Day 44: Back on Terra Firma

Wed. 26th September 2012

During the previous night we crossed the equator and marked the occasion by all squeezing into the bridge in the dark and watched the GPS count down to 0.000 but did not quite catch it on camera!

Next morning was an early wake up call as Juan knocked on our cabin door at 5:40am for our last outing before heading to the airport. Still half asleep we bundled onto the pangas for a boat ride through the mango swamps and wondering if there could possibly be anything new to see. Juan and his team did not let us down as we saw:

• rays
• white tipped sharks
• huge turtles
• more blue footed boobies

Juan named us the ‘Dream Team’ as we were so lucky in the abundance of wildlife we had seen over the week, the best selection and variety he can remember ever seeing. Only the Hammerhead shark had be elusive, but that was (nearly) rectified by a stamp in our passport at the airport!

It was good to be back on dry land – except we all still feel the rocking motion of the boat!

Back to Casa Aliso (www.casaliso.com) in Quito, a lovely little hotel where the staff are very helpful. It was also good to get a decent hot shower!

Thanks to Rachel at Think Galapagos for arranging our trip and recommending the sailing boat Cachalote (and Casa Aliso). I can thoroughly recommend this company so check out their website at www.thinkgalapagos.com. Nothing was too much trouble and all our questions were promptly answered.

Also thanks to the Cachalote crew who were all fantastic from Roberto the waiter/barman/cabin cleaner to Pedro the amazing chef who fed us very well and enjoyed our singing, also the two panga drivers, mechanic and the Captain – although they turned their hand to any job that needed doing.

Big thanks to Juan our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide and also guitar player/singer.

Finally thanks to the other guests who welcomed us into their group, as they had already been together to walk the Inca trail the previous week. A good group of new friends and great fun. We are grateful for your tips for the Inca Trail, ready for next month when we get to Peru and will look out for that bar in Cusco.

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Day 43: 8 Million Years Later

Tue. 25th September 2012

The Cachalote cruised overnight to Genovesa Island and so we crossed the equator and our now in the Northern Hemisphere for one final day until the middle of February when we leave Australia (I am assuming the Singapore is north of the Equator).

Genovesa was formed 8m years ago and the comparison with Santiago (see yesterday’s post) was fascinating. The similarity and development of the landscape was really clear. You were still crunching on lava that was only a little more eroded than we saw yesterday. There was more variety of trees and plants and hence better support for a wider variety of animal life. Nevertheless, it is very clear that in geological terms, 8m years is not long ago at all.

The wildlife that is unique to Genovesa includes:

• Fur seals – smaller than sea lions with bigger eyes and a more pointed snout;
• Red-footed Boobies – Blue beaks, red feet and nest in trees (unlike Nazca & Blue-footed Boobies); and
• Great Frigates (to date have only seen Magnificent Frigates – still waiting for the AbsoFlippingLutely Amazing Frigates!)

We still can’t get used to how much the wildlife and the birds in particular just ignore you. You are no threat to them and not food for them so you are not worth expending any energy on. Going bird spotting will never be the same again. We had to step over a Booby who was sitting on her nest in the middle of the path. Some of the paths we walked on were flanked by bushy trees each with half a dozen nests in – some occupied by and adult and a chick, but some just with a fluffy feathered chick.

One of the walks on Genovesa was along the cliff wall on the outside of the collapsed caldera from the volcano that formed the island, when suddenly the cry of “Orcas!” went up. We had been watching a large group of Frigates soaring in the updraft off the cliff, when suddenly they all swooped down to the surface of the sea. As we strained to see what they were doing, we saw a fin and then the body of a whale breach the surface. A glimpse of a patch of white on the body was enough to convince our guide that it was an Orca or Killer Whale (actually not a whale, but a member of the dolphin family). Over the next few minutes we saw at least 3 whales in a pod that swam back and forth along the coast. All the while the frigates and other sea birds were frantically swooping around the surface of the sea.

