Everyone succumbed to hysteria last night. The 5 hour sail to Floreana was absolutely fine, a bit rocky as the boat swayed, but fine! In search of very early coffee all I found was no machine and unhelpful stowaways! Too scared to venture upstairs I went back to the room! Enjoying the solitude I watched the moon on the sea; sadly beyond my photographic skills to capture the luminescence.
Finally coffee at breakfast with omedas (corn and cheese baked in corn leaves), a tasty cake.
Meeting for the Zodiac ride around Baroness bay, we discovered you could swim. A quick dash back to don our swimsuits and we were off! This was also the site of the famous unique postal service.
First a tour of the rocky islets, revealed the blue footed boobies; they really do have bright turquoise legs and feet! We also saw two turtles; my many attempts at photography resembled the Loch Ness monster, probably just as well as they were mating! I don't blame them for diving away. Regaling us with a tall tale from mid 20th century (in my lifetime) of intrigue, whaling legacy, murder and mystery surrounding a love triangle between German immigrants followed. It's now immortalised in print and film; The Baroness.
Next stop the post office. A tricky vault out of the boat; phone still dry we walked the 200m or so to the post box; a barrel! We dutifully sifted through the cards to choose any from our home countries. Lots of US visitors, very few British, however we did collect a few to pass on. Too cold and busy to swim we sauntered up and down the beach; volcanic sand this time. We watched a young sea lion play with his food for ages, tossing and catching his fish then diving and frolicking before repeating the ritual; just like a puppy.
Back in the boat, then a quick change for snorkelling in the same place. Cold before we started, even the salt water pre-shower didn't help! Yep I was first to succumb again, no feeling in my digits! I almost needed rescuing but I got the cramp under control and even managed to swap dinghy's! I did however see many fish, shoals, nursery sharks and a big fish I don't want to think about ... shark? The highlight was landing in a scene from finding Nemo, with a large turtle feeding on algae amongst shoals of king angel fish and other pretty ones, whilst a huge rainbow fish patrolled!
A shot of hot chocolate, dip in the hot tub with a wonderful 360 panoramic view of Floreana, hot shower and I had my shivering under control! Simon joined me on the blustery observation deck to gen up on fish when bell rang for lunch. I recommend Ecuadorean tacos and peach panacotta.
It seemed even colder shimmying back into soggy wetsuit for the second snorkel on Champian island, a small rocky volcanic cone. We must have travelled during lunch! Very different looking down on the volcanic shelf teeming with shoals of fish, I caught sight of nemo, a sea lion and lots of different fish. Really interesting to see the geology, anemones and coral formations. Cold again, I opted to ride early watching as a flock of red-billed tropic birds, white with a long feathered tail, boobies and gulls swooped and soared, baby sea lions frollicked in the shallows; as much to amuse above as below. The snorkel finished in a secret pirate cove!
Super speedy sip of caliente caliente, (a cinnamon drink I'd missed previously) hot tub dip and shower found us back in the zodiac for another wet landing at an olvine beach at Punte Comorant. Pausing en route we saw a Golapagus penguin, no cormorants though! The zodiac captains are very skilful. The path ahead looked like it was strewn with rat poison. It was! The islands suffer from rat overpopulation, introduced unintentionally by shipping; the only predator ... us!. A helicopter we'd seen earlier wasn't dumping water but poison!
Seeing a line of buoys, in a lagoon saddled between dead tree lined volcanic cones, more control I thought as walked through yet more dead trees. So the buoys were pink flamingos, pink from eating the beta carotene in shrimp, and the trees (Palo santo incense trees) are in stasis kept alive by the moss and lichen until it rains! They bloom about 2weeks after rain apparently; the wood is that burned in church.
The path culminated at a beautiful bay with turtles and stingrays in the shallows; hence no swimming! We spotted yellow warblers dancing, and pelicans and boobies diving for fish; they hovered banked and then jackknifed down.
Mass confusion over the times for briefings and dinner! So I elected to change first. Correct call, as was, having my free glass of wine. The late evening 5hr crossing was fine, just rolling with the swell. We did enjoy a spot of star gazing from the top deck before retiring to bed. Not sure any of us found the southern cross. We did spot a shark though between the twin hulls! Too tired to blog I'll have to catch up tomorrow!
Early morning fruitless coffee hunt.
(Intruders! & sunrise from both sides of boat)
Zodiac Baroness bay trip
(Marine iguanas, lava cactii, Floreanas volcanic cones)
(Mating turtles; park ranger patrol; blue footed boobies)
Baroness bay beach landing at the historic post box at Post office bay
(Post box; Barobees bay; hermit crab)
Snorkelling off Baroness bay
(Fish; hot tub; Baroness bay)
Snorkelling off Champion island
Hike to Punta Cormorant on Floreana island
(Champion island; Rare sighting Galapagos penguin, Blue footed booby)
(Palo Santo incense tree; volcanic rock; volcanic cone; turtle holes; crab holes)
(Turtle; Pelican taking off; Sting ray beach; Champion island; Yellow warbler; sting ray the black blob, flamingos; sea lion)
So, new facts for today:
Whaling life was tough, lonely and dangerous!
British whaling ships would spend years at sea, hunting whales to turn into valuable oil. In 1793 they left a wooden whiskey barrel on Floreana island. The system was simple: any passing sailor could leave a letter there, but he also had to check if there was any mail that he might be able to deliver himself when he returned home. Los gringos eschew modern communication and follow this ancient tradition today... so at some distant point in the future dad and our offspring may get a post card!
