7 Day Galapagos Cruise

We finally made it back to Quito.  As you can see from the photo albums, there are 4 Galapagos Albums.  Lots of iguanas, lizards, tortoises, birds, fish and more!  Below is 7 days at sea in the magnificent Galapagos - grab a cup a coffee and en joy!

Thursday, February 24

Off to see the Lizard

Well it was more of a tortoise than a lizard.  But here is how it went:  dinner was fabulous last night.  I had the best fish I have had since being in this country.  Geoff and others got the steak, since it was an Argentinian restaurant.  Fish turned out to be the better choice.  There were 14 for dinner and we managed to polish off a few bottles of wine.  Everyone left happy and excited to be on to the next adventure.

Got our laundry back when we returned to the hotel.  Oh goodie, time to repack yet again.  I thought I brought a lot but some of these folks have really packed heavy.  We managed to get all of our Galapagos stuff into my new Eddie Bauer duffle plus the two carry-on backpacks.  Left the other stuff behind.  We will be back at the hotel once more for our last night.  I think the altitude got to us, because we didn't sleep so well.  G had a headache and I was just restless.  We have changed climates and altitudes so many times, it is hard to know where you are when.

Ate breakfast, put the luggage out, and yup, got on the bus. Arrived at the airport in plenty of time to sit and wait for another plane delay.  So here we sit again, only this time there is no funky cafe to hang out in.  We are in the midst of a tiny airport trying to figure out when the plane will actually come.  They handed out free snacks.  Yesterday on our 1/2 hour flight out of the jungle, we were served a sandwich and drink!!  What is it with these greedy American airlines??

Well, we have been here for over 3 hours now and the natives are getting restless.  They say we will board in 10 minutes but who knows.  Stay tuned...

Finally got on board at around 1pm.  Not happy being dumped at the airport when we could have waited at the hotel all this time.  It was a half hour flight to Guayaquil where we waited on the plane for another half hour before taking off for the Galapagos.  Our new tour leader, Gustavo, met us on the plane.  Touched ground at around 2:30 and hit the ground running.  Took a bus to the ferry to another bus which took us to the Giant Tortoises. They were really something to see.  Then we went to the lava cave, which being claustrophobic, didn't do much for me.  Back in the bus to the port where the dingies took us to the Monserrat.

Well we were relagated to a downstairs cabin with no light so after a minor freak out I settled down and sucked it up.  We are not in the cabin much anyway.  The boat is not much but is pleasant enough.  Gustavo is full of gusto.  We are getting excited about what is to come.

Friday, February 25

Espanola Island

Finally got to sleep last night.  Woke up to the anchor being pulled up.  Couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to go topside and take in the sunrise.  Beautiful.  After breakfast, Gustavo had us do the obligatory boat safety drill.  Then we loaded into 2 zodiacs for a dry landing at Punta Suarez on Espanol Island - one of the oldest islands in the Galapagos.  First thing we saw were tons of sea lions and beautiful iguanas.  The iguanas were in full color because of mating season.  We did a three mile hike around the island encountering finches, blue footed boobies, nazca boobies, night heron, crabs, and various other flora and fauna.  Took a rest at the blow hole and we all sat in awe of the vista.  Most of the wildlife appears to be very docile and not disturbed by humans.  It was back to the boat and time for lunch.  We ate lunch - cerviche - while sailing over to the other part of the island.

Back in the zodiac to go snorkeling.  There is hardly any coral here, so the snorkeling is not what we are used to.  We did manaage to see a couple of schools of fish, a bump head parrot, and some great starfish.  Back on board the yacht, it was time to get ready to go to the beach and hang out with the sea lions.  This beach is absolutely pristine.  The sea lions are wonderful to just sit and watch.  We took a long walk down to the end of the beach and back and then went in for a swim. Occasstionally, a sea lion or two would swim right up to you and go by.  They are very playful creatures.  There were about 5 of us who stayed as long as we could.  Eventually, we had to tear ourselves away and get back to the boat.

Geoff and I held a quiet Jerry B. ceremony.  We will try to do it at every island stop.  The sun was setting, which is always a perfect time for such occassions.  Gustavo gave his briefing and handed out bandanas with the map of the Galapagos on them for souvenirs.  We had our welcome cocktail and headed to dinner. Everyone is pretty tired and turned in immediately after dinner.  We are about to do the same.  Hope I can sleep better tonight.

Saturday, February 26

A Day in Town

First activity was the San Cristobal Interpretation Center, where they have laid out the history of the Galapagos Islands. Then it was a short hike to the waterfront walk with shops and a great path along the harbor.  Sea lions were everywhere.  They have just taken over the town.  In the playground, on the benches, on the paths - they were everywhere.  We did the whole walk and then turned around and strolled through some of the shops. Got back in the dingy and it was time for lunch when we arrived back at the boat.

