26. Galapagos Islands - Thursday March 17

The boat left Rabida Island about 3am and took us to Bartholomew Island, arriving not long before the bell rang for our first excursion.  Yes I may not have mentioned that we had a bell that the guide  rang as he walked around the boat making sure we were all ready to leave on time.  When I heard this and had the required reaction.  Jumping up and going on deck immediately I am presented with the pinks and oranges of the morning sun as it starts to light up the sky.  The black shapes of the islands of the area and Pinnacle rock are illuminated by the light that signals the start of the day.  Another early start this morning...the bell rang at 5.30am. Once again I have ignored my alarm to get up at 5am and do yoga...oops!   

The first activity is a walk to the top of the lookout on Bartholomew Island.  Approximately 370 steps apparently!  It is definitely worth the effort as the view is nothing short of spectacular.  We look out across the water, the MY San Jose, more boats, the lava fields where we will walk later and the islands both near and far.  I have included a photo of our guide wearing his hysterical guide hat!  Looking quite like Dr Livingstone it had a solar panel on top that powered a fan in the front of it.  He says he has had it for about 20 years.  Made me laugh every time he wore it.

After this excursion we have breakfast and a short break then about 9.30am we head off snorkelling to Phillipe Island.  This is a small island apparently named by National Parque guide #003 who is a friend of our guide, Fabian.  We circle the island twice and see hundreds, maybe thousands of salmani (endemic) small dark fish that were all swimming close together protecting each other.  As we swim through the school they split in unison into 2.  Amazing.  We also see blennies and a white tip reef shark lurking on the ocean floor.  The snorkelling is fantastic due to there being lots of large fish and lots of rocky outcrops to swim around.  We continue to snorkel and head closer to the beach.   Another opportunity to swim back to the boat is given.  Is this a good idea?  It looks a long way...hmm!  It is tempting so of course I have a go, you don’t get to swim in this kind of water very often.  I make it, which is surprising seeing as one of the tenders had to stop me swimming off in the wrong direction...eek! I just got in a zone and forgot about keeping a check on the location of the boat relative to me... I did check quite often after that..at least it gave everyone a laugh!

Back to the boat for a quick rinse off of the salt and then we head to the lava fields for a walk through one of the most remarkable landscapes I think I have ever seen.  This time no barefoot as the lava surface is hot (just from the sun, not because it had just flowed) and sharp and unforgiving. Still I took my photo to add to the many places and different earth surfaces I have walked on.   The definition of the flow is obvious, there are spatter cones where the lava has feed out into the surface in different places than the main crater.  There are markings that indicate where tree branches were located and there is even a sand dune that for some reason the lava went around.  The ground was once flat but a secondary eruption broke up this surface which is now quite undulating.  There are some plants that manage to grow here but not many.  The red comes from the oxidisation of the lava surface when air can penetrate and cause rust.  Most of the area is still black as there has not been the opportunity for the air to get in.  So many things I have seen here have the wow factor, this was no exception.  I have never seen anything like it before.  You can see the flow, splashes, explosions of the lava on the surface, frozen in time until the next eruption. 

After lunch we set off for Santa Cruz where my trip is meant to end tomorrow morning (imagine that sad face again!).  On the way we stop at a crater lagoon with brackish water and see around 40 flamingos which is more than we thought so it was great to see.  Watching the birds from the top deck we see that the flamingoes have black underneath their wings, something I didn’t realise from the previous sightings a couple of days ago.

