Galapagos

Apr 18-19, 2018: Travel 

Bill and I took a redeye from Honolulu to San Francisco, and then traveled onward to Houston and finally to Quito, Ecuador.  All three plane rides had an unusual amount of turbulence and we got very little sleep.  We arrived in Quito close to midnight, crashed at the nearest hotel, and woke up at 6:30am to make our way back to the airport. By the time we arrived in the Galapagos, I was not only sleep-deprived but also sick with a cold which lasted for the entirety of our vacation.

Not feeling ready for this 8 day cruise

Aug 20, 2018: Santa Cruz Island

Our small yacht was named The Golondrina and was occupied by ourselves, 14 other tourists from the USA and Europe, a tour guide, and 6 crew members.  The first stop was Las Bachas Beach off of Santa Cruz Island.  Compared to the other islands, sightseeing was scarcer but we did see one brown pelican, one marine iguana, one flamingo, and dozens of Sally Lightfoot crabs – not bad for a first day.  We also got an introduction to sand flies, which made several unwelcome appearances throughout our trip.  Those things hurt when they bite.

Brown Pelican

Sally Lightfoot Crab

We quickly became acquainted with life on a boat.  Each morning and afternoon, we were taken from The Golondrina to guided snorkeling and/or walking destinations via 2 small dinghy boats.  We were served three delicious meals a day in a common dining area on the yacht.  Most of our inter-island travel was done at night, during which time we needed to stay in our cabins.  Our cabin was equipped with a bunk bed, a few shelves, and a small bathroom.

Bill waving next to sea lions, from one of the small boats we used to get to/from the islands

Our cabin.  This picture pretty much summarizes what I did during downtime: napping and ukulele.

Apr 21, 2018: Genovesa

The Golondrina crossed the equator both on the way to and on the way from the island Genovesa, which Bill and I referred to as "bird island."  Our day started by ascending a short steep staircase called Prince Phillips Steps.  At the top of the stairs, we were immediately rewarded with numerous large colorful birds: great frigates, Nazca boobies, and red-footed boobies.  As we walked around the island, we also saw a short-eared owl, a mockingbird, a few long-tailed birds that are simply called “tropical birds,” Galapagos gulls, and hundreds of stormy petrels.

The great frigate males blow up their red gular pouches to attract females during mating season. 

Male and female frigate birds look very different from each other (female on left, male on right).

A Nazca booby with its baby.  The Nazca booby mother lays two eggs, and whichever one hatches first kills its sibling.  Talk about survival of the fittest.

Red-footed boobies.  This was the only island where we saw these.  I love their blue beaks.

Galapagos gulls had creepy red rims around their eyes

The first snorkeling attempt was a bust; it was the only day where there were so many waves that visibility was too poor to see much.  In the afternoon, we walked around Darwin Bay on the other side of Genovesa.  There were many birds again, as well as a handful of sea lions.  Sea lions make lots of sounds, which sound eerily close to humans screaming, grunting, burping, and vomiting... if humans were able to do those things cutely.  We had the option to go snorkeling a second time, but decided to hang out on the beach with sea lions instead since the water was cold and the visibility still wasn’t great.

Hanging out with a Nazca Booby

Hanging out with a sea lion

Music time with the captain

Apr 22, 2018: Bartolome / Santiago Island 

Our next stop was Bartolome, a volcanic islet off of Santiago Island.  We took a walk to a beautiful view, though there wasn't much wildlife to see other than lava lizards.  Afterwards we went snorkeling, which by contrast was rich with sea creatures and served as some of the best snorkeling of the whole trip.  My favorite sightings were an octopus and a school of 10 eagle rays.

View of Bartolome from the boat

Hiking on Bartolome

Lava Lizard

Following a short ride to Santiago Island, we walked on the lava fields of Sullivan Bay.  We snorkeled directly from the beach, which was just as incredible as the snorkeling from earlier that day. I saw my first whitetip shark, as well as my only penguin and my only hammerhead of the trip.  Back on The Golondrina, we watched manta rays flipping out of the water.

Walking on lava at Sullivan Bay

Sunset from The Golondrina

Apr 23, 2018: South Plaza / Santa Fe

Our next island was South Plaza, which was home to more marine iguanas and hybrid iguanas than we could count.  There were several colonies of sea lions playing in the waters off the shore, and we saw a nearly-newborn sea lion pup.  As we walked around the island, we reached cliffs looming over the water, where we spotted our first blue-footed boobies.  We also saw a cactus finch, a tropical bird, and a few baby Galapagos gulls.  It was very hot, to the point that one of our fellow tourists became overheated and had to leave the hike early.

Marine Iguana - like from Planet Earth II!

Hybrid Iguana:  their fathers are marine iguanas and their mothers are land iguanas    

Teeny tiny sea lion baby!

Our first blue-footed boobies!  They were just as silly-looking as I hoped they'd be.

Baby Galapagos Gull

A finch - just like from the classic teachings about Darwin!

Next, we made our way to Santa Fe island.  From our dinghy boats, we saw dolphins, sea turtles, and manta rays swimming around us in the water. The beach of Santa Fe was covered in over a hundred sea lions.  We took another hot, exposed hike, where we saw endemic land iguanas, a Galapagos dove, and a painted locust.

A sea lion nursing

Sea lions are so darn cute

Bill walking among sea lions

So many sea lions lining the beach!