After lunch, we circumnavigated this huge rock called Sleeping Lion to see the Great Frigates with a blooming red pouches to attract the females. Next, Gustavo took us to a fabulous snorkeling spot.  That was the good news, the bad news was the camera decided to die.  We swam with the sea lions, marine iguanas, and great schools of fish. Not sure if we can revive the camera or not. Glen said he has a spare camera so maybe we can use that in the interim.  When we had our fill of the water, it was back to the boat and time to get ready for another short walk.  We hosed off on the boat, put some clothes on, and off we went to Islet of Lobos where we saw flying fish and various birds.  The pangos came and we rode up the coast of San Cristobal and saw some more of the great frigates.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures.  Tonight's dinner was fish and chips - tasted great.

Tomorrow is more snorkeling and more walking.  I really hope we get our camera back and running.  Before we went to bed, we did remember to have our Jerry B. moment in the San Cristobal harbor.  This is the first time we have done this at night, and the picture is glowing.

Sunday, February 27

Islet Mosquera

First order of business was to go back to Baltra Island (this is where the airport is) and refuel the boat.  Fortunately, we arrived early enough, so we were the first to get our fuel and go.  We had a wet landing and an easy short walk on Islet Mosquera.  Our camera is toast.  Geoff thinks that the sensor for the door is blown so now it thinks that the the door is always open and won't work.  Did a survey of who had what tools - it was interesting to see what folks travel with.  However, nothing was small enough to take the darn thing apart.  I did try throwing it across the cabin a few times, but that did nothing but maybe make me feel somewhat better.  Glen was kind enough to lend us his extra Nikon, and although we can't go underwater with it, we can use our SD card and at least continue to take land shots.  There are plenty of extra cameras on board, but no one else has an underwater camera.  Anyway, we did our little walk and saw what has become the usual sites, sea lions, lizards, and birds.  One unusual site, was a raft floating out not too far from the National Geographic boat (there are several boats out here, so don't think we are alone).  I thought it might be a some sort of diving platform, but when we passed by, we realized that it was the massage raft - with a glass bottom, so you can look at the fish as you get massaged.  I am definitely on the wrong vessel.  Getting back to our islet tour - there were several very young sea lions and a very big "beach master" protecting them all.   There is no swimming here, mainly because of him and the sharks.  At the end of the beach we came across a whale skeleton that had been there for about a year.  We stayed for a while and just watched the sea lions. You just can't get enough of them.  Eventually, it was time to get back to the boat to get ready to go snorkeling. While getting in the dingy, Cora got hit by a wave and she went down.  Another camera that is now out of commission.

The snorkeling was very good.  Bright sunshine and saw lots of fish that we hadn't seen before, along with our friends the sea lions. Betsy encountered a black tip shark that shook her up some. You will just have to take my word for it, since we don't have pictures, it was beautiful.  No coral, though.  We snorkeled close to the rocks with a strong current.  We get to snorkel again after lunch - this time from the beach.

It was nap time after chowing down on pasta and other goodies. At 3pm, the bell rang for the next activity.  Sometimes I feel like we are at camp!  We zodiaced over to Bachos Beach to walk around some and do some more snorkeling.  There were plenty of other boats in the area and plenty of other tourists on this little beach.  We walked along and were careful not to disturb the sea turtle nesting areas.  More birds, lizards, and even a grasshopper spotting.  At the lagoon, there were two lonely flamingos.  Gastavo was very happy to see them.  We hiked back to the crowded beach where some of us stayed to go snorkeling.  Not such a good idea.  The water was very murky and we couldn't see much of anything.  Coming out of the water, I was attacked by green heads - UGH!!  The zodiacs came, and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.  Probably a trip I could have done without.

Not sure what is in store for tomorrow.  Gustavo is going to be giving a lecture in about a half hour. Actually, the lecture turned out to be quite interesting.  The longer we are among these islands the more we learn about the history and the geology of the whole island chain.  After dinner, we did some star gazing.  The milky way was brilliant and the southern cross was pretty specacular too.  Got to bed pretty early.

