This post
follows on swiftly from the last one, probably because there is so much to tell
that I didn’t want it hanging over my head and thought that it should all be
told ASAP. Therefore, you may want to make yourself a cup of tea before
beginning because it is a long one!
With the proof of evolution taking place in a very visual and accessible way on the Galapagos you could say that this was my pilgrimage and I was buzzing. True dat!
With the sensible pensioners having already booked their cruises (probably 10 years in advance) it was left to us, a fellow backpacker we had met previously on our trip and the locals to make our way across the island to the main port of Puerto Ayora to find a hotel and then fingers crossed, a trip.
Feeing much more positive about our chances we found a cheap as chips room in the form of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel within 5 minutes of looking and so set off immediately to fulfil our naturistic destiny.
To say that we had fallen on our feet would be an understatement; so here are the details:
We celebrated that evening along with Martina (the only other backpacker on our plane) and ate dinner at a street restaurant whilst speculating what each of our trips would bring over the coming days.
As prompt as ever we got the airport a little too early and proceeded to sit around for the next 2.5 hours, but we didn’t mind because we were on an adventure and it began immediately with the local birds raiding our breakfast plates to feed with no consideration for the fact that we were still eating.
Being early we also got to meet our guide and complete legend around these parts, Juan The Man. Born on the Galapagos Islands and a naturalist guide for over 25 years who speaks 5 languages, what else could we ask for? He was also so small that you could put him in your pocket or carry him around on your shoulders for fun.
We also got to the moment of truth when he ticked our names off the list. Who were our fellow passengers? Where were they from? And more importantly, could they chew their own food or would we be sucking it up through a straw?
A quick look down the list confirmed that on the face of it, it would be a good trip even though there were 6 Yanks!!! (Love you ladies)
Soon enough the various flights had landed and the group was united. The passengers of the Beluga Yacht were:
Not wanting
to tire us all out too quickly lunch was next and for us, having eaten a lot of
rice and beans in the previous few months, being served 3 coursed meals, each
day a different choice and all cooked superbly by our chef you will not be
surprised to learn that we are now on a strict diet.
The most interesting thing I took from this first walk was Juan alerting us to the cacti. In the Galapagos there are many types of cactus and no one island contains the same species – each has developed the way and shape it grows, disperses its seeds and protects itself based upon which animals live on each island and feed upon it. Nature truly is remarkable and I was already in Galapagos awe!
I especially liked it that the Captain introduced himself as El Capitan – The Captain. No names, just, “I am the captain.”
Our favourite crew member was Abel, a young lad who served our food, drinks, made our beds and cleaned our toilets – a true hero. We speculated that back in Darwin’s time he would’ve been the cabin boy and everybody else’s sex bitch and he could very well have been on this particular boat, who knows?
I had read that life at sea obviously messes with your mind, so we were suffering to come up with such theories so soon!!!
The not so great thing was that the engine sounded as though it was directly underneath our cabin so at approx 2am each night we awoke to the racket it created. It wasn’t too much of an issue as we are now getting older so need to get up for a wee at that time anyway.
Seriously, this part of the world is like one humungous wet dream for people into nature and the natural world which is why I am really dehydrated right now.
Having the opportunity to snorkel everyday meant that I got into a sort of routine in order to keep warm to enable me to enjoy my full hour. My revolutionary tactic was the wee over myself – just like every one of those of pensioners on board the National Geographic.
I was so good that I timed it for the 20th and 40th minutes and it really worked a treat. At first I felt ashamed with myself but once the wee crept up to my chest to warm my cockles I basked in my yellow glory and laughed an evil lordly laugh at the rest of them with their blue lips!
I did regret my actions towards the end of the week when I realised that I hadn’t done a great job at washing my pants and they now stunk like, erm, every cabin on the National Geographic?
My favourite moment was floating face to face with a female for 5 minutes whilst she looked us over and over with seemingly as much interest as we had for her.
My scariest moment was Juan shouting for us to move away ASAP because the huge bull (dominant male) did not want us anywhere near to him and was warning us to do one, or else.
A couple of Green Turtles also swam by but were quickly out of our range – but our turtle experiences would come later in the week.
Our travel karma was strong young wildlife padawans.
We all ran to the bow of the boat and leaned as far as we dared over the side to look at the 5 or so huge Bottle-nosed Dolphins that were easily 2 metres long, racing ahead of the boat and jumping out.
It was only halfway through our first full day and we had already seen so much.
Again the vegetation of the island was completely unique and was red, orange and green in colour which made for some pretty cool pictures in the fading light of the day.
However, this all paled into significance when I spotted a shark patrolling the shoreline for its evening meal. Unfortunately we were too far away to get a good look at it (remember that we had to follow the trail) but you could clearly see its fin and tail gliding through the water and Juan informed us that it was a Galapagos Shark – of course it was a GALAPAGOS Shark we all replied.
Day 3 – Isla San Cristobal
I was stood in the exact spot where a lot of what I hold to be true was first formulated – now that is a bit of a head f*ck.
Looking at all the Sea Lions sprawled out along the beach it did also cross my mind how many of them and other animals were slaughtered for both food and research by those very first explorers?
I imagine it numbers thousands.
The walk along the beach was pleasant enough and it was good to see more turtles and our first Stingrays of the trip.
We finished off that particular trip by taking a very refreshing dip in the icy blue sea.
The snorkelling took place out at sea at a place called Kicker Rock, where we could circumnavigate a huge rock formation and swim through a natural causeway between the rocks that rose 50 metres above our heads.
There was a massive Sea Lion swimming about who took up a lot of our attention and whilst Mike was busy watching it I swore that I saw a fin pop right up behind him, literally right behind him, before quickly disappearing back beneath the murky waters.
It was also never going to be my favourite location because a Jellyfish stung me across the top and bottom lip – not very pleasant but fortunately the sting only lasted a quarter of an hour.
A group of us circumnavigated the rock a couple of times and were rewarded with our persistence by seeing a Choco-chip Starfish (we all insisted on saying we saw a chocolate starfish) and a superb close up with a feeding Green Turtle which really was not phased at all that we were within touching distance watching him take lunch.
We all ended up sitting around having a beer and getting to know each other a little better, apart from Mike and Xanthe who decided to lord it up and sit above us on the balcony!
Day 4 – Isla Espanola
First up was another early morning stroll along the beach at Gardner Bay and here amongst the now standard Sea Lions, Sally-Lightfoot Crabs and Green Turtles floating in bay just beyond the breaking waves we got to meet the Marine Iguanas for the first time.
I don’t think that I need to explain the difference between a Marine Iguana and a Land Iguana but just to avoid any confusion; Land Iguanas live on land whilst Marine Iguanas are able to survive on both land and sea and can often been seen swimming between islands.
