5-16
In the a.m., w visited Punta Moreno on Isabella Island. While we were on shore, a couple curious sea lions swam right up to us and seemed to want to be petted. They would swim right up to the land and then hop up and walk right up to us with their necks craned towards us and their noses up. After having some fun with the sea lions, we walked inland across Pa Hoi Hoi lava to some brackish lagoons where we encountered some pink flamingos. The landscape here is really cool!! It is almost entirely composed of black lava with just a couple typs of plants--two cactus species. Two giant volcanoes surrounded us with 3 other volcanoes in the distance.
After our land excursion, we went for a snorkel. We saw lots of nice colorful fish, but the highlights were swimming with turtles, flightless commorants (endemic to Isabella and Fernandina...they have lost their ability to fly because of a lack of predators), playful sea lions and a galapagos penguin!
After a tasty fish lunch (all meals here are 3 course and amazing with almost always fresh fish and salad. They also give us mid-morning and afternoon snacks), we sailed to Elizabeth Bay. Along the way we saw lots of sea lions, frigate birds, and boobies following the ship. At Elizabeth Bay, we took a zodiac cruise into the mangroves which are growing on the edge of the beautiful volcanic landscape. On the zodiac safari, we get to watch some frigates, blue-footed boobies, flightless commorants (drying their poor tiny little wings), marine iguanas, and 2 cute little penguins swimming around. In a little shallow mangrove bay, we saw at least 10 sea turtles swimming around in the crystal clear water.
Back on board we had some tasty snacks and then sailed into the sunset on the way towards Bolivar Channel.
5-17
We woke up early to see the view around Tagus Cove where the boat had anchored overnight. The scenery was nice, and I also watched some penguins fishing just below the boats. And of course sea lions and turtles were swimming around as well. On the cliffs of Tagus Cove, we could see lots of graffiti from whalers and pirates dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
After sunrise, we sailed on to Punta Espinoza on Isla Fernandina (the youngest island of the group with a very active volcano). We take the zodiac into a rocky landing area where sea lions greet us and a nursery of baby sea lions put on a wrestling/diving/jumping show for us. Along the path, we get within 6 inches of a mother nursing a cute little pup.
After landing, we walked to a little beach area where there were hundreds of sally lightfoot crabs (brilliant red and blue colors) and hundreds and hundreds of marine iguanas all piled up together and sneezing salt. A real mess...(a mess is actually the scientific name given to a large group of iguanas just as a pack is given to a group of coyotes). It was a rather funny scene. We saw more sea lions lounging on the around the beach and more youngsters nursing. We got up really close (less than a feet) for pictures with them where we pretended to lounge just like the sea lions. Up in the trees near the beach, we saw a galapagos hawk, which is basically the only terrestrial predator in all of the galapagos, as it can eat baby sea lions, baby iguanas, and baby tortoises. On the beach there was also a nearly complate whale skeleton.
After a snack and a siesta, we snorkelled off of Punta Espinoza where we saw lots of sea turtles, marine fish, and we played around for quite a while with some very relaxed sea lions who were eager to come up very close to us.
After the snorkel, we sailed to Punta Vicente Roca where we saw a small pod of dolphins along the way. This little cove had a dramatic landscape beneath Volcan Ecuador. The cliffs full of bird life were quite stunning in the afternoon light. There was also a giant sea cave, not far from where the boat anchored.
We went for a snorkel here, and it was one of the best snorkel places on the trip for sure! In this one bay, there were literally hundreds of turtles!! You could hardly swim anywhere without bumping into them. This was because it was a turtle resting place that they went to after breeding season to recover their strength. The snorkel transitioned from black sand to a "wall" tuype snorkel with a huge drop off. Here we snorkelled with sea lions. There were also flightless comorants fishing and one came right up to me and tried to take a bite out of my camera. I also got to swim with a penguin! It was fun watching him "fly" around underwater hunting for little fish. We also saw a couple of marine iguanas feeding on algae as the surf washed them around. We snorkeled into the cave, where se saw lots of stingrays resting on the bottom. The water was very cold (18C = 64F) caused by the humboldt current that comes through the area. It is this cold humboldt current that brings all the super nutrient rich water which is what brings the huge variety of large sea life (from whale sharks to orcas to humpbacks to blue whales to the turtles to hammerhead sharks to huge pods of dolphins and even the little penguins). But we are always shivering after every snorkel as we went without wetsuits.
After the snorkel, we went for a boat safari where we saw lots of turtles, boobies, and frigates. As the sun is setting, we set sail towards the north of Isabella. We enjoyed watching the setting sun set fire to the beautiful and rugged landscape (which included a cute, tiny volcano). The sunset today was absolutely gorgeous. As we are sailing, we turned our head in time to sea a whale footprint (the flat water left when a whale dives), but just missed seeing the whale. Just after sunset, we crossed the Equator line, and we all went into the bridge where the captain let us snap pictures of the GPS that said 000.000.
I had been feeling a bit feverish during the day, but not too bad, but at night after dinner, my fever got pretty bad, and I also had a bad case of achy muscles. It felt like I was getting some sort of influenza type thing.
