We have another early start because we fly to Galapagos and have to get past several security type check points. We are greeted at the airport by a representative of our boat. We thought we had done all the pre paperwork but learn we are missing one - it is all done with QR codes and not working smoothly. Finally we have all the paperwork and our bags approved and sealed so we can go to the boarding gate. None of the 4 of us are sure how long the flight is - memories of 4 hours, but the time and distance don’t seem right. What we were missing was the layover/stop we have in Guayquill. We make it to the Baltra airport get off the plane and get in a line for more paperwork. They first make sure we have the right approvals and then send us to the guy we will pay $200/person in cash for the right to step foot in the Galapagos National Park which is 97% of the Galapagos. Then we head over to get our bags - um problem. Only Linda's bag is here. We have a lot of company. For some unknown reason, a lot of the baggage on our flight was taken off in Guayquill. We have to do paperwork on our phones in Spanish. We find the representative for our boat and explain the problem. He tries to get them to let someone else get our bags - no luck, but then we learn our bags are already on the way. End story we stood around the airport for an hour waiting on our luggage. Getting to Galapagos has not been easy!
Western islands are younger with active volcanoes We toured the eastern islands
We head out and hop on a bus. We learn that Baltra where the airport is located is an uninhabited island and the bus will take you to a ferry to another island. Except that our boat has its zodiacs at the water's edge waiting for us - yippee. Better yet the boat is in sight. The Motor Catamaran Anahi will be our home for the next eight days.
Passengers at evening briefing
After lunch, we went to Santa Cruz Island and Bachas Beach where we went on a short walk where we saw a flamingo, black marine iguanas, frigate birds, a pelican, Sally Lightfoot crabs. That was followed by some time at the beach where we tried out our snorkel masks.
Marine Iguana
Top is female Great Frigate with white bellie Bottom is male with inflatable red sac to attract female s
Sally Lightfoot crab
Swallowed tail gull with chick in back
Day 2
Overnight we had a long sail up to Genovesa Island where in the morning we were in Darwin Bay. What will become a common daily schedule was breakfast at 6:30 followed by a nature walk, return to ship to be greeted with a little snack and drink. Quickly change clothes into swimsuits and then our wetsuits for an hour to hour and half snorkel followed with lunch. On or morning nature walk everything is new to us. We see our first boobies - there are 3 types. The infamous blue footed booby, the red footed booby and the Nazca booby who has brown feet. We learn their diet affects their feet coloring and the bluer a male's feet are the more desirable he is as a mate. We also start to see sea lions.
This boogie is quite dashing with his bright red feet
Blue footed boobies
Nazca boogie with two eggs
Parents regurgitate to feed young
Sea Lions
Sea lion pups
On our first snorkel trip, I learn the advantages of the wet suit. Yes, it keeps you warmer although the water is pretty warm for the most part, yes, it is great sun protection all the way to our feet, but it is also incredibly buoyant. You can practically stand upright in the water with little to no work so sliding out of the boat is very smooth. Now for each hike or snorkel we will be in search for something and this time it is hammerhead sharks. We never see any hammerheads - they are quite fast and deep in the water which is a little too murky to see well. Tom did see a ray.
Thanks Ruth for the photo
The afternoon routine for most days was siesta after lunch (sometimes the boat slightly changed locations at this time) followed by another hike and snorkel. This afternoon we are headed to the Prince Phillip Steps as in the Spanish Prince Phillip. And yes, we did walk up some steps when we got off the zodiac/panga. Here we saw owls, herons (different from home), more frigate birds - lots of birds this island was full of birds. On the Galapagos islands, hawks and owls are the top predators. We were hunting for owls because they can be hard to find - we were in luck and saw a couple of them. The other key thing for this area was the lava - these islands are all volcanic. Here we saw lava tunnels which is kind of like a ravine. Oh the other thing is we got our first introduction to cactus. There are 3 types of cacti in the Galapagos and here we saw the smallest type.
The goal of our afternoon deep water snorkel was to see turtles - goal accomplished. The water was clearer here so we also saw lots of fish. Throughout most if not all of the snorkeling, I saw one type of fish a lot - I would later learn it was the king angelfish.