Practically the only animal missing from our checklist / wishlist is the Hammerhead shark. Today was our final snorkelling trip (inside the bay formed within the collapsed caldera) and hence our final chance to see some. Sadly, we failed on this mission but instead we had a sight that was even more spectacular – we got to see a squadron of Cow-nosed Golden Rays as they glided underneath us. Suddenly one of our group started waving and pointing down under the surface. When I ducked down to see what was being pointed at, I at first thought something was wrong. It was like looking at a floor tiled in lino or at a chess board – light and dark squares as far as you could see.

It took a second or two to realise that I was looking at a squadron of rays about 4 or 5 rays wide and stretching fore and back pretty much as far as you could see. We hung floating on the surface and watched them slide away underneath us for a few minutes awestruck by their number and by the regularity of spacing.

Closer to the shore, the other fish were smaller but much more colourful – my favourite was a large parrotfish that shimmered in turquoise, green and blue as it chomped away at the vegetation or crustaceans on a rock below me.

I made sure to finish the film on my disposable underwater camera – I hope that the pictures come out and that we are able to get them in digital format somehow. It was frustrating being back to a film camera after being so used to convenience of digital cameras. I must get a waterproof case for my little Sony RX100.

We had another beach trip in the afternoon (wet landing) where we met three research scientists from the Max Planck Institute. We got talking to one of them and apparently they are on the island for 3 weeks and are studying whether or not Frigate birds sleep on the wing. What a great wheeze this is – being paid to spend 3 weeks in the Galapagos studying anything!

On our landing beach we found a pile of litter including plastic pots and plastic bags thrown overboard and then washed up from a fishing boat moored in the bay. Juan took this to be a capital crime. Prior to clearing it up, he asked me to take photos of all the rubbish (and later the offending fishing boat) so that he can include them as evidence in a report to the park authorities. I was actually encouraged a) that people cared and b) that it is likely there will be a fine for the fishing boat crew.

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Day 42: More Boobies

Mon. 24th September 2012

We woke to find the Cachalote moored alone off Santiago Island. Usually there is at least the cruiser San Jose moored close by. The San Jose has been following the same itinerary as us, however we do not often see people on it so it has been nicknamed the Mari Celeste! Occasionally we have seen some passengers being taken for beach landings an hour earlier than us which would mean breakfast at 6am so glad not to be on that boat!

We now all know the drill and so are all on the foredeck by 7:55am dressed in our lifejackets and armed with sandals, cameras and binoculars at the ready.

The tiny jetty on Santiago Island where we land is full of more Blue Footed Boobies and a poor unsuspecting marine lizard scurries off as his tail is accidently trodden on as we disembark.

A shout goes up from Dave as he spots an octopus in a rock pool so we all huddle around and are amazed at how quickly it can change colour as it swims over the dark volcanic rock onto the sand bed. Even Juan is excited as this is a rare sight.

In a hypersalinic lagoon a few feet from the sea, two flamingos are quietly scavenging for food in the water. It is fascinating watching how they appear to dance around their beak, which is in the water foraging for food.

On the climb up Dragons Hill, for a spectacular view of the bay, we spotted land iguanas firstly hidden in the bushes and then a couple with their nest in the middle of the path! Also, the mockingbirds perched overhead are a common sight no longer worthy of a second glance.

On our return to the beach, there is a heron by the rock pool where the octopus had been. Looks like he may have just had an early lunch – we were getting fond of that octopus too!

We had a two hour sail (well cruise) before lunch. Jerry would not approve of the folding away of the sails (vaguely roll into a ball and tie a rope around before suspending a foot off the deck).

The obligatory daily snorkel followed and it is surprising how cold the water is even in a short wetsuit. However, the cold is soon forgotten when the shoals of fish begin to swim by.

Today’s afternoon walk was to see the volcanic landscape of Santiago Island following the eruption just over 110 years ago. A complete contrast from the usual trips to see animals as this was more of a geology lesson (where are you Richard when I need you!). The different patterns and formations of the rocks where limitless, some looking like rope, some like little “clanger” holes, and others just little solid blobs (cow pat like!) or spaghetti straight from the pasta machine. It would make a great exhibit at the Tate Modern.