Monday, February 28

The Postcard Shot

Motored over to Bartolome last night and woke up to a picture postcard setting.  After breakfast, we headed out to climb the some 400 stairs to the top of Bartolome Island for some beautiful vistas.  I am pretty sure that this is where the picture on the blog comes from.  The big attraction is "Pinacle Rock" which got actually got created during WWII US target practice.  Yes, they bombed it in two to form the icon we see today.  Those pesky Americans are everywhwere.  We made it to the top with clicking cameras all the way. Saw more lizards, cacti, and the Galapagos Penguins. It was hurry up and change into bathing suits, when we got back to the boat.  The zodiac dropped off the "Navy Seals" around the bend from the Pinacle Rock and we snorkeled through some heavy lava formations back to Golden Beach.  The snorkeling started out great.  Sharks, penguins, large parrot fish, and many more.  Things got a bit hairy when the day boat landed and all these folks started snorkeling in the opposite direction of us,  I literally got my mask ripped off me by someone's hand who just wasn't looking.  We made it to shore and back in the zodiac.  I don't think I have mentioned  yet, that everytime we get back from an excursion there is one of the crew members with a plate of munchies with dipping sauce and fruit juice.  So much for the diet!!@##

We have eaten lunch and everyone is either reading or napping.  The bell rang at 3:30 and it was time to head out to Santiago Island for our lava field walk.  We did a dry landing at Sullivan's Bay.  Walked around on the lava and Gusatavo showed us a few different types of lava formations.  This flow was created a little over 100 years ago.  We got off the island just in time -- those National Geographic folks were right on our heels.

We took the zodiacs for a penguin hunt.  Success.  Not only did we spot them, but we caught a couple in the act of mating! Must have stayed there taking pictures and gawking at these poor birds for a long time.
It was back to the boat for more food treats and shower up for a briefing and dinner.  We also had our Jerry B moment at this beautiful place before we set out for another location. Jerry would have been 66 today.

Tuesday, March 1

The Caldera at Genovesa

Nobody knocked at our door this morning for wake-up call.  We dragged ourselves out and just made it to breakfast.  After crossing the equator last night, we anchored in the Caldera at Genovesa.  Hopped in the zodiacs for a "pango" tour of the rocks to try to find the tropic bird and the Galapagos Fur Sea lion.  We found both.  This sealion is a bit different from the ones we have seen strewn on all the beaches.  Those are California sealions.  The fur sea lion has a shorter snout and lives on the rocks.

After the tour,we climbed to the top to be greeted with the Red Footed Booby and the Great Frigate birds.  The male frigate puffs out his red balloon to attract the female.  This being mating season, we were in luck to find them all puffed out.  Also ran across a couple of "2 story" Nazca Boobies (that is what they say when the birds are mating). Came across many Nazca nests.  They take they guano and make a ring around the nest so it is camoflouged from above.  At the edge of the caldera were thousands of storm petrels flying.  We waited patiently to see their predator, the short eared owl. They hide in the crevases below and come out snatch the petrils.  Managed to see 2 owls, but too far for photos.

It was back in the zodiac and back to the ship. The captain put the ladder down, since it was nice and calm inside the caldera and some of us jumped right in to cool off.  This afternoon is another beach visit (Darwin's Beach - even though Darwin never stepped foot on this island) and some snorkeling off the beach.  Geoff and I decided to stay on board and relax and just swim from the ship.  After swimming, we sat up on the sun deck under the shade and read.  At one point, we heard this big ruckas in the water.  A blue footed booby dove into the water (they actually dive bomb in) and caught a fish.  He was swimming around with the fist in his mouth when the frigates came and tried to get the fish from him.  The booby dropped the fish and went in after it again -- this was when we saw the "FIN".  Yes, the circling fin went around twice.  Definitely a shark - guess I won't be jumping back into the water.  It is one thing to see them snorkeling, it is another to see the "fin".  The booby never did get his fish back.  While this was going on, there was a sea turtle that kept popping his head up to take a look every now and then.  So, we were pretty content to stay on board and let the action come to us.

After dinner tonight, we went up to the top deck with Carol and Larry to watch the stars.  The ship is underway and going at a good clip.  It is pretty weird going full steam ahead into the pitch black.  Tomorrow is our last full day on the ship.  We are going to Santa Fe Island for yes, another walk and another snorkel.  Then we are going to cruise to South Plazas and then over to Santa Cruz. There was talk of going on shore after dinner. Till then..

Wednesday, March 2

Iguanas & Beach Masters

6am wake-up call and we were fed and in the zodiacs by 7:15.  Off for our wet landing on Santa Fe Island to see the Santa Fe Land Iguanas.  We were greeted by the "beach master" with some powerful roaring.  The sealion babies just ran around us.  On the trail we spotted several pre-historic looking iguanas with some great facial expressions.  At one point, I was aiming to get a shot at one and almost stepped on a snake.  Seeing snakes in the Galapagos is extremely rare.  Gustavo said he would buy a beer for anyone who spotted one.  Not only did I see the snake, but he was chowing down on breakfast.  Having himself a lava lizard meal for one.  I made Gusatavo very happy. This was the first time he has seen anything like this in all of his 15 years as a naturalist.  I also won my afternoon beer!!  Of course, we all forgot about the iguana and watched the snake totatlly devour the lizard.  Continuing on our path, we saw the giant cacti and of course more lizards, birds, and iguanas.  We hiked across the island to another beach to get picked up and ran into another "beach master" who bid us farewell.