They are a lot smaller than their land dwelling cousins but what I liked best about them was the fact that they spent all of their time on land lying around and warming up in the sun and spitting (to rid themselves of the excess salt collected from the sea water) – they were sort of like English teenagers during their summer holidays; lazy and obnoxious.
The snorkelling wasn’t anything to write home about as the visibility was very poor but we did still manage to create a little excitement between ourselves when the current began to pull us into a cliff-side cave and we had to kick very hard to feel as though we were back in a safe place.
Everywhere we walked we had to be careful not to step too close to courting or mating birds, we had to be mindful of eggs, nests and babies (the Albatross chicks seemingly larger than the parents) and you felt a constant need to duck and dive away from all of the birds flying overhead – it was pure aviation mayhem.
The Blue-footed Boobies always grab the attention of the tourists and it is understandable with those bright blue feet, a colour that you do not see anywhere else in nature but my highlight was the Albatross ‘airport’ as Juan called it.
Albatrosses are very special birds, they have a wing span of up to 3.5 metres and once the baby finally takes that leap of faith from the side of a the cliff (there is no other way to first take flight) they do not return to dry land for another 5 years!!
The ‘airport’ was fascinating because due to their huge wing span the Albatross couldn’t just fly in and land, no, the one I watched had to circle round 5 times over the ‘runway’ making 4 false landings before it felt that it was coming in at the correct angle and speed before it sort of crash landed into the ground.
We had shifts when it came to the camera, AJ took the mornings and I had the afternoons and for this trip I went to town and I reckon I took about 60 photos of an Albatross in flight, of which about 4 were any good.
If this wasn’t all enough we also were able to take photos of the birds gliding past us with a huge blowhole spouting off in the background; and it was being produced under such forces that you could hear the rumble all over the island.
Day 4 was a rare day because we were back on the boat and setting sail by 4:30pm (usually it was much later) and so everybody was able to congregate on the top deck to have a few drinks and enjoy the Pacific sunset.
Myself and Arancha went down to the bow in hope of getting a better view but unfortunately we had had our dolphin show. What we didn’t bank on was a show of a different kind.
Whilst looking for the dolphins we noticed some movement in the far distance followed by a humungous splash; completely incredulous we looked at each other and shouted “Whale!” Unfortunately we never got close enough for a real good look but over the next 20 minutes we watched as the migrating Humpback Whales continually breached the ocean surface in the now fast fading light.
Everybody toasted the successful wildlife spotting day and myself, Steve and Lasse stayed up a little longer than the rest and it got a little debaucherous. Talk of rape (in a very comical sense) and borrowing the pangas (dinghys) sums it up!
Day 5 – Isla Santa Cruz (Tortoise day)
Having to get up an hour earlier due to this also didn’t help!
The research centre was all about the conservation of the Galapagos’ most famous residents and their icon – the Tortoise.
As with each island in the Galapagos being completely individual so were its Tortoises. Their shells and bodies had evolved in completely different ways depending on the conditions and feeding environment that it found itself in – these Tortoises were one of the defining factors in proving Darwinism.
Originally there were 14 species of tortoise found on the islands and they numbered in their thousands but once we humans discovered the area and more importantly that the tortoises could last for up to 1 year without feeding they were either slaughtered where they stood or were taken aboard the ships to be slaughtered at a later date for their meat.
Now there are only 11 species left and fortunately the numbers are now recovering with the aid of the breeding programs.
Did you know that the scientists believe that these creatures can possibly live to the ripe of old of 300 years old? With that being the case it is quite possible that the tortoises that we saw could’ve quite conceivably met Charles Darwin!
At the centre we also saw the pen of Lonesome George, who died only last year. I was actually already aware of George from a David Attenborough documentary and his story is a sad one. It was believed that every tortoise on one of the Galapagos islands had been wiped out by man until one day George, the last of his kind was found wondering around on his own; literally the last of his dynasty. In a desperate attempt to save his species they moved him to the research centre with the hope that another of his bredrin might be located in some zoo or house somewhere in the world. Whilst the search continued they tried to breed him with other similar specimens and also had an intern give him a hand job for 4 days straight to try and extract some sperm for freezing!! Apparently she had very soft hands.
Until last year there were 12 species of Galapagos Tortoise but unfortunately all attempts to breed or w*nk off George failed and as of June 2012 there are now only 11.
At this point Mike and Xanthe also became dead to us as they headed off to the airport and before lunch we were given a couple of hours to explore the town.
Gary had taken a photo of a bird at the fish market and asked Juan what it was and unbelievably we had all been looking at a bird that only numbers 400 in the entire world.
Later in the week we saw 5 of them together = 0.125% of the entire population in one photo!
At lunch we were in introduced to our new shipmates, Jean-Pierre and Rita from New York (we just called them New York). They had a hard act to follow and they failed miserably in adding anything at all to the group dynamic.
They were telling us all about their dreadful journey to Galapagos from Bolivia that involved a transfer in Miami. A little perplexed I asked why they couldn’t have just traveled to Peru and made their way to Ecuador from there and Rita’s response like I was a complete moron was that she only likes to fly American Airlines so that she can get her upgrades!
If that is the case you blonde bimbo then do not complain about your self-induced ‘nightmare’ journey.
During the same conversation she also told us about their far flung trips to those hard to get to places like their honeymoon in a Buddhist monastery in Japan that “must start and end in a top hotel like the Tokyo Ritz because you need that don’t you?” and “we did about 3 days on (in the monastery) and a couple of days back in a western hotel before returning for a few more days”.
It was also a vegetarian place and she sneaked sausages back into the monastery because she couldn’t cope for 3 days without them.
I wasn't a massive fan, can you tell? But, then again maybe I should've made more of an effort.
The Galapagos is also a hotbed of volcanic activity that has continuously shaped them over the millennia right up to the most recent eruption only 8 years ago and during this afternoon we got to explore a lava tunnel in search of owls that frankly took a distant second place to the tortoises in the wild and not in a pen.
.JPG)
.JPG)
Amongst the grounds of ‘Tortoise Ville’ was a little tea house where we were all treated to a tea or coffee topped off with a healthy shot of rum and a sing song from the multi-talented Juan. He donned his guitar and belted out a few sing-a-long classics with the help of his buddy behind the bar (queue the Stevie Wonderesque sway and closed eyes) and our very own Suzy who sung with a Julie Andrews type swagger. It was all a bit surreal but great fun.
During the swim we came across 2 Diamond Rays and to give you an idea of how large these things are, I reckon you could lay them over the top of a hatchback car and you wouldn’t be able to see the car underneath, they were massive.
