galapagos retrospective
Jun. 13th, 2008 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaeclecticWhile in the Galapagos, I didn't have computer access to encourage my usual long rambling journal entries. So instead I took brief cryptic notes on a small pad of paper, mainly to help me remember what happened which day on what island. I hereby reproduce these in all their incoherent glory, with a little added explication.
Galapagos day 1 (31 May)
frigate birds above the ship
South Plaza
land iguanas ~yellow
(one hybrid under tree)
occasional marine iguanas (black)
swallow-tailed gull (incl. juvenile) (red eyes)
sea lions
yellow warbler
masked nazca boobie (distant)
This was the day we flew from the mainland in the AM, so there was only one walk (unlike the other days which usually had three or four activities).
I think this is also the day that I lost my lunch over the side of the boat, although somehow I did not see fit to make a note of this. Thankfully, other passengers were well-stocked with seasickness medicine which they were willing to share.
day 2 (1 June)
Genovesa (Tower)
caldera
red-footed boobies
(AM in mangrove - no batteries in camera!)
frigate birds nesting
nazca boobies
PM on clifftop
in between:
snorkle (sandy)
kayak along cliff
The island of Genovesa (AKA Tower) is basically a crescent shape that is what remains above water of a huge volcano. The bay where the ships anchor is the caldera. It's pretty spectacular, but very hard to take a picture of.
This is one of the islands that is not on most itineraries, and that was on my list as a "must see".
All the islands, BTW, tend to have at least two names: One from the original Spanish explorers, another from the British pirates, and sometimes a third from more recent Ecuadorian politics.
The red-footed boobies, in addition to their striking red feet, have very beautiful pastel beaks. I was very sad that I had neglected to recharge my camera battery, and therefore missed some great close-ups in the mangroves. We did, however, see more of them in the afternoon with camera recharged.
Frigate birds are weird and wonderful, not to mention decidedly piratical - they attack other birds in flight and steal their food and nesting material. The male frigate birds have these red pouches under their thoats that they inflate to impress the girls -- the males make a rudimentary nest and sit there inflating their pouches and spreading their wings, while the females fly around overhead and pick who they want to mate with. Nice system, huh?
The other noteworthy fact about frigate birds: there are two types, and rather than being known as Greater and Lesser as would be common, they are known as Great and Magnificent.
This first snorkle was not that impressive - the water was clouded with sand, so visibility was mediocre. Which is a good place to start, because it got better from there. Of course, I just love being in the water, so I enjoyed it anyway.
day 3 (2 June)
AM
Isabela
blue-footed boobies
penguins!
flightless cormorants
(snorkling photos
starfish penguins)
PM
Fernandina
marine iguanas galore
We saw a few blue-footed boobies here, but many more later in the week.
Somehow I had missed or forgotten the fact that there are penguins in the Galapagos. We saw a large flock of them swimming around (from the zodiac) and then later saw a couple underwater (while snorkling). I may or may not have succeeded in getting a picture of underwater penguins, as I was using a disposable underwater camera and didn't figure out until a couple of days later how to see through the viewfinder while wearing a snorkle mask -- so I was just kind of holding out the camera and clicking. Plus, penguins under water move really fast :)
Flightless cormorants are just a little weird looking, almost creepy. They don't seem to miss flying, since they are such great swimmers, but those stubby little wings just seem wrong.
Marine iguanas are also mildly creepy, especially en masse, which is their usual mode -- piled on top of one another in huge numbers. One of the other people on the tour was really and truly squicked, which made it hard for her, since almost all of the islands have marine iguanas.
Fun fact: marine iguanas are social, land iguanas are solitary and territorial. This fits with their respective environments because the marine iguanas pile on one another for warmth after being in the chilly water, whereas the land iguanas go into little holes to hide from the sun and stay cool.
day 4 (3 June)
AM
Santiago
lava rock,
heron, fur seals, turtle
snorkle: swim with turtle!
