Galápagos Islands
Journey to the Galapagos
Up for breakfast at 5.30 and off to the airport for our short flight of 90 minutes and 700 miles. Cloudy leaving the mainland, clearing as we passed over the Pacific and finally getting our first glimpses of the islands. The temperature on landing at 10am was 26 degrees and it didn’t get any cooler. A few formalities to complete at the airport and then had a 1 minute ferry ride from the airport to the island of Santa Cruz. Waiting for the boat we were struck by the rich blues and greens of the and how clear it was with lots of fish. The first impression of the coast was of a fairly barren landscape but this became greener and more lush as we were driven up into the highlands ( about 400 metres/1200 ft high). The main object of today’s trip was to find a giant tortoise. This wasn’t difficult as even on the bus to lunch we saw quite a few in the shade of the trees. After lunch we walked a while and saw many of these intriguing creatures. There were originally 14 different species of the giant tortoise in the Galapagos, but 4 are now extinct. Sailors and whalers used to land and take them as a supply of fresh meat for long voyages. The difference between the tortoise species is largely seen in the size and shape of the shell as this dictates how far the animal can move its neck to feed; so some tortoises can only eat food from the ground whilst others can reach up higher. After this we were driven down to the town of Santa Cruz for a beer and a chance to meet some of the other people joining the boat. Finally we had a short dinghy ride to join the catamaran. Tonight after supper we stood for a while at the stern of the boat watching hundreds of small fish (including smaller members of the shark family) swimming in the water. Think we could get used to this!
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Island Isabela
We sailed overnight to the Isle of Isabela. The day was cloudy, but dry with a temperature of around 24 degrees. Before breakfast we were watching a sea lion swimming only a few feet from the boat. After breakfast we were transferred by dinghy to the island to see the marine Iguanas. This is the start of the breeding season so we saw females scraping holes in the ground to lay their eggs, others had already finished laying. The iguanas we saw were laying their eggs amongst the black lava rocks which would mean that when hatched the newborn would be camouflaged and less likely to get eaten. Other Iguanas nearby chose to lay their eggs at the sandy beach where the temperature meant that more eggs would hatch but the newborn would be more likely to get eaten by predictors. The marine Iguanas feed on algae in the sea and in the process gain too much salt, they have a solution to this and we saw one of the females violently spitting out the salt. We also watched some small male lava lizards (4 or 5 inches long) having a territorial dispute. There was a bit of a standoff between the two of them, the males making themselves look more powerful and aggressive by doing press ups on the rock! The most colourful creatures we saw on the land were large and brightly coloured crabs. After this it was back to the boat for iced tea and a snack before boarding the dinghy again with flippers and face masks for us to try snorkelling. It took a while to get the hang of it, but the sea was warm and we saw lots of fish swimming beneath us. One highlight was when a sea lion came and swam alongside us. We also saw some rays. On returning to the boat we got a welcome cup of cinnamon flavoured hot chocolate before getting ready for lunch.
After lunch, we were back on the pangas (dinghies) and taken into a small town and our last opportunity to spend money for the next 5 days. We had a walk during which we saw some more sea lions including a mother suckling her young. We saw some flamingos; together with the pink older birds were youngsters which hadn’t gained their colour yet. Flamingoes have a curved beak, but are born with a straight beak which gains a curve during the first 3 weeks of life (during which time they rely on being fed regurgitated food from the mothers crop). From here we visited a giant tortoise breeding centre. This started out as a rescue centre for tortoises escaping from a series of devastating fires, but continued as a centre collecting and incubating eggs from the wild and then releasing the tortoises about 5 years later. Now they also breed the animals themselves. There we saw some unique flat backed tortoises which appear different from all the others on this island. It was suggested that at some time in the past tortoises with a mutation causing the flatter back became separated by lava flows from the volcanoes from the rest of the population and have continued to develop independently. At the centre we also saw some cacti growing like trees – this type of cactus has developed because unlike lower growing forms of this cactus, the tortoises cannot eat the fleshy parts of the plant which are a metre or so off the ground. From here we headed to the beach where having decided we had swam enough for one day , we headed to a bar. Unfortunately for the majority this bar had run out of beer, but we were quite happy to drink coconut juice ( although on reflection the optional rum might have been a good idea). Further down the beach was the local carnival as part of the build up to the season of Lent. We watched for a few minutes and then headed back for welcome cocktails with the crew. The boat continued sailing along the coast of Isabela at midnight.