If that wasn’t enough we saw plenty of other sea life such as the ever present Sea Lions in the clearest ocean that I have ever swum but it was at the end of the session that a lucky few of us were content to leave and go home there and then because directly below us we caught our first glimpse of a shark, a White Tipped Reef Shark, and it was the definitely coolest thing I saw all trip. It just looked like he ruled his ghetto like all good pimps should.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Snorkelling part 2 wasn’t too bad either. We got to swim one on one with Green Turtles and really watch them as they fed and came up for air, which was quite odd watching them switch from their domain into ours and back again. They were so close that we could even touch them – even though we shouldn’t.
The running joke then became that whoever missed something in the ocean was doing a Gary and having a backstroke.
Steve, you did a Gary when you missed a Sea Lion swim right under your feet!!
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Day 7 – Isla Genovesa
Day 7 began about 1am. Never before have I sailed in any seas other than those that can be described as very calm, but these seas were full on. Everybody was awake throughout the night as the boat lurched from one side to the other and we rocked and rolled the hours away desperately clinging onto our mattresses to avoid hitting the floor.
Somehow I managed to get a little shut-eye but Arancha was awake throughout and was awarded for her endurance by looking out of the porthole and seeing the ocean alight with the glow of bioluminescence.
This was also a treat of 2am toilet breaks – weeing into the bowl and seeing it all light up with flecks of green and yellow as it hit the seawater. The first time it happened I was worried that I had some internal issues!
It was definitely an out of the ordinary night because the dining room of the boat was covered in broken crockery and glass the next morning.
On this day we got to see the 3 types of boobie all living in unison – the Blue-footed, the Red-footed and the Nazca. Evolution is so cool that they all evolved to live in one place but in a different way, so therefore not competing with the other. The Blue-footed on the ground, the Red-footed in the trees and the Nazca on the cliffs – or something like that.
We also got to meet the Vampire Finch – and yeah, it actually is a vampire. It targets the Nazca Boobie and by using its super sharp beak it pierces under the Nazca’s wing when it spreads them to aerate itself. Nice.
Before we knew it we had somehow reached the final night of the trip and it was with some trepidation that we enjoyed our final drinks aboard the Beluga with our friends. We received a toast and a few songs from the crew but that was it and due to the return journey promising to be as rough as the outward one many people retired to bed earlier than I would’ve liked.
Myself, Steve, Georgie and Lasse stayed up for a few more drinks and we had to because at approximately 10:30pm we would be crossing the equator and I wanted a photo of the real Lat 0’0’0’, not the fake French one in Quito.
Along with Suzy and New York we got our photo and then got to bed ASAP as it was getting a little rough on the open ocean.
.JPG)
Day 8 – Isla Santa Cruz
We took the pangas over to the mangrove area of the island and were gobsmacked when we looked down into the clear and shallow waters to see it teeming with Sharks. This area served as a Shark nursery as well as a great area to spot yet more Turtles and the completely clear view of those sexy Spotted Eagle Rays.
And so we come to the end of the Galapagos adventures of the Beluga and its crew, Sep 27th – Oct 4th2013.
One thing we didn’t enjoy though was a guy asking us what was wrong with his soup and taking offence that we hadn’t eaten it.
When he said it was beef soup we expected some meat, not a lump of pure fat that was so big it took up 60% of the bowl! Arancha was nearly gagging at the table and I took a few spoonfuls of the soapy white fat laden soup just to be polite. Yuk!
I might just have to go home now as surely nothing will top this?
We left
Ecuador’s second city of Guayaquil on the early morning AeroGal flight to the
Galapagos Islands, specifically the Island of Baltra where the original airport
was built by the Americans during WWII as a base from which to launch their
attacks on the Japanese. Fact.
As the plane
took to the air my excitement was bordering that of a teenage girl at a One
Direction concert – sheer lunacy!! I was finally going to visit the Galapagos
Islands.
Let’s put
all of this excitement into context. The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago
of volcanic islands located 575 miles off the western coast of Ecuador and are
famous for their vast number of endemic species (found only there) that were
famously studied by Charles Darwin and contributed to Darwin’s theory of
evolution by natural selection.
Whereas I do
not fully subscribe to Darwinism I am an evolutionist and believe whole
heartedly in the fact that life originated from natural causes and biology and
not by the hand of some mystic being / thing which billions refer to as ‘god’.With the proof of evolution taking place in a very visual and accessible way on the Galapagos you could say that this was my pilgrimage and I was buzzing. True dat!
With all
this is in mind I had put a lot of pressure on ourselves to ensure that we got
the absolute most out of this once (maybe twice) in a lifetime trip. However,
landing into Baltra we were pretty much clueless – we had done no research
whatsoever on the islands that we wanted to visit, how long we should go for
and would there even be any space on a boat?
Also,
looking about at our fellow tourists how would we fare on a boat where a rough
trip could result in a string of hip or knee replacement surgeries and how
would we cope with the constant smell of mouldy p*ss, such was demographic. The
average age of the tourists visiting the islands was challenging that of the
infamous Galapagos Tortoises that are reckoned to live for as long as 300
years!! With the sensible pensioners having already booked their cruises (probably 10 years in advance) it was left to us, a fellow backpacker we had met previously on our trip and the locals to make our way across the island to the main port of Puerto Ayora to find a hotel and then fingers crossed, a trip.
I had had a
good feeling that it would all work out based upon the need to balance energy
and karma – remember, we had in the previous 2 weeks been robbed of an i-pad
and a camera and usually our travel luck is tip-top.
Well, as we
sat on the ferry that transported us between the islands from the airport to
catch a bus to the main town, an American lady who is resident here sat herself
next to us and completely out of the blue offered us her invaluable help and
advice. She told us the best islands to visit, what we should be looking for in
terms of a cruise and gave us the name of an Australian lady working here who
would give us some open and honest information about booking our trip. Feeing much more positive about our chances we found a cheap as chips room in the form of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel within 5 minutes of looking and so set off immediately to fulfil our naturistic destiny.
I don’t
think we really needed to worry about finding a trip as there were signs
outside of every agency and dive shop advertising last minute trips. To get an
idea of price we ventured into the first agency that we came across and were
pleasantly surprised about what was on offer. If the guy had been a little more
enthusiastic about the trip we might have booked with him there and then but he
just didn’t quite complete seal the deal with his sales pitch. I couldn’t
really blame him though, it was now nearing the end of the season and he had
probably already made enough dollar from this year’s peak season.
Now having
an idea of the boats and the prices on offer we headed to the dive shop where
the American lady on the boat had recommended us visit and 10 minutes later we
were booked!!To say that we had fallen on our feet would be an understatement; so here are the details:
·
The standard of the cruise boats range from
Economy, Tourist, First Class and Luxury – we initially thought that we would
aim for tourist but we would now be traveling first class. Nice one!
