Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Galapagos Liberty Boat
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2009-01-02

The flight was uneventful and after one stop and approximately 3 hours, they arrived in Balstra on Santa Cruz Island. They were met at the airport and were told that the group had to wait until the next flight, approximately 20 minutes, arrived in order to leave. The next flight came and went and no other people joined the tour. An American in our group was able to convince the person who met us to take us to the boat and not wait. After a 10 minute bus ride, a 5 minute ferry ride, an hour bus ride and a 5 minute dingy ride, they arrived on our boat, Estella De Mar II (or Liberty). The crew welcomed us on boat and in a matter of minutes lunch was served. The person who met us at the airport told us it was his first day to do this job, and they think that he messed up by making us wait an hour. Lunch consisted of fish, mashed potatoes (with an olive), coleslaw (without mayonnaise. It was very tastily and nice to eat a proper meal after trying to watch our budget when eating so far. They had what they think was grapefruit for dessert. It was bitter and yellow and neither of us liked it. They were shown to our cabin after lunch. It was a great size, they had our own bathroom and was air conditioned. They both agreed that this was the best boat that either of us had been on. Unfortunately, they were downstairs next to the engine, which would make sleeping a bit noisy as the boat generally traveled during the night. Ian had packed his earplugs by accident, but Lori had not. The boat had four levels. Downstairs had four self enclosed rooms; the second level up had a front and back balcony, an eating area, kitchen, bar and lounge area; the third level had four self enclosed rooms, where the captain drove the boat and a front balcony; and the fourth level had a shaded balcony. They joined another group on the boat who had already been their five days; it consisted of Laura and her daughter Mia from North Carolina, Deb and Bav from the UK, and Frank (originally from South Africa) and Helle (originally from Denmark) from the UK. Mitsuru and Naomi from Japan and Mario and Dorita their children Gabby, Jose Manuel, Hejimena from Equator joined the boat on the same day as us. The crew was made up of Esteban (the guide), a captain, a first mate, a cook, a cook’s assistant and four other men who did various things on the boat. Soon after they got settled, the group headed into the Highlands of Santa Cruz. They retraced much of the hour bus journey they had taken from Balstra They stopped at a place that used to be a farm, but now is working to repatriate indigenous trees onto their land and allow tortoises to roam. They spent an hour wandering among the tortoises ranging up to 350 kgs. Esteban, heard the tortoise mating noises, so they hiked into the woods to see the event! On our way back to the boat, they stopped at lava tubes and did a short walk through them, which required squeezing through a small opening at the end. When they arrived back on the boat, they got to relax and then had another lovely meal. They shared dinner with Mitsuru and Naomi. It was fun trying to commute with them, but their English was far better then our Japanese. They learned that they too were recently married and doing a two week trip to the Galapagos Islands and Macho Pichu. Dinner started with either pea or spinach soup (they were not sure from the taste); the main was beef stew, yellow rice with corn, and dessert was similar to a pineapple upside down cake except the cake was not soft and the fruit had grapes, cherries and pears as well. The group played a game call Black Magic with the help of all the passengers that had been on board and after 30 minutes, most of us had figured out how to play. Dorita put a “Body of Lies” on after dinner that they stayed up watching. They fell asleep soon after that. They hardly noticed the rocking of the boat and slept soundly until they started moving and the engine came on. The boat headed southeast around Santa Cruz Island to North Seymour.

They spent an hour and a half on North Seymour where they saw swallow tailed gulls, Frigate birds (red chested and white chested magnificent), marine (they are the dark ones in the photos) and land (some gold chested) iguanas, Darwin finches and blue-footed boobies (yes, there is a bird called this).

Galapagos Santa Cruz Highlands Giant Tortoise
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2008-01-03

