The Galapagos Islands - Part 1

Hola - it´s been awhile...been aboard a yacht for 6 days...Yate Floreana. It was a pretty small yacht (it holds 16 people in 8 cabins plus the crew) and I got a killer last minute deal on it (almost half off!). They ended up having a bunch of people cancel at the last minute so there were only 5 passengers (plus one of the workers was allowed to bring his wife and 2 kids since it was so empty). This included: Aika and Wolfgang, a German couple about 70 years old, and Maggie and Howard, a British couple maybe in their 40s, and yours truly, moi. Aika and Wolfgang were not stereotypical Germans at all (which the Brits commented on several times.) They had traveled all over Australia, New Zealand, and Africa, and were spending 2 weeks in the Galapagos. Aika loves to film on her video camera, and Wolfgang, well, he was the funniest, goofiest guy who did not speak any English at all but had become best friends with all the crew and somehow found a way to talk to them (mostly by making them laugh). As for Maggie and Howard, they were not very typical Brits either. They have traveled a bunch and were taking 3 mos in Ecuador and Venezuela and were my drinking buds on the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed them and we had the most interesting conversations. The crew was 6 people plus our guide, Pepe. The captain was Freddy and being that I was alone, the two couples sat at one table and I got to dine with the Captain every nite. I got a lot of interesting information from him (on politics and history, etc) and he kept begging me to stay on and teach him more English - he really enjoyed my company :). Oh, and this yacht was run by locals so I felt really good about that, as there is a lot on the internet about how the cruises tend to make money for people that don´t live in the Islands. I even booked directly with the yacht the day before I got there. I was a little hesitant about a cruise, but from everything I read, it is the way to see the most islands and since it was so small, it really was a good way to go.

Day 1: Arrival on Santa Cruz Island
For some reason, I had a first class seat on the plane which was a sweet way to start off this trip. And, like most Latin American airlines, a free drink (I had a beer). On my way off the plane, I met the owner and he made sure I got from the airport, on the bus, then on the ferry, then into the car that drove us to the port (and along the way we picked up a hitchhiker). I was surprised to see how dead the vegetation looked but then I remembered reading about it and the fact that it is very dry and still developing from lava stone. It reminded me of Arizona too, and even more so as time went on. Then finally we arrived in Porta Ayora, which is inhabited by about 5000 people, and the panga boat (small raft type boat) picked me up and took me to the yacht, where I met everyone and had lunch. I got a really good feeling and also was stoked to have a cabin all to myself...

Shortly after lunch, we got into the panga and met Pepe, our guide, who took us to the Highlands (mountains) to see the Galapagos tortoises and lava tubes on someone´s property. We also went over the rules...no flashes on cameras, no touching or making stupid kissing noises to the animals, and keep about a meter away to give them space. As soon as we started hiking the trail, we saw two HUGE tortoises, which were female (the males are even larger!). They didn´t even flinch when we came near them at all. We then hiked some more and got see male tortoises too! They are every bit as magnificent as you would think. Along the way, Pepe picked some passion fruit and gave it to me and Maggie to share (her husband went diving and the Germans to the beach instead). The highlands are not as dry as the rest of the island and there is also freshwater here that does not need to be trucked in like in town. We also saw a few finshes as well, one of which is the woodpecker finch. It actually picks twigs from the tree and uses it to pick out insects from the trees. Pepe explained that there are 13 different finches, with different bills (beaks) that all evolved from one species. These are what are referred to as ¨Darwin Finches¨.

After spending some time hiking, we took the bus to the lava tubes, which were really cool! What happens is that as the lava cools from the volcano on the outside, the inside is still magma and flowing and so it carves out a long tube, hundreds of meters, that is about 5 or so meters high and wide. They have motion lights inside so we could see. On the way out, I noticed some bones, and Pepe explained they were from Panchita. Evidently, the owner of the land had a cow, named Panchita. She disappeared one day and after a few days, he found her body where she had tumbled down into the lava tube, which is how he discovered the tubes in the first place. It was hard to tell the tube was even there, it was similar to the way the cenotes are in the Yucatan.

Later that nite, we got to spend some time in the port before our yacht took off. I went with the British couple to meet a firefighter from Winnipeg they had met and Howard had dove with that day. He was maybe in his 20s and was spending about a month traveling, first rock climbing in Quito (Ecuador), and then a week in the Galapagos, and then taking a cruise in the Bahamas I think. (Alisha - he said he hates Phoenix because they are modeling his department after yours...people hate change but usually its for the better - thought you might want to know.) He had found these great ¨kisoks¨ which were little BBQ cubbies that also had giant Ecuador beers. We had two big beers while we were there but didn´t eat as we had dinner on the boat. Had a great conversation on England´s change to the metric system. While it is good in a lot of ways, the Brits were saying how it is much more difficult to divide the 10 than the 12 (10 can be divided in half only for a hole number, whereas 12 can be divided by half, by thirds, and by quarters, and by six and still get whole numbers) Interesting perspective.