Isabela and Punta Moreno
We awoke to a beautiful morning with the boat still sailing. The weather is very changeable except for the heat which is always with us. Our first activity of the morning was a panga (dinghy) ride which took us around various inlets in the lava flows. The lava was fairly flat but we were surprised to see some cacti growing on it as well as mangroves. We saw Pelicans, Blue Footed Boobies and Flightless Cormorants. These cormorants have lost the ability to fly because they don’t have the large keel on the breastbone to which the flight muscles attach; as compensation they have large and powerful leg muscles. We saw one of the cormorants dive into the water, and because the water is so clear, it could follow its progress to quite a depth. The lava was covered with Giant Marine Iguanas. It was early in the day for them so they were still warming up to become fully active. The breeding season is over, but this did not stop some of the males from trying their luck with the females, but the females soon made it clear they weren’t having any of it. Some of the males were becoming quite aggressive and we saw some of them squaring off as if for a fight.We also saw juvenile sea lions playing in the water and a sea turtle raising its head out of the water. Some people saw Galapagos Penguins swimming in the water, but we did not see them. We briefly had a walk on the lava with the intention of seeing what fish and reptiles had been stranded in a large pool when the tide went out, but there was not much to see today.
Then back to the boat for iced tea and a hot snack, before getting ready to go snorkelling. Just as we were setting out it started raining, but we were going to get wet anyway…….. (It didn’t last longer than a minute or two anyway). The water temperature here is several degrees cooler than where we were yesterday. This is because of a different ocean current which is bringing up cold water from deep in the ocean (3km) to the surface. The current is also bringing up nutrients, so where there is food there are also fish. We saw plenty of brightly coloured fish, big black ones with a splash of blue, brilliant blue fish and shoals of small silvery fish. The highlight of the mornings snorkelling was seeing and swimming with the sea turtles. We thought we might be lucky to see one, but we saw many and got very close to them. Then back to the boat for hot tea and lunch while the boat sailed on for another 3 hours to Urbana Bay.
After lunch we boarded the panga to take us for another hour snorkelling. This involved a wet landing, jumping from the boat into knee deep water. The beach here consisted of black lava sand and was very gritty. It is also a place where the marine turtles come to lay their eggs ,so the area looked like a mass of bomb creators and was roped off so we didn’t disturb the eggs. The current was much stronger here and swimming was hard work and very tiring. The rewards were sightings of more turtles, and at one point a penguin flashed past me in the water. The water was cloudy at times because of the amount of tiny organisms which would provide food for the fish. Saw one lovely black and white striped fish with a yellow tail and at one time swam into a large shoal of tiny fish fry. Also saw some larger fish patrolling the deeper waters. This was followed by a walk along a trail for a couple of hours. We saw male and female adult Giant Tortoises together with some young one- unlike the ones we had seen before who were living in the wild. These were of a different species to the ones we had seen before ( there are 5 different species on this island). We also saw a lot of land hermit crabs and had one sighting of a male Land Iguana (much more brightly coloured than the marine variety). There were Iguana nests all around. The area we were in was under sea level until 60 years ago. In 1954 volcanic activity caused an uplift of the sea bed to rise 12 metres above current sea level. The mangrove trees which had grown here are now dead and rise up like skeletons, however new plants have started to colonise the area and when the rains come lots of creepers will emerge. Returning to the beach we saw it was feeding time for the birds, taking advantage of all the fish. We saw more Blue Footed Boobies and some Galapagos Penguins. On the way back to the boat we could see the tips of a couple of rays swimming in the water.
Fernandina and Isabela
We sailed last. Night during dinner to anchor just off the Island Fernandina, so we could make an early start this morning. We woke up just as the sun was rising to have clear views of the volcanoes and with the promise of a hot day ahead. Fernandina is the most recent of the larger Galapagos Islands, having formed only about 700000(?) years ago. The islands have their own life cycle, being formed in a hotspot of underwater volcanic activity and then slowly moving eastwards as a result of continental drift. Because it is young, there is not a lot of plant life on Fernandina, just some mangroves and a cactus that grows on the lava. The morning’s activities began with a trail walk on the island, stepping off from the panga onto black volcanic rock.