Short eared owl
Another short eared owl down in a ravine
Galapagos Hawk
Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Great Frigatebird
Day 3
The night before after dinner we had a short sail to the South Plaza Island which is our morning island. It is a very pretty island We are warned it will be a long rocky walk (all our "hikes" are really nature walks). This island is known for its iguana population plus of course sea lions. It is a small island as in our hike took us over most of it. We did see iguanas - lots of them. On this island there are marine iguanas, land iguanas and hybrids.
Iguana lesson time and yes there is some evolution involved. The marine iguanas are dark black, solid color. Yes they swim and they eat algae. Not all iguanas adapted to the climate by swimming and eating algae rather some stayed on the land and began to eat other things thus the land iguanas and they have yellow on them - some are almost pretty (can an iguana be pretty?). The hybrids are just that an offspring of a land and a marine. Hybrids only exist on this island because the mating seasons overlap. Hybrids however are sterile, so they are kind of one offs. Oh we also saw lava lizards for the first time. We will see them many more times. The lady lava lizards have some red/pink on them while the males are all brown/black.
Land Iguana
Hybrid iguana
In addition to iguanas, we saw sea lions and had a sea lion lesson. You see when there are a group of sea lions on a beach it is most likely one male (the beach master) with all of his females and their young. However this particular beach is full of young adolescent males who were kicked off their original beach by the beach master. The beach also has "retired" beach masters. The old sea lions do continue the education of the young males.
Having fun
Slight change of pace, we have a panga ride scheduled rather than a snorkel. We circle an even smaller neighboring island across the bay. The only humans allowed on this island are park rangers and researchers. Then back to the boat for our after-hike snack and a Disney movie on sea lions - nice movie.
During the movie, we head to Santa Fe Island which is bigger and nearby. After lunch, it was time for our first snorkel of the day, and the goal is to swim with the sea lions plus see fish. Like our other snorkels there is a path/direction to go we are not just hanging out in a small place. Pretty early on we have a young sea lion by us. In my mind I just checked the box and done with that because swimming with them is just not for me. Then we see a turtle oh so cool. I felt like she looked me in the eye and I was able to watch her come up for air. Then the snorkeling got tougher and my leg cramped so I said enough for me hopped up on the panga and rode for a while. Jeff of course was in the middle or leading the pack of snorkelers. They come upon another group of playful sea lions to everyone's excitement and Luis (our guide) comes over to see if those on the panga want to come back in. Everyone but me took him up on the offer. Time did run out and Jeff did eventually come in from the water.
Marine Iguana (Thanks Ruth for sharing your photo)
Thanks Ruth for the photo
After another quick turnaround , we have a short hike. We are on Santa Fe Island, and we are on the lookout for Santa Fe Iguanas and Santa Fe lizards. We have a wet landing followed by a rocky walk, so we slip shoes on after we land. I should add we tiptoe through the sea lions to do this. We leave from there too so we enjoy watching the sea lions some before we go back to the boat.
those aren't trees but another type of cactus
Prickly pear cactus for lunch
Top right Male Lava Lizard Bottom right is female with red cheek Left maybe a female with too much rouge
Day 4
I should back up a minute here. I have not shared our evening routine. It is when you come back from the last activity of the day be it snorkeling or hiking, we all shower and then at 6:45pm is our briefing for the next day - where we will be, what time we will be hiking and snorkeling, what to look for and what to bring on the hike. Then dinner at 7pm which is served kind of family style. The dinner bell rings we line up grab a plate and move down the line of food that Roberto has set up for us. Always a seafood and non seafood meat option plus many forms of veggies some of which we do not recognize. There are 2 tables with place settings set and water pitchers on the table. After the main course there is often a dessert. Then we are free for the evening and shortly we will start to sail.
This day we are starting at San Cristobal Island. As usual we start with breakfast at 6:30 and first activity at 7:30. This morning we are split into 2 groups and alternate between a panga ride and kayaking. Both activities are about 45 minutes each. Our panga ride is around a small island that is tall and mostly rocky. We see some birds and some sea lions and then head over to a small cove. We hit pay dirt with probably 7 or so sea turtles in the area. This must be mating season because that is what at least 2 of them are up to and maybe another set also. Interesting thing is that the 2 we watch carefully have 2 males right there with them. Turns out a female will mate with multiple males, and her eggs will have a mixture of fathers. Like back at home a female will lay between 100 and 160 eggs. Here it is a green sea turtle. And again, like in Alabama, she goes up on the beach to lay her eggs; we have seen large holes/indentations in the beach where eggs have been laid.
