Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

28th September – 5th October 2006

The highlight of our trip so far and it’s what we’ve been looking forward to for 11 months. We can’t believe the trip is upon us, as time really seems to have flown by.

Our 8 day & 7 nights trip is aboard the boat Monserrat. The Monserrat is a superior class boat with 16 passengers and we are secretly hoping that there are not too many loud Americans or Israelis on board as that could make our trip a tad awkward (judging by previous diary entries!)

Day 1 – San Cristobal

Our flight from Quito is at 9.45am and we are up pretty early to check in. It’s a bit bumpy as we take off and first we have to stop in Guayakil (again) to pick up some more passengers. It seems that pretty much every flight has to stop in Guayakil at some stage when flying internally within Ecuador just so they can showcase their new airport!

As anticipated there are lots of loud Americans on board and there is a general feeling of excitement as we land on San Cristobal Island. Immediately we are struck by the remoteness of the islands after our 2hr flight from Guayakil.

San Cristobal is covered in a thin layer of mist as we go through check-in (being sure to pay our 100 dorrar park entrance fee). Baggage collection consists of walking around the back of the check-in area and plucking our bags from the large trolley used to ferry the bags from the airplane.

Our guide, Williams, meets us immediately and a quick look around the group confirms that the other passengers are roughly similar in age to us (24) and all have two arms and one head. Things look up even further as the group of Americans (with each carrying about 7 cameras strapped around their waist) head off in another direction to board another boat.

We are ferried straight away to our boat for lunch and we are struck by the amount of very tame and strange wildlife straight away. From the marine iguanas sunning themselves on the black, volcanic rocks to the Sally-light foot crabs, Frigate birds, brown Pelicans and of course the Galapagos Sea lions.

Great photos over the coming days will not be difficult to come by.

Lunch is simple spaghetti bolognaise and Williams then sits us down and goes through the itinery for the afternoon. By now we are getting to know our fellow passengers and a nationality poll shows: 3 Germans, 7 Englishmen, 1 Austrian & 5 Aussies. It looks like we’ll be getting along just fine. One lovely lady, Briony (aussie) feels the need to introduce herself twice to Stu. Either she is so pleased to meet him or she is just a bit dippy, we’ll soon find out….

After lunch we hop back to the island and take a walk along the beach seeing more extremely tame sea lions, marine iguanas and birdlife. The mist has lifted and it’s getting extremely hot. We sit for a while on the beach watching the sea lion colony in front of us. The babies are soooo cute, rolling around in the sand and we get the feeling that the females are just posing for photographs. The male is protecting his territory, barking out and swimming up and down his small stretch of beach, we learn that he’ll do this for a period of about 30 days, not sleeping or eating. Unsurprisingly, after about 30 days, a bigger well-rested male will come along and beat seven shades of sh*te out of the dominant male and take his position. Quite where the new dominant male finds the time to “take care” of his honies we can’t fathom, as he seems to spend all of his time patrolling his small stretch of beach.

We can’t believe how lucky we are, sat on a beautiful beach, enjoying the wildlife that generally seems oblivious to us as the animals go about their business mostly undisturbed. One of the sea lions decides to come and sit with the group at the top of the beach and we don’t feel threatened by it and she doesn’t by us.

We head back to the boat for a shower and then for dinner. Before our 3 course buffet, Williams gives us a briefing of the itinery for the next day. It appears that we will be undertaking the navigation (sea journeys between the islands) during the evenings and that we have a few people who are susceptible to sea sickness (including Amy).

Before dinner we are introduced to the crew and there are welcoming cocktails all round.

Over dinner we get to know our fellow passengers better and soon after, we set off for our next island, Isla Espanol. The sea is pretty rough and soon after we set off, people are scrambling for their beds. As luck would have it our room is below deck, almost right at the front of the boat. Whilst this has obvious drawbacks (the huge waves virtually crashing right by our heads) at least we are not just above the engine with all the noise and fumes that go with it. The lucky souls who are on the upper deck feel free to open their windows, something which those of us down below can only dream of as we look out of our tiny porthole window.

Needless to say there’s not much sleep that night with the constant rocking motion and almost deafening noise of the waves crashing next to us. We manage some sleep though and awake to a cloudy morning on Isla Espanola.

Day 2 – Isla Espanola

Breakfast is served at 7am and it’s pretty good stuff with fresh juice and fruit. At 8am we catch our panga ride to the island and if we thought the animals were tame yesterday then it’s nothing compared to today.

There are more baby sea lions and we see sea turtles popping their little heads up and blue footed boobies diving for fish. The sea lions on the path are in no great hurry to get out of the way. Williams gives us an introduction to Isla Espanola and, as over the coming few days, does his best to impart his knowledge on us (despite numerous dopey and often sarcastic questions coming from the group).