According to Esteban, they had a lie in of 30 minutes in the morning, as the boat would be refueling meaning they were to be up at 7:30am. When they arrived for breakfast though, they found out the as it had been a holiday, the petrol station had not been paid, so they would have to refuel after the afternoon snorkeling. They had a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit, toast and in Lori’s case mozzarella cheese. They sat with Gabby and her sister this time and heard about their law and mechanical engineering studies in Ecuador and Mexico. Soon after breakfast, they all boarded the dingy and had a five minutes ride to North Seymour. Right away they were immersed in wildlife as sea lions and colourful crabs were on the rocks when they embarked onto the island. They spent an hour and a half on North Seymour where they saw swallow tailed gulls, Frigate birds (red chested and white chested magnificent), marine (they are the dark ones in the photos) and land (some gold chested) iguanas, Darwin finches and blue-footed boobies (yes, there is a bird called this). It was amazing to see how unafraid the animals were of us; especially when they were getting our paparazzi treatment of endless photos. One of the rules is that they are not allowed to touch or get closer then 2 meters to the animals, but several times Esteban let us within 20 cms of the animals. After returning to the boat, they donned our swimming costumes, picked up a mask, snorkel and fins and were soon snorkeling. Everyone recommended having a wet suit as well, but Lori and Ian had brought there wet shirts they purchased in Hawaii and thought they would try it with those before paying for the wet suits. While the water was not a tropical heat, Lori and Ian both found it perfectly fine. Unfortunately, when Ian hopped into the water, he lost his snorkel. After several attempts to get it, his mask kept fogging up and he was unsuccessful, so Esteban dove down to get it for him. Lori and Ian then enjoyed a 30 minute or so snorkel off North Seymour Island. As they were enjoying seeing all the colourful fish, they saw sea lions sitting on the rocks, but none joined them for the swim. Some of the group saw a shark, but the highlights of this snorkel for Lori was seeing the Baracuda chasing and then eating fish from a school and when Esteban brought a Queen puff fish to the surface and they watched in deflate as it returned to the ocean floor. Once they returned to the boat, they sat in the sun on the front third deck as the boat made its way around North Seymour towards Porta Ayora. Along the way, they saw a see lion, a pelican who landed on the boat and various Frigate birds. The boat haboured off Porta Ayora for another yummy lunch. They ate with Laura and Mia this time and tried to unsuccessfully to coax Mia to have some vegetables with her meal. They were treated to spiced chicken, yellow rice with corn, a salad of avocadoes, tomatoes, lettuces, pickles and artichokes, a salad of beetroot, egg, tomatoes and carrots and fruit for dessert. At this rate, the diet that Lori and Ian were hoping to have on this portion of the trip was not going to happen, but they were enjoying all the tasty food and vegetables. They had a break in the afternoon as the boat sailed northwest to Bartolome Island. Lori worked on the journal, while Ian tried to catch up on his sleep. When they arrived at Bartolome, the group got ready for its second snorkeling trip of the day. The water was colder here, but Ian and Lori were rewarded with many different sized and coloured starfish. They did one cove and saw 5 white tipped reef sharks at least 5 feet long and a sting ray. The other fish in the cove were not as colourful as the morning snorkel. They climbed up the dinky, went around the corner and started another snorkel. During this they saw a school of black and yellow fish feeding on the algae on rocks. Esteban spotted a ray under the sand and tried to rouse it, but it was too lazy. They snorkeled to the beach Esteban pointed out a camouflaged Pacific Leopard Flounder. They hopped into the dingys and returned to the boat for a quick shower. Next, they hiked up a hill on Bartolome Island where were treated to a lovely view of where they had snorkeled. They could also see all the volcanic activity that must have taken place at some point. Esteban explained that the volcanoes on this island were dormant and only the islands that are in the southwest of the Galapagos Islands still have activity every few months. They had dinner that evening with Gabby. They started with a chicken broth soup with tons of vegetables; the main was beef stew, macaroni and cheese, white rice, lentil beans (which is a traditional Equadation meal, but Gabby told us they would have white rice, lentils and a fried egg), and for dessert they had roasted local fruit, which tasted like a roasted apple to Lori. After dinner, Esteban outlined what they would do the next day. They all played another game driven by Mia with squares. This one took the group a bit longer to figure out. After the game, Ian and Lori did a bit of reading.

Galapagos Santa Cruz Highlands Giant Tortoise Lori and Ian
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2008-01-04