This covered quite a large area and it was interesting to see the edges where it flowed over the existing lava from the previous eruption 4 to 5 million years ago and just stopped like viscous liquid over a solid. Lichen was beginning to grow and also a cactus which probably grew from a seed a bird dropped. The only creatures were little lava lizards and also a lava heron. We also took time to lie on the rocks which were lovely and warm and we could have stayed all day.

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Day 41: Science Lesson

Sun. 23rd September 2012

During the night, the boat sailed to Floreana Island. There was a reasonable swell during the crossing in the night and so both of us headed to bed early as it is much more comfortable whilst horizontal.

It was a ‘wet’ (feet) landing at 8am (this isn’t a holiday you know!) on the beach at Punto Cormorant. By this point, we are all thoroughly used to sea lions and treat them with more or less the same indifference with which they regard us. At our briefing, Juan explained that the main attraction would be a (brackish) lagoon with flamingos. As it turned out, the flamingos were at the opposite end of the lagoon, and the real treat was a science lesson from Juan on the formation of the islands.

Using a cloth map and a few figures as props he explained how geology, geography and biology all came together to make the Galapagos islands unique. Some of the key points he made were:

• The islands sit at the edge of the Nazca tectonic plate which is moving southeast towards Peru at between 2cm & 10cm per year (same speed as fingernails grow);
• There are 7 active volcanoes in the islands all of them at the west end of the archipelago with the older islands to the east (where we have been visiting). Scientists have found underwater mountains with the same mineral composition further east still – these were once Galapagos islands;
• Galapagos is at the convergence of 3 ocean currents – the Panama current from the north, the Humboldt from the south and the Cromwell from the west. Native animal life drifted in on wind or ocean currents – even the original tortoises drifted for 2 weeks on their backs from the Peru/Ecuador mainland;
• 95% of the native species of the islands are still alive today – despite the efforts of mankind;
• There is only one species of native terrestrial mammal – a type of rat, and even that has turned vegetarian as its diet is now cactus leaves.

Juan explained that the Hawaiian islands could be like the Galapagos – however, they now only have 5% of their native species still in existence.

From the lagoon, we walked across to the other side of the (small) island to another beach that had a layer of white sand on top of a layer of green sand. There was another treat waiting for us here – a school(?) of Stingrays feeding on the surf right up by the shore (sadly there was no sign of Troy Tempest though!). The Stingrays came so close in, that you had to be careful when paddling that a wave did not wash one up to you.

After that it was another snorkelling trip, this time off the Devil’s Crown rocks just off the island. By UK standards the water is warm, but by Caribbean or Maldives standards it is cold and we were all grateful for our shortie wetsuits. In the 30 – 40 minutes that we could manage before we got too cold, we were carried by the current around the rocks. Floating on the surface and looking down you could see where the current flowed most strongly as there were shoals of fish there, presumably watching for prey to come by. We also spotted 4 large Eagle Rays gracefully swimming close to the sandy sea bed. They really did look like they were flying as they moved so gracefully.

After lunch (another 3 course meal – the boat is now well ballasted!) we cruised round the island to Post Office Bay. Here there is what could probably be described as an crowd-sourced postal system. In the 18th / 19th century, the British set up a barrel to use as a drop box for postcards and letters. This was used by Darwin to send progress reports and, although the barrel has been replaced several times, is still in use today. Essentially, when you drop off your cards, you are expected to look through the addresses on cards already in the barrel for those whose recipients live close to you and then to take and deliver them.

Whilst we are going round the world, we didn’t think it appropriate or helpful to take any cards. Others in our group though did spot a couple of addresses that were familiar and so those folk can look forward to receiving their cards in a week or so.

Our day’s excursions had an early end as we set off at 2pm to sail for Santa Cruz island. Even though we had the sails up (for the first time) there wasn’t enough wind to maintain the speed we needed and so the engines were never shut off. It will be a little disappointing if we never are fully under sail – as you can see from the photos as a two-masted schooner, it will be very pretty under sail. We are now heading north and on Monday at some point will cross the Equator. We have been promised a party – whether or not we get to meet Neptune, I’m not sure yet.

