After meeting our group at the Quito airport on Sunday morning, we got on the plane for the flight to San Cristobal island in the Galapagos. The landing was a little hairy because of very low cloud cover and crosswinds, but we made it fine. After going through the park entry process, we boarded a bus that took us down to the harbor where our boat, the Flamingo I, was waiting for us.
We took zodiacs (small dingies) out to the ship, and got our first glimpse of the very tame animals in the Galapagos. There were sea lions sleeping on several of the boats in the harbor. As we passed some, of them raised there heads to check us out, and then went back to their naps.
The boat itself was very similar to The Spirit of Freedom that we were on in Australia. It was a yacht with four decks, including the open sun deck on top. We were greeted by the two naturalists on board, Mauricio and Orlando, and after the introduction and saftey talk we set out for our first landing.
We stopped a short way up the island and took the zodiacs to shore. From there we went snorkeling. The visibility wasn't great, but we were able to see several cool creatures, like a green sea turtle that let us get very close to it.
The most memorable thing about the animals in the Galapagos is that they have very little fear of people. There was also a male sea lion who was swimming amongst all of us and seemed to be enjoying himself. Back on shore there were several other sea lion females with pups. We walked to within six feet of them without any reaction other than a glance.
After we returned to the boat, we sailed to a nearby pinnacle of rock that jutted up out of the ocean. It was called "Kicker Rock". On the way there, we were escorted by a humback whale that kept surfacing about 100 yards off the starboard bow. Shortly before we got to the rock, it veered off.
The rock itself was covered in birds. It was a nesting place for several species. We made a circuit around the rock, watched the sun set, and then began our night journey to the next island.
That night we steamed to Genovese island. In the morning we were woken by music playing over the intercom. Normally this would be rather nice, except that the song was "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion. Maybe it's just me, but waking people up on a cruise with a song about a boat sinking (Titanic) just doesn't seem like a great idea.
After we recovered from the trauma of our wake-up call, we took the zodiacs to shore again. This time we took a short nature walk where we saw several species of birds. There were frigates and lots of boobies (the joke here is obvious, so I will refrain) There were two different species, Nazca (Masked) boobies, and red-footed boobies. The boobies spend a lot of time at sea, where they circle until suddenly diving straight down into the ocean after fish. Frigates, who cannot get wet because of a lack of oil on their feathers, try to steal the fish from the boobies. The frigates coast effortlessly on the air and wait to see a booby catch a fish. Then they swoop down and pull the bird's tail, which makes them drop the fish. Frigates have a hooked beak and a bald head. If any of you have seen the movie "The Dark Crystal", the head of a frigate looks much like the head of the evil skeksies.
And, of course, there were finches. It was wonderful to see the birds that inspired Darwin to develop his theories. Depending on the need of the finch, the beak varies. Birds who peck at insects have long thin beaks, thick beaks are for cracking open nuts and seeds, etc. This was the beginning of Darwin's contemplations on the origin of all species. It is interesting that such a world shaking revelation came from such a small bird.
After the walk, we went snorkeling again. This excursion was a little more interesting, despite rough seas. There was another playful sea lion, a trumpet fish, and several white-tipped reef sharks. The visibility was only about 10-15 feet, so the sharks were a bit of a surprise at first. But, true to form, they were pretty shy, and didn't bother us at all.
That afternoon was another walk up "Phillip's Steps" which were carved into the cliff wall in the name of King Phillip of Spain. On the walk we were able to see the hard-to-find spotted owl. The small owl lives in the crevices of the lava and waits for an errant bird to stray too close and become dinner. The owl preened and posed for us for a while, and then we made our way back to the ship.
That night was the longest journey of the itinerary. We steamed 124 miles to the next island. The ride was a little "bumpy", but not too bad. Unfortunatly, several people got seasick, including me. By morning, most people were glad to be getting back to solid ground.
During the trip, we had some guests. Several frigates decided to use the slipstream of the boat to coast along while they looked for an easy meal. At one point, there were no less than eight birds flying about ten feet above the top deck. A couple of times, they dipped down and were flying next to the boat at eye level. They only broke off when the boat slowed down and the aerodynamics were no longer good.
The guides told us that each island is different. This island had marine iguanas and flightless cormorants. The iguanas were pitch black and blended into the volcanic rock so well that you nearly didn't see them until you were right on top of them. They sat in the sun in piles, and snorted salt everywhere. The algae they eat has alot of salt water in it, and the iguanas have an internal desalination gland in their forehead that allows them to extract the salt water and sneeze it out their nose. It makes them look like they have a bad cold.
The land itself was made strictly out of cooled lava, and we walked over several sections of wavy lava that looked as if it has just cooled the day before. Indeed, the last eruption on the island happened just this past spring. Because it is such recently formed rock, there is almost no vegitaion. The only thing that grows is a small succulent called lava cactus.
The cormorants are dark sea birds with short, stubby, vestigal wings that make it impossible to fly. They normally eat fish, but we saw one take down a moray eel, with some difficulty swallowing. When we returned to the dock to get picked up by the dingy, we found that the dock was being guarded by a rather stubborn female sea lion. She didn't move until the dingy had arrived and forced her off the dock. Even then, she tried to circle around a couple of times to regain her perch before giving up and swimming away.
In the afternoon we crossed the channel over to Isabela island, and went snorkeling again. This time, we were privlaged to be able to swim wiith penguins. Or rather, they swam past us. They appeared as black and white streaks in the murky water, and were gone as soon as they came. After we got back in the boat, we saw several of them a short distance away on the surface. Mauricio said to go ahead and jump in and that we didn't need flippers. So several of is dove back into the cold water and swam after the penguins. All we got was a glimpse of them under water before they were gone. I'm sure they were laughing at the clumsy humans in the water.
So far this has been a wonderful trip, and we still have five days to go! - Scott
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