Galapagos Islands

A must do. This was such an amazing trip, i was like being in the Blue Planet series, i kept expecting to see David Attenborough.

I have put a foot note on here for backpackers on a budget that may stumble across this. The Lonley planet and most agencies will tell you that you can´t do the Galapagos independantly, you must take a tour. Total rubbish, it will still take a chunk out of your budget but it is possible to do it for less than advertised.

In the course of millions of years, continuous eruptions of volcanoes that spurted from the sea floor created a fascinating archipelago: Galapagos. The islands are the tops of enourmous submarine mountains. Some younger islands are still being formed and grow in height, while the older islands are changing their form through the process of erosion.

The biological isolation of the Galapagos, combined with its volcanic formations and warm and cold currents, have led to an outstanding variety of habitats and species. Each island has a different set of unique species due to both isolation by the sea and variations in the island age and topography. The diversity of life forms in Galapagos is truly and evolutionary wonder.

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Because of the unique location of the Galapagos - centered on the convergence of several major Pacific Ocean currents - both cold-water and tropical communities thrive here. Marine diversity depends on oceanic currents. The cold humbolt current contributes its waters to the south Equatorial current, which bathes Galapagos with nutrient-rich waters, enabling the growth of the particular marine life of the island.

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Warmer waters brought by the Panama current, which is fed by the North Equatorial countercurrent, provide an ideal environment for the development of tropical marine ecosystems.

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From the west, the Cromwell or Equatorial, Undercurrent, upon meeting the Galapagos platform, upwells, especially on the coasts of Fernandina and western Isabela, bringing deep waters that are rich in nutrients to the surface. Cold-water species, such as the flightless cormorant and Galapagos penguin, live in areas influenced by the Cromwell Undercurrent.

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The Archipelago has a varying climate, marked by a scarcity of rain. The majority of the islands are arid, though there is lush vegetation growing in the highlands of the larger islands. Galapagos lies at the meeting place of winds and ocean currents coming from the north and south. These determine the climate of Galapagos and the distribution and abundance of its species.

There are a lot of photos on this one but you will understand why. I want to show as much of these amazing island and the wildlife to you, just incase you don´t make it.

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I met up with Gal, at some very unsocial hour, to catch the plane to the Galapagos. It was the end of the season so everything was a little cheaper. When we got to the Island of Santa Cruz it was amazing. I feel in love with the place after about 5 minutes of being there. On the bus ride to the centre the driver stopped, got out and gentley encouraged a large iguanan, sleeping on the middle of the road, to move. It is clear that the people of the Galapagos treasure what they have.

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When we got to the centre we met up with Dan and Brian and wasted no time in making the most of our week in the Galapagos. We booked in to Hotel España, owned by Esther and her friend Roberta. Extrodinary women who made our trip even more enjoyable. They helped us to organise individual island trips, as opposed to an expensive cruise.

Santa Cruz Island where we started our trip.

Brian, Dan, Sara and Gal at Los Gemelos. An amazing geological formation.

The Gemelos (twins) are a pair of craters approximately 30 meters deep located on either side of the road to Baltra. The holes could be created because of a volcanic explosion or because of magma chambers inside earth.

El Chato Tortoise Reserve, a place to observe giant tortoises in the wild.

These creatures were amazing, some of them over 100 years old. I have some great video but can´t seem to upload it at the moment.

Two very rare species of tortoise and Dan and a Gal!

Lava tunnels - When lava flows the outer part of the stream gets cold and hardens, but the liquid magma within continues flowing. When it ceased empty tubes are left behind.

The tunnels were dark and damp and seemed to go on for ever.

Until we got to this point. The guide had really just thrown us down the tunnel, we could have done with a tourch and some knee pads. Brian, getting ready to spiderman through this very small, muddy, gap.

Pelecans fighting for the scraps at the fish market. They also had to se off a greedy sealion.

