The Galapagos

The Galápagos Islands…

A slightly complicated journey takes you to the Galapagos. From Quito, 2 flights to Baltra, a bus to the boat and a boat to St. Cruz and a car to the centre. I like the idea of these islands not being too easily accessible, it gives them a hidden and secretive element, even though they are well infested with tourists. Did I write infested? I will elaborate on this shortly…..
Once at our hotel we found a second type of infestation…..genetically enhanced ants crawling the walls. Maybe to be expected but I draw the line when I have to share my bed with them. We were offered a choice of two other rooms, but on inspection discovered that the same army had besieged both rooms and so we remained where we were and scratched and itched and batted the hell out of anything moving 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜

We then went to the Charles Darwin research centre, where the story of Lonesome George immediately caught my attention. He was such an old old turtle and the last of his species, a giant Pinta Island turtle. He was brought to the research centre and although he was probably at least 150 years old, attempts at reproduction were made. However these remained unsuccessful and poor old Lonesome George died without passing on his genes. It’s such a sad story…I bought the book of course, to go with the rest of my library I have purchased on my travels.
Referring back to the Galapagos being “infested” with tourists, it was after discovering Lonesome George that I thought how nice it would be sometimes to be a lonesome turtle, especially in places of mass tourism i.e. airports, planes, buses, hostels, hotels….in fact just any place where huge masses of people accumulate. I have always disliked crowds and mass tourism and when confronted with these situations in the future, I shall pretend to be lonesome George and retreat into my shell to be alone 🐢 (however this will exclude any royal gatherings, weddings, funerals, or coronations due to my patriotic tendencies).

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On the second day we sailed to Mosquera where seals slept peacefully and iguanas and crabs just wandered around.

From this point we had had our first snorkeling trip and ventured into the ever so slightly cool cool ocean. When our guide Dave indicated the hand on head signal which means shark, I did wonder why I was doing this, but was equally amazed at the huge creature lying below me and also relieved it did not want me for lunch. 🐋

After this we returned to the boat resembling a somewhat frozen whale like figure and continued our cruise to the Island of North Seymour.
Here we saw a collective gathering of many different species of birds.
The great and magnificent Frigates (that is the name of the species although they were great and magnificent as well) with the males huge billowing red necks to attract the females and the
blue feet boobies, once again the males dancing and swaying and showing the size of their feet to attract the females. It is said the bigger their feet, the more attractive they are as their feet protect the eggs in the nest. All in all a theatre on an island, a wonderful show provided by the mating birds and their attempts to attract a partner. Scenes of singing and dancing using their own props and providing a hugely entertaining afternoon.

On our third day we cruised to the Santiago Islands.

The first island, purely a lava Island with evidence of four eruptions. If I am honest I am not geologically inclined and did not take too many photos of the different formations the lava had left.

We then proceeded to the pinnacles and walked up to the viewpoint.

Our second snorkeling experience….

….was even more adventurous than yesterday. Our guide Dave who has now been awarded the prefix of danger Dave was keen to push us under water until we had seen our second shark languishing in a cave. Once again although I am scared of sharks I was by now feeling nonchalant about the whole thing. On his insistence I was once again forced down to the bottom only to become 👀 to 👀 with a rather large stingray. Danger Dave made it his business to make sure we saw all the delights of the ocean even when I thought drinking a cocktail on a boat would’ve been slightly less precarious 😄 For the second time I asked if the sharks really do not bite, to which he replied, I should be more wary of him, as he bites harder 😱 hence the name danger Dave, the wonderful guide with short legs and long trousers.
We were rewarded on our journey home with a slight bout of motion sickness as the sea became choppier. There was more or less silence amongst the passengers mostly because they had towels in their laps and were praying that it remain clean. I had no towel, but prayed anyway.
Later we posed for pictures on the boat, still swaying slightly ….

On our fourth day we went to the wonderful Tortuga Bay. Here we could swim in the crystal clear waters and burn in the blazing sun. It’s a long walk to finally get to the bay, once again has that element of secrecy about it, although everyone knows where it is. The 45 minute walk up the pathway and the following 1km walk along the beach to get to the bay may just deter some people.

Our Sunday afternoon was spent in the highlands walking around masses of turtles, some languidly bathing in mud and some just randomly roaming. These creatures are just so relaxed and slow – maybe we should all start to chill a little like a turtle 🐢

The following text I already posted on Facebook. For those who do not have an account, it is a short summary of my experience of the wonderful Galapgos Islands……

The Galapagos where turtles roam, eating fallen, ripened guavas, seals sleep in the sun or stand in line at the harbour for a piece of fish, birds sing and dance and recreate, sharks are vegetarian and sting rays do not sting. Sea and sky shades of blue, white sands shimmer in the sunlight. Waters crystal clear, penguins glide and multicoloured fish swim.
It’s hard to imagine a more peaceful and harmonious setting, unlike many other parts of our world today 😌