Galápagos cruise

So, my final update from the Galápagos Islands (actually from Quito, seeing as I am now back on the mainland). The start of my last ten days of my South American trip was spent on a great 7-night, 8-day cruise around the islands. Our boat was the Darwin, our guide Fabian, with 16 passengers, and a lot of German being spoken (6 passengers from Germany, and one Swiss-German speaker). With 4 Danes, 2 French Canadians, and 2 Aussies also on board, this meant I was the only Brit.

Our cruise started at Baltra airport as everyone was met and greeted by Fabian as they got off their flight from Quito. Then a short bus trip, and dinghy ride to the boat. Darwin is quite small compared with some other boats, maybe not as comfortable as some, but with an excellent crew. The small size of the boat, also meant that our excursions to shore and in the water were a bit more exclusive than those of some of the bigger boats.

First thing that happens is that we are served lunch, followed by a short briefing and the chance to start to get to know the other passengers. First island stop off point was a beautiful golden beach - Bachas beach - on the northern coast of Santa Cruz. As well as the chance for a first swim, we also got to see sallylightfoot crabs, a great blue crane, and some flamingoes. Getting into the routine of the rest of the week, our daily briefing on tomorrow's activities was followed by dinner, and more socializing.

Day 2 and we wake up off the coast of South Plaza island (after cruising overnight). Weather is not great for our first guided walk. Starts off misty and turns into a lovely(!) drizzle by the end of the walk. See lots of sea-lions, iguanas (land and marine), and all sorts of bird life: pelicans, blue-footed boobies, tropic birds, shearwaters, gulls. Even manage to see a nice non-violent confrontation between two land iguanas over an opuntia cactus fruit.

Then we head to Santa Fe and Barrington Bay for our first chance to snorkel. Water is beautifully clear, sheltered from the ocean, and has lots to see: turtles, sea-lions, stingrays, all sorts of amazing fish. This is followed by a walk through an Opuntia cactus forest on the island. More iguanas and several finches and a Galápagos flycatcher.

Day 3 is spent around Isla Espanola. We start off in Bahia Gardner and another golden beach. Lots of animal and birdlife, seeming without any fear of humans (as shown in the photo of mocking birds). Then two of us swim out from the beach to a small rock just offshore. As well as lots more fish, we also get to see a couple of stingrays almost buried in the sandy bottom of the bay. A bit more snorkelling around a larger islet follows. Not too many fish to see here, but we are treated to some acrobatics by the loca lsea-lion population. Get my fingers tickled by their whiskers a couple of times as they take a treal interest in my camera. Also get to see one of them playing with a dead (?) four and a half limbed seastar.

After lunch, we move to another bay and onto to the dinghy for a walk on the island. This promises to be one of the highlights of the trip as we should get the chance to see albatrosses which nest on island. But before that, we get to see loads more marine iguanas, lava lizards, masses of blue-footed and Nazca boobies, and tropic birds amongst others. The coast also has a blowhole - an old sea cave where the roof has collaopsed and the waves are now funnelled vertically when they reach the shore. But the albatrosses are definetly the highlight. This is the only time we'll see them on the trip, and they put on a really good display with lots of bill-

tapping.

Even the boobies join in and we get to see a little bit of their mating dance. And to round off the day, we even see a pair of Galápagos hawks close to the path on the
way back to the dinghy.

Unfortunately, this was long after the

battery on my camera had decided it had worked hard enough for one day.

Back on the boat for dinner, and then another night of travelling as we move on to our next destination.

This is Isla Floreana for day 4 of the trip. This is one of the islands I visited on my previous mini-cruise. It turns out that this doesn't matter too much as except for one snorkelling location, all the places are different to where I went before. First thing we do is take the dinghy ashore but with a detour to see of we can spot any Galápagos penguins in the water. Our luck is in, or not as the case may be. We do find a penguin, but only one. Wonder whether it is the same one I saw on my previous trip to Floreana - maybe there is only living here! Walk along a beach with a hint of green (lots of olivine crystals in the sand) and then around a lagoon with flamingoes, oystercatchers, adn other wading birds. Across the headland is another beach where turtles nest and stingrays breed. Stand in the water for a long time, and wait for the rays to swim close enough for a photo.

After lunch, we land at Post Office Bay. This is the oldest Post Office in the archipelago. This operates by the process of visitors (whalers, navies, etc. in the past; tourists today) checking the barrel on the island. If there is any mail for the country you live in, then you take it with you and deliver it when you get home. We find an enormous pile of postcards inside and start dividing them up between us according to country. There are a few for Germany, a couple for Switzerland, several for Australia, and somewhere over 50 for the UK! Decide I'll take the ones that are for London because they will be fairly easy to deliver. Add a few others to post. Then we put our cards in the barrel and rely on the goodwill of future visitors to carry on the tradition (hopefully the cards didn't stay there too long as the Beluga boat turned up shortly after us).

Then we head further inland to an old lava tunnel and explore it. This is followed by a friendly game of football on a pitch by the beach (interesting that even islands that are not inhabited nowadays have a football pitch - we found thje same later on Isla Santiago). Luckily enough to be on the winning team and even manage to score the final goal after a Lehmann-esque error by Eric in goal.

Back on the Darwin, we have an afternoon cruise to the island of Santa Cruz where we will spend Sunday night and Monday. Weather is glorious, so most of us take the opportunity for a bit of sunbathing.


OK, it looks this final installment of my South-American blog will have to be split into two parts. I have run out of time and need to head to the airport shortly for almost a day of travelling to get home. Days 5 to 7 and the last few days of my trip will follow in another entry shortly.