Ecuabolly - similar to Volleyball but very very different! The rules seemed to be you can catch the ball and then through it, over the 9ft net. Serve with one hand and use as little style as possible. This did´t put the boys off, Dan, Brian and Gal decided to challenge the locals. Entry fee 20USD per person, the stakes were high and they were playing against a 60 year old, a guy with one leg shorter than the other and another guy that didn´t look like to much to worry about. Even with my cheers they were beaten, but not before a good fight. Dinner that night was cheap, 2USD chicken, rice and beans, again!

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The highlight for me was to go diving. Gal and i booked up to go to Gordon Rocks, one of the most popular dives. The main reason for diving in this area is to see schools of Hammerhead sharks.

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It was a full moon so the water was stirred up and the visibility wasn´t great, which was dissapointing. Anyone thinking about doing these dives should be aware that it is difficult. The currents are strong, which is why the sharks hang out here, and there are lots of sharp rocks that you can be easily thrown into.

Just to give you an idea of how rough it was, and this was a good day!

Scalloped hammerhead shark. We saw one school at Gordon Rocks. It was enough to get the adrenalin flowing.

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We took a break for lunch and went into a shelttered area. We had the option to go snorkelling, with SEALIONS; BRILLIANT!!!

They were so playful and came very very close.

Extremely cheeky!

But lots of fun.

Elegant and beautiful

This little monkey bit my camera flash diffuser.

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The next day we signed up for another dive at North Seymour. Slightly better visability and a lot more to see.

Nudibrancs, lots and lots of them, normally quite hard to see. There was no coral here, just rock, so it was eay to spot the smaller weirder creatures.

Lots and lots of giant star fish

Southern Stingray

There were two sealions chasing a white tip shark. One of them bit the shark on the tail.

Lunch break and more sealions lazing on the beach.

After lunch more amazing marine life. Galapagos shark.

Starsfish

More sealions swimming around us, playing and having a nosey.

Barracuda

White tip reef shark

There were so many turtles gracefully swimming around

Another hammerhead.

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We only did four dives. It was expensive but really worth it.

We explored more of Santa cruise. A nice walk out to Las Grietas. On the way we saw lots of birds, cactus and lizards.

King Fisher

Dan launching himself into Las Grietas. pectacular saltwater grottoes with high lava walls where Fresh water fliters from the highlands and it mixes with the salt water filtered from the sea between the rocks, turning into brackish water (semi-salty)

The Charles Darwin Centre. A young scientist travelled the world, on a voyage that would revolutionize science. Charles Darwin, on board the Beagle, left England on an expedition that lasted five years. For FitzRoy, the captain, Galapagos represented merely one more stop on his voyage, but for Darwin is was much more. Here he began to formulate a coherent idea about the evolution of species. In his words, ´hence, both in space and time, we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact - that mystery of mysteries - the first appearance of new beings on this earth´. It was not until years later he explained evolution, but Galapagos was always the source for his intuition.

Note the difference between the wild tortoise and this tortoise in the captivity programme. I personally thought they looked depressed. One of the main reasons for the programme is to continue breeding whilst the irradicate the threats to the species. The things that threaten the species were all brought to the islands by man. Cats, rats, and other animls dig up and eat the eggs. Goats and other vegetarian animals eat the vegetation needed by the tortoise to survive. Onces these major threats have been removed from the islands they will start to reintroduce them back to the wild.

Lonesome George - The end of the line. Many of the endangered populations of Galapagos tortoises have been brought back from the edge of extinction through varous breeding programs but some, like the Pinta Island Tortoise, face a precarious future. George, the last tortoise found on Pinta Island, is a sad reminder of the results of thoughless exploitation by humans.

The search was on to find any females on Pinta Island and amoung other captive tortoises in the world in the hope of finding a mate for George. They found two girls close to his genetic relations but he would not breed. They thought about cloning but this would be expensive and likely to fail.

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SO, in the end the used good old turtle viagra and three lucky ladies are expecting their eggs to hatch any time now. Very very exciting, Go George! No wonder he looks knackered.