Males are smaller than females
Then it was our turn to kayak. We hopped in the kayaks from the panga/zodiac and went on our way around the coast some. Jeff and I got lucky and saw yet another sea turtle while we were kayaking. We also saw a group of young sea lions charge the beach as if they were herding fish onto shore, like we saw in the Disney movie. Enjoyed the view some and then paddled under the middle of the boat (it is a catamaran) to get back to the steps and back on the boat. Short (very short) break and it was time for our morning snorkel - only 1 hour this time.
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Tom and Linda
We hop in the pangas and they take us out aways close to some rocks. Tell us stay away from the rocks and this is a good place for white tip sharks and fish. Yep, Luis was correct we see both. We also have a strong current to fight. Jeff had to help me get across. The first part of the snorkel was great.
Thanks Doug for the photo
We have a very different afternoon planned and I am a little perplexed. Why are we sailing around an island? Turns out the island is kicker rock which is a small island/rock which is well known in the Galapagos and are told it is very good spot for snorkeling and diving. We are not stopping because boats like ours are not allowed to stop there - they want to give the local tour operators something unique to offer. We keep sailing to Lobos Island.
Kicker Rock
When we get there, we are to snorkel for 1 1/2 hours. After the current from the morning snorkeling for over an hour does not sound like fun so I pass and tell Jeff to go have fun. Since he won't be watching out for me, he grabs the cell phone and a waterproof case to take photos. I say have fun and off he goes. While they had fun with the seals the beach master decided he had enough humans and told them to leave so a shorter than planned snorkel trip.
We set sail for a little bit and end up in a harbor full of sail boats and lots of pleasure craft plus a couple of Ecuadorian Navy/Coast Guard ships. We have 1 1/2 hours to explore the city. - Puerto Baquerizo. It is a small city. 1 1/2 hours was enough time for us. There was a large carnival party going on at one restaurant; we passed on it but I heard the music late into the night. Since it is the final evening for 5 people, we have a video of the trip from Luis and then try to sleep. First night since we got here that I could not sleep - for once I was not exhausted and there were noises from the land and of course from the sea lions.
The empty liquor bottle made it look like he was sleeping off Carnival
Click here to watch our guide Louis’s photo show made from pictures we all took
Day 5
Today's schedule is slightly different. Probably because we have a changeover of some passengers, today is a kick back day for us or as Linda said it is a sea day. Catch up on stuff and rest! This afternoon we will go to the Interpretation Center in Town. When we got on the boat there were already 5 people on it. They were doing a 15 day trip and today is the last day of their 15 days so we are spent the night in the harbor from which they will leave. But first, we are all going to a tortoise breeding center on this island - San Cristobal Island.
We hop on the pangas and take the short ride to shore where we hop on a bus for the ride up the hills to the David Rodriguez tortoise breeding site. San Cristobal is the oldest and largest of the Galapagos Islands and as such it has lots of fauna as in it is green and plants and trees galore. The road we are on is well paved and maintained - remember not true when we went to the Cloud Forest. We see many large tortoises and learn how to tell their ages. We also learn how they protect the eggs and the hatchlings from predators. The young are kept here for 5 to 7 years and then released in the wild. Like all tortoises in the Galapagos these are specific to this island. A note.
Around lunch time, Luis returns with our new 5 guests. It is a family of 4 and a single lady. The family was a pain, but we all survived. This afternoon we are going to the Ginny Arismendi Galapagos Interpretation Center. It proves to be an interesting museum/educational center. We learn more about how the islands were formed, discovered and have changed over the years. Early humans caused all sorts of havoc to the islands from bringing rats and goats to very invasive plants to the islands to all but killing off some species. After the interpretation center we have a choice of time on a local beach or time in town. We head to town and have a leisurely drink before time to return to the boat.
the "guard dog" at a bar we stopped at one day
Day 6
After sailing overnight again we are at Punta Suarez on Española Island. We are forewarned it is a long hike and can be hot - instead of 1 bottle of water Luis says bring 2 each. We see lots of animals on this island - good introduction for the new people and nice for the rest of us to see lots and lots of birds. We also see a new type of iguana - a Christmas iguana. Christmas so no named because they are red and green. In truth it is a variation of the marine iguana. There is also a blowhole towards the end of the hike when we are up on top of the island. On our way we see several people from another group who have either slipped on rocks or just hiding in what little shade there is. The adults on the hike are all good, the kids are not happy about the heat or length. The blowhole is cool!
