. After walking around a lot of Sunday, I settled on a package just on my budget. Would be two days on Isabela, then a day free, then a 4 day trip to the north. The choice of tours was bewildering and I was far from certain I'd made the right choice.
The crossing to Isabela on Monday morning was horrible. But by the time I'd seen the hotel room which was nice and a few flamingoes at this lake, I felt better. Flamingoes were decimated by severe niño and niña weather phenomena to the tune of 80 per cent. They may die out, sadly.
This was the rather pretty beach we saw just before returning to the flamingo lake above for the sunset. This fellow was one of the first I saw on arrival too.
Day 2 started with a very gentle hike up to the volcano which had last erupted 7 years before. The landscape you can see would have been well over a hundred years old. All of the Galapagos have been formed at the point of opening where lava pours out to form new islands. Plate tectonics then carts these off to the south east towards the coast of ecuador where they then disappear under the South American plate. Glad I got to the islands in itme. They are heading that way at 6cm a year or so.
The group was really nice with an Argentinian family and two German speaking girls plus a few others. And a pic of me, again, just in case you think I might be in Slovenia working as a pirate.
The second activity of the day was a snorkelling trip which started pretty amazingly. I was looking at a ray and thinking, erm, aren't they dangerous? Didn't one of those kill Steve Irwin? (yes, but a stingray, not a manta). Then looked round to see a giant turtle disappearing off. Didn't want to chase it so only saw it fleetingly but it was amazing. A white-tip shark then appeared. As I'd been assured they were entirely harmless, I was completely calm. Actually lost track of it by trying to alert the others to its presence. Saw it again later though and just enjoyed the view.
The iguanas above were just alongside the snorkelling spot, so we were lifted by the boat to a landing spot where you could just walk along a path and see loads of these marine iguanas. Piled on top of each other. It is their breeding site and you can just walk along, feet away from them. Amazing.
There was also a shallow channel where you could see the white tips resting. They're nocturnal so the one I saw probably got up for a leak in the night. Could even have been this one as he was moving around in the sleeping channel.
Further along the path you could see the adult size iguanas. Spitting salt out through a special gland in the head area. Weird. But cool.
The famous frigate birds flying alongside the boats looking for food. And that was pretty much it for Isabela. A good day and a bit, but then the rather unpleasant crossing at 5.30am the next morning. Took my day off easy. Just walked out to the Darwin centre on Santa Cruz where I had spent my first night and looked for tours. Was really nice just to watch the tortoises (huge) for a while as they were eating. The next day we kicked off the four day (for which read three days worth spread over 4, the usual thing) with a visit to the tortoises who frequent a farm inland. They are free to come and go and it is not a tortoise farm, but they are reliably there so it was nice to see these animals in the 'wild'. Oh and try on a tortoise shell.
They were generally unphased by our presence but did retract their extremities and hiss if we got too close. Which someone almost inevitably did. Still it's an improvement on eating them and bringing them to the brink of extinction.
The males (above) are about three times the size of the female, if they manage to get on top of the female, she is then trapped in the concave under part of his shell. For three hours. Until he's done. Hmmm.
The overnight sail to Rabida island was a bit rougher than expected and I was really glad I'd taken a sea sickness pill. Were treated to the sight of these beautiful sea lions, not on docks like before, but in a totally wild habitat. And they were happy enough for us to be there. How cute is that baby above?
Just got on with the usual surfing in the waves etc.
We walked up and down the beach with explanations from the guide. And saw lots of birds. Can't actually remember what these were.
This is obviously a pelican.
We then went on the best snorkelling trip of my life. Started with fish. Then saw a sea lion hunting along the rocks and just swam with it for about 5 minutes. Turning upside down and trying to copy some of its moves. Dream 1 of Galapagos - fulfilled. I then saw more fish and another sea lion. All good. Then as I got back to the boat I saw an ENORMOUS manta ray. Like 2.5m from wing tip to wing tip. Right underneath everyone. None of them saw it and didn't really believe me, but they then saw it later. Wow. Wow. A-mazing.
You can see a fang shaped rock below where US pilots dropped a bomb during WW2 target practice. That's the only reason there is an airport on the islands. The US donated the airstrip they built on Baltra.
Was a truly beautiful evening. We then had a long sail up to Genovesa which is most famous for its birds but which for us would be a lot about sharks!
After breakfast, we set out on the dinghy, seeing this just as we arrived. And saw the Galapagos fur sea lion which was very nearly hunted to extinction. We then were dropped off to do a walk amongst the nesting sites of these unique birds. Endemic to the Galapagos, meaning they don't occur anywhere else. At least, they are no longer the same as the original ancestors having adapted to Galapagos conditions. Hence the cormorant which doesn't fly and iguanas that can dive up to 12m in the ocean.
This blue footed booby chic is in a bush where they nest. They sleep in a heap!
The Nazca booby above nests on the ground.
Frigate bird chick. After this we headed out for the first snorkelling in a spot not frequented by the other boats and we saw two hammer head sharks. Incredibly beautiful. And a little scary. There were bigger fish around and a very steep drop off into the ocean with just a little shelf so that we could see. When we got back to the boat, we got out just by the boat in a very tight knit coalition of the willing. Because we'd already seen the 2m long Galapagos shark circling the boat a few times. Helped by the crew on the boat we managed to get close to it. Pretty scary, but I did it. And this from a person whose got out of swimming pools before due to irrational fears of sharks.
The final nature walk was good for seeing more birds up close.
And Johan, our guide, was his usual lively self.
The group was really nice again. A Dutch family, two Dutch friends and a couple I'd met in Isabela.
Just can't get over how cute these are...
And on the final morning, another Galapagos dream, the mating ritual of the Frigate birds with the red pouch. Amazing. All that remained was to get lucky with my flight so I didn't have to spend an extra day on the islands but was able to bow out on a high.
Which gave me the chance to have two nice and relaxed nights in Cuenca. Which was great. Some nice food and sorting out how I was going to get down to Peru. Hoping to try a bit of couch surfing.
Well, see you soon :)
Lots of love
s