Money Laundering, although illegal it is necesary when you forget to empty your pockets before jumping into the sea - Brian!

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Time for another Island, Bartolomé

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We had to get up at 4.30am for this trip. We were a few days at Hotel España and Esther and Roberta had realy taken to Brian and Dan. Breakfast was not included but these ladies went out of their way and got up at 4.00am to make breakfast empanadas, fried tortillas stuffed with egg bacon and cheese. I was very happy with this arrangement as i got to benefit to!

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A small rugged island off the eastern shore of Santiago, Bartolome lies opposite Sulivan Bay . The area of Sulivan Bay, a cascade of lava, punctuated at water's edge with fine white sand, was formed by the flow from a nearby shield volcano that erupted or the turn of this century. (The present Sulivan Bay was not in existence when James Sulivan, from whom the bay takes its name, visited the Galapagos as second lieutenant aboard HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin.) Together, Bartolome and Sulivan Bay evoke a lunar landscape of cones and craters in varying shades of deep chocolate and light brown, black, and gray.The guardian point of Pinnacle Rock on Bartolome, the worn away remnant of a cone composed of spewed ashy particles, is one of the best known landmarks in the archipelago.

It has two breathtaking beaches where marine turtles exist and at the base of the pinnacle, is a very small colony of Galapagos penguins.

A frigate bird. They hovered above the boat for most of the way.

I don´t think i will ever get bored of the sealions! These four were so playful, fighting and chasing each other.

Great shot over the island.

Lava cactus

Snorkelling around the island

Taking it easy

Galapagos penguin. I was so deperate to see one and today was our lucky day.

Up close and slightly nervous, Dan and Brian.

Whilst i was snorkelling, and on my way back to shore, there was a comotion. Blue footed boobies cirlcling above and diving into the water about 3 feet away. I looked down to see thousands of little silver fish using my shadow as sheltter. Then came the pengiuns, the poor fish got it from all angles. It was incredble to be in the centre of it.

You can´t see the feet, but you will shortly, of this blue footed boobie just surfaced after catching a fish, getting ready to go for another. They dropped out of the sky diving into the water at an incredible speed. Again i have a great video and will try and upload it soon.

Leaving Bartolomé with the Ecuadorian flag flying.
Back on Santa Cruz we went to Tortuga Bay. It is considered to be as one of the most beautiful beaches in Galapagos.

Tortuga bay is also a favorite place for sea turtles (which gave the name to the beach), sea lions, marine iguanas, pelicans, flamingos and lava gulls which are endemic to the Islands and are commonly found along the shore of most beaches.

We also got up close with the Blue Footed Boobie bird.

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Next Stop Island Isabela - the ride out to the island was probably one of the most horrendous boat rides i have ever taken. All four of us sat there not really knowing if we were gong to survive and then Dan piped up with ´do you ever get that feeling when things are so bad that it´s funny´green in the face i said no, there really was nothing funny about it. Five minutes later i can´t stop laughing. It was true, things got so bad all i could do was laugh.

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Isabela Island is by far the biggest island of the Galapagos—bigger than all the other islands combined. It is about 75 miles long and 50 mile at its widest. The total land area is 1771 square miles—bigger than Rhode Island. It is comprised five major volcanoes, of which two are still active. These mountains were probably separate at one time and then fused in to a single mass. The most recent eruption was Cerro Azul in 1999. So the island is still rising, and Wolf Volcano is the highest point in the islands—an elevation of 5,600 feet.

We went to another tortoise breeding centre where they had a different type of tortoise. Table top.

Tortoises seek out dry places with enough earth to dog a nest with the right temperature for incubating their eggs. With great effort the dig a hole using their hind feet and deposit between 6 and 14 eggs. They then urinate and defecate to moisten the ground and cover their eggs, they then abandon the nest.

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The newbourns must scrape away the hardened earth of the nest for about 30 days before they reach the surface. This goes more quickly when many sibblings cooperate. The newborns have nothing to eat or drink while inside the nest, but they survive thanks to food reserves inside their bodies.