The marine iguanas were swimming back from feeding at sea to warm up on the larva rock. We saw some turtles which had come in with the tide as well as many sea lions including some juveniles. It was fun to watch the sea lions playfully seeing off the iguanas. Some quite large sea lions were just cooling off in the water, just rolling over and enjoying a cold bath. A large area formed from finely broken shells provided and are for the female iguana to lay their eggs. We watched them using their back legs to scrape out a hole in which they would lay their eggs. Occasionally another female would decide that life is a lot easier if you wait for some other iguana to make the nest and then kick them out and take it over.
Consequently we spent much time watching females fighting over nesting space – they were quite vicious about it. Watching over all this from its vantage point in a tree was a Galapagos Hawk which was waiting to seize a suitable iguana for a meal. There were lots of crabs around and we saw an oyster catcher waiting to pounce on the crabs (there are no oysters so the Galapagos oystercatcher has had a change of diet). We also saw many more lava lizards, these were a darker colour than those we had seen previously and were more adapted to the dark lava of the island. It was mating time for these animals and we watched the start of the counting rituals of some of them. We saw the bones of a whale which had died on a nearby beach. Then, after about 3 hours it was a return to the boat for a cold drink and a snack before heading off for more snorkelling and swimming with turtles (followed by hot chocolate and lunch).
During lunch the boat moved off for the 30 minute crossing back to Isabela, where we anchored in Tagus Bay. This was a handy place for pirates to hang out 400 years ago and they left carved inscriptions in the rock; later tourists painted on their own graffiti. At 2.30 we had another chance to snorkel, though we didn’t see the shark and the octopus others saw , there was still plenty to see including a large yellow starfish. Then time for a quick cold drink and a change of clothes before a choice of another ride in the panga to spot the wildlife or a 1.5 km hike in the afternoon. We did the hike which took us up to view Darwin’s Lake. This is a water filled crater with water which is now higher in salt content than the sea (from which it is completely cut off. The surrounding hillside appeared at first glance to be full of bleached white dead trees. We were informed these were alive and within a few days the rains arriving would burst into life. Looking closer we could see smaller shrubs which already had green shoots and leaves. There were also a few large cacti dotted around. Climbing higher we got good views of the surrounding volcanoes and stood on a faulting with a row of cones of lava. When we got back to the boat there was a cold drink and a slice of pizza waiting for us, then time for a shower and dinner. A spectacular sunset. Around 8 pm we all assembled in the cockpit with the captain and watched the GPS coordinates slowly change from 00.00.242 degrees S to 00.00.010 degrees N as we crossed the equator and re entered the Northern hemisphere. Two hours later we would cross back to the South, but we would not see this as by 8.30 pm everyone was in bed, having been warned that the seas might be rough tonight. A beautiful clear starry night.
Santiago Island
A cloudy, but very hot morning, after a hot and bumpy night. Out on the pangas at 8am for a wet landing on Espumilla beach – a beautiful yellow sanded beach. This is another site that the turtles use for egg laying and we could see their tracks on the beach and the nests. Each turtle lays 80 – 120 eggs, but only a very few will survive. One of the first things we watched was all the Boobies in a feeding frenzy, rising up together and diving straight down into the water to catch the fish. Also at the water’s edge was a Galapagos Oystercatcher catching crabs along the foreshore. The crabs were numerous, scurrying along the sand. They burrow down into the sand and wait for the tide to go out before re-emerging. They take up balls of sand into their mouths and roll them around to extract the nutrients before spitting them out. So there were balls of sand and burrows everywhere. Overlooking the scene from a vantage point in a tree was a Galapagos hawk. Further back from the beach was another area with a lot of smaller crabs – the fiddler crab. The males attract their mates by displaying the size of their claws and by the height of a tower of sand they build – the size of the tower is an indication of the depth of the burrow they have made for the female to lay her eggs. We also saw a Galapagos Flycatcher – a colourful bird sitting on the branch of a tree. Also around were Black (Carpenter) bees. These are the main pollinators on the islands, but their numbers have declined since the arrival of a wasp from the mainland which feeds on the bee larvae (the bee only produces one egg at a time). We had a bit of a problem leaving the beach when the panga got stuck in the sand,but a lot of brute strength helped release it. On the way back to the boat we stopped off to see a colony of Blue Footed Boobies on the cliffs. Back on the boat it was sandwiches and iced lemonade. Decided not to go snorkelling this morning, so no hot chocolate for us today.