Went back to the yacht about 10 and then twirled poi (balls on chains that glow that I brought for a toy and to practice for those that don´t know what I am talking about). The kids thought it was really cool and so did some of the crew - they had never seen anything like it before.

Day 2: Floreana Island
Woke up an hour early this morning after hearing the bell go off that meant there was something up on top of the boat to see. Went up to the front with everyone and there a bunch of dolphins diving in and out of the water, which a few were riding the waves from the boat. It was a fantastic way to start off the day!

After breakfast we took the panga to Post Office Bay where we landed on the beach and took a short hike. Here, back in 1807 I think, they placed a barrel for people to leave mail that would then be hand delivered by others leaving the islands. The barrel is now covered in stickers and there is all sorts of wood with messages here. Now, you can leave postcards here and when people visit, they look through them and if they are addressed to their town, you take them with you and hand deliver them. I did not find any for Phoenix or Tucson, unfortunately. I also did not leave one as I forgot to buy one the nite before after drinking beer. :) We also saw a sea lion here as well as pelicans and friggets (sea birds that are endemic to the Galapagos) At Post Office bay, we went snorkeling where I saw a sea turtle and a stingray, but the water was really murky. We got back on board and ate lunch, and while on board, we saw sea turtles from the boat.

After lunch, I took a siesta (and did so every day of the cruise!). Then we went for a hike in Cormorant Point, which did not have Cormorants (flightless birds). Here we hiked a bit through mangroves on the shore of brackish water (salt and fresh mixed) where we saw 3 flamingos, but only off in the distance (you will see pick specks in my pics!). The mangroves were cool and you could actually see salt crystals on the leaves of the plants where they took in the brackish water and convert it to fresh and expel the salt. Over the hill we saw a great blue heron and some cool crabs (which I would see every day the rest of the trip but was really excited about). I also saw my first blue-footed booby! (A sea type bird with blue feet found endemic to the island!)

After the hike, we took a panga to Champion Island nearby where we snorkeled in deep water. This was the best snorkeling the whole trip. We got to snorkel with a bunch of sea lions, mostly babies (although i was told to be careful of the males which can be aggressive). They were playing all around in the water and would dive in and swim right toward you and then swerve at the last minute. Then...I saw my first shark!!!! It was probably 6 feet long and so amazing but I couldn´t get a picture (it was a black tipped shark). We also saw tangs, and really big blennies and parrotfish, and some barracuda.

At dinner, the captain told me the eerie story about Floreana Island. Evidently, back in maybe 1930 or so (if I remember correctly), there was a Baronessa that arrived from a Scandinavian country and brought with her 3 lovers (yes-three to herself!). She lived there with them for awhile but soon was causing problems with local women and their husbands and was found murdered, along with two of her lovers eventually murdered. Not sure if it was the local women or the remaining lover and it has been a mystery since. (It was cool because I saw the story later at a visitor center and it never even mentioned the local wives so I got more info from the Captain).

Day 3: Espanola Island
In the morning we went took the Panga to Punta Suarez, where we landed on a beach with hundreds of sea lions! Most of the sea lions were females and their babies, which many were nursing. With sea lions, the male can mate with many females and may mate 40 times in one year. There is one male only to a group of females and males patrol their territory to ensure other males do not come in to mate. Females can get pregnant every two months, while they are already pregnant. Each baby is in the womb for 10 months, so she can have up to 4 or 5 babies nursing at a time within any given year. I thought that was really cool to learn! We also saw marine iguana here, called Christmas iguanas. They are red and green due to the algae they eat and they are considered marine iguanas because they actaully dive in the ocean looking for and eating algae! They have evolved to have flat faces compared to most iguanas since they scrape the algae off the rocks for food. We also witnessed two male iguanas, coming out of a cave, one on top of the other. It turns out they were fighting for territory and clearly the one on top was winning. It was a little hard to watch but the top one was biting on and pulling on the iguanas neck spines and the bottom one was bleeding. Eventually it ran away. Pretty cool to see in real life (just like Discovery Channel!) We also saw some Blue footed boobies and Nazca boobies too, as well as some ¨lava lizards¨¨, both male and female which look very different from one another.

In the afternoon (after the siesta!) we went to Gardner Bay, where we saw a bunch more sea lions and then went snorkeling with them. I also saw a huge stingray and lots of fish.

That nite, we motored to San Cristobal Island and got off for a few hours in town. The town was a lot smaller and had a really cool walk down the waterfront. I went with the Brits to a bar and we had a few beers and more great conversations! (and listened to Tracy Chapman) They were telling me a lot about their trip to India and places they went. They also got news that their house in England was flooded and filled with mold (their daughter was checking it weekly). They didn´t seem too upset, they were such laid back people.

OK - It´s almost 9pm and I am hungry and going to go check out those kiosks again (I am back on Santa Cruz) Going diving in the morning with hammerheads and other sharks and rays!!!! Stay tuned for Part 2.