PM
another snorkle, then
other side of santiago
(octopus, more penguins)
then
Bartolome
steps up, moon landscape, sunset
Swimming with the sea turtle was unquestionably one of the highlights of the trip, perhaps even my single favorite moment. We were using a "buddy system" for snorkling, and I kept getting paired up with different people, but this time I was paired with Hayley, one of the guides. She saw the turtle first, I didn't see it right away but I just followed her and then spotted it. After a few seconds we got away from the mass of other snorklers and just swam along with this turtle, who was moving along steadily and calmly (at about the pace that I can swim with flippers). We followed him for several minutes, then he stopped, looked at us for a couple of seconds, and then slowly dove down and away. It is hard to convey how this felt, a sense of peace and calm and otherness and a definite sense of intelligence and spirit.
The view from Bartolome is spectacular, two almost circular bays with a hill in between. Fun fact: part of the film Master and Commander was filmed on Bartolome (for any who remember the movie well, note that there are, in fact, no flightless cormorants there).
day 5 (4 June)
AM early
North Seymour
blue-footed boobies dancing!
juvenile frigate birds,
magnificent frigate birds (female blue eye)
(closeup: green sheen = great)
AM -> PM
Santa Cruz (on the bus)
twin craters (sink holes)
lava tube - doug & hayley & I
tortoise shell, then tortoises,
then research center =
many more tortoises
shopping / somewhat internet access
in puerto ayarta
This day started with an extra-early (before breakfast) stop at North Seymour island, which is where we saw a large number of blue-footed boobies. They were doing their mating dance, which is very entertaining to watch (I did get one video of it later in the week, at this point I hadn't gotten that far in exploring my new camera).
After breakfast, we then went to Santa Cruz and took a bus tour from one side of the island to the other. This is the island where most of the human population of the Galapagos resides, and Puerto Ayarta is a substantial town.
This day was the first (but not last) sighting of giant tortoises, including babies at the research center.
When my pictures are online, be sure to check for the ones of me in the tortoise shell. Very silly.
The lava tube was not really anything all that special (she says blithely, having seen interesting lava formations before in Iceland and Hawai'i), but was made special by the fact that out of 17 people on the tour (2 guides and 15 passengers, not counting the bus driver) only 3 of us bothered to go all the way through. This involved getting a bit muddy, as one short section of the tube was only a couple of feet high.
day 6 (5 June)
Floreana
AM walk
green sand
flamingos, beautiful white sand beach
snorkle @ champion island
another turtle
mobs of fish!
sea lions!
afternoon:
post office bay
"bus" ride
hike in highlands, more tortoises
(you can hear them breathing)
dinner on island
The flamingos were not out in force, but we saw a few. I think the most interesting part was looking down at the lake and being able to see the trails of stirred up mud showing the paths where they'd walked.
This day's snorkle was truly amazing. I have never seen so many fish, and beautiful ones at that. I think this was the day that I figured out how to use the underwater camera, so hopefully I'll have at least a couple of snapshots.
Sea lions came and swam with us while we were snorkling. They like playing with people who will dive under water with them. Myself, I just hover at the surface, but one came up to me twice and barked -- I swear it was intentionally startling me.
Post Office Bay is a weird little Galapagos tradition. Early settlers set up a barrel there that was used as a mail drop off -- ships heading away from the home would leave letters to be picked up and delivered by ships going the other way. This has evolved to a present-day custom of people leaving postcards (with no postage on them) to be delivered by other tourists. Part of the fun is seeing how long it takes for the postcard to arrive -- the record is something like 14 years. I didn't find any postcards for the SF bay area, but I picked up one to deliver in Cypress in September -- that should be interesting :) And I left two, one for my sister and her kids, and another for my old friend Jenny who collects postcards.