We arrive in Puerta Ayora, Santa Cruz, the place where I arrived and first got onboard MY San Jose.  We have dinner on board and then Fabian takes us into town and gives us a quick orientation of area.  The group this evening does their own thing.  I go with Fabian and another one of the girls to visit a friend of his who lives here.  He has a very cool house and we have some wine there.  We head out into town and pick a bar to have a few beers and a dance.  As it turns out tonight was the final of the Miss Ecuador contest.  As it happens this is the first year there is a contestant from the Galapagos Islands.  Fabians friend knows the contestant and she is the daughter of the owner of the bar we had chosen.  It is being televised at the bar.  Fabian asks his friend what is her name and how will we know which is her as we couldnt hear so well.  He said, we will know!  All her friends had gathered there and every time she came on stage or did anything, the crowd roared so we soon knew who she was and we were also cheering along.  The best thing of the night was that she won!  There were cars driving up and down the street and tooting and much celebration throughout the whole town.  It was quite fun to accidentally be a part of it and exciting that she won!  The night ended after a few beers and a dance or two.  A water taxi took me back to the boat at the exorbitant cost of $1!  I felt quite naughty getting back to the boat at 1am after it appears everyone else had returned early and only a couple of the crew were still awake.  It was a great final night to my trip.

25. Galapagos Islands - March 16

Overnight we had moved to James Island.  It should be noted that if you start investigating any of these islands, most have several names.  James Island is also known as Santiago or San Salvador Island.  It was another early start today....up at 5.30am for a 6.00am departure to the island for a walk.  Fabian, our guide, seems to like to get going before it gets too hot and there are too many people from other tours.  It seems to work well.  

James Island has a dark sand beach with lots of lava flow formations.  We see loads of marine iguanas in the rock pools as we walk along the beach.  Once again there is plenty of wildlife.  We saw hawks, a whimbrel (standing on one leg as if he raised the other he would fall down...a Fabian joke),  a tiny Galapagos 4 eyed blenny which is endemic to the area.  This is a fish that can see above and below the water.  It also comes out of the water and can travel over land...its very unusual and cool.  There were also less patterned lava lizards to match the brown colouring of the island.  As a lot of the landscape was formed from lava, there is lots of interesting stones and formations.  I walk barefoot for as long as I can so I can to feel the sand and lava rock between my toes and on the grounding soles of my feet.  Again we see eagle rays playing along the shoreline.  Lava herons flying, pretty red crabs with turquoise underbellies, and more sea lions. Sadly we see two baby sea lions, only a few days old, that have been bitten by mosquitos and developed eye problems.  But that is nature, as gets said quite often.   We see fur seals (2) that I have not seen before anywhere else on the islands.   We also see another lava tube where the roof has collapsed exposing the formation in the water.  We also see Galapagos doves, Darwin finches, Galapagos hawks, brown pelicans and a great blue heron.

Back to the boat for breakfast which we are all looking forward to it appears.  My little stomach upset seems to be leaving.  After confessing that I slept in the spare cabin and trying to look my cutest..:), Fabian says its okay for me to move into the spare cabin as I am not fussed about the airconditioning not working.  My roomy, Judith has trouble sleeping at the best of times apparently, so without me in the room she has a better chance of sleeping and can use the airconditioning whenever she wants. It must be an awful thing for people who have trouble sleeping.  I am very lucky that does not often happen to me.

About 9.30am it starts to rain....the first I have had since I have been here.  Despite the rain we don our bathing suits and go snorkelling.  It is still clear and the visibility is great.  A couple of sea lions swim with us.  We see hieroglyphic hawk fish (my first) and loads of big, really big, parrot fish, angel fish and barracuda.  There is also a stingray, and some penguins....too many species to name, which is just spectacular to see.

We have lunch and leave here for Rabida Island.  The weather was clearing on James Island but as we head south the rain appears to settle in and becomes quite heavy although it may clear. Rabida Island has a distinct red colour due to the high iron content in the lava.  The volcanic rocks of Rabida are covered with palo santo trees, opuntia cacti and low, scrubby bushes.  About 2.30pm we leave the MY San Jose for a cruise along the shoreline of Rabida Island and a walk along the red sand beach.  We snorkel again and see more spectacular fish.  If only I had an underwater camera!

24. Last day in the Galapagos...or is it...??

As mentioned, due to the tsunami delay, my 4 days on the boat (6 day trip in total) was cut short by almost 2 days.  This means today (Tuesday 15 March) is meant to be my last day, leaving after breakfast...(imagine very sad face here!).  Of course I have asked the tour company if I can stay for an extra to complete my trip but hadnt heard anything.