Slightly dissapointed we only saw one flamingo, and i am sure that its feet were tied with a rock!

At the top of Sierra Negro. Sierra Negra is in the west side of the Galapagos Islands archipelago. Located in the southern part of Isabela Island between the volcanoes Alcedo and Cerro Azul.

Sierra Negra's caldera at 6 miles x 5 miles is the largest in the Galapagos Islands and the second largest in the world after Ngoro Ngoro.

Looking down to the lake
Lots of really cool cactus

Dan in a lava tunnel

Looking down into the deep crater of one of the surrounding volcanos

Back to the water and we went to see where the sharks hang out. Sharks rest a lot and here, if you look closely, you will see about ten white tip reef sharks sleeping.
I got seriously barked at for getting to close, not a smart move!
This little one had just pulled homself up the beach and was getting ready for a nap.

There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of iguanas. The females were al huddled up on one side of the beach and the males were huddles up on the other side of the beach.

Final Island for me, the capital San Cristobal.

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San Cristobal, also known as Chatham, is the easternmost island in the Galápagos. It is the site of the only permanent stream in the archipelago and is also where Darwin first went ashore in 1835. San Cristobal is also the site of the oldest surviving settlement in the Galapagos, El Progresso, established in 1869. The island is made up of two coalesced volcanoes. The southwestern half is a symmetric shield volcano made up of gently-dipping lavas and capped by a thick, deeply-weathered pyroclastic blanket and numerous satellite cinder cones.

I went to the Interpretation Center. Here you can learn about both the geological and human history of the islands, conservation issues, and natural history.

The sealions here run the place. It was funny to watch. This small baby was barking at it´s Mum. It wanted food, she clearly could´t be bothered so the baby bit her, she bit him back. It was like watching a stropy teenager trying to get it´s own way. Mum caved in the end.

Getting ready for bed, the beach was full of sealions tucking themselves in for the night. The next morning i got up to watch the sun rise. The sealions were waking, some going for a swim, a spot of breakfast, babies feeding. It was a really special moment as i at there with my coffee watching these incredible animals interact.

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It has taken me a while to get this posted but i hope you have enjoyed it. I would recommend everyone to go, and if you need someone to go with i would love to go back.

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Next stop Peru and Machu Picchu

Bye for now

Sara

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Footnote for travellers.

I wanted to get this out there because we were told that it was difficult to do it independantly, it really wasn´t. I met so many people that were put off from going because of tour costs.

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Here is a list of some of the costs to give you an idea. There were last minute cruises advertised all over the place from 900USD to 1500USD and more. These were week long cruises. You still needed to buy your flight, pay tips to the crew and have a night accm before and possibley after the cruise. We spoke to a number of people that had done the tours and they did no more than we did. In fact many people had said that the wished they has done it independantly.

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We went at the beginning of September, which is close to the end of season.

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Flight from Quitto - USD 380

Flight from Guayaquil - USD 310

Met two girls who waited for a stand-by USD 180 (our flight was empty so this is always an option if you have time)

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There is lots of Hostel accomodation on Santa Cruz from USD 10 upwards. Hotel España was very central they organised all of our tours and it was USD 12 per night.

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Diving - There are good and bad shops, so be careful. We paid USD 130 for Gordon Rocks and USD 140 for North Seymour. This included a very nice lunch, free t-shirt and photo disk. Some other shops were asking USD 160-180 for the same dives, they were more reputable so you need to make a choice.

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All the tours were great and good value.

Bartolomé - USD 90 lunch included

Isobela - USD 120 three day two night guided tour incl food, accm and transport.

Floreana - USD 70 day tour incl food, snorkelling

San Cristobal - USD 20 for the boat over there lots of cheap accm.

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The islands are homes for the locals so there are lots of local and cheap places to eat.

Hope this helps anyone searching for cheap trips to the Galapagos.