Up Close with Nature

Sea Lion
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Next up was the Galapagos Islands. We chose to do an 8 day cruise on the only pirate style ship called the Sulidae. Our flight from Quito to Galapagos went smoothly and we were soon introduced to our tour leader and the 10 other members of the group.

Our boat was quite compact but comfortable and very clean. We had a private bathroom however it only had cold water which was sometimes warm due to the sun. This wasn´t a problem though as it was always warm at the Galapagos.

This was an experience that we will never forget - especially how close we managed to get to the animals

Sea Lion barking at Shannyn
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We spent our first two days on the island of San Cristobal. Our first sighting of animals was in the town as there were sea lions lounging around near the pier, by park benches and on steps. In the afternoon we went to a nearby stretch of beach where we spent a few hours observing hundreds of Marine Iguanas, Sally Light Foot Crabs (they´re a very vibrant orange/red colour) and of course the cheeky sea lions. Its amazing how close you actually get to the animals. By law if you approach them you must be no closer than 3 metres from them but the animals are allowed to come as close to you as they like. The Sea Lions are very curious and also love to show off so we constantly had them coming right up to us. I then took the opportunity to swim in the ocean with the Sea Lions. They were swimming around me and mucking around. At one stage one of them came up really close and started barking at me. We later found out from our guide that this was a male trying to impress other Sea Lions and also me!!! It was a little scary though as I wasn´t sure whether he would try and bite me so stuck it out for about 10 minutes and then continued to watch from the side. We were also lucky enough to see a few sea turtles swimming about - these proved to be my favourite animal of the Galapagos.

Land Iguana
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Because we were spending two days on San Cristobal we didn´t sail on our first night so we were able to go out to some local bars and also spend some time around the pier where we could watch the Sea Lions showing off again and we also saw hundreds of fish. We then sat by the beach at night watching the hundreds of Sea Lions.

On our second day we went to a Tortoise Reserve that protects the three endangered types which are the dome, the saddle and the intermediate. These turtles are reared from the time their egg is laid until they reach 5 years old. They are then released into the wild. The tortoises live to be about 120 years old and we were able to get up really close to them - they weren´t scared at all. In the afternoon we sailed to a lovely beach called Puerto Grande. Gary and I both spent some time swimming in the bright blue water. We then boated round to Kicker Rock where Gary went snorkeling. I didn´t feel well so didn´t go. Gary and the rest of the group saw an incredible number of animals including white tipped reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, spotted Eagle Rays, Sea turtles and colourful fish.

Blue Footed Booby
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After sailing overnight we awoke on our third day on the island of Santa Cruise. We did an hour long walk through a cactus forest and ended up at a beach called Tortuga Bay. Here we saw the birds called Blue Footed Boobies for the first time. They have extremely bright blue feet and we got to see them diving into the sea and catching fish, they reach speeds of 90km per hour as they hit the water. We also saw more Marine Iguanas and went for a swim. In the afternoon we went to the Charles Darwin Research centre. We got to see the endangered and very rare bright yellow/orange Land Iguanas here. We also saw more land tortoises including the famous Lonesome George who is the only remaining Tortoise of his species in the world. The research centre is trying to mate him with a similar species but haven´t had any luck as yet.

Gary with Giant Tortoise
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On our fourth day we arrived at the island of Floreana. We had an early boat ride around Champion Rock where we saw loads of Sea Lions, Blue Footed Boobies and other birds. Then we did our second snorkel and I found it difficult to breath with the mask on so decided snorkeling wasn´t for me and swam instead. There were Sea Lions swimming around us and many colourful fish. Back on the boat we saw two Humpback Whales - a mother and baby. They swam up really close to our boat and put on a show for us constantly diving up in the air providing us with a great view of them. The whales were swimming around our boat for about 20 minutes and our guide told us that this was the best Humpback Whale sighting he has seen in over 25 years. We were very impressed!!! After another snorkel we went to a sight where Ecuador first claimed the Galapagos Islands. This area is known as Post Office Bay and there is an actual post box on the beach where tourist write post cards and leave them there for other tourists to pick up and personally deliver by hand. We couldn't´t find any for Sydney though unfortunately.

Our 100 year old sailing boat
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Our fifth day saw us at the island of Isabella. We went for a ride in the dingy and got to see many Galapagos Penguins which are the most northerly and also the smallest penguins in the world. We also saw more Blue Footed Boobies and did some snorkeling. In the afternoon we spent time at a beautiful 4km long beach where we witnessed many birds diving into the ocean to catch fish and also saw many more Marine Iguanas.

On our Sixth day we hiked up a mountain to see a Volcano called Volcan Chico. On the way we saw some Flamingos up close. We rode horses for about an hour and a half to take us part way up the mountain. Back at the same beach as the previous day we did a walk where we witnessed an incredible number of birds (about 1000) including Blue Footed Boobies, Frigate birds and Pelicans in a mass feeding frenzy. We also saw many more Marine Iguanas. Back on the boat we got to jump off into the deep water and swim with a few playful Sea Lions.

Marine Iguana
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The next day we took an early morning dingy ride around the lagoons and again saw many animals including Sea Turtles, Blue Footed Boobies and Sea Lions. We did another snorkel and finished the day off visiting a ranch in the highlands where we entered a national park and saw many wild land tortoises. They were huge and a little scared of humans as they constantly hissed at us. We also did a walk through some caves that were formed by the lava flows millions of years ago.

Our final day saw us visiting the interpretation centre which explained everything about the islands specifically about sustainable tourism. We had one final drink at a bar by the beach and then headed off on our flight back to Quito.

Marine Iguana close up
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Well what can I say? Galapagos is an absolutely amazing place to visit and we could have easily spent another month there. This was an experience that we will never forget - especially how close we managed to get to the animals. We loved the boat that we chose and thought that the food, service and guide were definately five star quality. So far the Galapagos is by far our favourite place that we´ve visited!!!! If any one is thinking of going to the Galapagos Islands then we would 100% recommend booking the 8 day cruise on the Sulidae but either book it online or through a travel agency in Quito as its a lot cheaper that way (still very pricey though).

Sally Light Foot Crab
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The maximum amount of passengers allowed on boats around the Galapagos is 16 but there are many that have up to 100. They get round this by bribing officials. This way of doing things generally benefits foreign investors and should be discouraged. The habitat and the local Ecuadorians lose out when tourists choose these type of boats. Look into how your choice of boat affects the environment of Galapagos before deciding upon it. If you need more info you can contact our guide Raul (who is from the Galapagos) guideresh@hotmail.com

Galapagos Penguins
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Shannyn