Beautiful coastline
Nazca boobie and marine iguana
Blowhole
Since it was a long walk in the morning, no snorkel, but we are snorkeling in the afternoon. When we get to Gardner Bay our site, Luis sends those of us who have been on the boat for a while out first with Omar the main zodiac/panga driver watching out for us and stays behind us with the new people. Our path today is to follow along the coastline of a rocky island with a couple of small caves/coves. We may be able to find sharks here but should see good fish too. We see lots of sea lions which I am okay with this time and tons of fish. This is the first snorkeling excursion that I am totally comfortable on and really enjoy every minute. I am not struggling to keep up; I am part of the group - yeah. We go in a cave/cove and see tons of fish, but unfortunately, we lose Tom for a few minutes because something stung him on the lip. He is not out for long. We get to the end of the route and snorkel a little bit in the cove before hopping in the zodiacs and heading back to the boat. It was a good trip for sites and my self-esteem!
After we get back on the boat, there is an option to go to a beach for a swim or short beach walk. Jeff and I take it and enjoy some time swimming/floating in the water before we all head back to the boat. Oh I should add Tom laughing said let me know if you see a whale before we left. Well funny thing we did. Right as we stepped off the zodiacs, there was a whale skeleton. Okay it was dead but we did see a whale! The other funny thing was that the mocking birds here are always looking for water and have learned that with their long beaks they can break through a plastic water bottle. The kids had left their metal water bottles by a log and we got a laugh as a mocking bird tried and failed to break through the bottle.
Tom, ”We did see a whale!”
Click here for short clip of Mockingbird looking for water
Overnight we sailed to the island of Florena. We are hiking and snorkeling. Obviously, we don't know it yet, but this will be one of the best days of the sailing - at least in my mind. This island's sand is a different color - it has some green crystals in it. So now in the Galapagos I have seen white sand, black sand (both on 1 island), brown sand and now brown with a greenish (it is an olivine beach 1 of 4 in the world) tint to it. Luis finds a small green stone and shows it to us then we are off. Now Luis had said we might see flamingos at the briefing the night before and I had commented oh I hope so because I wanted to see more than 1 on the trip. My desires were soon filled. We saw 6 of them. We would see them from a distance during the first part of the hike but later we would be within feet of some of them. It was great. Oh, by the way, they like brackish water that at least this lake smelled.
Our snorkel for the day was our last of the trip and probably the best of the trip. When Luis described it the night before, I was a little concerned. We snorkeled the devil's crown which is an old crater. We would start in one direction about halfway and then hop in the zodiacs to go to the other side to avoid a strong current. Well either the current wasn't that strong on our day or we were all better snorkelers now because we never got on the zodiacs. Anyway, important point here - there was coral here, so we saw new types of fish - lots, more rays, lots of sharks and OMG the starfish like I have never seen before. The sharks were white tips which we had seen before, but we saw more at one time. Interesting interaction several of us saw was we were watching a sea turtle who may have had enough of us because it went down to the bottom and headed for under a rock. A shark had been there but soon as the turtle headed there the shark left - interesting turtle over shark! The rays were in a little pack that were easy to see and follow. Some of the fish were in tight schools. In fact, a couple of the really good snorkelers in our group went down and kind of herded them some. Then we turned a corner and the star fish oh my the star fish. It started with a chunky yellow with brown spots one I think the name included chocolate chip in it and it was maybe a foot in diameter. Then we came to a section of bright blue star fish sprinkled over an area - the skinny type of starfish maybe 1 or 2 feet in size. Then came starfish that were bigger than I ever imagined. They were red or green or a dark color and they were chunky and easily 3 feet in diameter. It was a great end to the snorkeling portion of the trip.
