Monday, January 24, 2005
Galapagos
The Galapagos Islands are incredible. We have just spent a week on the Angelito which carries 16 passengers and 8 crew. The 14 in the group were very congenial 7 Swiss, 1 other American, 3 English and a German all of whom were extensive travelers, good fun and thoroughly enjoying life. The cook performed miracles in a tiny galley and we ate family style on some fairly exotic fruits, fish and vegetables.
Angelito Dinghy
Efraim, our guide, has 18 years experience leading the tours and a great command of English so not only could spot the wildlife but could give fascinating information as well. The animals on the Galapagos are totally unafraid and the greatest danger is inadvertantly treading on them. There are two records of unnatural deaths of Iguanas - a sea lion rolled over and squashed one and a cactus fell on another.
We were lucky enough to have two birdists on the tour, who very patiently identified the variety of birds each time we asked. It must have taken hours of preparation to differentiate between the many finches - they spotted at least 9 of the 13 varieties. My favorite birds were the Boobies - the Blue-footed jobs have this mating dance where they lift their blue feet high and boogie, followed by pointing their beaks skywards. I was wearing blue tackies and had the odd inappropriate advance.
Blue-footed Boobie
The masked Boobies build a nest by picking up pebbles and arranging them in a sort of circle and then rearranging them endlessly. The Frigate birds were amazing too. The male has an inflatable red pouch which blows up to nearly his size and is evidently very attractive to the female judging by how she rubs against it. Easily spotted from on high to lure her down.
Frigate bird
Sea lions
All the islands are heavily populated by sea lions. They appear to sleep for 23 hours a day (often right where you are trying to land) but when awake are playful and love to gambol in the surf. They are not as graceful on the land but are a source of many laughs. The main male keeps guard over his harem and the pups. Periodically a young male tries to take over and when soundly beaten retires to the bachelor rocks for a couple of weeks to heal. The pups sound very like small lambs when they are calling for mum at nursing time.
In all we visited North Seymour, Sombrero Chino, Bartolome, Santiago, Genovesa (after an all nighter in choppier waters than I expected) Santiago, Rabida, Santa Cruz, Espanola, Santa Fe and South Plaza Islands. We got very good at dinghy landings some of which are "dry" and some of which are "wet". Pieter, the Swiss teacher, was the hero of the tour for manfully staying in the dinghy while a huge wave stood it upright a couple of times.
Land Iguana
We saw a few Marine Iguanas but never one launching itself into the sea. I was glad to have known Young Bill´s Iggy so was not expecting a great deal of action and could get very excited when they moved at all. The males stand bobbing their heads as a come-on for the females. It takes a long time to warm up in the sun after a feeding stint on the algae underwater. It was very dry on South Plaza and some of the Land Iguanas had climbed the prickly pears as they were starving while waiting for a leaf to fall. My biggest disappointment was, there do not seem to be enough predators to control the crab population. I hate crabs. These Sally Lightfoot Crabs can trip across short stretches of water so I never felt safe. Fortunately they are bright orange and easily spotted.
On the last morning we went out in the dinghies at 0600 and paddled up an inlet and were lucky enough to see Green Sea Turtles mating plus a few Rays. Bill snorkeled a few times and by all accounts the fish are brightly colored, the sea urchins prolific and there were close encounters with sharks, which Efraim assured us were too small to do harm. I enjoyed wallowing in the surf but do not do well underwater.
LS
Angelito Dinghy
Efraim, our guide, has 18 years experience leading the tours and a great command of English so not only could spot the wildlife but could give fascinating information as well. The animals on the Galapagos are totally unafraid and the greatest danger is inadvertantly treading on them. There are two records of unnatural deaths of Iguanas - a sea lion rolled over and squashed one and a cactus fell on another.
We were lucky enough to have two birdists on the tour, who very patiently identified the variety of birds each time we asked. It must have taken hours of preparation to differentiate between the many finches - they spotted at least 9 of the 13 varieties. My favorite birds were the Boobies - the Blue-footed jobs have this mating dance where they lift their blue feet high and boogie, followed by pointing their beaks skywards. I was wearing blue tackies and had the odd inappropriate advance.
Blue-footed Boobie
The masked Boobies build a nest by picking up pebbles and arranging them in a sort of circle and then rearranging them endlessly. The Frigate birds were amazing too. The male has an inflatable red pouch which blows up to nearly his size and is evidently very attractive to the female judging by how she rubs against it. Easily spotted from on high to lure her down.
Frigate bird
Sea lions
All the islands are heavily populated by sea lions. They appear to sleep for 23 hours a day (often right where you are trying to land) but when awake are playful and love to gambol in the surf. They are not as graceful on the land but are a source of many laughs. The main male keeps guard over his harem and the pups. Periodically a young male tries to take over and when soundly beaten retires to the bachelor rocks for a couple of weeks to heal. The pups sound very like small lambs when they are calling for mum at nursing time.
In all we visited North Seymour, Sombrero Chino, Bartolome, Santiago, Genovesa (after an all nighter in choppier waters than I expected) Santiago, Rabida, Santa Cruz, Espanola, Santa Fe and South Plaza Islands. We got very good at dinghy landings some of which are "dry" and some of which are "wet". Pieter, the Swiss teacher, was the hero of the tour for manfully staying in the dinghy while a huge wave stood it upright a couple of times.
Land Iguana
We saw a few Marine Iguanas but never one launching itself into the sea. I was glad to have known Young Bill´s Iggy so was not expecting a great deal of action and could get very excited when they moved at all. The males stand bobbing their heads as a come-on for the females. It takes a long time to warm up in the sun after a feeding stint on the algae underwater. It was very dry on South Plaza and some of the Land Iguanas had climbed the prickly pears as they were starving while waiting for a leaf to fall. My biggest disappointment was, there do not seem to be enough predators to control the crab population. I hate crabs. These Sally Lightfoot Crabs can trip across short stretches of water so I never felt safe. Fortunately they are bright orange and easily spotted.
On the last morning we went out in the dinghies at 0600 and paddled up an inlet and were lucky enough to see Green Sea Turtles mating plus a few Rays. Bill snorkeled a few times and by all accounts the fish are brightly colored, the sea urchins prolific and there were close encounters with sharks, which Efraim assured us were too small to do harm. I enjoyed wallowing in the surf but do not do well underwater.
LS
# posted by Bill and Lynne @ 2:25 AM 
