A wild time in the Galapagos Islands

We didn’t plan to go to the Galapagos.

We first chose to go to Ecuador because we were feeling a bit iffy about travel around Peru given the political situation there. Of course, as we were planning our trip, the question kept coming up, “Should we go to the Galapagos Islands?” It’s on so many people’s “bucket list,” but it wasn’t on ours. It sounded great, but just incredibly expensive if we wanted to really see much.

So, when we left for Quito, we still weren’t sure if we would go or not. Jess had scoured the internet for info on various boats, and found one whose itinerary and timing looked good for a short 5-day trip there. It would have been about $5,000 each. Woah. But, she noted that in June, the prices dropped to less than half as much after a while. So, upon our arrival in Quito, we went to one of the agencies that books tours on that boat and asked if we might be able to get that price for July. A few phone calls later, and we had our trip booked. Still ridiculously expensive (about five times our normal daily travel budget), but way better than full price.

By the end of our time there, we were just sad we hadn’t shelled out for more.

It was truly incredible.

Our boat, the Anahi, is one of about a hundred that circulate throughout the islands. Each of them is required to have a 15-day itinerary that they run through repeatedly. But, as with our journey, most of them pass through the couple of ports where people can fly in and out from the mainland, so that people can sign up for shorter trips.

Each of these ships has a crew: a captain, a “cabin boy” (ours was probably 35 years old), folks who run the engines, people who help run the zodiacs (small boats for landings), a couple of cooks, a bartender, etc. Ours had 8 people. And then there’s the guide. Each ship is assigned a guide that is trained and paid through the national park service–they don’t belong with any specific ship. So, 9 people in total working for us. And there were only 13 tourists, so a 2 to 3 ratio. That’s a lot of service.

(Side note: our group of tourists had some interesting folks, a young American-Romanian couple, the American’s parents, two avid birders from Texas–one with a ridiculously huge camera who was nice enough to share a few of her great photos with me–two Germans train system engineers on a year long van tour of South America, a couple of farmers from New Zealand who had to take 4 flights to get there after a delay threw their whole trip off, and one other American who stayed on in Ecuador after his friends went home.)

We chose the Anahi because (a) it is one of the smallest boats (16 passengers max), (b) it has a good reputation, and (c) the 5-day leg lined up well with the timing of our plans to fly down to Lima. And our guide, Galo, also said that the Anahi is one of his favorite boats to work on. He liked the crew and all, but he also told us many times that the Anahi has his favorite itinerary. Sadly, the part that he said makes the Anahi’s itinerary stand out from many others is on the other leg of its 15-day circuit. Alas. (To be clear, it’s not that he disliked the part we were on, it just wasn’t terribly out of the ordinary.)

Regardless, the boat was great.

The crew definitely had their moments of downtime, but they also worked their butts off. Most of all, the captain, William, seemingly never slept. Most of the time he piloted the Anahi between islands overnight while we slept, but during the day he could also be seen all over the boat, one time fixing the netting on the zodiacs, and a few times even driving them to take us ashore. (Evidently a lot of the crews work 15-days on, 15-days off, so they do get rest!)

Onboard the ship, the experience was very chill. Great meals, usually with several choices of dishes, lots of places to lounge, and great caipirinhas (though we were often too tired to partake). Jess pretty much laid claim to the port side bench along the back of the boat. That was our spot when we were chilling outside.

And our cabin was…ridiculous. Somehow we got upgraded to the “suite” without paying any extra over the other folks who had bunks. Not only did we have a ton of space, a couch, and a double bed, but the “cabin boy” (it has to be in quotes–what a ridiculous job title for a grown man…and he was a large man!) also folded our towels into multiple creative shapes, like this elephant.

Of course, the problem with this large a room was getting from the bed to the bathroom when the boat was moving over choppy waters in the evenings. There was definitely a lot of diving across the room, hanging on to doorways, and just general stumbling about. A couple of nights featured 6-8 hours of very choppy travel–not conducive to reading in bed, and fairly difficult to sleep through. In fact, after about 24 hours on board, we both finally started taking pills to suppress sea sickness. They helped. (Not that we were ever feeling terrible…just a little off.)

Of course, the best part of being on the boat was…getting off of it. Seriously, they kept us busy, busy, busy. Breakfast was at 7:00 am every day. And at 8:00 we loaded onto the zodiacs headed ashore. We’d usually spend about an hour or two wandering amongst the wildlife, then return to the boat, grab a snack (there were snacks every single time we returned–fruit, chips, etc. always accompanied by a juice, hot chocolate, or the like), and then turn right around and head back out to go snorkeling. After snorkeling, we usually had about 20 minutes free before lunch. Woohoo! Free time!

After lunch, we’d have time to rest and digest for an hour or so before heading out snorkeling again. Then after a short rest back on the boat, we’d go out for a later afternoon nature walk, usually returning with about 30 minutes before dinner. Dinner was followed by a quick briefing telling us the plan for the next day, and then we’d have a few minutes to hang out before the boat started moving (and making any activity beyond lying in bed moaning fairly impossible).

