Galapagos Islands Part 2

We lined up early on the dock in San Cristobal Island to take the 7 AM water taxi to Puerto Ayora.  What a ride!!!!!  The water taxi was overly packed with people.  Luckily Kevin and I bought our tickets yesterday.  Even more lucky we got a part of the bench under a cover, because little did we know how choppy it would be and the passengers outside where hammered with early morning salt water!

For 2 hours we banged through the high waves, passengers were sick (we were not).  Every wave knocked all of us on top of each other.  Kevin, who was sitting to my left, didn't mind because I'd end up on him.  However, I wasn't keen about the much larger lady to my right landing on both of us!! It was actually quite comical.

The taxi eventually arrived Puerto Ayora, where it was calm and beautiful again.  We have very little luggage, so we just walked into town to where the organizers of our boat asked us to meet.  We are about 2 hours early, and the cafe actually had internet.. woo hoo!  So we used our time well while waiting.  Until the power went out for the entire island.  Then we just enjoyed a bit of shopping... and for one of us, an early midday beer!

We expected the other passengers in our group to meet at the same place. But two of the boat crew came into the restaurant, asked if we are Kevin and Sherri (that's us!) and asked us to come with them.  Hmmm.. maybe everyone else is already on the boat then??

 This is the first view of our new home for the next few days... Wow!!!

We get off the dinghy expecting to see the other passengers in the lounge, and there is nobody!  The boat is so beautiful!! We start running around, exploring and taking pictures of everything like two kids who just moved into a new house!!

Kevin and I both keep saying, "Can you believe this??!!"  I have honestly never seen or been on a boat so beautiful in my life.  And I have been on a lot of boats!  We feel like we have won the lottery as we keep exploring.

I asked Kevin, "Is it possible they got us wrong?  Did we answer to the crew of a different super VIP Luxury boat?

Nope, they have our name and want to show us to our cabin now.  Holy _____, we are loving this and get to live here for 6 whole days.. woo hoo!!

Compared to our horrible experience on the Independence from Panama, I think we actually did just win the lottery...

We get to our cabin, and it's just as beautiful.  Kevin has now gone beyond excited and reached super goofy excited.  We have been riding and living together 24/7 for a while now.  We have stayed in some absolute dives, and we have stayed in some amazing places along the way.  But I honestly have never seen him so happy and goofy like he is now.

I remember taking this picture because I am in shock listening to him.. He keeps talking and carrying on like I've never known before.  I can even see my expression in this photo says, "Who is this guy???" ;-)

The cabin is so awesome, we wonder then if they got us wrong again!  Well seriously, we would have been the last to book this boat, and at 50% discount, we expected the worst cabin, Or to be down below, in the engine room or dungeon.  But instead, we've got this large cabin and private bathroom with marble, glass and gorgeous wood.

Right about now, while we are unpacking, Kevin asks me where his new camera is (he's been taking photos with his old one).  I don't know, I haven't seen you with it for a while though.  We rummage through every bag and every drawer, even though we don't have much with us.  It's definitely not here.   I asked him to think about the last time he saw it.  In the restaurant?  No...  You know what!  He was shopping for a waterproof bag for it and realized he set it down to look at the bag, bought the bag, but hasn't seen the camera since!

Luckily the other passengers have not arrived.  The boat carries 16, so we are expecting 14 more people and every single one of them is on the same flight from mainland Ecuador to Baltra Airport.  Then they have to be taxied from the far north to us in the south port and are running very late.  The crew agree to take us back to shore by dinghy to go (hopefully) find his camera!

Whew!  The lady in the shop had his camera safely tucked away, thank goodness!!  Lucky boy..

Kevin saw this as an opportunity to stock up on a bit more beer and wine, as we anticipate it will be much cheaper to buy in the shops rather than on board.

Once we got back to the boat, the others have arrived and we meet our naturalist guide who lives on the boat as well.  He gives us all a briefing of what to expect each day.  This being day 1, he actually has a little excursion planned for us before we sail.

Back into the dinghy once again. We are going to the local part of Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station, where we get our first educated look with a guide of what they are doing to protect this amazing part of the world.

Literally one of the first things we learn about is this toxic tree, Manzanillo.  They want to teach you up front so to be aware not only here, but on the other islands.  If you touch the bark or a leaf, it could cause itching and burning of your skin.  If you eat the fruit of this tree, which looks like apple (manzana), it can be fatal to humans.  Gee whiz!!  Got it.. Stay away from the Manzanillo tree.....!  I'm wondering if it's more of a scare tactic to keep the tourists obeying the rules from the beginning.. ha!