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Day 40: Wow, Wow And Thrice Wow

Sat. 22nd September 2012

Well what an amazing day. The surprises just kept coming. Juan had said that Española was his favourite island and it really did not disappoint.

Firstly a walk on very pretty beach with sea lions, turtles, crabs and lizards. We agreed we already had enough photos of sea lions so only take more if they are exceptional shots. We both failed and took more photos. Today Dave took over 170 pictures which will take a lot of sorting. Thank goodness for digital cameras where the bad shots can be deleted!

The itinerary is full on so after grabbing a quick coffee if was off again to go snorkelling with sea lions. To begin with it was quite unnerving with them swimming straight at you and then dipping below you at the last minute. You then realised they are playing with you and much better swimmers than you could ever hope to be.

After lunch the yacht moved around the island to another bay for us to explore the beach and take a walk inland. The captain said sails up tomorrow….

Half way through our post-lunch siesta, Juan started blowing his whistle and the shout went up – dolphins. No kidding, the boat was surrounded by hundreds of dolphins swimming  alongside the boat, including right under the bows. They stayed with us for ages. I remember in Greece we thought it was great when a pair of dolphins swam with our yacht – this is just in another league.

Andy, one of our group, who is more organised than us wrote his diary up after lunch and his final words were. “How can it get better than this”. Well it did – and then some.

We now get quite blasé about “only another sea lion /iguana/mocking bird” but the wildlife is plentiful and they are quite fearless and not scared of us humans at all.

The afternoon was a dry landing on a small jetty where we had to walk through sea lions and marine iguanas – we are the ones who have to give way to them! At the end of the jetty we stopped to admire big groups of iguanas. When we turned around the ones on the jetty were closer but stationery. A bit like the Weeping Angels on Dr Who!

Heading inland, we finally saw the Blue-footed Boobies up close and on land. Just because the paths are clearly marked and humans are restricted to them, doesn’t mean they are off limits to the wildlife. We came across one Booby who had made her nest in the middle of the path. She didn’t seem to be particularly bothered as we stepped over her.

Our guide said we may see an albatross and so we were happy to see one fly past. We were definitely not expecting the sheer quantity we saw and also “airport” where we could see them coming in to land! If you think of the Disney film with the albatross (was it Lady and The Tramp?) or the joke about the ‘Omagouly’ bird, then you will get the picture.

We sat a while watching two hawks flying past and also perching on a close by rock. There were also Nazca Boobies and the albatrosses flying by. We could have stayed all afternoon, but no – there was more to see.

In the distance, over the sound of the waves on the rocks, there was another interesting sound, so off we went. With all these sights we have seen today, we had forgotten that our morning briefing had mentioned a blow hole. Well that was amazing too!

The chatter over supper was enthusing over what we had seen and which was our favourite. The only consensus was ‘all of the above’. We could see why Juan said this was his favourite island. I could go on but it is time to sleep and be ready for 7am breakfast tomorrow before exploring more exciting places.

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Day 39: In The Footsteps of Darwin

Fri. 21st September 2012

It was another early start again today with breakfast at 7am and then on the pangas at 8am for our first excursion of the day. After our overnight cruise, we were at San Cristobel island which is where Darwin first landed in 1832(?).

We started with a walk along the beach as the Ghost Crabs scuttle off back to their holes and the sea lions ignore us completely. After all the sea lion photos that we had taken yesterday, we tried to impose a moratorium on further pictures unless they had significant artistic merit. We probably failed on these grounds, but at least it did make us think about what else we could photograph.

There were a couple of Blue-footed Boobies who were diving for fish just in the bay where we landed. Fantastic (and relatively easy) to watch, but a real challenge to photograph. It is probably more down to my camera than my own skills that I was able to get a pretty good sequence.