Thanks Rachel for the photo
Thanks Rachel for the photo
Thanks Doug for the photo
We headed back to the boat to clean up and quickly turn around so we can head right back out to Post Office Bay. According to Luis this is the oldest Post Office in the world. It is a wooden barrel with a sign. The idea is you leave a post card here in hopes that someone will pick it up and deliver it. We picked up 3 from the Atlanta area since we will be there in a little over a month - didn't see any for the Gulf Shores area. I left 2 for family members since it is hard for strangers to show up on our doorstop!
Post office
Back to the boat and time for lunch. We motor to the harbor before the afternoon's activity. By chance, that activity would be something very special only because of accidental timing. Our guide/naturalist, Luis, specializes in tortoises and had spent time working at a couple of the breeding sites on various islands in the Galapagos. We are on Floreana Island where the tortoises that had been on this island are officially extinct (one of 4 extinct ones in Galapagos). We take the zodiacs/pangas to the harbor for our trip to a nature park on the island with historic sites. As our zodiacs are almost at the harbor we all point out a small boat with lots of crates like milk crates with lids and wander what is being delivered. I think Luis could have jumped out of our boats right into that boat he was so excited. Seems this was a historic day that had been shrouded in secrecy. Those are the return of Floreana tortoises to Floreana. Luis talks to some people we all stare at the site - tortoises going from small boat to a dump truck with people is not your usual site all with photographers everywhere.
Loading truck with tortoise
Our transportation up to the park proves to be unique. As Jeff describes it was a truck that someone had built a wooden box to fit on it (securely attached) with 4 rows for 4 people each. It is bumpy at first but then we start on a brand new smooth road (new as in still building part of it) and ride for 20 minutes or so up to the top of the mountain/island. We get off and realize this is where they are taking the tortoises as we all start to photograph or video the event we are asked to stop. This is so important to the Galapagos/Ecudorian Government that they want to be sure that only the official news people are the first to report it. Seems that a few years back they discovered that some tortoises on another island had Floreana DNA so for years now they have been working to breed Floreana tortoises. There are some partial Floreanas in this park now and we will see them, but this group of over 100 are all 5 to 7 years old and will be released here in a day or 2 to reclaim their heritage. The locals are excited.
Trekking them inland
Human chain passing them to the inclosure for the night
Click hear to read AP article about the Tortoise release
After staring for a while we head off on our normally scheduled trip to Asilo de la Paz. We see some tortoises and then we head for the historic sites. This island is one of the first that people first tried to colonize. There is a spring on the island so fresh water. Seems some Germans came here first to get away from people but then others started calling it paradise in letters back to Germany so some more came. There is a story of a baroness who came here and mysteriously died. There is also a story of a family that came in 1932 in hopes of bringing health to a young son. Parts of that family (Wittmar) stayed and our now a major family in the Galapagos. We saw the cave where they first lived, yes a cave not very big either. We saw a large a rock with a face carved into it where they buried a family dog. it was an interesting side of an island to see. Oh by the way it seems the spring is still a source of water for the 100 or so people that live full time on the island and are limited to certain days of the week they can come and get water - think about that.
Notice that these tortoises are saddlebacks
Louis standing in the home of the first European settlers
They carved holes in walls to barricade in livestock
Settlers carved
End of cruise celebrations
Click here to watch our guide Louis’s photo show made from pictures we all took
(Cruise second half)
Final day. Up early as usual. We are in a harbor - Puerto Ayora. We will go to the Charles Darwin Foundation for our last outing. We get dropped off at the harbor which is a larger city than the other one - which we had been here since more to see. Anyway, short bus ride and then we walk aways since the road is too narrow for a bus. There is a variety of exhibits on the animals and plants of the Galapagos, but I think we all keyed in on the tortoises and the breeding program. This is where the ones that were introduced back to Florena yesterday were bred. We see where they keep the under 1-year olds (multiple levels of chicken wire to keep them safe from predators and the succession of larger enclosures as they grow. They have other types of tortoises here too all color coded. Bright pink was Floreana. Then it was time to drop people off at hotels and head to the airport for us. Well head to the ferry to head to the bus to get to the airport.
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