So, where did we land? We visited Santa Rosa, Genovesa, South Plaza, Santa Fe, and San Cristobal Islands, generally the eastern part of the Galapagos. Of course, some of those are very large islands, like San Cristobal, of which we saw very little, whereas others were tiny. For instance, we hiked most of the length of South Plaza Island.

The landscapes varied quite a bit from sandy beaches to crazy volcanic shorelines. Some places were much more lush, others had a lot of bare rock or dusty hillsides. We even did a quick flyby (float by?) of the fascinating “kicker rock” formation (evidently a great place to swim with hammerheads, but we didn’t get to do that).

Our first brief stop was on one of the beaches of Santa Rosa Island, not far from where we first boarded the Anahi. There we saw a variety of crabs on the shore. The most entertaining was the little ghost crab, which runs incredibly fast, but the one we saw had trouble finding anywhere to hide from our slow advance down the shore. There was another of the larger crabs that took up residence right next to the backpack of someone in our group. We also snorkeled just off the shore amongst giant schools of fish, a handful of baby sharks, and a couple of sea turtles. Not a bad start to the trip!

The next morning we woke up in the bay of Genovesa Island, actually a volcanic crater where one wall has collapsed allowing the sea in. Our two hikes on Genovesa were pretty spectacular. One included a walk down a tidal inlet where the sea lions were playing and the other involved a crazy stairway up the cliffside.

Of course, the landscape wasn’t the main attraction. The main reason to visit the Galapagos is the stupid animals. I don’t say that to imply that all animals are stupid or to mean that I didn’t like seeing them. It’s just that that’s what the first Spaniards to wash up there called them. You see, many of the animals of the Galapagos have no natural predators, so they’re just not scared. Many of the birds lay their eggs right on the ground and happily wander off. Or wander right past the gathered tourists. They have no fear. So, because they don’t run away from people, they were labeled as “stupid.”

On Genovesa we had our first real introduction to this amazing phenomenon. We landed among a bunch of sea lions who alternately ignored us or occasionally approached us a little too closely (but sea lions never move for humans anyway, so that’s not new).

But as we wandered up the beach we were surrounded by one of the real treasures of the Galapagos, three different species of birds known as blue-footed, red-footed, and Nazca Boobies. And not just a few, there were hundreds of them. They hung out in their nests, swooped around along with dozens of frigates, and took over the lighthouse towers. There was just an amazing swirl of activity. And everywhere we went, the birds barely flinched.

Now, all of those photos of boobies aren’t from Genovesa, but they give you a good idea of the scene–just tons of birds all over! The babies were super fluff balls and it was very tempting to break the rules and cuddle them.

You may have noticed that the red-footed boobies were the only ones who built their nests in trees. In fact, they’re the only ones who can grip a branch–the blue-footed and Nazca varieties don’t have the ability and just wander around on the ground with their big ole flat feet. Awkward…

Of course, the red-footed boobies weren’t always the most graceful either. In the high winds, it was amusing watching them try to land on the lighthouse on the island. They usually failed. This one then almost landed on our Kiwi friends…

Now, I need to confess that the saddest part of the trip for me was my camera. For the last few years I’ve only been using the camera on my phone. It’s pretty great for everything except wildlife. It just can’t zoom in enough to get a nice shot of beautiful creatures at a distance. So, I brought my old camera…and it stopped working once we got to Ecuador. After a failed attempt to get it fixed, I just gave it away.

That said, it wasn’t nearly as big a loss as I feared it might be. I think you can see from the photos of the boobies above that I was able to get close enough to a bunch of these creatures (we were told to stay several meters away, but that’s still quite close!) that I was able to get some pretty good photos. Of course, there were a few that were smaller or farther away that I couldn’t get nice shots of. That’s where Bonnie DeGroot comes in. She was one of our serious birders from Texas and she came with the largest telephoto lens I’ve ever seen on a civilian camera. I’ve marked a few of the photos on this blog entry with a “BDG” if she took them. Thanks Bonnie!

So, while we’re on the subject of birds, let’s take a look at the frigates. There were as many or more of them about than the boobies. They also made a habit of following us as we traveled between islands, floating just overhead at all hours. (Amazingly only one person on our boat got pooped on the whole time!) They were beautiful to watch swooping about, stealing from one another and puffing out their red necks.

Here’s a nice video of what that looked like in real time…

While frigates and boobies were the most numerous birds by far, we saw quite a variety of others. There were tons of finches (I couldn’t keep track of all the varieties–that was Bonnie’s job), tropic birds, a tiny owl that was terribly hard to spot, mockingbirds, herons, and more.

Everywhere we went, Galo explained to us which species were endemic to particular islands, which were common on the other islands, which ones exist in other parts of the world, etc. He even talked about some of the genetic work being done lately that is helping scientists decide whether the different types of mockingbirds on the different islands constitute separate species or not. I appreciated having a knowledgeable guide.

Genovesa was also the only place we saw marine iguanas. Bonnie got a great photo that makes it look like Godzilla coming to attack New York.