[As a sidenote, I am super-pleased with my Sony RX100 camera. Whilst I hate to admit it, it is thanks to Mark Platt for the tip-off. This compact camera has many of the capabilities of my Nikon DSLR, and some additional tricks like stunning low-light capability and built in HDR. Highly recommended.]

After our walk, it was wet-suits on for another snorkelling session along the cliffs at the side of the island. Whilst there were no turtles or sea lions coming out to play this time, there were lots of fish feeding (and squabbling for territory) amongst the rocks and then in the sandy sea bed, Janet spotted a group of 4 Eagle Rays swimming by. It was almost hypnotising, swimming gently along the surface tracking them as they glided effortlessly by.

When we got back to the Cachalote, it was more mundane and it was time to get undies washed as we (or at least I) were in danger of running out. At least this was a productive activity – in the afternoon, we were supposed to have a trip up to the highlands to see a fresh water lagoon / sink hole. However, once we got up there it was deemed to be too wet (we were up in the clouds) and so Plan B was for us to go to a(nother) tortoise sanctuary.

Whilst the general consensus was that there were only so many tortoises you could maintain an interest in, I think that I would prefer to note some thoughts on the way that tourism is managed in the islands. The route of our boat and our arrival and departure times at each of the islands are set by the National Park. Once on an island, you are constrained by the marked paths and the directions of your guide. The upshot is that you can feel somewhat restricted and herded around – particularly when two or three other boats are visiting the same island at the same time. However, it never feels busy and the islands are so unique – and you can get so close to the animals – that it is a price worth paying.

we have seen relatively few other tourists when ashore and we have felt that we have had the place to ourselves.

There is also (appropriately) a real drive to minimise the impact of human activity on the islands. One sign that there is very little pollution is the amount of lichen growing on the trees. The above picture doesn’t really do justice to the number of trees that we have seen that seem to have grown beards.

As we did not sail until midnight there was time for a good old sing song as the guide had bought his guitar and a few of the other guests were very good musicians.

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Day 38: What A Lot Of Wildlife

Thur. 20th September 2012

There was anticipation and excitement in the air at our 7am breakfast, as everyone was looking forward to their first full day in the Galapagos. Our guide (Juan) gave us a briefing as to what the day entailed.

First up was a boat trip to South Plaza Island, so we all piled into the two pangas and headed off. As we approached the small jetty we saw a mass of sea lions in the sea, on the beach and on the jetty. Everyone was excited and started snapping pictures as they disembarked. The guide was quietly amused as he knew what was to come which was much more of the same.

A few paces onto land and there were masses of iguanas. This was the Galapagos we expected and we walked around the island on a marked path and all the wildlife was quite unafraid and so we could watch them whilst they ignored us.

Frigate birds escorted the yacht  on the crossing to the next island, Santa Fe, in the hope of scraps. At first there were three, but we counted twelve by the end of the crossing. They seemed to be getting a free ride from the updraft created by the boat. It was a quiet crossing, as everyone found their sealegs. The water was quite choppy so lunch was delayed until the anchor was lowered.  As we could not snorkel after our three course lunch this meant change to plan B, a walk first. We therefore again piled into the two pangas and headed off, this time a “wet landing” which meant reverse the boats up on the beach as wade onto the shore.

The beach was full of  lazy sea lions sunning themselves. As we are seeing wildlife in natural surroundings and humans are not allowed to interfere with the natural cycle of life, we saw two dead sea lions, one a baby which had died from starvation as the mother leaves their young for up to 11 days at a time to collect food and do not always return as they may get lost or be eaten by sharks. The second one was a young female who looked like she died during childbirth. This subdued us for a while but were pleased to come across a mother with a newly born baby with Frigate birds sat close hoping to steal the placenta. This was yet another good photo opportunity.

Our busy schedule meant a brief stop at the yacht to collect snorkelling gear and then back in the pangas. Snorkelling was straight of the dingy into the sea. Not easy for the first time snorkelers so Dave helped Nadia with her mask and explained what to do. I was off and we saw amazing coloured fish , a turtle (but not as good as Mexico!) and a white tip shark. A couple of curious sea lions also came out to investigate us and to show off how much better in the water they were than us.