I have to get up early (6.00am for a 6.15am) for our final tour.  This is our first before breakfast trip.  We are glad as there is a cruise ship with 100 guests with us in this bay and we want to be in and out before they start coming ashore.  This is to North Seymour Island to see the frigate birds and we are not disappointed.  Up close we see many frigate birds, some of the males have their red balloons inflated and they can stay that way for 2 weeks while waiting to attract a mate.  The balloon takes from 20mins to 2-3 hours to inflate.  We also see the blue footed booby up close.  There are loads of mosquitos on this island but they don’t seem to bite, thankfully!  We also saw a baby frigate bird and a land iguana.  We return and have breakfast before leaving for the airport.

When we are ready to depart...all packed and everything, Diego advises that my request to stay longer has been approved.  The conditions are that instead of one day though, I have to stay until Friday.  This is great and the answer is yes but then the logisitics present themselves.  I have no internet access and my mobile doesnt work in Ecuador....how do I contact my travel agent to get him to change my flight back to San Jose (again, there was already one change before I even left due to my lack of attention to detail rather than anything Alban did!)??  Diego suggests I come to the airport with them and I may be able to buy a phone card.  It is a short distance from where the MY San Jose is tied up but no one is allowed to walk on the fuel dock except crew so passengers have to be ferried across.  There is a little shop near the jetty where we get off the boat Diego asks and we are able to get a $6 phone card.  I use his mobile to call Alban (my travel agent) and explain what is happening.  When I finish I have 29 seconds left on the card!  

So without a need to go to the airport, I say my goodbyes to Leonie and Diego and head back to the boat to await the new group of people.  I head up to the bar/lounge deck and decide to read and snooze given our early start.  As the time draws near for the other group to arrive I head downstairs to grab a cup of tea.  In the lounge area, everyone has arrived and I hadnt even noticed!  A group of 10, all from Australia except for 2 Canadians from Calgary.  A mixed bag of ages from 18 to 70 (at a guess).  They all seem nice.

We have lunch and then have a break until 4.30pm.  At this time we take to the boats for a mangrove tour in Black Turtle Cove at another part of Santa Cruz Island.  It is a beautiful mangrove setting where we see eagle rays playing on the surface, sea turtles (one quite close and at the surface), a baby shark, my first lava heron, pelicans, my first golden rays, close to the surface and great visibility.  The boys have to row the boats in one part so we get a sense of the serenity and due to the shallowness of the water.  We return to yummy roasted chicken pieces (I think).
 

 

We have a new guide called Fabian and Giovanni, the ships engineer, is now taking care of serving the meals in place of Jefferson, who has a week's vacation.  This should be interesting.  He is nervous and then horrified when he drops a grape from the dessert in my lap.  We have a briefing of what the week holds and I discover Im still not going to the Charles Darwin research station or to see the giant tortoises!  

The crew are introduced and we are all given caiparinhas as a toast to the start of the trip.  We also go around and tell each other where we are from what we do etc.  Fabian has an interesting story.  Studying to avoid national service in Ecuador, he is German schooled, speaks French, German and English!  He also has a farm with avocados and passionfruit, and works the minimum amount of time he needs to on the Galapagos to be able to continue his role as a guide.  This means working there for 121 days each year.  The laws changed around 1996 decreeing that only residents can work here, but he still qualified as there was an exemption for anyone who had been working here for 5 years previous to that time.

The day ended with a few of us sitting up chatting but eventually the long day for all of us won out and we all went to our cabins.  I was meant to be sharing which was fine but Judith felt the heat and liked the cabin cool, as most passengers do.  I discovered there was a vacant cabin that was not being used as the air conditioning wasnt working.  As I hadnt been using the airconditioning prior to this, on principle and I prefer fresh air, I sneakily slept in there with the door open to the fresh sea air and had another blissful nights sleep!

23. Galapagos Day 2 Floreana Island

The day (14 March) starts with breakfast at 7.30am.  Again a spectacular spread from Jefferson, fruit, Spanish omelette, toast, cheese and salami and great coffee.  Leonie is not well today, perhaps from too much sun as she is quite burnt.

