Galapagos

Day 2

We woke to the beautiful landscape of Puenta Pitt and a beach full of sealions. We went ashore and Billy our guide educated us about the mating practices of sealions and how now that the cubs are 3 months old the older male sealions have gone off to rest after taking care of the females during pregnancy and birth. We had a wonderful walk up to the top of the hill discovering Galapagos Doves, Lava Lizards, Red, Blue and Nazca Boobies and the Chatham Mockingbird. This must be the only place in the world where the word ‘boobies’ is used so frequently and with such excitement and it has nothing to do with any part of the female anatomy.

After the walk we went for a swim and were surrounded by sealions swimming around us and the younger ones playing with us. To our delight we also saw stingrays and the green sea turtle. It was such a magic experience and the animals are so friendly just as Darwin described them.

In the afternoon we sailed to Witch Hill which looks like somewhere you would find in the Whitsundays. It had white white sand beaches, clear turquoise water, black lava rocks – absolutely stunning. It was a little overcast so it wwas only a quick snorkel to say hello to some parrot fish. Two boat loads of American tourist arrived to disturb our peace but this inconvenience was curbed by my encounter with a baby sea iguana and some more mockingbirds.

Day 3

We stayed in the bay at Witch Hill the night to get in an early snorkel at Kicker Rock. This was the standout for me in the whole 8 days we were in the Galapagos. Kicker Rock is a well known dive site with. It is usual for the way it sticks out of the water, but I read it is the left overs from a crater. Anyways, the water plunges down the side of the rock making for a great location for aquatic life. I opted for a wetsuit – an hour in the deep water and I knew I would get cold. We weren’t disappointed as we jumped in the water we could immediately see  sharks directly beneath us. We swam around the rock and green sea turtles swam next to us without a care in the world. Sealions popped up from nowhere, schools of electric blue fish passed us by, and group of eagle rays swam around us. It was an out of this world experience with so many things to see and describe. Unfortunately, our underwater camera decided to break so we are going to have to get photos off other members of our group at a later date.

We left kicker Rock on an absolute high and after a short sail arrived at Sea lion Island another amazing location the Galapagos where Blue Footed Boobies nest on the ground next to nursing sea lions and neither disturb each other. We saw a mating dance between the blue footed boobie and chicks.  On top of all this we saw Pelicans dive bombing and hundreds of Marine Iguanas. This place is truly amazing.

We had an afternoon sail to Santa Cruz the biggest island in the Galapagos and boy was it quite a sail. We had a cross wind and a current going in the opposite direction. This resulted in some very rolly seas. I am lucky that I do not get sea sick and neither does F but this tested us. It was dangerous to move around the boat, at one stage we were lying on the top deck cold and needing to go to the bathroom but unable to. The boat staff were struggling to as the cooker and fridge fell over and the gas connection broke leaving with our chef an interesting challenge for making dinner.

Day 4

Today is a day on land, although I am now experiencing sea sickness on land but not at sea. I would rather be on the boat than off… interesting. We headed for the Charles Darwin Research Station it was really sad as Lonesome George had died 4 days before we arrived in the Galapagos, so his species is now extinct. The efforts they went to to try and get him to breed were incredible but the poor guy just wasn’t interested. At the research station we learnt all about their breeding programs and how they have changed through the years. We had a wonderful display of Darwins 14 finches and took amazing photos of Giant Tortoises, 

We had some time to wonder around the town and do some shopping so invested in a disposable underwater camera – will have to wait and see how those photos turn out when we get it developed at home. We spent the afternoon watching the final of the European Camps with a glass of gin in hand. We headed off into the highlands in the rain to see the giant tortoises in the wild at Chato Reserve and with communal gumboots (ekkk) we were not disappointed. A short stop on the way back to the boat saw us discovered some lava caves. Four members of our group left today and were replaced with loud Australians.

Day 5

After another night sail we arrived in Isabel and spent the day at the local Darwin Centre, exploring Lagoons and wandering the beaches. At the Darwin centre there were two blue footed boobies with broken wings. A girl on our boat was a vet and learnt that there was no vet that visited the island and no one working at the centre knew how to put the birds out of their misery or how to identify if they had broken wings. She had the gruesome task of killing the birds but became inspired into writing educational material so that volunteers coming to the Galapagos were better equipped to deal with the wildlife. We spent the morning exploring a volcanic island full of marine iguanas and went for a snorkle where I caught a glimpse of a Leatherback Turtle and man they are large.

Day 6

We awoke to the red sand beach created for scoria – it was out of this world. The short walk around the site unveiled a lagoon with a few flamingos and some spectacular views from the top. The snorkel around the rocks was rewarding with schools of colourful fish accompanying us wherever we went. In the afternoon we headed across to Santa Cruz and Dragons Hill to find some Land Iguanas and how beautiful they are. The sea crossing was amazing as we saw manta rays that were about 4meters wide and on the top of the surface, it was incredible as they glided underneath the boat.

Day 7

A boat ride through black turtle cove was a great way to start the day. We saw golden rays, sea turlets baby white tip sharks, masses of blue footed boobies and several other fish. The afternoon we headed back across to Santiago where we went for another snorkel and were not disappointed. The waters were so clear and we spotted a large white tipped shark sleeping in a cave. In the evening we went for a walk on Chinese Hat full of specular lava flows.

Day 8

It is such a shame to have to leave this majestic place, but I have had such a wonderful time and seen so many things.

Red footed boobie

Lava lizard

Marine Iguana