·
The capacity of the boats range from 8 – 100
people. Why you would want to travel to a special place like the Galapagos and
share it with 100 other people is beyond me – we would be a party of 16 people.
Sweet!
·
There was 1 cabin left on the boat and it would
set sail the next day. Perfect!
·
Cruises can last anywhere between 4,5, 8 and 14
days – 8 days is recommended as the minimum to get a good overview of the
islands and this trip was for 8 days . Booyaka!
·
Online, this boat and trip for our dates is advertised
as $3,650 per person – after negotiations we boarded for $1,690 per person.
Who’s your f*cking daddy??
We had
initially given ourselves a $3,000 budget to see the Galapagos Islands but
after flights we would now be spending about $4,300. Whilst I was calculating
our next 9 months of travel in my head to see if this price was a viable one
Arancha had already stepped in and agreed on my behalf and was filling out the
paperwork.
Still, given
what an experience we had I am glad that Arancha completely ignored me; yet
again!
The rest of
that first afternoon wasn’t exactly a relaxing one. In order to avoid a hefty
card payment fee we set about withdrawing as much cash as we could from our
various cards as well as having to visit the bank twice and make phone calls to
Australia to confirm and collect cash advances.
In the end
we handed over the thickest wad of dollars (a very difficult task for me – I felt
a little like Whoopi Goldberg in the movie Ghost where she has to hand over the
cheque for $4m to the nun and won’t let it go) and the deal was done.We celebrated that evening along with Martina (the only other backpacker on our plane) and ate dinner at a street restaurant whilst speculating what each of our trips would bring over the coming days.
So here we
go – Lamby and Joulsy do the Galapagos:
Day 1 – Meet & greet, Dragon Hill
The only bum
part of our trip was that we had to make our way back across the island to meet
up with the group at the airport. It wasn’t that it was difficult it is just
that it took 90 mins, involved a taxi, a ferry, a bus and a push and shove
match with the locals. (Arancha bullied a father and his little girl during
this stretch of the journey – she is so mean)As prompt as ever we got the airport a little too early and proceeded to sit around for the next 2.5 hours, but we didn’t mind because we were on an adventure and it began immediately with the local birds raiding our breakfast plates to feed with no consideration for the fact that we were still eating.
Being early we also got to meet our guide and complete legend around these parts, Juan The Man. Born on the Galapagos Islands and a naturalist guide for over 25 years who speaks 5 languages, what else could we ask for? He was also so small that you could put him in your pocket or carry him around on your shoulders for fun.
We also got to the moment of truth when he ticked our names off the list. Who were our fellow passengers? Where were they from? And more importantly, could they chew their own food or would we be sucking it up through a straw?
A quick look down the list confirmed that on the face of it, it would be a good trip even though there were 6 Yanks!!! (Love you ladies)
Soon enough the various flights had landed and the group was united. The passengers of the Beluga Yacht were:
·
The backpackers – us
·
The Danes – Lasse and Maja
·
The honeymooners #1 – Gary (England) &
Justina (Ireland)
·
The honeymooners #2 – Steve & Georgie
(England)
·
The Aussies – Mike & Xanthe
·
The Yanks (our own version of the Golden Girls)
– Bernie, Angie, Patrice, Suzy, Terry and everybody’s favourite livewire, Vicky.
She might’ve been the oldest bird on the boat but she was always the first to
chase a shark
I can
honestly say that there wasn’t one dickhead amongst them, which is rare on
these trips and in part our trip was so brilliant because of these people and
the time we spent in each other’s company.
The first
task of the day was to catch the pangas (little dinghys) over to the Beluga,
our beautiful maritime home for the next week and to be allocated our cabins,
all of which were ensuite and a damn site better than nearly all of the places
we have stayed in thus far.
 |
| The Beluga |
Our days on
the Beluga followed a fixed routine that was also appreciated given that we
have had to make all of the decisions and work it all out ourselves since last
January. It was little like having our arses wiped for us, but who cares for 8
days!
Our days
panned out as follows:
7am – Breakfast
8am – 10am –
Island visit number 1
10am – Drink
and a snack back on board
10:30am –
11:30am – Snorkel
11:30am –
12pm – Shower
12pm – Lunch
1pm – 2:30pm
/ 4pm (it varied) – Lounge on the sun deck or take a nana nap if you were gay
(we weren’t)
2:30pm –
4:30pm / 4pm – 6pm – Island visit number 2
4:30pm / 6pm
– Drink and snack back on board
Before
dinner – Sunset drinks
7pm – Dinner
8pm – Wildlife
checklist and tomorrows orders, sorry, I mean plan
8:30pm – Advised
to go to bed like good little children
9pm – More
than likely in bed; like good little children
 |
| Galapagos sunset |
We were
proper spoon-fed but we actually loved it – for 8 days only! Still, when you
are paying a few grand for the pleasure you expect most things to be done for
you don’t you?
Not wasting
anytime we partook in an afternoon island visit that day by visiting Dragon
Hill on the central island of Santa Cruz and were immediately face to face with
the wildlife. During our 2 hour stroll around the marked out route (we were
also told where we could and couldn’t step and I once got told off for
literally stepping over the line!) we came into contact with Sea Lions, Land
Iguanas, Sally Light-foot Crabs, the official bird mascot of the islands the
Blue-footed Boobie (yep, it has the most amazing blue coloured feet), Lava
Lizards, Brown Pelicans and many other interesting looking birds.
 |
| Land Iguana |
 |
| Good old Sally |
The sheer
level of evolution and ‘survival of the fittest’ happening in front of you
smacks you right in the face and I have no idea how believers in a god cannot
notice it or take it in? And what do they think about it all?
Many of the
animals are called the Galapagos such and such because they are only found in
this part of the world and on many islands they are called the ‘island name’
such and such because the animals evolved completely separately even though
they exist only a few miles apart on the different islands.The most interesting thing I took from this first walk was Juan alerting us to the cacti. In the Galapagos there are many types of cactus and no one island contains the same species – each has developed the way and shape it grows, disperses its seeds and protects itself based upon which animals live on each island and feed upon it. Nature truly is remarkable and I was already in Galapagos awe!
 |
| Evolution! |
 |
| Cowboy cactus |
By the way,
you may be wondering how the land animals in particular got here; I know I was.
Well pretty much everything caught a lift on the Humboldt Current, which can
transport an animal, whether it be on a log, leaf, or even on its back with
regards to the Tortoise (true) in 2 weeks from the mainland. It appears as
though this is what happened thousands of years ago and it was here that the
animals thrived in their very individual habitats until the humans came along a
couple of hundred years ago and ruined it.