A very busy day and straight after supper the yacht was off again to the next place, arriving and anchoring at 1:15am (sleeping just above the anchor we can confirm the time!). There was a reasonable sea swell on the crossing – this is the middle of the Pacific Ocean after all. Whilst Steve & Graham took turns playing guitar and leading a sing-along, the group gradually thinned out as people succumbed  to tiredness and queasiness.

Perhaps after a better nights sleep and another day of acclimatisation we will all do more justice to the bar and to socialising.

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Day 37: Tortoises, Tick

Wed. 19th September 2012

It was a 7am collection from our hotel for our transfer to Baltra on Galapagos. At least everything was organised for us – once we got to the airport, we were presented with our boarding passes and pointed at the entrance to security.

We were also met at the airport by Juan our naturalist & guide and we also met up with the rest of the group that we will be spending the next week with. There are 16 of us in total (including the two of us) of whom twelve had spent the previous week or so walking the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. No doubt we will be picking their brains for hints and tips for when we walk the Trail in a couple of weeks time. We were relieved to hear that they were very enthusiastic about the whole experience.

The airport at Baltra is separated from the main island of Santa Cruz by a canal and so we had a short ferry crossing before loading on to a coach for a drive across the island to Puerto Ayora where we would later join our boat. Before that, however, we were promised a stop off in the highlands to see some tortoises and a visit to the Charles Darwin centre.

Our first impressions of Galapagos was the ruggedness of the island (not surprising as it is volcanic and relatively recent) and the diversity of the habitats. In just a short drive from the ferry at Santa Cruz, we went from littoral (coastal) zone to dry zone (incense trees that looked dead but weren’t), through a greener zone and then up to the highlands – where we had a good old-fashioned English drizzle.

[On further reflection, this diversity of habitats is crucial to Darwin’s insight – the ability of species to adapt to the subtle variations of habitat. So, my apologies if I have only been stating the obvious.]

In the highlands we stopped at a farm for lunch and then it was off for a walk to see the giant tortoises. We must have come across a dozen wild tortoises. Here we got our first experience of wild animals being unafraid of humans. The tortoises would bulldoze their way through the grass and chomp away on whatever vegetation. You could then walk up within a metre or two of them and they would completely ignore you. They weren’t as graceful as the turtles we saw at Akumal, but they were still an incredible sight.

After lunch it was on to the Darwin Research Centre, where they have a programme of breeding tortoises in captivity and then releasing them into the wild (on the correct island) in order to rebuild the population. We also saw the memorial to Lonesome George – who we learned was named Abingdoni. Other facts that we learned include:

• The Galapagos islands were so named by the Spanish as they thought the shape of the Saddleback tortoises looked like a saddle;
• Darwin was in his twenties when he came to the Galapagos and he was only here for 5 weeks, 2 of which were spent sailing between islands;
• He destroyed a lot of evidence that would have been valuable later – including a number of tortoises that were eaten on the voyage home and the shells  thrown overboard.

The Darwin centre was a bit disappointing – it is hard to get enthusiastic about animals in captivity even if it is in a good cause, and there was relatively little in the way of exhibits and information. Afterwards we had a short walk into Puerto Ayora town where we took the opportunity to have a beer with our new friends and get to know them a bit better. We also found out that there is an Ecuadorian football club called Barcelona who were playing a televised match that drew strong local support.

There was a small fish market in town and this drew a lot of interest from the pelicans who flew in and perched on the counter or the floor, entirely ignoring both locals and tourists.

Our ship for the next week is the M/s Cachalote and our transfer out to the Cachalote was on the rigid inflatable tenders (pangas) that I think we will be using alot when we go off to visit islands.

All in all, it was great to see tortoises in the wild and the rugged scenery but I hope we get to see more over the rest of the week.

Today we saw:

• Dome tortoises (wild and in captivity)
• Saddle-back tortoises (in captivity)
• Marine iguanas
• Land iguanas
• Pelican
• Yellow warblers
• Mockingbirds

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