Ecuador and the Galapagos, Part 3: Finally, the Galapagos

Yes, there is an airport, albeit small, on the (one of two) inhabited island, and it is tightly controlled, for number of people and goods permitted.  But, as with everything else, all has been well prepared, and on landing, we are greeted by our new minder, Paola, who, of course, does not look old enough to vote, but is charming and organized, and shuttles us all off to our waiting boat, a small catamaran called the Archipell II.

We see the ship......

....this is my cabin (each cabin with a name, mine is Iguana)....

..... and go over the itinerary over lunch...

The Galapagos are located 600 miles west of Ecuador's mainland.  It is an archipelago, and, as Darwin discovered in 1832 (or thereabouts) full of marine and bird life.  More than half the plants and birds - and nearly all the reptiles - exist nowhere else on earth, and there are no predators, human or otherwise.

There are 11 islands in the archipelago, but access is tightly controlled, as I mentioned, with boats only allowed to access those islands assigned on the days allocated, to minimize our impact on the Islands' ecosystem.

Our assigned itinerary (for those of you who like knowing these things) is to be as follows:

Monday - North Seymore Island.

Tuesday - Santiago Island - Bartolome and Buchaneer's Cove

Wednesday - still on Santiago, now at Egas Port and Rabida 

Thursday - Santa Cruz, including the turtle breeding center and Manzanillo 

Friday - Floriana Island, stopping at Punto Cormorant and Post Office Bay

Saturday - Epanola Island, including Gardiner Bat and Punto Segues

Sunday - San Cristobal Island (which is the capital of the province

                including Punta Pitt and Cerra Bruja

Monday - Still on San Cristobal, seeing the Charles Darwin Interpretation Center,

                 and then, sadly, the airport for the trip home...

We had two shore adventures on most days, and often several other itinerary items, such as snorkling, or a dinghy ride to another cove - or island - to see what we could see.  There were sometimes docks, but most often we had wet landings.  The terrain was varied, with sandy beaches, of course, but often volcanic landscape and hilly terrain, sometimes too difficult for me, although I did try, and only missed three of the 24 plus outings overall.

I debated not bringing a camera - I wanted to see things with my eyes and not through the lens of a camera - but couldn't resist taking pictures of the wildlife.  Since it doesn't matter a whit what island I saw what animal on, what follows is the photographic, chronological record, more or less unedited...

.....there were seals everywhere ....

.......and iguanas too, marine and land, of an amazing variety of (evolutionary, of course) colours....

.....the male frigates puff out their red chests to attract the females...

.....and the infamous blue footed boobies (there are red-footed ones too, and nascas) do a little mating dance.....

....this is Paola, our fearless leader for this part of the trip.  She's not only incredibly knowledgeable, but so enthusiastic that's impossible not to join in the enthusiasm....

....I, on the other hand, am just happy to get to whatever elevation we were going to.....

.....on this particular day and on this particular island, there was a wooden walkway and a railing (a luxury not to be seen again, I might add), but with 392 stairs to the light house at the top, it was still a hell of a climb...

.......here we're off to our first snorkling adventure....

.....some of my fellow travelers shared some of their snorkling photos....

(I also have a PDF file of some of the many fish that we saw, but for some reason this site won't let me download it, or, indeed, the film that Paola made of our adventures.  If any of you are interested, send me an email, and I will see if I can send these to you directly.)





Well. I tried.  Let me know whether it worked...

.....back on board ship, the meals, while not exactly foody food, was always substantial, and nicely presented....

.......finally, the infamous turtles.....

...Charles Darwin Scientific Station....

........this was a fish market.   The herons, of course, know that.....

...and more turtles....

......everything here is such a patent example of evolution in action.  All the islands are volcanic, but all of different ages, and different stages of decay, and different vegetation.  Where the only thing for the turtles to eat is the fruit of a cactus, which is high, the turtles develop longer necks and legs to reach (those that don't don't survive).  Those on different islands develop differently....

........and the skeleton of a dead.....???

.....the iguanas are endlessly fascinating.  Such a prehistoric looking animal...

Back on the ship, lots of other activities....  more eating, of course....

....but also cooking lessons from our cook, whose name, interestingly enough, is Darwin.....

...a trip to the galley...

...... and instructions on towel folding from Christina....

.......I love these guys......

(....that's the picture in my room....)

....a visit to the bridge, of course (as always, thinking about David....)

.....other activities as well.  movies, including a nature channel about the Galapagos, and a movie called the Galapagos Affair; the Devil Came to Eden, about an attempted settlement by German's here in the 1930's (very strange), and talk about a book, Floreana, by Margaret Wittmer, one of the settlers, and, of course, a last night party....

........  a final visit to the Darwin Station....

.... and, maybe, one of Darwin's finches...  (again the finches on each island different, depending on food supply, changes in their beaks different within one generation - there's a book called Darwin's Finches that is fascinating)

.....and, the airport at San Cristobal...

....... a brief stay at the hotel by the Quito airport, with Marco back with us, for a debriefing and fond farewells....

So, debriefing it is.  I'm not sure what I was expecting.  It was a wonderful trip, though, with its own rhythm, ebbs and flows, and the people were friendly and inclusive.  All in all, five stars - well, maybe four.  (I would have liked to have spotted more animals - they weren't teeming, as I had expected, and as they were in Antarctica).....and would like to have been steadier on my feet, but a great trip nonetheless.

The flight home included a connection that was a bit too close for comfort, but I made it - with 5 minutes to spare - and was otherwise uneventful, if long.

And now, you are almost up do date.  I amgetting ready to leave Palm Springs for Vancouver, and will try to post again before I leave.....