As for
dinner times it could quite easily have formed into the Yanks and the Europeans
plus Aus given that there were two 8-seater dining tables, but I give the
Americans massive credit in that they mixed it up from night one and at each
meal the table took on a new dimension as we all played musical chairs.
We were also
officially welcomed aboard by the crew with a complimentary cocktail and had to
do a round-the-table intro.I especially liked it that the Captain introduced himself as El Capitan – The Captain. No names, just, “I am the captain.”
Our favourite crew member was Abel, a young lad who served our food, drinks, made our beds and cleaned our toilets – a true hero. We speculated that back in Darwin’s time he would’ve been the cabin boy and everybody else’s sex bitch and he could very well have been on this particular boat, who knows?
I had read that life at sea obviously messes with your mind, so we were suffering to come up with such theories so soon!!!
After dinner
came what developed into a 2 pronged nightly ritual:
1.
All sitting down to tick off the animals and
birds seen that day as well as go over the next day’s orders. Sh*t, I mean
plans. I must stop this
2.
Watching out of the corner of one eye to see how
long it would take for Terri to fall asleep. It happened almost every night and
her excuse was that it was all too much like school
Incidentally,
whilst having one of many random chats about all sorts of stuff – we had a lot
of dead time – Terri, who works in the medical world on the cardiac side of
things (that right isn’t it Terri??) has previously visited the Glenfield
Hospital in my home city of Leicester for work reasons. The hospital is about
10 mins drive from my parent’s house and Terri is from Wisconsin in the north
central part of the US. I just found this quite remarkable that someone outside
of England has actually visited Leicester; even though for some unknown reason
Arancha did it on her UK road trip back in 1997!! Bizarre.
Day 2 – Isla Santa Fe and Isla Plazas
The great thing
about this trip is that the boat would travel to each new destination through
the night so that when we awoke we were able to disembark and take the pangas
over to shore first thing in the morning.The not so great thing was that the engine sounded as though it was directly underneath our cabin so at approx 2am each night we awoke to the racket it created. It wasn’t too much of an issue as we are now getting older so need to get up for a wee at that time anyway.
Landing onto
Santa Fe Island also brought another fascinating fact to our attention about
the Galapagos Islands – no one island is the same. I am not just talking the
odd variation in vegetation, I mean that they are completely individual; almost
like each one was picked from a different part of the planet and put into the
one location as an experiment. (Whoa, maybe there is a god?)
Some are
desert like, others covered in thick vegetation, there are flats ones and thin
ones whilst others rise from the ocean to form high cliffs and then there are
the volcanic islands where some are still active and others long since dormant
that now appear other worldly like.Seriously, this part of the world is like one humungous wet dream for people into nature and the natural world which is why I am really dehydrated right now.
Santa Fe is
home to a sea lion colony and 2 things hit me:
1.
The animals do not give a sh*t about you. If you
are stood in their way, they will step right over you and if they are having a
kip you are quite welcome to spoon them
2.
They stink
We walked
along the beach snapping away with our cameras like a Japanese tourist in,
well, frankly any place. I think it was during this walk that we all slowly
realised that this trip would be very special in terms of how we would be able
to interact with the animals and how close they would allow us to get to them.
So remote has the Galapagos been and for quite a while has now been very well
protected from the destructive touch of man that the exotic animals, birds and
marine life have no fear of humans and you can’t really put the realisation of
that into words when you come from a city in the middle of England. It’s
brilliant.
Take the
elegant Galapagos Hawk as an example that didn’t move an inch as we all
approached to within a couple of metres at eye level to take photos.
During this
walk we also came into contact with that very abundant species in these parts,
the homosapien pensioner. The Beluga did everything right in that we always landed
before the large cruise liners or at separate locations in order to maximise
our time with the animals when it would just be 16 of us and not 116.
The pensioners were very amusing in their own
way but if I was on a boat with them I would have lost the plot:
·
The tortoises move faster
·
Every one of them looks as though Steve Irwin
has thrown up on them, I have never seen so much khaki
·
There is no place in this part of the world, or
frankly this era to wear a ‘great white hunter hat’. You are not in Africa and
hunting is not clever
·
No lie, one group had a bag left on the beach
labelled ‘Port-A-Brace’
·
During this first walk we saw one old lady lying
against a tree spewing up her breakfast – clearly the gentle amble was all too
much for her. However, she is forgiven if she blames it on the stench of those
Sea Lions
Sticking to
the theme of pensioners and cruise liners, there was the National Geographic
liner that as well as sporting a rainbow flag had a largely all female
contingent. We all made speculative jokes about this but one un-named member of
our party declared that “it was good that they have all got somewhere that they
can go!”
Ha ha, I
found that really funny.
Next up was
our first Galapagos snorkel session and these would become my most anticipated
hour of the day.
We had hired
full wetsuits from the agency where we booked the trip and I am so glad that we
did as the water at times was really cold and the others were at a disadvantage
in that the boat only offered spring wetsuits.Having the opportunity to snorkel everyday meant that I got into a sort of routine in order to keep warm to enable me to enjoy my full hour. My revolutionary tactic was the wee over myself – just like every one of those of pensioners on board the National Geographic.
I was so good that I timed it for the 20th and 40th minutes and it really worked a treat. At first I felt ashamed with myself but once the wee crept up to my chest to warm my cockles I basked in my yellow glory and laughed an evil lordly laugh at the rest of them with their blue lips!
I did regret my actions towards the end of the week when I realised that I hadn’t done a great job at washing my pants and they now stunk like, erm, every cabin on the National Geographic?
So, back to
the actual snorkelling. Apart from seeing a sh*tload of fish (there is an
appendix of the animal life that we saw at the end of this post if you can be
arsed to read it) the absolute mind-blowing highlight of this session was to
swim with the Sea Lions.
On 5
separate occasions various Sea Lions swam in and around us and would inquisitively
check out us weird creatures that obviously didn’t belong in this environment
and would demonstrate this by gracefully swimming about and showing off.My favourite moment was floating face to face with a female for 5 minutes whilst she looked us over and over with seemingly as much interest as we had for her.
My scariest moment was Juan shouting for us to move away ASAP because the huge bull (dominant male) did not want us anywhere near to him and was warning us to do one, or else.
A couple of Green Turtles also swam by but were quickly out of our range – but our turtle experiences would come later in the week.
After lunch
whilst we made our way to the next island a few of us, who were not nana
napping, were talking at the dining table when Arancha spotted a dolphin leap
out of the water.