During the night, we sailed to Punta Egas on Santiago (James) Island.
5-18
In the morning, we visited Punta Egas. On the beach we saw a couple of sea lion babies on the beach including one that our guide said was 1 or 2 days old. It was quite cute. We walked to the other side of the point, where we saw several galapagos fur sealions (a different species than the galapagos sea lion, which is most closely related to the Californian sea lion). From there we headed back to the black sand beach to snorkel. B/c of the fever and because I was feeling quite bad, I didn't snorkel, but instead watched crabs and marine iguanas feed on algae in the intertidal zone.
After lunch, we sailed past some cool landscapes including a huge tower called the monk. In the afternoon we visited Espumilla beach which was a gorgeous chocolate colored (not to be confused with covered which was how it had sounded in our guide's accent). We took a walk inland for some nice views and past some brackish laggons. I didn't swim at the beach (again the fever) but watched boobies dive bombing for fish, which was very entertaining. I also watched the thousands of ghost crabs on the beach scuttle about.
At night we sailed to Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz Island.
5-19
In the morning, we circumnavigated Daphne Island where we saw lots of blue footed boobies, masked (aka Nazca) boobies, and frigates as well as sea lions. Daphne Island was of special interest to me because in Dr. Walser's Population and Ecosystem Bio class, he had us read Beak of the Finch for our discussion group which was about Dr. Grant and his group's over 30 years of research on Daphne Island where they were studying natural selection of finches as relating to their beak size as seed sizes and food availibility changed due to the dramatic weather changes caused by El Ninos and La Nina weather patterns and the Humboldt vs Panama currents. An interesting read if you are interested in Ecology. The Galapagos are of course like Disneyworld for anyone instersted in ecology, marine biology, or zoology or just like cute, unafraid animals in general. Also geologists would find it quite interesting as well as it is quite volcanically active. Beak of the Finch of course made me interested in the Galapagos, but it was actuall Ms. Nelson in 5th grade who first piqued my interest in the Galapagos, and it was there in 5th grade, that I said I would visit the Galapagos someday! Actually Ms. Nelson is to blame for much of my travel desires and she was very interested in traveling and geography and showed our class amazing slideshows of her travels and had guest speakers come in as well.
In late morning, we arrived to Baltra (South Seymour) island where we disembarked and all said goodbye. It had been a really fun group with some real characters (like Mark from England and Danielle from Australia), so it was sad to say goodbye. At this point I was feeling quite bad and just ready to get back to Puerto Ayora and lie in the bed. So we took the bus back to Puerta Ayora.
In the a.m., w visited Punta Moreno on Isabella Island. While we were on shore, a couple curious sea lions swam right up to us and seemed to want to be petted. They would swim right up to the land and then hop up and walk right up to us with their necks craned towards us and their noses up. After having some fun with the sea lions, we walked inland across Pa Hoi Hoi lava to some brackish lagoons where we encountered some pink flamingos. The landscape here is really cool!! It is almost entirely composed of black lava with just a couple typs of plants--two cactus species. Two giant volcanoes surrounded us with 3 other volcanoes in the distance.
After our land excursion, we went for a snorkel. We saw lots of nice colorful fish, but the highlights were swimming with turtles, flightless commorants (endemic to Isabella and Fernandina...they have lost their ability to fly because of a lack of predators), playful sea lions and a galapagos penguin!
After a tasty fish lunch (all meals here are 3 course and amazing with almost always fresh fish and salad. They also give us mid-morning and afternoon snacks), we sailed to Elizabeth Bay. Along the way we saw lots of sea lions, frigate birds, and boobies following the ship. At Elizabeth Bay, we took a zodiac cruise into the mangroves which are growing on the edge of the beautiful volcanic landscape. On the zodiac safari, we get to watch some frigates, blue-footed boobies, flightless commorants (drying their poor tiny little wings), marine iguanas, and 2 cute little penguins swimming around. In a little shallow mangrove bay, we saw at least 10 sea turtles swimming around in the crystal clear water.
Back on board we had some tasty snacks and then sailed into the sunset on the way towards Bolivar Channel.
5-17
We woke up early to see the view around Tagus Cove where the boat had anchored overnight. The scenery was nice, and I also watched some penguins fishing just below the boats. And of course sea lions and turtles were swimming around as well. On the cliffs of Tagus Cove, we could see lots of graffiti from whalers and pirates dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.
After sunrise, we sailed on to Punta Espinoza on Isla Fernandina (the youngest island of the group with a very active volcano). We take the zodiac into a rocky landing area where sea lions greet us and a nursery of baby sea lions put on a wrestling/diving/jumping show for us. Along the path, we get within 6 inches of a mother nursing a cute little pup.
After landing, we walked to a little beach area where there were hundreds of sally lightfoot crabs (brilliant red and blue colors) and hundreds and hundreds of marine iguanas all piled up together and sneezing salt. A real mess...(a mess is actually the scientific name given to a large group of iguanas just as a pack is given to a group of coyotes). It was a rather funny scene. We saw more sea lions lounging on the around the beach and more youngsters nursing. We got up really close (less than a feet) for pictures with them where we pretended to lounge just like the sea lions. Up in the trees near the beach, we saw a galapagos hawk, which is basically the only terrestrial predator in all of the galapagos, as it can eat baby sea lions, baby iguanas, and baby tortoises. On the beach there was also a nearly complate whale skeleton.
