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Wildlife at its absolute best
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The Galapagos Islands were absolutely amazing. It's incredible how close you can get to the wildlife, which has absolutely no fear of humans. Apologies in advance for the length of this entry but I just saw so much!!
On the first day I saw giant tortoises both in the wild and in the Charles Darwin station, although some of them were a little shy so hid in their shells which made a rather odd noise as they expelled the air from their lungs in order to be able to retract their head and neck. Unfortunately the Galapagos' most famous resident, Lonesome George (the only Pinta tortoise in the world), was hiding so I didn't get to see him, although I looked really hard!! There was also lots of baby tortoises as all of the eggs laid in the Galapagos are collected and taken to Charles Darwin Station to hatch and after a few years, once their shells have hardened, the tortoises are released back into the wild. That evening I finally got on board The Encantada ('the enchanted'), my home for the next week.
The sailing mostly takes place overnight and so I didn't sleep too well - a combination of the engine noise and rocking. However once up on deck it was worth the lack of sleep as we had arrived at the gorgeous Post Office Bay on Florenana. We went for a wander on the island and passed the Post Office - where tourists leave their mail for other tourists to deliver(!) - then went for a quick walk down a lava tube which was surprisingly spacious. Back on the beach we saw our first sea lion (there would be many more to come) and also lots of Sally Lightfoot crabs. That afternoon I got my first taste of snorkeling at the Devil's Crown - the water was surprisingly cold (I was on the equator after all) but amazingly clear and I saw loads of fish as well as a sea lion. We went back onto Floreana and saw a few flamingos before wandering down to a beach and watching the sun set, which was beautiful.
The next morning we visited Espanola and whilst I was on the dingy I saw a marine iguana in the sea which was quite an odd sight. Once on the beach there were lots of them soaking in the sun as well as quite a few sea lions, including some cubs which were very cute. Espanola is the nesting place of the waved albatross and we saw some juveniles in a nest on the cliff top as well as some blue footed boobies doing a mating dance. In the afternoon we went to a beach and saw more sea lions and also sea turtles swimming in the sea. The sun was already up by the time we landed on Isla Los Lobos at 5.30am and there was a beautiful rainbow stretching across the island. We saw more sea lions as well as blue footed boobies and frigate birds. We sailed to Santa Fe and had another snorkeling opportunity - I had 2 sea lions swim right underneath me which gave me a bit of a scare. I was more excited by the sea turtle that swam right past me - it was so graceful. On Santa Fe itself we tracked down some land iguanas (which are notoriously shy). One of which was chasing another which was quite fun to watch. The island itself was covered in huge cacti and there were quite a few lying on the ground as they'd absorbed too much water.
The next day we finally got to see a male frigate bird puffing out his red chest - it looks quite strange, but impressive all the same. We went to the beach for a while but were chased away from the shelter by a rather loud and aggressive sea lion! That afternoon we took the dingy around Black Turtle Cove and saw a couple of turtles as well as some white tipped sharks. In the evening I tried a pisco sours which was quite lemony and very nice. The following day was probably the best of the week. It started at Rabida which was quite striking as the sand was a reddish brown colour. After having a wander around the island and seeing hermit crabs, a flamingo and land iguana I went snorkeling. I'd finally got the hang of it so could stay underwater for ages and was able to follow 3 sea lions which were playing in the water. I also saw lots of fish including a huge ray and once I stood up I had a parrot fish circling my feet! In the afternoon I finally got to see a penguin as we took the dingy to Bartolome. I snorkeled around Pinnacle Rock hoping to see a penguin. I had given up and was snorkeling back to the beach when I finally saw one dart past which I tried to follow. I failed miserably as it was so fast. There were literally hundreds of fish though and I was totally surrounded whilst I was snorkeling. We climbed up the extinct volcano on Bartolome, from which there was a wonderful view made all the more pretty by the setting sun.
We had a long and rough night sailing up to Genovesa (aka Tower Island) which is in the northern hemisphere. We saw loads of swallowtail gulls with juveniles. We also saw lots of noisy red footed boobies nesting in a huge mangrove bush. The cacti on Genovesa had soft hair like spines which was very odd but is because they have no predators. We sat on he cliff for a while and watched the birds flying which was very tranquil. I went snorkeling for the last time but sadly didn't see much except for some angel fish. In the afternoon we climbed Prince Philip's steps for a bird bonanza with lots of nazca and red footed boobies and Galapagos doves but sadly no owls.
My last morning on the Galapagos was spent seeing yet more sea lions, including some very playful babies, on Plaza Sur as well as more land iguanas and various birds. I then sadly had to say goodbye to The Encantada and leave the Galapagos Islands after a truly amazing week. More thumbnails ...
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