Friday, May 15, 2009
Departing the Islands
Galapagos/Guayaquil Day-5
It’s time to call an end to our Galapagos adventure. After breakfast, Vanessa had a slide show for us made up of the pictures taken by all the guides. They’ll be posting the highlights on their website in about two weeks. Then Pilar (the hotel manager) gave us a tour of the different types of accommodations available on the ship.
We rode the pangas one last time into the town on San Cristobal Island, where we boarded buses that took us to the Interpretation Center. The center had exhibits explaining the natural and human history of the Galapagos Islands.
Afterwards, we had some free time to do some last minute shopping in the town before the last bus ride to the airport for our flight back to Guayaquil.
It’s time to call an end to our Galapagos adventure. After breakfast, Vanessa had a slide show for us made up of the pictures taken by all the guides. They’ll be posting the highlights on their website in about two weeks. Then Pilar (the hotel manager) gave us a tour of the different types of accommodations available on the ship.
We rode the pangas one last time into the town on San Cristobal Island, where we boarded buses that took us to the Interpretation Center. The center had exhibits explaining the natural and human history of the Galapagos Islands.
Afterwards, we had some free time to do some last minute shopping in the town before the last bus ride to the airport for our flight back to Guayaquil.
Galapagos Islands -- Day 4
Galapagos -Day 4
This morning we’re back on Santa Cruz Island and we’ll spend the entire day on the island. We rode our pangas into the main dock where we watched the barges coming in to get their loads of bananas and other cargo. It’s a busy little harbor, full of all the boats, large and small, which travel these islands.
We first boarded buses which took us to Los Gamalos, a private property where we were able to observe the giant tortoises in their natural habitat. Then we went to the Scalesia Forest, where we saw huge craters which had been air pockets from eruptions, until the roof caved in to leave a big hole in the ground. There were two of these big craters. Next, we hiked about 200 meters into a lava tube which was miles long.
After these morning activities, we took our pangas over to the Finch Bay Hotel for our buffet lunch/barbeque. They had a large pool that we could use if we wanted, but the local ducks commandeered it. It was fun watching them use it as a huge bird bath.
After lunch, we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center, where we saw the giant tortoises from eggs, to small hatchlings, to five years old, when they release them into the wild, and some huge ones that they keep for research and breeding purposes. We even saw Lonesome George, the last know survivor of his unique species who is living out his life at the Center.
We were then let loose to make our way back to the dock at our leisure so we could support the local economy by checking out all the shops in the town. There were pangas waiting at the dock to take us back to the ship up until 6:00 pm.
Back on board, we had another orientation about how tomorrow would go for those of us leaving, and those who will be staying for the rest of the week. We had a special farewell dinner of Ecuadorian specialties, and farewell cocktail, and a band of local musicians to entertain us.
Galapagos Islands -- Day 3
Galapagos -- Day 3
Today we awoke to find ourselves at Rabida Island, a small island with red sandy beaches. After breakfast, we transported to the island, where we began our walking tour. Lots of reptiles and birds, and beautiful vistas from every part of the island. We really enjoyed watching the pelicans and boobies diving for fish. You might say we had a “bird’s eye” view (yuk, yuk --sqwaaaak, sqwaaaak).
After our walk, some of us chose to do a deep water snorkel. We were taken around the island to the dive site. On the way, we saw some turtles, but they were too shy to let us get too close. Our guide, Lola, led our group along the coast, where the island dropped into the sea very rapidly. We were able to see a couple of Iguanas under the water eating plants, swimming to the surface, and climbing onto the rocks. It was a pretty amazing sight.
We also had a sea lion come and join us for a while. We saw two huge manta rays, one of them swam right up under me. He must have had a wing span of at least eight to ten feet. He was magnificent! He moved so slowly and gracefully, that I was able to swim along on top of him for a while until he disappeared into the deep water. There were also huge schools of sardines, yellow tailed surgeons, and angelfish. There is such an abundance of life in these waters, it’s like nowhere else we’ve seen. We only had 45 minutes, and the time ended all to soon. Back to the ship for lunch.
