Despite the very early wake up call, the journey to the Galápagos Islands was good, we flew from Quito with a quick pit stop in Guayaquil, which from the air looks remarkably like Miami. The airport was slightly bigger than the one on Easter Island, our journey across to where our boat was moored consisted of a bus, a ferry, and a pick up truck across the island of Santa Cruz, where most of the population of the Galápagos Islands love (around 27,000 on Santa Cruz). The driving was nothing short of terrifying, but the giant flying beetle bug that invaded the truck was more concerning!
We got a zodiac out to join our boat, a lovely catamaran with cabins for 16 and a crew of 10 - we were so well looked after, it was amazing! After meeting everyone and having lunch, it was an immediate turnaround to go back to the island and visit the giant tortoises in the wild. They are particularly prolific on Santa Cruz, numbers have dwindled over the years, partly due to people liking the taste of them. We wandered through the area and happened upon one very quickly - which was already pretty sizeable. An hour later this first tortoise pales into insignificance though - we found some truly huge ones, probably around 125 years old and very grumpy looking!
Although apparently their hearing and sight is not good, they were clearly aware of us, and didn't seem keen on the cameras, several of them retreating back into their shells, which looks comical, but in fact is a defence mechanism. We spent a lot of time watching them, and for us adjusting to the heat, ground level on the equator is a little warmer than altitude! We also needed to avoid the tortoise poo - I've never seen anything like it - it looked like giant avocados scattered around on the ground, and the smell was intense!
Back on the boat for our first night at sea we had our first dinner - 3 courses of delicious food (all of a sudden having been sick in Peru and Bolivia seemed like a good thing!), the biggest challenge was getting used to the rocking of the boat. Andy took to it immediately, but the boat had 4 decks, lots of stairs, and the water in the harbour was quite rough - getting around was interesting, getting to sleep was definitely a challenge!
We navigated to the next island overnight, and woke up to an entirely new view out of our cabin window. We were now off the island of Floreana, with a full day of snorkelling and exploring ahead of us. Our first walk was from a green sand beach across to an incredible white sandy beach, past a lagoon that used to be full of flamingoes. Unfortunately the Japanese tsunami sent a wave high enough to decimate the fresh water in the lagoon, and salinate it to the extent that a lot of the wildlife died, removing the flamingoes food. The white sandy beach had several sea turtle tracks, where the sea turtles pull themselves up the beach to lay their eggs. There were ghost crabs, sea lions, marine iguanas and birds, our first taste of galapagos wildlife.
The rest of the day presented a whole new set of challenges... I'm really not very keen on fish (ok, quite scared of them). I realise that this is completely irrational, and also recognise that Finding Nemo being way up there as one of my favourite Pixar films is a bit of a contradiction. Snorkelling in the galapagos, some of the clearest waters there are with masses of wildlife - was always going to be a tricky. I skipped the first round, justifying it by the fact I hadn't slept well and there was a sun deck on the boat begging to be used, and missed out on sea lions frolicking in and out of the water with the rest of the group. Andy loved it and even the captain said it was some of the best snorkelling on the islands. I did brave it in the afternoon, and was rewarded by minimal fish, but lots of sea turtles, they were fantastic - so much fun to snorkel with them!
We also visited post office bay, where for centuries people have left letters in a barrel, to be delivered by a visitor who happens to be going that way. We found several for Surrey, but as some postcards had only been there for a couple of days we thought we'd leave them there for a bit longer, and only took one with us. We also found one for Naples in Florida, and felt like we had to pick that one up. Mum - you may have to deliver it ;) Andy explored a lava tube cavern deeper inland on the Island, I got 6 steps down and slipped before deciding it may be better for my health to turn around!
The island is also home to the story of the Baroness. One of the early settlers, she moved to the island with her 3 lovers and a few other European settlers. What followed on was a tale of disappearance, death and intrigue... A real life Island soap opera.
The next couple of days involved exploring Espanola and San Cristobal Islands, thankfully with smoother seas overnight to let us get some sleep. We were up so early in the mornings anyway that there was no point in closing our curtains, waking up to a new island every morning was lovely, each island we visited looked completely different.
The highlight of Espanola was spotting the blue footed booby, getting very close to a colony of nazca boobies, visiting what can only be described as a sea lion crèche, a sheltered bay where they were playing and definitely not shy, and getting inches away from Christmas marine iguanas. We snorkelled again, and having not encountered any the day before I screamed as if someone was attacking me when a sea lion appeared from nowhere right in front of me - once I was over the shock it was amazing - but it isn't really what you expect when snorkelling!
San Cristobal involved waking up to a view of a stunning white sandy beach, and the famous Leon Dormido rock formation further our to sea, Kicker Rock, or the Sleeping Lion. The morning consisted of a visit to Cerro Brujo, the beautiful beach populated by sea lions, sea turtles, marine iguanas, birds, crabs and very annoying sand flies, one of which caused me to swear quite loudly and scare away an iguana mid snap as it but me so badly it drew blood! I explored the beach while Andy swam in the sea, he found a manta ray (which can grow to around 22ft across) which he was excited about. One thing we both wish we had thought of was buying an underwater digital camera...
That afternoon was our last snorkel trip, going around and then through the channel between the two parts of Kicker Rock. The sea was rougher than it had been, and the current was strong. A couple of people including Andy spotted sharks, which was definitely the end of me opening my eyes, given that I'd lost the plot when a sea lion appeared I wasn't likely to deal too well with what in my head was going to be Jaws! When we swam down to go through the channel the current was stronger still, and the walls of the channel felt almost as if they were closing in on us. The water beneath us was dark blue and obviously very deep, and the visibility wasn't very good. Going through this was the only time I have ever been genuinely afraid while swimming, the combination of the swell, the current, the unknown beneath me and the rocky walls on each side had me wholly focused on getting through the channel and into the waiting zodiac. One of the others, was also struggling, and Andy had a hero moment when helping to keep Patte above the water and get her into the boat, she is also a strong swimmer, but the channel had challenged her too.
When we were all back on the boat a heated conversation was taking place between the boat pilots and our guide - conditions had changed very quickly, a group 10 minutes ahead of us had made it through the channel with no issues, but we had really been up against it. Not the best end to our snorkelling adventures, but thankfully we had the rest of the afternoon and evening to relax, which we did with several beers, glasses of wine, and piña coladas (my new favourite cocktail).
The rock
Despite the not entirely positive experience on our last afternoon, the Galápagos Islands were an incredible place to visit, and one of the highlights of our trip so far - I know I say that a lot, but we do have a running tally as new things happen of our favourite bits! Every Island you visit is different, and you can get a different experience depending on the time of year that you visit. For example we missed out on the albatross and red footed boobies, and at certain times of year you can see whales throughout the islands. The Islands are much more accessible than we thought they would be, with 90+ boats touring around and several flights a day into the two airports. They are portrayed frequently on TV, in fact we are looking forward to catching the David Attenborough series when we get home, but there really isn't anything like sitting on a beach with the sea lions, and watching the giant tortoises from 3 feet away - tv just can't do it justice.
The temptation when on board, listening to everyone's tales of the days before we had joined the trip, was to immediately book an extended trip, or at least a return one! Seeing the islands by boat is fantastic, waking up somewhere new each day and being out at sea looking at the stars or the sun/moonrise is an amazing experience, and one that we are so glad we have had. Thank you so much to Georgie, John, Peter, Richard, Kurt, Stephanie, Natasha, James, Katrina, Robin, Aimee, Tapps, Frances, Hayley, Adam, Geoff & Caroline for contributing to such a fab few days out at sea. The Galápagos Islands are awesome!
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