After a snack and a siesta, we snorkelled off of Punta Espinoza where we saw lots of sea turtles, marine fish, and we played around for quite a while with some very relaxed sea lions who were eager to come up very close to us.
After the snorkel, we sailed to Punta Vicente Roca where we saw a small pod of dolphins along the way. This little cove had a dramatic landscape beneath Volcan Ecuador. The cliffs full of bird life were quite stunning in the afternoon light. There was also a giant sea cave, not far from where the boat anchored.
We went for a snorkel here, and it was one of the best snorkel places on the trip for sure! In this one bay, there were literally hundreds of turtles!! You could hardly swim anywhere without bumping into them. This was because it was a turtle resting place that they went to after breeding season to recover their strength. The snorkel transitioned from black sand to a "wall" tuype snorkel with a huge drop off. Here we snorkelled with sea lions. There were also flightless comorants fishing and one came right up to me and tried to take a bite out of my camera. I also got to swim with a penguin! It was fun watching him "fly" around underwater hunting for little fish. We also saw a couple of marine iguanas feeding on algae as the surf washed them around. We snorkeled into the cave, where se saw lots of stingrays resting on the bottom. The water was very cold (18C = 64F) caused by the humboldt current that comes through the area. It is this cold humboldt current that brings all the super nutrient rich water which is what brings the huge variety of large sea life (from whale sharks to orcas to humpbacks to blue whales to the turtles to hammerhead sharks to huge pods of dolphins and even the little penguins). But we are always shivering after every snorkel as we went without wetsuits.
After the snorkel, we went for a boat safari where we saw lots of turtles, boobies, and frigates. As the sun is setting, we set sail towards the north of Isabella. We enjoyed watching the setting sun set fire to the beautiful and rugged landscape (which included a cute, tiny volcano). The sunset today was absolutely gorgeous. As we are sailing, we turned our head in time to sea a whale footprint (the flat water left when a whale dives), but just missed seeing the whale. Just after sunset, we crossed the Equator line, and we all went into the bridge where the captain let us snap pictures of the GPS that said 000.000.
I had been feeling a bit feverish during the day, but not too bad, but at night after dinner, my fever got pretty bad, and I also had a bad case of achy muscles. It felt like I was getting some sort of influenza type thing.
During the night, we sailed to Punta Egas on Santiago (James) Island.
5-18
In the morning, we visited Punta Egas. On the beach we saw a couple of sea lion babies on the beach including one that our guide said was 1 or 2 days old. It was quite cute. We walked to the other side of the point, where we saw several galapagos fur sealions (a different species than the galapagos sea lion, which is most closely related to the Californian sea lion). From there we headed back to the black sand beach to snorkel. B/c of the fever and because I was feeling quite bad, I didn't snorkel, but instead watched crabs and marine iguanas feed on algae in the intertidal zone.
After lunch, we sailed past some cool landscapes including a huge tower called the monk. In the afternoon we visited Espumilla beach which was a gorgeous chocolate colored (not to be confused with covered which was how it had sounded in our guide's accent). We took a walk inland for some nice views and past some brackish laggons. I didn't swim at the beach (again the fever) but watched boobies dive bombing for fish, which was very entertaining. I also watched the thousands of ghost crabs on the beach scuttle about.
At night we sailed to Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz Island.
5-19
In the morning, we circumnavigated Daphne Island where we saw lots of blue footed boobies, masked (aka Nazca) boobies, and frigates as well as sea lions. Daphne Island was of special interest to me because in Dr. Walser's Population and Ecosystem Bio class, he had us read Beak of the Finch for our discussion group which was about Dr. Grant and his group's over 30 years of research on Daphne Island where they were studying natural selection of finches as relating to their beak size as seed sizes and food availibility changed due to the dramatic weather changes caused by El Ninos and La Nina weather patterns and the Humboldt vs Panama currents. An interesting read if you are interested in Ecology. The Galapagos are of course like Disneyworld for anyone instersted in ecology, marine biology, or zoology or just like cute, unafraid animals in general. Also geologists would find it quite interesting as well as it is quite volcanically active. Beak of the Finch of course made me interested in the Galapagos, but it was actuall Ms. Nelson in 5th grade who first piqued my interest in the Galapagos, and it was there in 5th grade, that I said I would visit the Galapagos someday! Actually Ms. Nelson is to blame for much of my travel desires and she was very interested in traveling and geography and showed our class amazing slideshows of her travels and had guest speakers come in as well.
In late morning, we arrived to Baltra (South Seymour) island where we disembarked and all said goodbye. It had been a really fun group with some real characters (like Mark from England and Danielle from Australia), so it was sad to say goodbye. At this point I was feeling quite bad and just ready to get back to Puerto Ayora and lie in the bed. So we took the bus back to Puerta Ayora.
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