We arrive back into Isla San Cristobal on the Deep Blue Yacht early. Luggage is all packed and the Zodiacs are ready to bring us to the docks at 7AM. It is kind of sad to think about leaving Galapagos. This place has grown on me so much in such a short time. I started off with goals of diving with Whale Sharks and probably schools of Hammerheads as my mission. The diving was supposed to be the best in the World by many that I spoke with. After our first couple dives, I really did not think the diving was incredible. I had seen better visibility, I had seen more fish, better coral, etc. Don´t get me wrong, it was good, but my expectations were really high.
Each day that I stayed here, I started getting it more and more. I don´t think the Galapagos can be taken as a destination to just see one animal or specie, it is amazing in so many ways. As I learned more about the different islands, I realized that I was interested in exploring each island and would not be satisfied just seeing one type of turtle. Isla San Isabel has a Saddleback Turtle, very different from the Giant Tortoise in Isla Santa Cruz. There is long history behind the turtles living in the Galapagos and although many of the island look like volcanic rock, there is lush vegetation on many of the islands where the turtles live. Sea Lions pop up almost everywhere from below the dock at our hotel to the beaches to the most prominent dive sites. They are always entertaining and I could probably watch them swim for hours at a time and never get board. The fur seal, which can be mistaken for a sea lion, is less common, but usually seen at some of the remote islands such as Wolf and Darwin and dive sites such as Gordon Rocks. Admittingly, as many of these as I saw on this trip, I was not great at distinguishing them from the Sea Lion. There eyes are bigger and they have a different tail, but to the novice they may all be called sea lions or seals. In pictures, you can tell an obvious difference. Penguins are found on Isla Bartolome where you can snorkel with them and watch them swim within inches of your face. Despite Ecuador being so close to the Equator, there are strong currents from Peru called the Humboldt Current and the Cromwell Current is a deep water current flowing under the South Equatorial Current to the West. Although these are the two major currents, there are many other currents bringing in various unique species to the Galapagos. The cold water currents make the Galapagos conducive to the Penguins. The islands have great surfing, locals claim that the Isla San Cristobal has some of the best surfing in the world getting all the fronts from both New Zealand and Hawaii. With that said, you need to expect to see a shark of some type just about each time you go in the water. There are huge White Tip Sharks 6 to 10 feet long that I dove with the entire week, I kayaked in a lagoon with snorkelers everywhere and saw 3 to 4 huge white tips pretty close to the snorkelers. These sharks are not agressive and never really posed a threat when diving or snorkeling. The Galapagos Shark on the other hand, is a carnivore and hung out underneath our dive boat in numbers of 10 to 20. They are very aggressive and it is not advised to snorkel or surf near them, although there are few if any reports of them attacking people. Scuba diving with the Galapagos Shark we were told to stay in groups of 4 and keep breathing as the bubbles scare them. The Galapagos shark can be 6 to 14 feet long and would circle around us and approach us directly appearing to be coming right at us, just before turning another direction. It was the most frightening shark that I saw under water. Around the populated islands, we would see occassional Hammerheads when diving, but not frequently. Heading 10 hrs Northwest to Wolf and Darwin Islands, I would encounter maybe 50 to 100 Hammerheads on one dive. They are very afraid of dive bubbles and tend to keep a certain distance from divers.
The birds are an entire seperate subject. I have not been a person that loves birds, but I love the Galapagos Birds. They are all so unique, swarming around the waters, diving from great heights into the water. They were fun to watch. The blue-footed boobie was definitely a favorite. Partly because I loved going up to the locals and saying, ¨I am looking for boobies!¨, but also because they have so much character. Huge blue feet, a white head and a blue beak, they are easily distinguishable and seem to have a little bit of an ego too. I feel like they talk to the tourists saying, ¨Yes, I am the famous blue-footed boobie. I know I am beautiful. They walk with arrogance and pride. Very cool birds. They Frigate bird is said to not be able to swim. It is the only bird that does not hunt for any of its food and steals from the other birds. It is the frigate the followed our boat above as we motored 10 hrs northwest from the other islands to reach Wolf and Darwin islands. The frigate also has a large red ballon that forms when it is in heat and wants to attract the member of the other sex. I think the male has this bubble. Unique to the islands in the North is the Red Footed boobie. Not as pretty as the blue-footed boobie, but interesting nevertheless.
Of course there is the awe of being so far off the mainland in the middle of the Pacific when you think about the Galapagos. These islands are 600 miles off the coast. There is an obvious soccer love like most of South America, but I stayed in the main town of Puerto Ayora and loved seeing the young kids play soccer right off the main street on a concrete area that is also used for the town amphitheater. The parents watched as kids from 5 to 14 played soccer til 10 PM. They were good too!!! I rarely noticed anyway fall and saw some moves that were comparable to a college level player move in the US. The town had a mayor that did not pay child support and staged a protest through the streets holding signs and voicing their opinions. Getting to Galapagos, I flew to an island called Baltra and then took a bus to a ferry, which led me to another 40 min buss to the town where a taxi could take me to my hotel. The ferry and buses all stacked the luggage on the roofs and tied it down with rope. Getting on and off the buses and ferries was not easy if you had any difficulty walking. Often there was a very steep dock that adjusted with tides to the ferries. There are water taxis in the center of the town that take people from their live aboards into town or to the remote island restaurants. It is $1 for the taxi ride.
So, I guess what I am trying to say is Galapagos grows on you from multiple aspects. It is so unique and although there are tons of animals all around, they appear to adapt to living with people and enjoy all of the plentiful food in their surroundings.
I leave Galapagos (Archipelago of colon) amazed
Monday, May 11, 2009
Galapagos, Ecuador
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2025-02-10