While hiking in the highlands, we stopped at a place where some previously caged tortoises are now maintained in a very nice open-air enclosure. This was somewhat similar to seeing them on Santa Cruz, except that at the research center there were mobs of tourists crowding around and jabbering. Here, there were only the (less than) 17 of us, and you could sit quietly and watch a tortoise eat or walk or just sit there.
day 7 (6 June)
Española
AM sea lions en masse
(cheeky mockingbirds)
snorkle then kayak
water dripping in sea cave
after every tidal surge
PM albatross dancing!
blowhole
some difficulty w/ panga,
others fare far worse
no one wants to say goodnight
drinks, a movie,
a dolphin in bioluminescence
There had been sea lions on every island (including Baltra where the airport is) but this day we were on a beach with many, many, many sea lions.
This was the only day of the trip when I actually felt like I got a reasonable amount of exercise. The walking or hiking was always very short, and with a very high ratio of stopping to moving -- since of course there were many things to see, and be informed about, and take pictures of. But this day after snorkling we swam back to the boat, which was far enough to feel like something, and then I went kayaking which was also significant exertion.
It says something about me, I think, that I was the only one of 15 passengers who did absolutely every activity offered (walks, snorkling, kayaking). I just didn't want to miss anything, and I wasn't there to rest, I was there to do stuff!
The albatross dance is quite amazing. I did get some pretty good video, stay tuned for linkies.
When we went ashore in the evening, the seas were a little rough. When it was time to go back, the tide was even higher, and the landing area had waves breaking over it. We saw the panga (zodiac) from another ship almost capsize while people were scrambling on. However, our crew had enough sense to go a bit further down the beach. We had to scramble over some rocks to get there, but were all able to get on without mishap.
This was the last day before heading back to the mainland, and we were all in that mode of wanting to stretch the day out. I had a couple of cocktails and a couple of glasses of wine and then realized it would be wise to stop. Some people went upstairs to continue heavy drinking, and a handful of us stayed downstairs and watched part of a movie (note to self: add The Big Blue to netflix list, because after watching that much of it I might as well see the end). Then, one of the crew members rushed in saying "dolphin! dolphin!" -- so we rushed outside, and saw a dolphin swimming in the bow wave, outlined in bioluminescence. An amazing and breathtaking sight, and a suitable cap to the day and the week.
Galapagos day 1 (31 May)
frigate birds above the ship
South Plaza
land iguanas ~yellow
(one hybrid under tree)
occasional marine iguanas (black)
swallow-tailed gull (incl. juvenile) (red eyes)
sea lions
yellow warbler
This was the day we flew from the mainland in the AM, so there was only one walk (unlike the other days which usually had three or four activities).
I think this is also the day that I lost my lunch over the side of the boat, although somehow I did not see fit to make a note of this. Thankfully, other passengers were well-stocked with seasickness medicine which they were willing to share.
day 2 (1 June)
Genovesa (Tower)
caldera
red-footed boobies
(AM in mangrove - no batteries in camera!)
frigate birds nesting
nazca boobies
PM on clifftop
in between:
snorkle (sandy)
kayak along cliff
The island of Genovesa (AKA Tower) is basically a crescent shape that is what remains above water of a huge volcano. The bay where the ships anchor is the caldera. It's pretty spectacular, but very hard to take a picture of.
This is one of the islands that is not on most itineraries, and that was on my list as a "must see".
All the islands, BTW, tend to have at least two names: One from the original Spanish explorers, another from the British pirates, and sometimes a third from more recent Ecuadorian politics.
The red-footed boobies, in addition to their striking red feet, have very beautiful pastel beaks. I was very sad that I had neglected to recharge my camera battery, and therefore missed some great close-ups in the mangroves. We did, however, see more of them in the afternoon with camera recharged.
Frigate birds are weird and wonderful, not to mention decidedly piratical - they attack other birds in flight and steal their food and nesting material. The male frigate birds have these red pouches under their thoats that they inflate to impress the girls -- the males make a rudimentary nest and sit there inflating their pouches and spreading their wings, while the females fly around overhead and pick who they want to mate with. Nice system, huh?