There are iguanas all over the place and we also see yellow warblers, a baby Galapagos hawk, mocking birds, finches and most depressingly an abandoned baby sea lion that was slowly starving to death. Williams explains that as park rangers they don’t interfere with the natural course of life unless absolutely necessary as this, in effect, would alter the evolution of species, which has been going on for millions of years.

We walk across the island and see an abandoned albatross egg and then a small group of waved albatross waddling up to the edge of the cliff and waiting for an updraft to give them lift off. Williams explains that the albatross can actually sleep whilst it’s flying. We continue our walk and by this time the sun comes out and it’s getting uncomfortably hot once again.

We see a courting pair of Nazca boobies with the male offering token little twigs to the female, trying his best to impress her. A lava lizard watches on with interest and we just simply can’t believe how close we can get to these birds. Eventually, after lots of whistling and pecking the female decides that the males offering, just simply isn’t big enough.

We return to the boat for a fantastic 3-course lunch and then go snorkeling in the afternoon. The number of fish is just simply astounding. We see tiger fish, puffer fish, starfish, a white tipped reef shark, a Galapagos shark, a stingray, sea snake, trumpet fish and so many more than we just cannot name. It’s an amazing environment and we are just so lucky that we have the opportunity at the right time in our lives to swim with all these creatures.

Later in the afternoon we have an hour to ourselves on a lovely beach. Once more there are many sea lions and sea turtles in the water. As we walk back to the panga we see perhaps the highlight of the whole trip, a baby sea turtle making it’s way into the sea.

Briony spots a couple of mocking birds having a peck at something in the sand and sees it’s a baby sea turtle. We run over (scaring away the mocking birds in the process) and proceed to cheer the baby sea turtle into the sea. It’s amazing that this little turtle knows exactly where the sea is, despite being disorientated, and has the energy to make it to the sea. It’s highly unlikely that the turtle will survive (Williams later tells us that only about 1 in 2000 turtles actually makes it to adulthood) but at least we saw it safely into the sea.

What an amazing day!

Day 3 – Santa Fe & South Plaza Islands

We are awoken during our overnight navigation, as the seas are pretty rough once again. The weather is clear and sunny and about 26 degrees as we arrive. Both of the islands today are very dry and barren, almost desert like landscapes.

We are up at 7am again for breakfast and we set off for a walk on Santa Fe Island. Today we see numerous land iguanas that are larger than their marine cousins and yellow in colour. The iguanas are exothermic and hence need the suns’ energy to allow them to move about.

We see loads of strange looking cactus, a hermit crab, brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies and walk along a beautiful beach of white coral sand.

Later in the morning we go snorkeling again and see all the usual sea life as well as a large stingray and dominant male sea lion that swims underneath our group. A female sea lion comes right up to Stu to have a bit of a look and Stu gets a great photo.

In the afternoon we set sail for South Plaza Island and have a walk around with Williams guiding us once again. This island has been nicknamed “looser island” as it’s where all the looser male sea lions come to recuperate and to regain their strength ready to fight another day. We see many Red-billed tropicbirds flying around on the breeze and way up in the sky there are Frigate birds soaring the thermals.

We return to the boat and sink a few beers, Williams briefs us for the following day and after another 3-course dinner we set sail again.

Day 4 – Santa Cruz Island.

For once we have a good nights sleep as the navigation is not too far. We jump in the panga at 8am after breakfast in order to visit the Charles Darwin center. It’s pretty roasting today even when the sun comes out at 8.30am. The Charles Darwin center is excellent and they have a program for breeding the giant tortoises. This is just as well as the species as a whole was decimated in the 1900’s by settlers exploiting them for their meat and oil.

We then move on and see the fully grown giant tortoises (they have to be seen to be believed), let’s just say that there would be no problem in finding these fellas if they decided to hibernate beneath a bush!

We see the famous Lonesome George who is the last remaining survivor from Pinta Island. The center have been trying to breed George with his closest relative (slightly incestuous) and have even resorted to electric shocking him in order to increase his sperm levels. Sadly, George though just isn’t interested and at about 110 years old you would hardly call him a spring chicken in his first flush of youth.

Williams informs us that the Tortoises can live up to 150 years old and the largest ones weigh in an around 250kgs. After visiting the center we have some free time around Puerto Auora and we take a walk around the terribly touristy shops buying a T-shirt or two and catching up with the footy via the internet (Spurs beat Portsmouth 2-1).

Lunch is back on the boat where the Ecuadorian owners have joined us and we have a few awkward conversations explaining that the snorkeling gear has not been up to much so far.

In the afternoon we take the bus to the center of the island to see the giant tortoises in the wild. We realise that the tortoises don’t have ears and so we can sneak up right behind them getting a few excellent photos (and can also call them lots of silly names).

In the evening we all head off to the island and spend a “night on the town”. We have a great time mixing with the locals, Stu whips them at pool and the girls receive some serious salsa lessons on the dance floor.

Day 5 – Santiago Island

Another day, another Island. We are up at 6.40am and breakfast at 7am once more.