Next up we get to see something extra special.  This is Lonesome George, the most famous tortoise in the Galapagos.  He is the last living tortoise of his kind and when he dies, will be officially extinct.  The scientists have tried many times to get George to mate with no luck.

OMG... I just looked up on the internet to verify what subspecies of tortoise is Lonesome George (the Pinta Island Tortoise) and I see that he died on June 24, 2012.  Although his exact age is unknown, he was believed to be around 100 years old.

That is really sad and I am thinking about how lucky (or unlucky) I am to be amongst the last to see a species before it's extinct.  This in itself is incredible, but even more sad because the reason for the extinction is because they were hunted to death before the Galapagos were protected. Wow, I still can't believe I just found out he's gone.  Best get back to what else we see and learn.. ;-(

Ooooh, man.  Big yellow!!  I think this iguana looks like it's wearing those rubber kitchen cleaning gloves with that saggy skin. 

Our naturalist guide tells us about the next tortoises we see.  I find it hard to see the difference, but like any twins you first meet, they look identical!  However, once you get to know them, it's usually easy to distinguish the difference. (I'm not there yet..)

There are heaps of tortoises here, but I like this one because it lays on the ground like my dog used to do at home... ;-)

That was cool.  It was great to meet the others and get this party started!  After taking the dinghy back to the boat, we finally get to sail.

Kevin brings out the wine from our cabin and we enjoy a gorgeous Galapagos sunset before dinner. It turned out neither Kevin or I paid attention at our first briefing, because the crew was looking all over the boat for us.  Every passenger was sitting down for dinner inside waiting for us!  I, personally, was really embarrassed.  I don't think Kevin was.. ;-)

See you in the morning! ;-))))

Galapagos Islands Part 1

Welcome to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador!!

I will have to say right up front that the Galapagos Islands has been one of the most AMAZING places on the planet I've ever been and so incredibly LUCKY to see. Making it in one or two blog posts will be impossible.  I imagine it will be divided into at least 4 different posts, if not more.  I am going to go absolutely crazy with far too many photos.  Between Kevin and I, we took thousands.  I'm going to whittle down as much as I can (which has been very hard), but I still know it's going to be photographic overload.  My logic and reasoning is that it may not be good to have a blog post this full of photos, however, I will want them here as my memories to look back on from years to come.  So whiz past them if they get to be too much.. and enjoy what you can!

This is a boring first photo on the island.. but let me explain.  We did get that stand-by flight I mentioned in the last post.. Thanks again Paul!!  And we have arrived the island of San Cristobal.  The airlines have only 2 islands they can land on, and it so happens the only seats we could get was to the smaller island that does NOT have our boat.  However, we've planned well and we can enjoy a whole day on this island and then take a water taxi to Baltra to meet the boat we've booked at 7 AM tomorrow morning.

So for that first photo?  I was so excited! It was my first spotting of seals or sea lions (not sure at this point) along the sidewalks and park benches in town near the airport!  The town is called Baquerizo Moreno.  I expected to start seeing wildlife tomorrow when we got onto our boat that takes us through the national park. But here they are today, right in town!  Did we really need to book that boat?  Well I hope so and think so.  Each boat comes with a Nature guide and we have hikes scheduled every day with him.



We are only in the Galapagos for what seems like milliseconds and experiencing so much already!!  This is so cool.

 

This sea lion on the bench was not thrilled we passed by a bit too close. So much like a dog, it made some sort of sea lion unhappy noises while it raised it's head.  (Hey, we're new here and need to learn the boundaries.. ! ;-)

There are only sea lions and no people on the beach here in town. It must be a protected zone, so we hung the cameras over the railing to check out the locals soaking up the sun.

OMG.. check out the teeny tiny baby!!! All by itself!!

I can't help but to talk to it and ask where it's mother is.. it was crying for her!

It was making me sad to hear it cry out, but a local tells me that it's normal.  Mom is out fishing, she'll be back soon... I hope! In the meantime, little baby was trying to chew on and get milk out of the black hose.. ;-(

Now he's  looking at me upside down.. too cute!

Kev, check out that bird! It's freakin' huge!!  What is it??

We came to learn it's called the Frigate Bird.. so it's frigate huge then!! ;-)))  sorry..

And along the beach rocks, check out these guys!!  