Correction Espanola is not volcanic, but formed as the plates bulged, with coral and shell based sand. Floreana however is a true active, currently dormant volcano, with many volcanic cones and volcanic sand. It does have water inland, along with fertile soil so sustains a small population of Galapogasians since 19th century.
Also we missed the albatross - a large spec of a bird yesterday! Tortoises are extinct on Floreana as they were all eaten; pirates capitalising on their ability to last for a year without food, captured them to sustain their long voyages!
The Galapagos tortoise evolved its long neck, saddle backed shell and large legs so it could reach the succulent leaves in the cacti of the species we saw, whilst on Santa Cruz they are smaller and fatter with a domed shell, thriving in the grassy higher slopes inland; Darwin's theory of evolution in action.
We saw lava cacti in the morning a 2-300 years old plant species. The aromatic oil from the sap of the Palo Santo incense tree can reduce bleeding and a few drops in water cure headaches.
Something about unique currents flows bringing the nutrients desired for marine iguanas; it was definitely full of plankton and small floating plants. Confused!
Eliot stone petrol are the birds that land on water appearing to walk!
Flamingos typically lay 1 egg in a matted nest on the ground, tended by both parents until it's ready to fly.
The baronesses true story:
German doctor Friedrich Ritter and his partner Dore Strauch came to the island seeking solace from life in Germany. The couple wanted to farm the land and live in peace while leaving the modern world. Soon after a new family joined them on the island. Heinz and Margret Wittmer had heard about Floreana Island and decided to move from Germany as well. Whilst the two couples were hardly friendly, they did share a healthy respect for one other, and gave each other plenty of space. Life on Floreana was strained but harmonious. But this would all change with the arrival of the next settlers.
From Austria Baroness Eloise Wehrborn de Wagner-Bosquet arrived to the island to build a hotel on the site of a disused factory, a failed attempt at fish and whale processing in the early 20tj century. This quickly disrupted the peace that had been forged between the two other couples. She had two German lovers, Rudolf Lorenz & Robert Phillipson.
Tensions began to rise soon after when the German couples suspected that the Baroness was intercepting their missives back to Europe which were published in the papers. These missives were very popular in the press at the time, showcasing the exotic life that they led on their own desert island. The versions that the Galapagos Baroness sent were rewritten to make her exploits the center of the attention. Even worse she openly declared herself as Empress of Floreana island. Not surprisingly the original settlers were far from impressed by the overwhelming attitude of the new settler, and a rift soon formed between them.
Around the same time, life was not entirely rosy in the Baroness´ household. Lorenz was often mistreated by the Baroness and her other lover Phillipson, and would seek refuge with the Wittmer family. Rivalries and conflict were forming, and daily life on Floreana island had become increasingly unpleasant. But still, nobody could possibly have suspected what was to come next.
This is where the Galapagos affair story takes a sinister and mysterious turn.
On 27th March 1934, the Galapagos Baroness and her lover Phillipson completely disappeared without trace. According to Margaret Wittmer, the couple had set sail on a passing ship towards Tahiti, however, no such ship was ever recorded as having reached Galapagos shores.
Dore Strauch´s account is quite different, as she claims to have heard a long unmistakable scream, and then silence before the disappearance, and remembers no ships passing in the night. To this day no one knows of their fate except that the Baroness' belongings were found in her residence, but no traces of them.
Did the Baroness and Phillipson leave of their own accord? Why did they never reach Tahiti? Could the tension with the other settlers have ended in tragic consequences? Did the Baroness' other lover have something to do with their mysterious disappearance?
To add further to the mystery, the Baroness’ other lover, Lorenz, left Galapagos very soon after. Trying to return back to Germany, he hopped aboard a small passing boat headed towards San Cristobal Island. Incredibly neither he nor the Norwegian sailor ever made it to their destination. Months later their remains were found mummified on Marchena Island (far off course from San Cristobal) where they had perished from dehydration.
One final twist to the compelling story is that Friedrich Ritter also passed away very soon after from food poisoning. He had eaten chicken that had gone off, although many (including Margaret Wittmer) suspected Dore Strauch of deliberately poisoning him. Strauch returned to Germany soon afterward, writing about her exploits and later seeking treatment in a sanatorium.
So this left Heinz and Margret Wittmer as the sole survivors of the Galapagos Affair. They stayed on the island, gave birth to children there, and eventually would open up a hotel. The hotel has also long since now gone as well.
It has been suggested that the Baroness & Phillipson may have been murdered by her other spurned and mistreated lover Lorenz and that the Wittmer´s helped to cover the story up. Or perhaps was Strauch herself involved in some way? Why was Lorenz discovered washed up on Marchena Island, so far from his planned destination? And why did Ritter die so soon afterward, and under suspicious circumstances? Coincidences or something more sinister?
In truth, we are unlikely ever to know as Margaret Wittmer passed away in the year 2000 and was the last person who could feasibly have solved the incredible Galapagos Affair mystery. With no Galapagos crime inve to investigate it seems that the Galapagos affair will remain an unsolved mystery.
Video to follow if technology back home allows.
We stayed at Treasure of Galapagos catamaran boarded at San Cristóbal Ecuador
Comments