Lori slept most of the night this time and Ian did better, but this cold seemed to regress a bit. Lori woke up at 5:40 am to try and catch the sunset near North Seymour, where they had sailed to overnight to refuel, but it was too cloudy. She went back to sleep and breakfast was served at 7:30 am and consisted of eggy (French) bread, syrup, cheese, omelet and fruit. They spent most of the morning sailing towards South Plaza. Frigate birds flew above us for most of the journal. Lori and Ian took turns trying to capture a photo of them and soon came to realise without a faster camera and better zoom it was very hard. Lori’s family friend, Don, who use to take photos of birds was a man of great patience and skill for all the photos he took. They were in the dingies soon after arriving and were greeted by sea lions and crabs as they disembarked. They were treated to land and sea iguanas and tall Opuntia cactuses after walking a sort distance. One of them seemed to chase Ian as he tried to get a photo of it. They walked up the island and were amazed by the glorious autumn colours of the Sescuiom plant. Esteban explained in the dry season they were this colour and in the wet season the island was all green. The dry season was soon coming to an end. As they reached the top of the trail, they could see the black rock cliffs below that had various bird enjoying the windy conditions. As they continued our walk along the island, they saw more sea lions, iguanas and Swallowed tailed gulls with their chicks. After almost two hours on the island, Esteban shoed a sea lion off the dingy landing and they boarded the ship for lunch. They ate lunch with Frank and Helle. They were confused by the meat that was served, but soon discovered that it was pork. It was served with corn, roasted banana (Dorita told Lori that these are made by boiling ripe bananas), and salad with fruit for dessert. After lunch, the boat headed to Sante Fe, so they had some free time. Ian took a nap and Lori worked on the journal. When they arrived in Sante Fe, they started our last snorkeling trip from the back of the boat. Within 10 minutes of snorkeling along the shore, there were adult sea lions swimming with us. Lori was given a scare as one swam from her legs to her head underneath them. The sea lion was within arm’s length. It was amazing and scary at the same time for Lori as Esteban had told the group that he had seen people bitten before when they got to close. They swam for about 10 minutes to bay of the area. The highlight of the trip for Lori happened then when an Eagle Ray appeared and she and Ian got to swim next to it. It was gracefully swimming through the water like a bird flying through the air. Ian decided to leave the snorkeling then as he had seen the ray and his sinuses were acting up again. Lori was treated to one more open water swim with another eagle ray and some beautiful schools of fish. The group tried to coax the baby sea lions into the water, but a bull sea lion near by would not allow it. After drying off and changing, the group took the dingies to the Island of Sante Fe for a hike up a rocky hill to get a view of where they had been snorkeling. Bav and Deb told them during this hike that the rocky lava tertian was very similar to what they would find when they did the Inca trail to Machu Picu as they had done the trip in 2008. They were also treated to more sea lions (some of which were very playful) and a Sante Fe iguana during their hike. They had some time to change when they arrived back on the boat and unfortunately got cold water for our showers this time. All the crew dressed in white for our final night and treated us to a tropical cocktail. Our cook played the grater and sang to us, while the passengers clapped and a few played the maracas. They joined Mitsuru and Naomi for the final dinner which started with carrot soup and had a main of tuna with onions and tomatoes and ice cream for dessert. They filled out some feedback paperwork before retiring to our cabin to read. As they were departing in the morning, the sailing started soon after dinner finished, but luckily they arrived around 1 am, so Lori and Ian were able to sleep pretty soundly.

Galapagos Bartolome
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Additional photos - http://www.photoworks.com/photo-sharing/shareSignin.jsp?shareCode=A7DC872C797&cp=ems_shr_alb_pml&cb=PW2009-01-05

Breakfast started at 7 am with fried eggs, cheese, pancakes, fruit and blackberry fruit. Ian and I savored the last of our breakfasts on the boat with Frank and Helle. They packed our bags, said goodbye to the crew and disembarked the boat for Baquerizo Moreno, the capital of the Galapagos. They traveled to center that explained the natural and human history on the Islands. It was very interesting as it was not until the late twenty century when the Islands were reclaimed and they started protecting them. Before them, they had served as a place to try and grow various agriculture, a sugar factory, and a World War II base. It also highlighted some of the challenges for the Islands including a fresh water supply and energy options. After the tour, they were brought back to the main street in town. Lori and Ian did a little bit of shopping and managed to purchase wide brimmed hats that they thought would come in handy for the rest of their trip. They said goodbye to the group shortly after and checked into the Miconia hotel. They had a tasty lunch with vegetable and chicken broth and some fish with a coconut sauce, rice and chips. They had some time to relax before meeting up with a new guide, Azuzena at 2 pm. She took them into the central highlands to Laguna El Junco. Unfortunately, the lake, while was inside an inactive volcano, was covered by clouds. Azuzena told us that it 270 meters wide and home to fish, black crabs and ducks. Through the mist, they saw a few Frigate birds. They drove through El Progresso (the town where settlers first lived) on our way to a viewpoint over the island at Soledad. Not only did they have a view when they arrived, but they also saw a church made out of rocks that is a popular place to get married. On our way back to the hotel, they stopped briefly at Playa Mann beach where they enjoyed watching the sea lions and the people. They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on our photos, which seemed to be getting out of control in the few days they were on the boat. They had a dinner of chicken stir fry, chips (fries), fresh orange juice and ice cream.

Galapagos Bartolome Ian
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2009-01-06

Unfortunately, the hotel ran out of water in the morning when Lori was halfway through her shower. They had found out at the center the day before that everyone on the island purchased drinking and tap water and clearly the hotel was behind. Lori made the best of it and she and Ian had breakfast at the hotel before meeting Azuzena. She took us to check in for our flight and then they took a short drive to the Loberia beach near the airport. They saw the biggest land iguana of our trip sunning itself on the rocks trying to warm up after swimming in the ocean. They also saw some surfers and baby sea lions. They could definitely tell a difference between Esteban and Azuzena tour wise and would highly recommend anyone wanting to travel to the Galapagos contact Esteban (estebanfinch@hotmail.com).