Everything is like a huge discovery for us.  We are like two little Darwins seeing the new world for the first time! And what else I just learned IS that San Cristobal was the first of the Galapagos Islands that Charles Darwin set foot on in 1835 as well!  We are following his footsteps and didn't even know it!  And by the looks of the local residents, I doubt they are any different to when Charles was discovering them that long ago.. super cool.

We found a wonderful small hostel on the edge of town and the owner gave us the Ecuadorian version of the penthouse suite three stories up. Ecuador is so cheap, so it's not like we are spending much, but we do feel a bit spoiled!

So a change from clothes to swimsuits, relax.. we made it! And soak up the atmosphere.

After a few moments of "Ahhh. this is great.."  The conversation quickly turned to.. "Wait, we are in the freakin' Galapagos, we can't stay here on the roof!"

The lady who owns the hostel suggested we walk down the street to Mann beach (Playa Mann).  Besides the beautiful beach, we can also visit the Charles Darwin Institute.

Once at the institute, Kevin realizes he didn't bring his good camera.  So I opted to hold the fort down on the beach. Maybe I can get a quick suntan while he's away (with pre-planned beer! ;-)  I just found this photo, so he must have snuck this shot in on his way back.. bugger! 

There are plenty of sea lions at this beach. Compared to the beach in town, this one has humans too!  I also remember thinking how cool it is that it's mostly local Ecuadorians here.  It's not the weekend, and although Galapagos Islands is a super touristy place, I wonder if the locals flew here from the mainland or if they live here? Many of them flew.  When I asked about it I learned that there is a local festival planned in a couple days, which is why the flights were sold out.

How fun it was to watch the kids play in the same space as the sea lions play!  Neither species seems to be fussed about or bothering the other!

Sometimes I think they are cute, and sometimes I think.. hmmm, they have big teeth..

All right, now that Kevin's back and before he gets too comfortable on the beach, he finishes his beer and we go check out the Charles Darwin Institute.  I'm surprised they have not renamed these islands, the Charles Darwin Islands.  I'm glad they didn't, Galapagos is such a fun word.  If you don't know who he is, Charles was a biologist from England who arrived the Galapagos in 1835 while on a 5 year voyage around the world.  "His studies of specimens around the globe led him to formulate his theory of evolution and his views on the process of natural selection. In 1859, he published On the Origin of the Species."

After Kevin and I learned a brief history about the islands and species inside the building, we followed a path that took us on stroll through nature out the back.

Close to the institute I found this little lizard holding a piece of paper.  I was laughing so hard! Is it like a message in a bottle?  I took that paper away from the little guy.. I felt so bad!  But I felt like Darwin would not want these local species carrying around modern trash.  There was nothing important written inside, the paper had been torn off of something bigger. Oh well, I was quite excited it might have instructions to a secret treasure!

Not long after we found another good looking lizard. They do these little quick push-ups to warn you off. Very cute.

I loved the look of the lighthouse and I was walking ahead to take photos.  Then I sort of realized that all those rocks are not just rocks!  There are iguanas in there and lots of them!  I can not tell you how long both of us walked along these rocks before noticing.  Once I did, I was snapping away, and Kevin kept saying, "Good spotting Sherri!"  This was so exciting.

They blend in far too well!

I see you.............

I was worried this little guy had his flipper stuck between the rocks.  Kevin told me to leave it alone, if it's stuck, it's all part of the process of natural selection... ;-/ It seems that Kevin paid better attention in the institute than I did..

I'm trying to find a path through that won't cause me to step on a sea lion, iguana, crab or any other creature we have not yet discovered.

Talk about an intelligent Mom!  After I took the first photo, she covered her baby's face for privacy.. ha!  Good on ya!

We climbed the lighthouse, which was cool, but it was more fun on land with all the amazing animals. We went back down and found this super good looking guy.

Continuing our walk of discovery back toward the beer beach, where we spottod another super tiny baby.  After having a closer look, we found that pretty well all of these bushes along the sand are housing mammas and babies.

This one was sadly kicked out.  The Mom under the bush had a bigger baby nursing.  So it's either an older sibling?  or it's own Mom is out fishing and it was hungry enough to try to sneak milk from another sea lion.. cheeky!

It cried and cried and tried to figure out what we are. I wish I knew how to find it's Mom. Kevin is like, "What are you going to do about it?  Go and save every sea lion in the Galapagos?"  I know, I know.  It's hard to look at those big sad eyes, and listen without wanting to help.