It’s amazing how tired you can get hiking and swimming in the sun all morning. After lunch, we all took naps and slept the sleep of the dead. It was only an hour and half nap, but it felt like much more. We were ready at 3:00 for our next adventure, North Seymour Island, where the Boobies and Frigates make their nests.
The terrain here was very rough, with boulders all over the trails. But there were Boobies and Frigates on every branch and all along the trail. The male Boobies danced and strutted for us as well as for the females. We saw females sitting on eggs and feeding small babies. The females lay a ring of guano in a circle, then sit in the center of it. They don’t gather anything to make a nest. The males gather in one area and all whistle and strut and dance to try to attract the females. It’s pretty comical to watch them tapping their big blue feet.
We also saw lots of sea lions lounging among the rocks along the trail. In fact, we had to be careful not to step on them, they look just like rocks. Along the coast, we watched them surf. They looked like they were enjoying themselves and were pretty good at catching waves and riding the curls. We finally ended up back at the boat landing just as the sun was beginning to set.
Back on the ship, we were invited to the upper deck for a sunset cocktail. At 7:00 pm we had our nightly briefing about tomorrows activities, then off to dinner at 8:00. After dinner, it was such a clear night, we were invited to the upper deck for a bit of star gazing. You can see every constellation in the sky from the equator. The only thing you can’t see is Polaris, the North Star. Our guide, Vanessa, had a laser pointer and showed us all the constellations. It was pretty amazing and beautiful. A wonderful way to end the day.
Today we awoke to find ourselves at Rabida Island, a small island with red sandy beaches. After breakfast, we transported to the island, where we began our walking tour. Lots of reptiles and birds, and beautiful vistas from every part of the island. We really enjoyed watching the pelicans and boobies diving for fish. You might say we had a “bird’s eye” view (yuk, yuk --sqwaaaak, sqwaaaak).
After our walk, some of us chose to do a deep water snorkel. We were taken around the island to the dive site. On the way, we saw some turtles, but they were too shy to let us get too close. Our guide, Lola, led our group along the coast, where the island dropped into the sea very rapidly. We were able to see a couple of Iguanas under the water eating plants, swimming to the surface, and climbing onto the rocks. It was a pretty amazing sight.
We also had a sea lion come and join us for a while. We saw two huge manta rays, one of them swam right up under me. He must have had a wing span of at least eight to ten feet. He was magnificent! He moved so slowly and gracefully, that I was able to swim along on top of him for a while until he disappeared into the deep water. There were also huge schools of sardines, yellow tailed surgeons, and angelfish. There is such an abundance of life in these waters, it’s like nowhere else we’ve seen. We only had 45 minutes, and the time ended all to soon. Back to the ship for lunch.
It’s amazing how tired you can get hiking and swimming in the sun all morning. After lunch, we all took naps and slept the sleep of the dead. It was only an hour and half nap, but it felt like much more. We were ready at 3:00 for our next adventure, North Seymour Island, where the Boobies and Frigates make their nests.
The terrain here was very rough, with boulders all over the trails. But there were Boobies and Frigates on every branch and all along the trail. The male Boobies danced and strutted for us as well as for the females. We saw females sitting on eggs and feeding small babies. The females lay a ring of guano in a circle, then sit in the center of it. They don’t gather anything to make a nest. The males gather in one area and all whistle and strut and dance to try to attract the females. It’s pretty comical to watch them tapping their big blue feet.
We also saw lots of sea lions lounging among the rocks along the trail. In fact, we had to be careful not to step on them, they look just like rocks. Along the coast, we watched them surf. They looked like they were enjoying themselves and were pretty good at catching waves and riding the curls. We finally ended up back at the boat landing just as the sun was beginning to set.
Back on the ship, we were invited to the upper deck for a sunset cocktail. At 7:00 pm we had our nightly briefing about tomorrows activities, then off to dinner at 8:00. After dinner, it was such a clear night, we were invited to the upper deck for a bit of star gazing. You can see every constellation in the sky from the equator. The only thing you can’t see is Polaris, the North Star. Our guide, Vanessa, had a laser pointer and showed us all the constellations. It was pretty amazing and beautiful. A wonderful way to end the day.
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