The other noteworthy fact about frigate birds: there are two types, and rather than being known as Greater and Lesser as would be common, they are known as Great and Magnificent.
This first snorkle was not that impressive - the water was clouded with sand, so visibility was mediocre. Which is a good place to start, because it got better from there. Of course, I just love being in the water, so I enjoyed it anyway.
day 3 (2 June)
AM
Isabela
blue-footed boobies
penguins!
flightless cormorants
(snorkling photos
starfish penguins)
PM
Fernandina
marine iguanas galore
We saw a few blue-footed boobies here, but many more later in the week.
Somehow I had missed or forgotten the fact that there are penguins in the Galapagos. We saw a large flock of them swimming around (from the zodiac) and then later saw a couple underwater (while snorkling). I may or may not have succeeded in getting a picture of underwater penguins, as I was using a disposable underwater camera and didn't figure out until a couple of days later how to see through the viewfinder while wearing a snorkle mask -- so I was just kind of holding out the camera and clicking. Plus, penguins under water move really fast :)
Flightless cormorants are just a little weird looking, almost creepy. They don't seem to miss flying, since they are such great swimmers, but those stubby little wings just seem wrong.
Marine iguanas are also mildly creepy, especially en masse, which is their usual mode -- piled on top of one another in huge numbers. One of the other people on the tour was really and truly squicked, which made it hard for her, since almost all of the islands have marine iguanas.
Fun fact: marine iguanas are social, land iguanas are solitary and territorial. This fits with their respective environments because the marine iguanas pile on one another for warmth after being in the chilly water, whereas the land iguanas go into little holes to hide from the sun and stay cool.
day 4 (3 June)
AM
Santiago
lava rock,
heron, fur seals, turtle
snorkle: swim with turtle!
PM
another snorkle, then
other side of santiago
(octopus, more penguins)
then
Bartolome
steps up, moon landscape, sunset
Swimming with the sea turtle was unquestionably one of the highlights of the trip, perhaps even my single favorite moment. We were using a "buddy system" for snorkling, and I kept getting paired up with different people, but this time I was paired with Hayley, one of the guides. She saw the turtle first, I didn't see it right away but I just followed her and then spotted it. After a few seconds we got away from the mass of other snorklers and just swam along with this turtle, who was moving along steadily and calmly (at about the pace that I can swim with flippers). We followed him for several minutes, then he stopped, looked at us for a couple of seconds, and then slowly dove down and away. It is hard to convey how this felt, a sense of peace and calm and otherness and a definite sense of intelligence and spirit.
The view from Bartolome is spectacular, two almost circular bays with a hill in between. Fun fact: part of the film Master and Commander was filmed on Bartolome (for any who remember the movie well, note that there are, in fact, no flightless cormorants there).
day 5 (4 June)
AM early
North Seymour
blue-footed boobies dancing!
juvenile frigate birds,
magnificent frigate birds (female blue eye)
(closeup: green sheen = great)
AM -> PM
Santa Cruz (on the bus)
twin craters (sink holes)
lava tube - doug & hayley & I
tortoise shell, then tortoises,
then research center =
many more tortoises
shopping / somewhat internet access
in puerto ayarta
This day started with an extra-early (before breakfast) stop at North Seymour island, which is where we saw a large number of blue-footed boobies. They were doing their mating dance, which is very entertaining to watch (I did get one video of it later in the week, at this point I hadn't gotten that far in exploring my new camera).
After breakfast, we then went to Santa Cruz and took a bus tour from one side of the island to the other. This is the island where most of the human population of the Galapagos resides, and Puerto Ayarta is a substantial town.
This day was the first (but not last) sighting of giant tortoises, including babies at the research center.
When my pictures are online, be sure to check for the ones of me in the tortoise shell. Very silly.
