This is a bit of a blast from the past. I wrote this up and put it on my old blog when I was touring the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador, way back in January 2008. For sentimental reasons I didn't want to lose it when I created this site - hopefully it still reads ok...
28 December 2007 - Quito
Arrived in Quito, via the meat market that is Miami International Airport. Quito is one of the most beautiful Latin cities that i have been to. The whole city has been made a World Heritage site (the first city to be bestowed with that honour). Our tour guide is just over four feet tall - which does make him hard to follow in crowds.
In Quito we’ve seen some lovely squares and churches (one which is decorated with over 790kgs of gold). Outside Quito we drove to where the Equator is. As part of the tour of the Equator we saw three demonstrations to show the impact of being on the equator - including whether the water drains clockwise or counter clockwise depending on which side of the equator you are on. I was amazed how only two feet made such a visible difference.
Also found out that Panama hats aren’t actually made in Panama, but are made in Ecuador and shipped to and sold in Panama - I feel slightly conned. Add to the equation that a lot of the roses that we see on our shores are actually grown in Ecuador. And also there are mangroves in the Galapagos - though not as impressive as at Langkawi, still impressive enough that they are actually here.
30 December 2007 - Galapagos
Day 1:
This was my birthday also. The day started at about 5 am in the morning, with a flight from Quito Domestic airport to Balta, the main airport belonging to the Galapagos. After a short bus journey down to the port, we boarded “The Eric”, a 20 passenger motorboat. Following a short induction, including telling us what we could and couldn’t flush down our cabin toilets, we waited for the supplies to be loaded onto the ship and then we set sail (not literally as we were on a motorboat...).
The afternoon’s main feature was a landing on a sandy beach/island, which was occupied by a colony of Sea Lions. Very playful things and not at all shy (actually they didn’t give a damn about us being there), and there were hundreds of them. Following that, we returned to Eric, and we headed towards Genovesa. Unfortunately sea-sickness got the better of me that evening and i had to retreat to my bed at 9 pm to avoid making a mess on the “dancefloor”. Some birthday celebration that turned out to be.
Day 2:
I woke up feeling a lot better today. Somewhat relieved to hear that most of the other passengers had also suffered from the motion sickness. Having my cabin at the tail end (stern?) of the boat with the growling motor underneath my cabin probably didn’t help.
We had docked in Darwin Bay (a bay that Darwin never actually visited), and the morning visit was up Prince Philip’s Steps and along the coast of the island. We saw many different types of bird, with the highlight being the Short-eared Owl. The tameness of the birds was unsurpassed, as you could get a few feet close to take their portrait. After this we put on our wet suits (don’t let me tell you how much effort and energy it takes to get one of those bloody wet suits on...and off) and swam along a patch of coral in the bay, seeing many exotic fish such as the parrot fish. I also had the chance to swim along side some sea lions.
Following lunch we landed on the beach in the bay to observe some more birds. After this we snorkeled for an hour off the beach, being able to swim with Golden Rays and Reef Sharks. Having dried ourselves off we returned to the ship. It was actually New Year’s eve, however with dinner and two glasses of champagne down me by 9 pm, i decided to bring my day (and the year) to an end.
Day 3:
We were given an extra 15 minutes of sleep this morning, to make up for the short-lived New Year’s celebrations during the previous night. How lucky. In the morning we landed on another sandy beach, this time on “Chinese Hat Island” (cracker of a name, but the island does actually look like a top hat!). A trek along the coast allowed us to see some more Sea Lions, lots of crabs three Galapagos Hawks and a fair few Iguanas. We then returned to the coast where we again jumped into our wetsuits and went for another snorkel. Sea Lions, Star Fish, other coral fish, Iguanas, sharks and Sea Turtles were the main highlights.
The afternoon has been one of the highlights so far in my opinion. We started off with snorkeling off “Rabid Island”. Here there was some beautiful coral, shoals of such exotic fish, a Sea Turtle, two Golden Rays and several Marine Iguanas. Having dried off, we went for a trek up the hills of Rabid Island. This island has a sandy beach which is such a rich red. Apparently there is a lot of iron in rock which gives the sand this lush red colour. The views from the top of the cliff of this island were absolutely amazing, with a large number of cacti and white-barked trees covering the landscape. We finished the evening enjoying the company of the ship’s captain at our diner table. He also bought the wine, although the fact that we were getting a wake-up call at 6 am the next morning somewhat detracted from that...
Day 4:
6 am wake up call - I'm thinking i really need a holiday now. My nose is pretty red now. Well actually my whole face is scorched - starting to resemble a lobster. You don’t really notice the sun and how hot it is due to the sea breeze. We start the day by hiking up the tallest peak on “Bartolome Island”. This is a scenic walk, with no special wildlife. Apparently they shot some of the movie “Master And Commander” here. Have to deal with rocky terrain, and some 369 wooden steps. From the peak you can start to see the sun rise as day approaches. We then took a panga ride along the coast looking for Galapagos Penguins. Having returned to the Eric and suited up, we would then return to swim with these penguins. Unfortunately there was only one penguin, but to get so close was still very amazing. I really love these creatures, and that was before the movie “Happy Feet” was released. Again, there was also some coral, lots of seals, exotic fish and star fish and finally, to throw into the mix, a few Rays and White Tipped Sharks.
