Oh the vagaries of airport wifi! I was just posting today when the wifi crashed; result upload error and post irretrievably lost! I could cry. Oh well here we go again, although I apologise in advance as I expect it’s not as eloquent, with a smorgasbord of photos!
Early breakfast over, life jackets donned, we crossed to Santa Fe island, to visit promised sea lions. I don’t think I will ever tire of watching them snooze, waddle or frolick in the shallows. Landing in the surf amidst the colony, a Galapagos hawk was observing us from on high. Vicious raptors they are polyandry, each female mating with 5 to 7 males who rear the chicks for her together never knowing who’s offspring they really are. They eat anything including baby sea lions!
You’d be forgiven for thinking the island had been ravaged by fire; no just volcanic rock and trees in stasis! Huge opuntia cacti dominated, unique to Santa Fe. Their trunks smooth to deter land iguanas .Rounding the corner as we climbed, we spotted grey stripy male lava lizards, then following nearby tracks a wrinkly juvenile land iguana; about 15 or 16 years old.
I plucked up the courage to ask again about the currents surrounding the islands; stones rocks and arrows drawn in the dirt, explaintion almost ready… drama struck. One of the party feinted. Amazing response. Help radioed, cooling towels administered, crew arrived with chairs, boards and first aid. She was whisked away on the zodiacs, escorted back to the boat and treatment. She recovered quickly.
Feeling guilty the rest of us carried on, of course that morning I failed to bring electrolytes. The dusty trail now busy with tourists, more opuntia, iguanas, lava lizards even a pelican; not forgetting the cheeky sea lions nestled on the warm rocks under the giant opuntia! Lovely views.
Back on board ship we shimmied into wetsuits, finally no roving zips or stuck feet. Returning to Barington bay we passed through a school of Tintorerías, white tipped black fins. Tintorerías? What dry cleaners? No sharks named after the uniform the cleaners wear.
Well that clinched it, I opted to kayak. Bliss paddling solo following turtles, watching the birds, laughing at baby sea lions play, getting yelled at by alpha sea lion males! Simon joined me after his last snorkel. Apparently I missed the best! Clearest water coluouredv fish, even sea lions; I beg to differ.
Showering whilst sailing at speed proved tricky, much more enjoyable was lounging on the top deck rolling with the swells. Two hours later anchoring off Santa Cruz, lunch over, the zodiacs ferried us to Puente Ayor docks to the awaiting minibus. Strange to be driving through a proper town with paved roads! Santa Cruz is a populated large, lush,verdant volcanic island. The high lands full of farms with various crops cattle and … giant tortoises! Yep all the boulders are actually tortoise shells. Cattle and tortoises coexisting, the field boundaries lined with spaces between the trees and barbed fencing higher than usual to allow the tortoises free reign.
We turned off the highway to Chato ranch, in conjunction with the park service now a reserve for the ancient giant tortoises. Donning wellies we toured the reserve, watching as they so slowly put one foot forward, inching along, munched on grass savouring every mouthful and wallowed; - who needs bug repellent and sunscreen when you’ve got goopy mud! Photos Steve requested to be taken with respect.
Returning to Puente Ayor free to roam ourselves we bought a t-shirt and wandered through the food fair, spying Miss Galapagos, hearing an election speech but missing the dancing. Our ride back was rather choppy, I hope our cases survive the journey tomorrow.
Back for our final evening briefing, fond farewell and thank you both to and from the crew. They really did spoil us! The evening culminated with a BBQ on the deck upstairs overlooking the harbour.
Party over, with orders to breakfast at 6am including packed bags stashed outside our cabins, we drifted off. An unexpected joy has been sharing the company of so many people from different places; Israel, Germany, Australia, USA, Galápagos Islands and the UK. Everyone made the cruise such fun.
Santa Fe island sea lion colony Barrington Bay
(Galapagos hawk; landscape volcanic rock Palo santo incense trees; opuntia cacti, large & small unique to Santa Fe; lava lizard male.)
Santa Fe island land iguana trail Barrington Bay
(Giant opuntia cacti trees; land iguanas the former 15-16 years the latter older; male lava lizard; crew to the rescue! )
(View out towards bay where we kayaked/sorkelled to left of island; more iguanas, sea lions, pelicans, lava lizards, giant opatia trees)
Kayaking of Santa Fe Barrington Bay
(kayakers plus sea lions)
Simon snorkelling off Santa Fe Barringyon bay
(Simon; fish; sea lion)
Chato Ranch Giant Tortoise reserve on Santa Cruz
(Route; Chato Ranch signs; Giant tortoises, the one with me 100+ years old; not so empty tortoise shell; cattle farm plus tortoises!)
Puente Ayor town Santa Cruz
(Map; Tsunami warning buoy; docks; streets; Miss Galopadas; View of town from boat as the sun set)
Farewell, Adiós; Goodbye & Thank you
(Cruise manager; Crew and park guide; Guests)
Last lessons learned! I was a bit inattentive n unfortunately.
Land iguanas:
Unique to Santa Fe these land iguanas are camouflaged to their environment, following the sun with their noses as they bask. They est mainly plants, climb trees and even can swim using their tails but not dive.
They moult pieces of skin. Females lay eggs in large holes 4-6ft long 2ft deep, covering them up. Hatching after two months, rapidly growing, if they survive predators (snakes and hawks) for a further two months life spans of over 90 years are common.
Giant Tortoises:
Most of the larger tortoises we saw were ~100+ years old, with smooth weather beaten well worn shells. Thee oldest in the reserve are about 200+ years old. Made of keratin, their shells continue to grow until they die, have nerves and they can feel touch. Eating a grass diet these land turtles or tortoises evolved to have a domed shell shape with elephantine feet.
Video to follow if technology back home allows.
We stayed at Treasure of Galapagos catamaran boarded at San Cristóbal Ecuador
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