The lava tube was not really anything all that special (she says blithely, having seen interesting lava formations before in Iceland and Hawai'i), but was made special by the fact that out of 17 people on the tour (2 guides and 15 passengers, not counting the bus driver) only 3 of us bothered to go all the way through. This involved getting a bit muddy, as one short section of the tube was only a couple of feet high.
day 6 (5 June)
Floreana
AM walk
green sand
flamingos, beautiful white sand beach
snorkle @ champion island
another turtle
mobs of fish!
sea lions!
afternoon:
post office bay
"bus" ride
hike in highlands, more tortoises
(you can hear them breathing)
dinner on island
The flamingos were not out in force, but we saw a few. I think the most interesting part was looking down at the lake and being able to see the trails of stirred up mud showing the paths where they'd walked.
This day's snorkle was truly amazing. I have never seen so many fish, and beautiful ones at that. I think this was the day that I figured out how to use the underwater camera, so hopefully I'll have at least a couple of snapshots.
Sea lions came and swam with us while we were snorkling. They like playing with people who will dive under water with them. Myself, I just hover at the surface, but one came up to me twice and barked -- I swear it was intentionally startling me.
Post Office Bay is a weird little Galapagos tradition. Early settlers set up a barrel there that was used as a mail drop off -- ships heading away from the home would leave letters to be picked up and delivered by ships going the other way. This has evolved to a present-day custom of people leaving postcards (with no postage on them) to be delivered by other tourists. Part of the fun is seeing how long it takes for the postcard to arrive -- the record is something like 14 years. I didn't find any postcards for the SF bay area, but I picked up one to deliver in Cypress in September -- that should be interesting :) And I left two, one for my sister and her kids, and another for my old friend Jenny who collects postcards.
While hiking in the highlands, we stopped at a place where some previously caged tortoises are now maintained in a very nice open-air enclosure. This was somewhat similar to seeing them on Santa Cruz, except that at the research center there were mobs of tourists crowding around and jabbering. Here, there were only the (less than) 17 of us, and you could sit quietly and watch a tortoise eat or walk or just sit there.
day 7 (6 June)
Española
AM sea lions en masse
(cheeky mockingbirds)
snorkle then kayak
water dripping in sea cave
after every tidal surge
PM albatross dancing!
blowhole
some difficulty w/ panga,
others fare far worse
no one wants to say goodnight
drinks, a movie,
a dolphin in bioluminescence
There had been sea lions on every island (including Baltra where the airport is) but this day we were on a beach with many, many, many sea lions.
This was the only day of the trip when I actually felt like I got a reasonable amount of exercise. The walking or hiking was always very short, and with a very high ratio of stopping to moving -- since of course there were many things to see, and be informed about, and take pictures of. But this day after snorkling we swam back to the boat, which was far enough to feel like something, and then I went kayaking which was also significant exertion.
It says something about me, I think, that I was the only one of 15 passengers who did absolutely every activity offered (walks, snorkling, kayaking). I just didn't want to miss anything, and I wasn't there to rest, I was there to do stuff!
The albatross dance is quite amazing. I did get some pretty good video, stay tuned for linkies.
When we went ashore in the evening, the seas were a little rough. When it was time to go back, the tide was even higher, and the landing area had waves breaking over it. We saw the panga (zodiac) from another ship almost capsize while people were scrambling on. However, our crew had enough sense to go a bit further down the beach. We had to scramble over some rocks to get there, but were all able to get on without mishap.
This was the last day before heading back to the mainland, and we were all in that mode of wanting to stretch the day out. I had a couple of cocktails and a couple of glasses of wine and then realized it would be wise to stop. Some people went upstairs to continue heavy drinking, and a handful of us stayed downstairs and watched part of a movie (note to self: add The Big Blue to netflix list, because after watching that much of it I might as well see the end). Then, one of the crew members rushed in saying "dolphin! dolphin!" -- so we rushed outside, and saw a dolphin swimming in the bow wave, outlined in bioluminescence. An amazing and breathtaking sight, and a suitable cap to the day and the week.