I must just
add that we really had our wildlife spotting eyes on during this week – I think
between the two of us we saw every single animal on offer and usually spotted
it first in the water, so much so that some of the others would insist on
sticking with us. Our travel karma was strong young wildlife padawans.
We all ran to the bow of the boat and leaned as far as we dared over the side to look at the 5 or so huge Bottle-nosed Dolphins that were easily 2 metres long, racing ahead of the boat and jumping out.
It was only halfway through our first full day and we had already seen so much.
Plazas
Island was special in that is acted as a breeding ground for Sea Lions and the
Swallow-tailed Gull, a bird that looked like it was wearing bright red
eye-liner.
To prove it
was a nursery there were a few mummified Sea Lion baby corpses littered about
as well as sun bleached bones.
 |
| Swallow-tailed Gulls - shagging |
Again the vegetation of the island was completely unique and was red, orange and green in colour which made for some pretty cool pictures in the fading light of the day.
However, this all paled into significance when I spotted a shark patrolling the shoreline for its evening meal. Unfortunately we were too far away to get a good look at it (remember that we had to follow the trail) but you could clearly see its fin and tail gliding through the water and Juan informed us that it was a Galapagos Shark – of course it was a GALAPAGOS Shark we all replied.
Day 3 – Isla San Cristobal
I was stood in the exact spot where a lot of what I hold to be true was first formulated – now that is a bit of a head f*ck.
Looking at all the Sea Lions sprawled out along the beach it did also cross my mind how many of them and other animals were slaughtered for both food and research by those very first explorers?
I imagine it numbers thousands.
The walk along the beach was pleasant enough and it was good to see more turtles and our first Stingrays of the trip.
We finished off that particular trip by taking a very refreshing dip in the icy blue sea.
The snorkelling took place out at sea at a place called Kicker Rock, where we could circumnavigate a huge rock formation and swim through a natural causeway between the rocks that rose 50 metres above our heads.
There was a massive Sea Lion swimming about who took up a lot of our attention and whilst Mike was busy watching it I swore that I saw a fin pop right up behind him, literally right behind him, before quickly disappearing back beneath the murky waters.
It was also never going to be my favourite location because a Jellyfish stung me across the top and bottom lip – not very pleasant but fortunately the sting only lasted a quarter of an hour.
A group of us circumnavigated the rock a couple of times and were rewarded with our persistence by seeing a Choco-chip Starfish (we all insisted on saying we saw a chocolate starfish) and a superb close up with a feeding Green Turtle which really was not phased at all that we were within touching distance watching him take lunch.
The
afternoon walk was around a volcanic lake situated a short drive from the town
of Puerto Baquerizo, the political capital of the Galapagos. This walk was crap
and the worst part of the trip solely because it was so misty that we
circumnavigated the crater and saw nothing further than what was 2 metres in
front of us – we never saw the lake.
The best bit
was Suzy slipping over on the boardwalk.
We had some
time to look about the ‘capital’ but it was a run down and dilapidated place
–no idea where all of the tourist dollars are going because it isn’t here!
The best
thing about the town was that the Sea Lions had really made themselves at home
– they slept on the benches, park slides and wherever else they cared to lay
their heads. They were like a bunch of vagabonds.We all ended up sitting around having a beer and getting to know each other a little better, apart from Mike and Xanthe who decided to lord it up and sit above us on the balcony!
Day 4 – Isla Espanola
First up was another early morning stroll along the beach at Gardner Bay and here amongst the now standard Sea Lions, Sally-Lightfoot Crabs and Green Turtles floating in bay just beyond the breaking waves we got to meet the Marine Iguanas for the first time.
I don’t think that I need to explain the difference between a Marine Iguana and a Land Iguana but just to avoid any confusion; Land Iguanas live on land whilst Marine Iguanas are able to survive on both land and sea and can often been seen swimming between islands.
They are a lot smaller than their land dwelling cousins but what I liked best about them was the fact that they spent all of their time on land lying around and warming up in the sun and spitting (to rid themselves of the excess salt collected from the sea water) – they were sort of like English teenagers during their summer holidays; lazy and obnoxious.
The snorkelling wasn’t anything to write home about as the visibility was very poor but we did still manage to create a little excitement between ourselves when the current began to pull us into a cliff-side cave and we had to kick very hard to feel as though we were back in a safe place.
The
afternoon activity was a walk around the cliff tops of Puerta Suarez which
served as a breeding ground and nursery for thousands upon thousands of birds;
most notably the Blue-footed Boobie and a very special bird that has long been
on the list, the Albatross.
I wouldn’t
exactly call myself an avid bird spotter but you would have to be pretty much a
complete knob not to be taken aback by the sights, sounds and activities along
these cliff tops.Everywhere we walked we had to be careful not to step too close to courting or mating birds, we had to be mindful of eggs, nests and babies (the Albatross chicks seemingly larger than the parents) and you felt a constant need to duck and dive away from all of the birds flying overhead – it was pure aviation mayhem.
 |
| I love Boobies! |
The Blue-footed Boobies always grab the attention of the tourists and it is understandable with those bright blue feet, a colour that you do not see anywhere else in nature but my highlight was the Albatross ‘airport’ as Juan called it.
Albatrosses are very special birds, they have a wing span of up to 3.5 metres and once the baby finally takes that leap of faith from the side of a the cliff (there is no other way to first take flight) they do not return to dry land for another 5 years!!
The ‘airport’ was fascinating because due to their huge wing span the Albatross couldn’t just fly in and land, no, the one I watched had to circle round 5 times over the ‘runway’ making 4 false landings before it felt that it was coming in at the correct angle and speed before it sort of crash landed into the ground.
We had shifts when it came to the camera, AJ took the mornings and I had the afternoons and for this trip I went to town and I reckon I took about 60 photos of an Albatross in flight, of which about 4 were any good.
If this wasn’t all enough we also were able to take photos of the birds gliding past us with a huge blowhole spouting off in the background; and it was being produced under such forces that you could hear the rumble all over the island.
Day 4 was a rare day because we were back on the boat and setting sail by 4:30pm (usually it was much later) and so everybody was able to congregate on the top deck to have a few drinks and enjoy the Pacific sunset.
Myself and Arancha went down to the bow in hope of getting a better view but unfortunately we had had our dolphin show. What we didn’t bank on was a show of a different kind.
Whilst looking for the dolphins we noticed some movement in the far distance followed by a humungous splash; completely incredulous we looked at each other and shouted “Whale!” Unfortunately we never got close enough for a real good look but over the next 20 minutes we watched as the migrating Humpback Whales continually breached the ocean surface in the now fast fading light.