The boat takes us over to the island, Post Office Bay where there is a pirates post office. This is set up so you can leave postcards to be hand delivered.  While there you check to see if any postcards have an address that is close to where you live that you can take with you and may be able to deliver.  A bit of fun.   Given the few Australians that were in there I doubt I will ever see my letter again!  The issue was what address to give seeing as I am homeless...:)!  We also walk to a lava tube.  The following explanation of a lava tube is thanks to wikipedia.

"Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like channel.where the hot lava has stopped above ground and cooled first.  Underground has collapsed and access has been created so you can enter and see the lava formation below the ground.  It is dark and nothing lives within."

Then I walked along the beach which is brown sand and at some points I sink up to my ankles into it.  It feels nice, again pristine and untouched.  There are tracks on the beach where the sea turtles overnight have been up to lay their eggs then return to the sea.  A lone pelican feeds along the beach but is wary of me.  Three small black penguins swim across the bay, playing as they go. 

After my walk I snorkel alone as Leonie returned to the boat unwell.  The water is clear but there are not so many fish here and they are smaller but still colourful.  A large parrot fish seems to run the area...!  I see a ray buried in the sand.  The water feels good but I am conscious of what the sun has done to Leonie so stay aware of how long I am in the water.  

We return to the boat for lunch.  Leonie is still sleeping and not ready to eat.  Diego has some fruit sent to her cabin.  In the afternoon we go to Punta Cormorant on Floreana Island.  We land on a brown sand beach.  We see the lava lizards, much prettier markings here as they adapt to the landscape of each island. We are in luck and we see three pink flamingos in the “brackish water lagoon”.  Then we walk on to the white sand beach on the other side of the island and see many tracks from sea turtles who have laid eggs over night.  We see eagle rays playing along the shore line and many turtles swimming out in the bay getting ready to come ashore perhaps and lay their eggs.  I walk the beach, enjoying the white sand beneath my feet and watch the crabs and marvel at how they don’t get washed off the rocks by the waves.  We return and the boat brings us our snorkel gear.  Diego and I and the capitan's son snorkel  along the cliff face edge of the island and then desperate for some exercise, swim back to the boat.  Not bad for a 50 year old!

 

 

 

 

 

That night we have dinner with all the crew who are dressed in their finest.  A little uncomfortable over stilted conversations in two languages, but they are all very nice.  Suddenly the lights go out and unexpectedly a birthday cake arrives!  They sing happy birthday in English and in Spanish...It was very sweet!  I had a caiparinha which was excellent but then I got given a cuba libre (white rum and coke) which did me no good at all and had a bad night with stomach cramps!  The sun sets on another great day in the Galapagos.

22. Espanola Island and my 50th Birthday

Today (March 13) is my 50th Birthday.  I woke up about 1am (funnily enough about the time I was born) and go out on deck as the MY San Jose takes us from Puerta Ayora on Santa Cruz Island to Espanola Island.  The trip seems relatively smooth, the stars brilliantly fill up the sky and phosphorescence dances in our wake as we travel peacefully along.   I make myself go back to bed so that I am rested for the days activities.   I wake later that morning at the beautiful Espanola Island in the Galapagos.  White beach sand, turquoise water, warm weather, on a boat ...heaven.  Despite not being with family and friends to celebrate, I feel like Im exactly where I should be for this occasion.

I came here as I really wanted to be on a boat for this significant occasion, yes a yacht preferably, but if not, a boat of any sort!  The MY San Jose will do just fine.  I read my two daily inspirational passages.  I do yoga (naked, I know...too much info) in my cabin as the bar area is in bright sunshine and would be too hot.  Interesting trying to balance, breathe and stay focused as the boat gently rocks from side to side...somehow I manage and it is worth it. 

The guide Diego knocks on the door promptly at 8am announcing that breakfast is served.  My breakfast is fruit, french toast with white cheese (my choice, not served that way) and coffee that the spoon would stand up in...so I had two!  There I meet Leonie, the only other passenger for this trip.  She seems nice and is from England.  Leonie asks how long it took to get through customs.  I say about 50 mosquito bites.  Note to any travellers to Baltra...apply insect repellent before disembarking the plane! 

