The Galapagos - Overview

Well, how do you cram a whole week around the Galapagos into one blog post. You don't!

This will be an overview of what we did, then I'll do other posts about the birds and animals, then another on the sea-life.

The trip got off to a worrying start when the local rep told us that the boat was leaking and needed repairs. Our first day on the boat was to be replaced with a day-trip in the hope that it would be fixed by then. There's not much you can do about changes like this other than just go with the flow.

Flight out to the Galapagos (Santa Cruz).  The airport there is an old US military base. Bus drive down to the dock spotting iguanas on the way, ferry across to the main island with sea lions on and around the docks, pelicans, frigate birds, the occasional booby and others (get used to the word, I'll be saying it a lot!).  The trees on the north side of the island there all looked dead, but we were assured by our guide (Jacinto) that it's dry season there, and they have no leaves to conserve water.

Next was a bus ride over the island with a stop to see some volcanic holes and effectively cloud forest as the islands generate their own clouds.

Small epiphytic orchid

Lunch at a place where giant tortoises litter the countryside like rocks. Chomping away at grass in fields with cows in, blocking the road and generally not caring about people at all.

Mum looking at a lovely little yellow bird

Tortoise poo is not nice to stand in. It is rather sticky and smelly.
What you see here is true love in action.

At the 'Tortoise farm' (they don't actually farm tortoises, it's just a farm where they get tourists in to have lunch and look at the wild tortoises) they also had the shells of some tortoises that died.  To give you an idea of scale, see the idiot below.  Interestingly it's illegal to feed the tortoises on the Galapagos, or to impede their natural wanderings, so all the fences let tortoises through!

On to explore a large lava tunnel...

... and then to Puerto Ayora, a lovely little town with Sally Lightfoot crabs all along the shore, sea lions lounging on the pier,  iguanas here and there, turtles, baby sharks and rays swimming about under the pier and nice touristy shops. Dinner was the local 'lobster' (not what we'd call lobster, but pretty similar).

  

Next day was our day trip. We were a little concerned, but it ended up being great, on what I can only call a 'luxury motor yacht'. We went to the island behind the airport and saw more boobies, frigate birds, pelicans, land iguanas and sea lions.  Lunch aboard was excellent, though I'm going to stop saying the food was excellent.  It was all excellent.

After lunch it was off to a sandy beach for a swim/snorkel, and then we were heading home.

Even when we thought it was all over and we got off the boat, there was still more to see! Just looking off the pier displayed a wide variety of life!

Who, me? Being a nuisance?

Looking over the edge revealed a lot of life

Back to Puerto Ayora and a fixed and not leaking boat!

I had a cabin to myself on board. One of the possible perks of travelling alone (though the downside is you could possibly end up sharing with any weirdo - think how my room mates have felt sharing with me!). We had to do a safety drill where we put on our life jackets and then for some reason they had to take photos and send them off to the tour company to prove they had done it! A really nice people in the group. All quite like minded, most people didn't get too bored of 'booby' jokes, and a good range of ages.

Overnight we sailed to (possibly) Espaniola Island and were there for breakfast. I did get up in the middle of the night to see if there was anything interesting happening.  nothing was, but it was quite pretty.

After that, it did all become a bit of a blur of sandy beaches, rocky shores, blue skies, birds, sea lions and comments about boobies.



Events of note:

Being tired and grumpy and missing out on playing with a sea lion pup. About 4 or 5 days in I was tired and grumpy and in a bit of a mood.  We went for a snokle but the water was quite murky and cool, so I couldn't see much and wasn't enjoying it so I got out.  Then a sea lion pup turned up and everyone crowsed round to see.  From the boat, and tinted with my grumpyness, it looked like everyone was herding and trapping the pup, which got me even more grumpy and a little upset. Having later seen go-pro footage of the pup zooming about and coming back for more, I'm now pretty certain that the pup was in no way trapped or upset and it could have gone away any time it wanted to. Sea lions are so incredibly quick and agile in the water compared to us lumbering humans.

The following day I was in a better mood, the water was clearer and warmer, and I got to experience 'playing' with a sea lion myself. It was definitely interested in us, and definitely playing. It swam around me and as I turned to try and take pictures, it swam faster, so I turned faster, and that was a game. It would also swim towards me at great speed veering away or underneath at the last moment. And blowing bubbles is apparently a thing too, so I dove down and blew bubbles at it in return. It was a magical experience!

A dice game, taught to me by Christie - Liars Dice. I think it was possibly shown in one of the Pirates of the Caribean films or something.  I didn't think that a game with just dice would be fun, but it was. Everyone starts with 6 dice, you all roll secretly and then bid in turn on how many of any number is showing in total on the table. Bids always have to increase.  1's are wild and count for any number. If you think the person before you has bid too high, you call them on it (liar/bullshit), and then the dice are counted, remembering 1's are wild.  If you correctly call them out, they loose a dice.  If their bid is matched on the table, you loose a dice. Last one with dice wins.  There are more rules than just that, but it gives you an idea. When you only know what you have and how many dice there are on the table, listening to what other people are bidding gives you (possibly) a better idea of what is out there. Also calling other people liars is fun too!