Everybody toasted the successful wildlife spotting day and myself, Steve and Lasse stayed up a little longer than the rest and it got a little debaucherous. Talk of rape (in a very comical sense) and borrowing the pangas (dinghys) sums it up!
 |
| There is a dolphin there! |
Day 5 – Isla Santa Cruz (Tortoise day)
Having to get up an hour earlier due to this also didn’t help!
The research centre was all about the conservation of the Galapagos’ most famous residents and their icon – the Tortoise.
As with each island in the Galapagos being completely individual so were its Tortoises. Their shells and bodies had evolved in completely different ways depending on the conditions and feeding environment that it found itself in – these Tortoises were one of the defining factors in proving Darwinism.
Originally there were 14 species of tortoise found on the islands and they numbered in their thousands but once we humans discovered the area and more importantly that the tortoises could last for up to 1 year without feeding they were either slaughtered where they stood or were taken aboard the ships to be slaughtered at a later date for their meat.
Now there are only 11 species left and fortunately the numbers are now recovering with the aid of the breeding programs.
Did you know that the scientists believe that these creatures can possibly live to the ripe of old of 300 years old? With that being the case it is quite possible that the tortoises that we saw could’ve quite conceivably met Charles Darwin!
At the centre we also saw the pen of Lonesome George, who died only last year. I was actually already aware of George from a David Attenborough documentary and his story is a sad one. It was believed that every tortoise on one of the Galapagos islands had been wiped out by man until one day George, the last of his kind was found wondering around on his own; literally the last of his dynasty. In a desperate attempt to save his species they moved him to the research centre with the hope that another of his bredrin might be located in some zoo or house somewhere in the world. Whilst the search continued they tried to breed him with other similar specimens and also had an intern give him a hand job for 4 days straight to try and extract some sperm for freezing!! Apparently she had very soft hands.
Until last year there were 12 species of Galapagos Tortoise but unfortunately all attempts to breed or w*nk off George failed and as of June 2012 there are now only 11.
At this point Mike and Xanthe also became dead to us as they headed off to the airport and before lunch we were given a couple of hours to explore the town.
Gary had taken a photo of a bird at the fish market and asked Juan what it was and unbelievably we had all been looking at a bird that only numbers 400 in the entire world.
Later in the week we saw 5 of them together = 0.125% of the entire population in one photo!
.JPG) |
| Pancho |
At lunch we were in introduced to our new shipmates, Jean-Pierre and Rita from New York (we just called them New York). They had a hard act to follow and they failed miserably in adding anything at all to the group dynamic.
They were telling us all about their dreadful journey to Galapagos from Bolivia that involved a transfer in Miami. A little perplexed I asked why they couldn’t have just traveled to Peru and made their way to Ecuador from there and Rita’s response like I was a complete moron was that she only likes to fly American Airlines so that she can get her upgrades!
If that is the case you blonde bimbo then do not complain about your self-induced ‘nightmare’ journey.
During the same conversation she also told us about their far flung trips to those hard to get to places like their honeymoon in a Buddhist monastery in Japan that “must start and end in a top hotel like the Tokyo Ritz because you need that don’t you?” and “we did about 3 days on (in the monastery) and a couple of days back in a western hotel before returning for a few more days”.
It was also a vegetarian place and she sneaked sausages back into the monastery because she couldn’t cope for 3 days without them.
I wasn't a massive fan, can you tell? But, then again maybe I should've made more of an effort.
Wednesday afternoon was like a walk around Jurassic Park / The Never
Ending Story as we visited the wet and misty highlands of Santa Cruz and here
we got to literally walk with the giants. This location was the forest-like
natural habitat of the Giant Tortoise and as we walked over the breast of a
hill the view from the top was an open luscious green area with a few trees and
dozens of these beautiful beasts.
I think we
all skipped along like kids as visited each one and took photos of the ancient
and wise looking animals.The Galapagos is also a hotbed of volcanic activity that has continuously shaped them over the millennia right up to the most recent eruption only 8 years ago and during this afternoon we got to explore a lava tunnel in search of owls that frankly took a distant second place to the tortoises in the wild and not in a pen.
.JPG) |
| Lava tunnel love |
.JPG)
.JPG)
 |
| Juan The Man |
Amongst the grounds of ‘Tortoise Ville’ was a little tea house where we were all treated to a tea or coffee topped off with a healthy shot of rum and a sing song from the multi-talented Juan. He donned his guitar and belted out a few sing-a-long classics with the help of his buddy behind the bar (queue the Stevie Wonderesque sway and closed eyes) and our very own Suzy who sung with a Julie Andrews type swagger. It was all a bit surreal but great fun.
Day 6 – Isla Sombrero Chino &
Bartolome
The morning
walk was ok but the excitement came from spotting the Galapagos Penguins and
the levels of excitement hit a crescendo during the first of the days two
snorkel sessions.During the swim we came across 2 Diamond Rays and to give you an idea of how large these things are, I reckon you could lay them over the top of a hatchback car and you wouldn’t be able to see the car underneath, they were massive.
If that wasn’t enough we saw plenty of other sea life such as the ever present Sea Lions in the clearest ocean that I have ever swum but it was at the end of the session that a lucky few of us were content to leave and go home there and then because directly below us we caught our first glimpse of a shark, a White Tipped Reef Shark, and it was the definitely coolest thing I saw all trip. It just looked like he ruled his ghetto like all good pimps should.
.JPG) |
| Look at those wildlife specimens |
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
Snorkelling part 2 wasn’t too bad either. We got to swim one on one with Green Turtles and really watch them as they fed and came up for air, which was quite odd watching them switch from their domain into ours and back again. They were so close that we could even touch them – even though we shouldn’t.
The running joke then became that whoever missed something in the ocean was doing a Gary and having a backstroke.
Steve, you did a Gary when you missed a Sea Lion swim right under your feet!!
The
afternoon wasn’t about wildlife, it was about geology as we explored a 110 year
old lava flow. Cooled lava forms the strangest landscape, shapes and patterns
giving it an otherworldly appearance like the surface of the Moon or Mars.
The walk was
very interesting and as well as viewing the Lava Cactus and the Lava Lizards we
also got to lie on a ribbed shaped lava bed for a well-earned massage under the
setting sun. .JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG) |
| Massage time |
.JPG) |
| Massage with my homey Vic - happy endings! |
Day 7 – Isla Genovesa
Day 7 began about 1am. Never before have I sailed in any seas other than those that can be described as very calm, but these seas were full on. Everybody was awake throughout the night as the boat lurched from one side to the other and we rocked and rolled the hours away desperately clinging onto our mattresses to avoid hitting the floor.
Somehow I managed to get a little shut-eye but Arancha was awake throughout and was awarded for her endurance by looking out of the porthole and seeing the ocean alight with the glow of bioluminescence.