After breakfast we jump in the tender and get taken to Gardner Bay.  They talk about the tricky beach landing that we will have to make...they obviously haven’t been to Sirena Ranger Station in Corcovado National Park..:)!  We are dropped on a beach that has the softest whitest sand I have ever experienced, like no one had ever walked there before.   The sea is still unsettled from the effects of the  tsunami and it is too rough to snorkel (Diego tells us last time it took 5 or 6 days for the waters to calm)...but we swim in refreshing, clear water, occasionally being dumped by the water as a reminder of who is boss here!  

The rocks that we spotted from the boat as we approached were actually sea lions, lining the beach. Diego started counting and stopped when he got to 280.  They were unbothered by our presence and that of the other tourists that had got to shore earlier.  Soon we were there by ourselves, 3 people,  100s of sea lions, a couple of marine iguanas with mockingbirds and kites flying above us.

I am grateful to be here but lament not being able to snorkel, then I think about the reason for that and what the tsunami had meant for other people.  Here I get to walk on a pristine beach, swim the sparkling crystal water, be so close to sea lions and other marine life....I haven’t lost my home, I haven’t lost a loved one...I stop lamenting and feel grateful for this beauty  I am experiencing .  As I walk along the shore, 2 spotted eagle rays are swimming along the waters edge, quite visible just below the surface, their wing tips occasionally out of the water through the wash of the waves...who needs to snorkel I say to myself...:)!  We hear via txt that there has been another earthquake, this time in China.

After briefly returning to the boat, Johnny takes us in the tender to another potential snorkelling spot.  No good, but we see a blue footed booby on the way past the rocks.  Then a third spot...this time we try.  There are loads of fish, some particularly big king angelfish, another ray, a small shark, large trumpet fish, large yellow tail jacks to name but a few.  A sea lion decides to do a lap through us and scares the living daylights out of us, appearing so quickly and unexpectedly.  He swims right up and looks me in the eyes...saying happy birthday do you think?  Sure feels like it.  Once again I am last out of the water...!

On our return Jefferson has prepared a spectacular lunch.   A typical Ecuadorian soup of plantains and fish...delicious.  Then fish, shrimp and potato with seaweed greek style salad.  Finally although I don’t think I can fit it in...a banana drowning in chocolate sauce.  Lucky we are going hiking this afternoon, after siesta of course...oh and we moved to another part of the island!

This afternoon's trip was a dry landing, once we shooed the sea lions off the stairs!  We walked around the island and saw loads of sea lions again and pretty red crabs on the rocks.  On a closer look we also saw mature, and therefore more colourful  and bigger, marine iguanas.  What sort of crazy mood was going on the day these creatures came about!  These are only found in the Galapagos and are the only iguanas that feed in the sea, on seaweed actually.  Im amazed how close you can get to all these animals.  Virtually having to watch out you don’t step on an iguana or a lava lizard as they don’t move for you.  As we walk we see Galapagos Doves, more and more lizards, mockingbirds.  I have only one question...why are there flies here.   I don’t think they have them in Costa Rica and I was getting quite used to that.  If only the mosquitoes would disappear!  We walk through, yes through, a colony of nazca boobies, amongst which is a stray blue footed booby.  I wonder if the others make fun of his blue feet...!  We see lava lizards mating, female iguanas fighting, a female iguana making a nest, all so close...amazing and frightening as well if this is not controlled the impact it will have on this ecosystem.  Also we are treated to a spectacular blowhole.

We return after a couple of hours, shower and as the sun sets on my special birthday I sit in the bar on the top deck and watch the sky turn from the pink and orange to inky blue, with the moon waiting to take over.  To quote something I read in Paul Coehlos book the Zahir,  “my day was good, let night fall”......!  But then....the Capitan joined us for dinner and bought a bottle of red wine for us to have to celebrate ...very sweet...muchas gracias Francisco.