During the night we have sailed to Santiago Island which, geologically speaking, is a very young island (about 800 000 years). Once more it’s very warm as we go for a walk across the black lava that appears to cover the island and extends all the way down into the sea.

Williams explains the geological formation of the Galapagos islands and how the Pacific plate is sliding under the Nasca plate. The Galapagos Islands have been formed by volcanoes erupting through a local “hot spot” within the earths crust.

The landscape is very barren but we can see the first signs of life beginning to find a way through the lava, it hits home just how long in real-life terms this process actually takes.

There is very little life on this island although we do glimpse a Galapagos penguin in the sea that apparently lives in the ‘lava tubes’.

We go for a snorkel directly from the beach and see sea turtles who are so beautiful and graceful. The snorkel turns out to be the best yet as we see all sorts of tropical fish (including a sea slug) as well as a sea lion up close who is chasing a small shoal of fish.

As well as the sea lions Stu glimpses an Eagle Ray and tries to keep up with it but it’s just too fast.

We get back on board for lunch and go snorkeling again after lunch around Bartolome Island. This time Stu sees a little penguin whilst in the water and it zooms straight past him just above his finger tips, fantastic.

We also swim with another beautiful sea lion before getting out of the water and climbing Bartolome for a great view of the islands.

Day 6 – Genovesa Island

After a monster 8hr navigation (and very little sleep with a few seasick people on board) we arrive at Genovesa Island and are up at the crack of dawn. Genovesa Island (2.2M years old) itself is horse-shoe shaped and has been formed from a collapsed volcanic crater.

The weather is lovely and sunny once again as we go for a walk on the island.

The island is teeming with bird life nesting with their young. We see Red footed boobies, Nasca boobies, Blue footed boobies a large ground finch, the Galapagos dove, the yellow footed Warbler, the Great Frigate and Magnificent Frigate bird, Red Billed Topicbird and Brown Pelicans. It’s very warm and we are glad to get back to the boat and get ready to go for a snorkel.

We put on our wet suits and on our way out to the snorkeling site we see a Hammerhead shark swimming a short distance from us. That familiar sight from oh-so many movies as the dorsal fin pokes out of the water as we come up close. It’s pretty big and suddenly there’s fear going around the boat as most of the girls (Amy included) refuse to get out and into the water.

Stu, on the other hand, has either more balls or less brains (and probably both) and proceeds to enter the murky water searching for another sight of the hammerhead.

We see large Parrott fish and other brightly coloured tropical fish. The current is pretty strong. After a while Stu returns to the panga and we see Briony and Elizabeth huddle together with Williams as they see 4 Hammerhead sharks swimming directly beneath them in the depths.

We are back on board for lunch and then spend a short amount of time sunbathing on deck. We then go for another walk along the rocky, volcanic shoreline viewing more birds and sea lions. There’s time for a spot more snorkeling and we witness a beautiful sunset in the evening after another great dinner.

Day 7 – Santa Cruz & Baltra Islands

Overnight it’s a very rocky, 8hr navigation back to Santa Cruz island and needless to say we get very little sleep. In fact it’s so rocky that we are ‘airborne’ in our beds at certain times in the evening but neither of us is sick.

We breakfast at 6.45am (what sort of holiday is this??) and take a panga ride to the island. The beach where we land is stunningly beautiful and we take a walk along the beach where we spot a blue and yellow heron and then lovely pink flamingos in a freshwater lagoon.

We then head back on board and navigate to Baltra island to re-fuel. We then set off for North Seymour Island which is very low lying and very dry. The temperature is cranked up to a whopping 33 degrees as we take a walk on the island.

We see loads of male frigate birds with their big red pouches all blown up trying to attract the females flying way up above. We have yet another snorkel and see another white tipped reef shark, sting rays and sea lions.

In the evening we have a last round of cocktails with the crew and tell stories (Briony mostly) over a few beers. Oh yes, the sunset is sensational.

Day 8 – San Cristobal Island

Another long navigation of 7hrs and it’s pretty choppy once again.

We are up at a stupid time of 5.50am to take in sunrise at the “Lion rock” (formed from volcanic ash, hardened to a rock over time). We circle around a few times then head off for San Cristobal Island and visit the interpretive center.

It’s all very sad that we have to say goodbye to Williams at the airport and some of our group are staying on the island for another day or so. The group and the trip have been absolutely brilliant and totally worth the money spent.

The trip has proven to be completely justified as the main highlight and we are so pleased to have left it right to the end as nothing could top this experience.

We meet some of the girls for a curry and a few beers in the evening back in Quito. A glance around the dinner table at the end confirms the presence of many good friends that we hope to keep in touch with for years to come.

We say our sad goodbyes knowing that our final long-haul flight back to Europe is less than 24hrs away and we truly are ready to go home.

First though it’s off to Madrid to meet Clare and hit the Tapas bars, time for one last hurrah!!

Lots of Love

Stu & Amy.