On the other hand, when we went to South Plaza Island, it was teeming with land iguanas. The Plaza Islands are two long low stretches of land just off the shore of Santa Rosa Island. There we learned about restoration work being done to bring back a number of the plants that had been destroyed when people had kept herds of goats on the island. The island was beautiful in a barren kind of way, and you could see the sea (and giant schools of fish) from everywhere.

But the main attraction was the iguanas who wandered about, munching on cacti. They came in a variety of shades and shapes, and were generally just kind of fascinating to look at with their leathery skin and completely alien faces.

Here’s one working to remove the spines from a cactus…

…and a couple just wandering across our path.

Santa Fe Island was probably the least exciting hike for most of us, but Galo felt otherwise. He found a very rare type of rat that he’s only seen three times before (and he’s been doing this for 15 years if I remember correctly). The rat was…rat-like. But we were all glad he was excited about it.

The morning of our last full day was one of the best. We took the best “hike” of the trip up from the beach at Punta Pitt on San Cristobal Island. There was actual elevation change and a variety of landscapes we passed through. Not to mention some great blue-footed boobies showing off their various whistling and hooting sounds.

But, the best part of the morning at Punta Pitt was the snorkeling afterwards. In general, I have to say that I don’t love snorkeling, but I went every time because of FOMO. And this time I went and missed the white-tipped shark that the others saw! Grrr!

But that didn’t matter. We got to play with sea lions.

When we landed on the island earlier, there were a dozen or so young sea lions flopped on the beach. But, by the time we were done snorkeling, the beach was cleared–they had all come out to play.

For much of the time, I was surrounded by four sea lions who wrestled with each other, biting each other’s faces while swirling acrobatically around and underneath me. They were incredibly fast and their jaws seemed quite powerful, so I was a bit nervous, but mostly they just seemed to find me to be an interesting object to use as a mobile obstacle. They would rush towards me only to turn aside at the last minute and dive.

When I swam over to the zodiac to get out of the water, one of them decided that the ladder looked like a chew toy, making it a bit nerve-wracking for me to put my foot where it had just been gnawing. As I climbed onto the boat, Galo informed me that one of them had been nibbling on my fins while I swam, and a few minutes later I saw one doing the same to Jessica.

Of course we saw sea lions on the beach at basically every spot we landed as well. They were cute and funny and only occasionally seemed to randomly charge at us.

One of the most intersting things was to see how agile (even if clumsy in appearance) they are on land. Here you can see one who climbed the cliff on South Plaza Island…

Of course, it was also reminiscent of home. Jessica and I can often her the sea lions barking (about a mile away) from our home in Santa Cruz. So, the sounds of Santa Cruz greeted us here…

Mostly it was just amusing watching them wander about with complete obliviousness to our presence, like here at our first landing on Genovesa Island…

One of the saddest sights was a skinny little sea lion pup that had trouble finding it’s mom. I stopped videoing when we thought it had finally found a place to nurse, but moments later it was on the move again after getting shooed off by another angry “not your mother.” Poor kiddo.

While snorkeling with the sea lions was definitely a highlight, I sadly couldn’t take any underwater photos of that or any of our other fishy experiences. However, I did get this photo right off the side of the boat that maybe gives you a sense. And once we were in the water it was generally even better than that, with a huge variety of fish all just swirling about one another.

And we did see several sea turtles while snorkeling. One of the best times I had was when I lost the group for a bit and just swam next to a sea turtle for about 10 minutes as it wandered about a bay off Santa Fe Island. Bonnie and I spotted this one next to the boat in the bay of Genovesa Island (and she took the photos).

Our last night was spent in the harbor of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, on San Cristobal Island. The crew ferried us into town so we could wander around. We found yet another “town sign,” a rather unusual stained-glass window on a church, and a ridiculous giant sea lion-shaped slide.

Probably the funniest thing was the sea lion who broke the law. All the beaches were meticulously fenced off from the cityscape to prevent sea lions from getting into town. But at least one found a way through and he was a menace wandering up and down the sidewalk (and peeing on it).

Of course, one of the biggest attractions of the Galapagos Islands are the giant tortoises. We were even greeted by one at the airport.

On our last morning, we took a bus up from Puerto Baquerizo Moreno to the Centro de Crianza de Tortugas Terrestres, a breeding center and refuge for the tortoises. It was pretty incredible to watch these beasts lumbering about through the woods. There was even a section with little baby tortoises and a separate cage for the slightly older “adolescents.”

We even got to witness a brief fight over territory. Before you watch the video, place your best on who will win: #16 on the left or #46 on the right.

After watching that hundred-plus-year-old beast wrestling match, it was time to head out. We were dropped at the airport where they scanned our bags for contraband shells and such before we got on a plane headed back to Quito.

It really was a wonderful few days. Exhausting with its constant activity, but wonderful nonetheless. The variety and intensity and really just the proximity of the wildlife was incredible. And the luxury of the boat was quite pleasant in between the constant activities. Overall, highly recommended for those with time, money, and mobility to make it happen.

Note: that wraps up the summer! After a few more days in Quito, Jessica and I went down to Lima, both of which I’ve already written about. She’s still in Lima for one more week as I type this, but I’ve been back at work for the last several weeks. Sad to have to live the normal life. So, until our next adventure, I’m signing off…