Hiking on Santa Fe - very hot and dry

Land Iguana

Painted Locust

Apr 24, 2018: San Cristobal

It was an early start to the day with snorkeling at 6am.  The water was very cold and there were lots of jellyfish, so Bill and I were glad we rented a wetsuit that day.  Somehow I still managed to get stung on the lips by a jellyfish - boo.  We swam with a sea lion and several whitetip sharks.  I saw my first bioluminescent plankton, which glowed bright blue.

After a quick breakfast we headed back out to Cerro Brujo, a beach on the island San Cristobal that was home to sea lions, marine iguanas, and little birds with long red beaks called oystercatchers.  We swam at the beach and then took a short ride through sea caves on our dinghy boats.

Cerro Brujo

The marine iguanas on this island were bigger than the ones we had encountered before

A pelican outside of a sea cave

In the afternoon, we went walking on the small islet Isla Lobos, where we saw blue-footed boobies doing mating dances and sitting on eggs!  We also saw lava gulls, a yellow warbler, great frigates, and lava lizards.  Then we went snorkeling with a couple playful baby sea lions.  Our tour guide was pulled over by the park authorities and we speculate we got ticketed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

Blue footed boobie couple with their egg

More Great Frigates

In San Cristobal, we visited a town for the first time.  Most everyone else went drinking, but I still had a cold and on top of that, I was actually feeling motion sick from walking around on dry land.  I didn’t even know that’s something that can happen, but I guess I had become accustomed to being on water.  Bill and I mistakenly thought we were supposed to eat in town and had a bland overpriced dinner, followed by a delicious free dinner once we got back on the boat. 

Sea lion sleeping on the San Cristobal sign

Apr 25, 2018: Espanola

Espanola was our favorite island.  We took a walk on Suarez Point, which had several beautiful ocean views and an astonishing number of animals everywhere we looked.  Some of the animals we had seen elsewhere: brown pelicans, lava lizards, mockingbirds, Nazca boobies, and sea lions.  Other animals were new to us: Christmas marine iguanas, waved albatross, and the Galapagos hawk.  There was also an incredible blowhole that created rainbows each time it sprayed water. 

Brown pelican

Christmas iguanas: nicknamed for their bright red and green colors.  This picture shows off the red...

And this picture shows off the green.

Mockingbirds sometimes feed on mites and ticks that they pick off of an iguana's skin.

Waved albatross.  Their wingspan is 7.2-8.2 feet.

Nazca booby with a rainbow created by the blowhole

I was hoping to see Christmas iguanas swimming at our snorkeling spot, but they stubbornly stayed on the rocks next to the ocean.  Not all was lost, as there were still abundant beautiful fish to view, as well as several sea lions that literally swam in circles around us. 

We spent a leisurely afternoon walking and swimming at Gardner Bay, my favorite of the beaches. Christmas marine iguanas and manta rays swam in the water, sea lions rested on the sand, and oystercatchers scurried along the ocean shore.

Marine iguana swimming!

Two nursing sea lion pups

Oystercatchers

Apr 26, 2018: Floreana / Santa Cruz

There was a blacktip shark and a whitetip shark swimming around our yacht when we awakened.  We ventured out on another early snorkeling trip at 6am, this time around a rock formation called Devil’s Crown.  It had the densest sealife of any of our snorkel spots, with hundreds of fish, as well as several sea turtles and whitetip sharks.  I liked swimming while it was still a little dark outside, so I could see bioluminescent plankton glowing blue again.

Shark swimming around the yacht

Next, we had a brief visit on the island Floreana.  It paled in comparison to the other islands, though it did have an "green" sand beach (which was more brown in color), a couple distant flamingos, and a few blue-footed boobies.

Two flamingos

A good chunk of the day was spent cruising to Santa Cruz island.  Along the way, we saw dolphins swimming alongside the yacht and jumping out of the water.  At Santa Cruz, we visited the Charles Darwin Station which had a giant land tortoise breeding program and a few land iguanas.  During our free time, we joined our fellow tourists at a bar (though I was still sick so I avoided drinking).

Watching dolphins from the yacht

A sea lion taking over a bench in Santa Cruz

Me wtih giant land tortoises

Apr 27, 2018: North Seymour

Our last outing in the Galapagos was on North Seymour.  It was so early that the sun was just starting to rise as we took our last walk among blue-footed boobies, great frigates, land iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, and sea lions.  Then we hastily packed our bags and made our way to the airport to fly back to Quito.

Sunrise

Land iguana

Our last wildlife walk: Bill, me, and a sea lion

It was evening by the time we arrived at our hotel in Quito.  We ate dinner at Tandana, a vegan restaurant with a beautiful view that served by far our best meal of the trip: hot chocolate, bruschetta, vegetable curry, and pesto risotto.  After a week in a cabin that was literally smaller than our master bathroom at home, it felt like pure luxury to take a long Jacuzzi bath and settle into a queen bed.

Apr 28, 2018: Quito

We had just one day to spend in Quito, and the early morning rain made it easy to sleep in guilt-free.  Bill eventually went for a run while I did nothing.  Eventually, we made our way to the old town area.  Quito is a UNESCO world heritage site and boasts having the best-preserved historic centre in Latin America.  We took a walking tour that took us to the market and to several plazas and churches.  The tour guide told us an almost-uncomfortable amount of juicy history and politics that had even me interested.  We ate lots of good food in Quito, most notably different kinds of passionfruit, ceviche, and chocolate.

A church in old town Quito

Eating passionfruit shaped like a banana at the market.  What?!

We met up with Joy, a girl I met 9 years ago while doing a medical mission in Honduras.  Joy cooked us dinner and then she and I played ukulele with her roommate, before Bill and I headed to the airport for our long journey home.  It was a nice way to end the trip.

Joy, me, and Joy's roomie