The Galapagos! Such an exotic name! And so deserving too!
After trying to check in at the wrong airline (good work from two former airline employees) we arrived from a fairly uneventful fight to Santa Cruz. Eddie, our guide, met us, and introduced us to Rumba (The little boat with a big heart), and the crew. Somehow (we suspect it was due to my run-in with the travel agent in Quito) we had been reserved one of the upper deck cabins (which we felt a bit bad about, since there were a couple of lovely parent-aged couples on board too - although not bad enough to offer to swap!) - by far the pick of the rooms, as the below-deck ones apparently got quite stuffy/uncomfortable on the night sails, and B's apparent seasickness was bad enough where we were!!
Introductions all round followed. Follows a description:
Simon & Merete: Our-ageish couple from Denmark. Our companions for much hilarity: A keenness for cards, and a propensity to sing (loudly) for no apparent reason created an instant friendship. These two also created the now-famous pose-like-the-crazy-Galapagos-animal-that-you-are-being-phot ographed-with game.
Max & Diana: Crazy Russian/American couple.. Diana obviously harboring ambitions to become somewhere's next top model, with the model-style posing for camera..
Lars & Mary-Lorna: Older Chilean/Swedish couple.. A tad difficult to communicate, but nice, and Mary-Lorna was great for Spanish practice (as long as you got around some of the swedishisms she had)
Don and Margareta: Lovely Swedish couple - friends of Lars & Mary-Lorna - lovely, friendly, fun, and both of them mad as hatters..
Eddie: Our guide. His immense knowledge (??) resulted in many of his answers to our questions beginning with "I think, maybe, this is because..." and ending with peals of infectious laughter..
8 fun and interesting days progressed with us sailing (usually at night) from one island to the next, and spending the days visiting different colonies of animals and snorkeling with them.. Amazing seeing some of these animals at such close hand, and their fearlessness of humans! Highlights for me:
Sea lions: So so so beautiful (and they know it), and a real golden Labrador "look at me while i pose" attitude.. So clumsy on land, and so elegant in the water.. Bold enough to come and try and knaw your flippers off while snorkeling!
Crabs: I've never seen so many colours on one animal!
Blue-footed Boobies: So cute! And such a cool dance (perhaps the only cooler dance I've seen is Merete's impression of their dance - better than the original!) Oh, and their feet are blue!
Albatrosses: The gangster-walking, beak-tapping dance of (apparently) courtship provided hours of laughter
Giant Tortoises: Who wouldn't be impressed by some of these monsters - up to 160 years old, and twice the weight of me, they roam the paddocks like cattle!
Altogether an amazing trip, to such a beautiful, and unique part of the world.. Definitely recommend it to anyone with the remotest interest in animals, geology, or history. And get in quick! From 30,000 visitors 10 years ago, the numbers have swelled to 120,000 at the moment, and it being such a cash-cow for the Ecuadorian government, i can only see it increasing. This means more interaction with the environment, the animals, more humans (when you're there to see animals!), and more pollution.. Whilst it is such an ecology-based place, it seems the locals don't appreciate the delicateness of the situation - examples include washing the boats down with Ajax, diesel boats in general, overpopulation/fishing, etc.. On a positive note, people like the Darwin Society do a great job, and are helping maintain the diversity of life there, so there is hope...
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