This was also a treat of 2am toilet breaks – weeing into the bowl and seeing it all light up with flecks of green and yellow as it hit the seawater. The first time it happened I was worried that I had some internal issues!
It was definitely an out of the ordinary night because the dining room of the boat was covered in broken crockery and glass the next morning.
In hindsight
we were lucky. Once we were back on dry land after the trip the American’s met
a group of people at their hotel whose boat had hit a rock at 1am and sunk in
the middle of the ocean. They were currently wearing all that they owned as the
rest had sunk with the ship!
A rough
night or not, when you awake to the fact that you are moored in a bay that is
in the crater of a sunken volcano, it ain’t all that bad!
The day
followed the pattern of every other day but it was the birds that once again
took centre stage.On this day we got to see the 3 types of boobie all living in unison – the Blue-footed, the Red-footed and the Nazca. Evolution is so cool that they all evolved to live in one place but in a different way, so therefore not competing with the other. The Blue-footed on the ground, the Red-footed in the trees and the Nazca on the cliffs – or something like that.
We also got to meet the Vampire Finch – and yeah, it actually is a vampire. It targets the Nazca Boobie and by using its super sharp beak it pierces under the Nazca’s wing when it spreads them to aerate itself. Nice.
.JPG) |
| Nazca Boobies |
.JPG) |
| Red-footed Boobie |
Before we knew it we had somehow reached the final night of the trip and it was with some trepidation that we enjoyed our final drinks aboard the Beluga with our friends. We received a toast and a few songs from the crew but that was it and due to the return journey promising to be as rough as the outward one many people retired to bed earlier than I would’ve liked.
Myself, Steve, Georgie and Lasse stayed up for a few more drinks and we had to because at approximately 10:30pm we would be crossing the equator and I wanted a photo of the real Lat 0’0’0’, not the fake French one in Quito.
Along with Suzy and New York we got our photo and then got to bed ASAP as it was getting a little rough on the open ocean.
.JPG)
.JPG) |
| The real equator |
Day 8 – Isla Santa Cruz
We took the pangas over to the mangrove area of the island and were gobsmacked when we looked down into the clear and shallow waters to see it teeming with Sharks. This area served as a Shark nursery as well as a great area to spot yet more Turtles and the completely clear view of those sexy Spotted Eagle Rays.
.JPG) |
| Spotted Eagle Ray |
.JPG) |
| White Tipped Reef Shark |
And so we come to the end of the Galapagos adventures of the Beluga and its crew, Sep 27th – Oct 4th2013.
We still had
a couple days on Santa Cruz to kill and did nothing of note. We went back to
the fish market for a little last wildlife interaction with Pancho, the Brown Pelicans
and quite unexpectedly a Blue-footed Boobie and we went for a farewell drink
with the American’s, who I really hope we will see again one day, whether it be
in Europe, Australia or the States.
With that
Ecuador was pretty much done. On our way to Peru we stopped over in one of the
nicest, most chilled cities I have been to in the form of Cuenca and we really
enjoyed our brief 2 day lay over..JPG) |
| Shipmates minus Lasse -as planned |
One thing we didn’t enjoy though was a guy asking us what was wrong with his soup and taking offence that we hadn’t eaten it.
When he said it was beef soup we expected some meat, not a lump of pure fat that was so big it took up 60% of the bowl! Arancha was nearly gagging at the table and I took a few spoonfuls of the soapy white fat laden soup just to be polite. Yuk!
Overall
Ecuador has been a great country to visit. Yes we had our issues with theft but
sh*t happens. We visited Ecuador’s top 3 cities, we trekked the Quilotoa Loop,
saw Volcan Cotopaxi up close, enjoyed the markets of Otavalo, met some lifelong
friends and partied like never before at the Mama Negra Festival; but I think
you can tell from just reading this mammoth blog post that the greatest gift
Ecuador gave to me was the Galapagos Islands.
For me it
was the same as a Muslim making a pilgrimage to Mecca, a Christian to Bethlehem
or a Buddhist to Bodh Gaya, it was sort of as profound as that and it was real
and based on fact!!!I might just have to go home now as surely nothing will top this?
Hmm, let me
just try out Peru and see…..
Ps. Below is
the list of everything we saw in Galapagos:
|
Reptiles
|
Mammals
|
Land Birds
|
|
Espanola Lava Lizard
Galapagos Snake
Giant Tortoise
Land Iguana
Lava Lizard
Marine Iguana
Santa Fe Land Iguana
|
Galapagos Sea Lion
Galapagos Fur Seal
|
Espanola Mockingbird
Galapagos Dove
Galapagos Hawk
Galapagos Mockingbird
Large-billed Flycatcher
San Cristobal Mockingbird
Yellow Warbler
|
|
Shore Birds
|
Sea Birds
|
Darwin’s Finches
|
|
Galapagos Oystercatcher
Cattle Egret
Common Egret
Great Blue Heron
Lava Heron
Ruddy Turnstone
Semi-palmated Plover
Wandering Tattler
Whimbrel
White-cheeked Pintail
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
|
Galapagos Shearwater
Blue-footed Boobie
Brown Pelican
Brown Noddi Tern
Elliot’s Storm Petrel
Galapagos Penguin
Galapagos Storm Petrel
Great Frigatebird
Lava Gull
Magnificent Frigatebird
Nazca Boobie
Red-billed Tropicbird
Red-footed Boobie
Shallow-tailed Gull
Waved Albetross
|
Cactus Finch
Large Cactus Finch
Large Ground Finch
Medium Ground Finch
Sharp-billed Ground Finch
Small Ground Finch
Warbler Finch
|
|
Marine Species 1
|
Marine Species 2
|
Marine Species 3
|
|
Sally-lightfoot Crab
Ghost Crab
Galapagos Hermit Crab
Green Sea Urchin
Green Sea Turtle
Bottle-nosed Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Guinea Fowl Puffer
Yellow-phace Starfish
Moorish Idol
Damsel Fish
Reef Cornetfish
|
Humpback Whale
Diamond Stingray
Spotted Eagle Ray
Stingray
White-tipped Reef Shark
Black-tipped Reff Shark
Yellow-tailed Mullet
Pencil Sea Urchin
Yellow Surgeon Fish
King Angel Fish
Black-tailed Mullet
|
Blue-chin Parrot Fish
Mexican Streamer Fish
Creole Gringo Fish
Hyrogliphic Hogfish
Choc-chip Starfish
Pyramid Starfish
Gorgonian
White-band Blenny
Galapagos Four-eyed Blenny
Cortez Rainbow Raz
Jellyfish – across my face!!
|
No comments:
Post a Comment