Short sail at lunch time to Puerto Egas. Just after lunch there was a heavy rain storm which lasted about an hour during which the nearby coast practically disappeared from view. The consensus was that the water was too stirred up to be good for snorkelling. Come 4pm the sky had cleared and we landed on the black sandy beach. We saw some very young sea lions, one only 4-6 weeks old and one about 4 months old. There were the usual marine iguanas basking on the rocks and the ever colourful crabs which we cannot stop photographing. As we walked on there were more sea lions cooling off in the rock pools. We also found all sorts of fascinating formations in the lava. We saw more oystercatchers and one small, very friendly bird which hovered inches from our guide’s face and landed on my shoulder ( apparently it will steal hair from your head). Towards the end of the walk there were a series of natural bridges in the lava with blue water surging underneath. It was here that we found the Galapagos fur sea lions which is the smallest species and they were very cute. By now our boat had sailed along the coast to meet us, but first we had a difficult embarkation onto the pangas – we had to climb down the lava while the crew tried to hold the panga in position fighting the current the whole time. This time we had to put on life jackets before entering the panga as there was a real risk of falling in the water, but of course everything went fine. Another hour and a half sailing while we wait for dinner.
Rabida Island
An unusual start today, breakfast was at 8am. By 9am we were off on the pangas for a wet landing on the red beach of Rabida Island. It was a very sunny and hot morning. On the shore line we saw a line of washed up starfish. Further back was a small lake which not too long ago used to attract the flamingos, but the ground has risen up higher above sea level meaning that the lake no longer gets regularly refilled with fresh sea water, and the area is heavily frequented at times by male sea lions, so the water is no longer clean enough for the birds. Until recently the island was overrun with rats, but they closed it to visitors for two months and tried to eradicate them (having first rescued as much as possible of the wild life of the island). We saw a cactus which only grows on this island and a small finch which feeds on the flowers of the cactus. We also saw a Galapagos Hawk and lots of Pelicans. The water here is very clear and warm and was great for an hour’s snorkelling (to tell the truth an hour wasn’t long enough). The fish here were amazing, we saw sharks, Rays, Cornet Fish, Surgeon Fish – basically fish of all shapes, sizes and colours. A truly wonderful experience. At one point a sea lion was following close on John’s heels without him being aware of it. Too much was happening around us to take in everything. All good things came to an end and it was time to return to the boat for hot chocolate and lunch.
Short sail before lunch took us to Chinese Hat, an island named because of its shape. We had a short ride in the panga to see some Galapagos Penguins,Herons, Pelicans and Boobies diving into the water for fish. After this was a wet landing on Chinese Hat. This is a pretty bare exposed piece of lava, with just some low growing vegetation near the coast. At some time in its million year existence there was some vegetation which got completely covered with a lava flow resulting in the formation of a layer of limestone. Another feature we saw were small deposits of salt from evaporation of sea water in puddles. The main wildlife was in the form of sea lions. We saw lots of young pups, some suckling and some calling for their mothers which were away feeding. In one case a pup tried to suckle from the wrong mother and was attacked by the female. Back to the boat and a short sail before dinner.
Sullivan Island
An unexpectedly early start this morning because it was going to be very hot where we were going. True enough the temperature was 26 degrees when we were having breakfast at 6.45am. Our morning walk took us into ropey (named because it takes the form of lengths of rope) lave which is just over 100 years old. The lava is rich in minerals and elsewhere in the world (Hawaii) would be covered in plant life, but here there is too little rainfall. So there were just one or two inconspicuous straggly plants in crevices and one solitary lava cactus. Beyond this extensive field of lava were cinder cones and evidence of other volcanic events, which did have more in the way of plant life. After this was what would be our last snorkelling trip of the holiday. The water was crystal clear and we saw many shoals of fish ( but not as many varieties as the day before). We did see a Ray and had the experience of swimming with a marine Iguana.
We had lunch on deck and later in the afternoon visited Bartolome. We had a dry landing onto a wooden walkway which then took us up 360 odd steps to get some stunning views of the surrounding islands. Tonight is our final dinner on the boat.
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