Evening: Well I think i’ve got the motion sickness thing sorted (for now anyway) and I’m also quite impressed that I’m still writing stuff on here and haven’t lost interest. After lunch we did some more snorkeling at a nearby beach. Along with all the colourful fish i was able to swim with another Sea Turtle, this time for about five minutes along the contour of the beach. Such a graceful and elegant swimmer - this is certainly a wildlife experience highlight. Having dried off we trekked into the heart of the island, coming out on the other side by the sea.
Here the landscape had been moulded by hardened larva, giving a lush black sand surrounding the larva stone. This time there were plenty of Iguanas - most of them Marine Iguanas. Also we were give the chance to look down into a cove and see a Sea Turtle swimming (that is what is in the picture on the right/above if you aren’t entirely sure what you are looking at). In the cove there were some Fur Seals (which despite the name are actually a type of Sea Lion). These are nocturnal creatures so were quite docile, sleeping in the cracks in the larva. Unfortunately we were undertaking this trek at around 7 pm, so the light wasn’t that great for clicking on the camera buttons.
Day 5:
We arrived at the island “Santa Cruz”, at the main town “Puerta Ayora”, in the morning. After a hearty breakfast we landed in the harbour and boarded on a bus. This bus took us first to “The Twins”. These were two larva tunnels over 100 feet deep that had collapsed, leaving a sort of crater (larva tunnels occur when the larva hardens on the top of the flow due its proximity to the cooling air, but still continues to flow beneath).
Following that we visited a Giant Tortoise reserve, with plenty of giant tortoises of varying ages - here they are raised before being released into the wild. Some were huge but all were graceful and, unlike most of the wildlife here, very shy. After that we trekked through a complete larva tunnel, which was about 1 km long, with about the same circumference as the Piccadilly line.
With lunch down our belly we visited the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park, where a lot of the administration takes place. Also there was a Giant Tortoise reserve where tortoises are raised from the eggs (incubation through to releasing in the wild). I was able to see tortoises of all ages. We also saw some Land Iguanas - which are nearly extinct. Interesting fact is that the actual day that the mother is born (i.e. when they hatch from the eggs) will be exactly the same day as the day that her children hatch from their eggs. Amazing. Following that we had an hour or so to spend in Puerta Ayora, doing some shopping etc.
Oh - and how the hell does one take a shower in a boat when it going very fast through the waters, rocking left and right, without injuring himself?
Day 6:
Today was a lot more relaxed then any of the other days so far. Perhaps it was a bit of the Friday feeling settling in, or just that the past five days have been very hectic.
The day started with a landing on “Espanola Island” - one of the most popular islands where the colonies of sea birds are most impressive. The dominant bird here was the “Blue Footed Boobie” (cracking name), which has bright blue feet. We were able to see the mating ritual - which looked like some type of tribal dance. Also saw “Christmas Iguanas”, which have the name due to the fact that they turn green and red over the December/January period. Also saw a few Sea Lions, including some really cute puppies, a “Waved Albatross”, a lot of “Hood Mockingbirds” and two “Galapagos Hawks”. There also was a “Blow-Hole”, where the water is pushed up through the ground when there is a high/powerful wave, giving a vertical stream of water up into the air.
In the afternoon we were meant to go snorkeling off “Gardner Bay”, but the water was too rough, so instead we just walked along the beach, jumping over lots of lazy Sea Lions. This beach is favoured by Sea Turtles for nesting, and we could see quite a few in the waters. In the evening we were witness to a beautiful sunset to wrap up a peaceful day.
Day 7:
Slightly sad that this is my last full day in the Galapagos and on The Eric, though looking forward to some peaceful nights on a bed which doesn’t rock, a normal/proper toilet, a shower where you don’t have to hang on for dear life and a bedroom where you can stand up straight if you are over six foot.
The last day included arriving at “San Cristobal” island at “Puerto Moreno”, which is the actual capital of the Galapagos islands, although much smaller then Puerto Ayora. Here we got a coach up to another Giant Tortoise reserve, for tortoises endemic to that island. Able to see tortoises of varying ages, from a few inches large to some massive ones. These ones have a shell that resembles the shape of a saddle. Following that we returned to Puerto Moreno where we visited a museum explaining the history of the Galapagos. This included explaining how Darwin discovered his theory of evolution, using the 14 different types of finch, including the “Darwin Finch”. It also explained how for the first hundred or so years it was cursed for those who first tried to colonise it with convicts who kept overthrowing the settlers.
In the afternoon we took some time to have a snorkel at the nearby bay/beach. Here there were few Rays , some sea lion pups and a few fish. The water was a bit too cloudy for snorkeling due a surge in the currents, but it was still possible to have the sea lion pups swim with us on the beach (very adorable a playful - literally swimming with them in the sea) . And as i write this we are on the look out for some bottle-nosed Dolphins and Whales. Fingers crossed!
Day 8:
Managed to see some whales yesterday evening. Unfortunately sea sickness overcame me again that last evening on board, so dinner was write-off. Nice that i left the boat on good terms...
We left the Eric on 6 January 2008 at 8:30 am, flying out of Balta (from what was previously an Army airbase). The whole journey took half a day, although the actual flight time was around 2 hours. This was mainly due to the madness of an airport like the one at Balta. It made Luton airport look orderly! We arrived at Quito at around 3 pm.