It was back to the boat and into our swimsuits for our last snorkel of the trip.  There were a few kinds of different fish and I so wish I had the camera.  Olympus is going to hear from us, oh boy!!  There were several sealions to play with.  Marilyn and I were swimming with a couple of them when we decided we were a bit too close to the rocks and swam out. One of the highlights of the snorkel was when one of them started playing with Geoff's fins.  He was swimming backwards and the sealion swam after him nipping at one fin and then the other - it was cute, but he was pretty big and I did get a bit nervous.  Eventually, the sea lion got bored and swam off grazing my side - pretty powerful creature.  When we had our fill, most of us swam straight to our boat. Got some sun up on deck as the boat pulled up anchor and we were off to South Plazas Island.  After lunch we are going for our afternoon walk.

Once again we were greeted by the beach master as we approached South Plazas Island for our walk.  We immediately saw the Galapagos Land Iguana resting under the cactus tree.  This our third and last iguana species.  By the way, Gastavo has given us a checklist of species and every night at briefing we check off what we have seen that day.  The landscape on this island is a bit different from what we have seen before.  The vegetation turns from green to a beautiful rust red color.  That plus the cacti make for some wonderful landscapes.  We hiked out to the edges of the cliffs and watched the sea for a while.  Betsy spotted a good size shark and we all saw at least 6 eagle rays were either feeding, playing, or mating.  The concensus says that they were mating.  I was also able to get a nice shot of the cactus finch.

As we got closer to the landing, we noticed that the "beach master" had plopped himself right in our way to disembark.  Rusty and Gustavo tried clapping and doing all sort of things to get move him.  He moved alright - began chasing the two of them and set right back down again.  The guys in the zodiacs didn't know what to do.  Eventually, the big guy had to defend his turf from one of the younger bulls and slipped into the water.  We were finally free to get off the island.  We all had a good laugh and told Rusty we were all rooting for the sealion.  Of course, you have to know Rusty to appreciate that joke!

Pulled up anchor and headed back to Santa Cruz where it all began 7 days ago.  On route, Gustavo gave us the boat tour.  There is a farewell cocktail tonight (where we hand in our tips) with a turkey dinner to follow.  A trip into Santa Cruz after dinner.  Tomorrow we make a stop at the Darwin Research Center before heading to the airport.

Thursday, March 3

Heading back to Quito

Went into Santa Cruz last night after dinner.  Walked the shops and took in the nightlife up until about 9:30 - early wakeup this morning - 5:30am.  Quick breakfast and back in the zodiacs for our last ride over to the Darwin Research Center.  This is where they have kept a lot of the giant tortoises to try to preserve the species.  Took a lot of photos of the 5 or 6 guys in the habitat.  Then it was over to try to find the famous Lonesome George.  He is an endangered Pinta Saddleback tortoise. We were in luck cause George was up and about with his new woman.  They have tried several different species of tortoises for him to mate with but so far not much luck.  They are hoping that these new females will that are close enough to his breed will do the trick.  He is only about 80 years old so he's got at least another 80 to go.

We scurried out of the center to catch the bus, to catch the ferry, to catch the bus, to get to the airport to WAIT!!!!  As has been par for the course on this trip, the plane is at least 2 hours late. They do have wifi but it is sketchy.  However, we did catch up on all the email.

As for the Adventures of S.....She kept a pretty low profile during our cruise.  Skip, her husband, left their camera back in Quito (we only took essentials to the boat - I guess he screwed up his luggage).  Anyway,  I have taken pix of them throughout so they at least can prove to their friends that they have been here!  For the most part, everyone survived pretty well in tact.  There was a cold here and there and a few stomach problems but fortunately nothing serious.  Marilyn left her socks on South Plazas and we think there a few pair of someone's traveling underpants floating in the Galapagos.  There have been whispers that they may be going "commando".

Hopefully, we will get back to Quito in time to clean up and go for our farewell dinner held at a small museum. later...  Dinner was very good at a wonderful small museum.  I took some shots that have been added to the Quito Photo Album.  I only wish I had more energy to enjoy the whole thing.  It has been a very, very long day and tomorrow looks like it will be the same.  Wakeup at 6am and start the long journey home.  Till then...

Next time.... Final Notes