Galapagos....... words cannot describe....
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2006
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128
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Trip End
Ongoing
Galapagos, Ecuador
Friday, August 4, 2006
We visited Baltra, Santa Cruz, Bartolome, Bachas and Seymour and Chinese Hat Islands.
After a 2 hour flight from Guayaquil we landed on Bantra island. We were greeted by our tour guide and taken by boat and bus to the Sulidae, our sailing ship for the next 4 days.....
Before reading on you need to know some Galapagos terminology - Wet landings are where you get out of the dingy and get wet and dry landings where you dont! Simple. Now that we have that out of the way.
Firstly let me tell you about the food! We must have had over 10 meals on this ship and ALL of them were brilliant. What made them all that nore special was the space the chef had to prepare it in! Check out the photo (when i post it tomorrow).
We had 12 people on board including myself and 5 crew members (one captian, one brilliant chef, a dingy boy, an engineer and a deckhand). The crew were all great and we had a good knowledgeable guide as well. It was not crowded in anyway with plenty of space to have your own time.
The first day we spent on Santa Cruz Island where we went to the Darwin Centre to see turtles and Iguanas in captivation. We also got to see lonesome George, the last tortise of his kind. :( Then after some shopping and seaside drinks we boarded The Sulidae (named after a flock of Blue Toed Boobie birds) an old Dutch Pirate ship over 105 years old, brought over to the Galapogos islands about 30 years ago. It is a beautiful old vessil with all th emodern conveniences you need. We had dinner some drinks and off to bed for a 7am start.
At 7am the bell rang to come to the table for a sensational breakfast. After breakfast we jumped aboard the dingly and went to Dragon Hill for a dry landing to see Marine Iguanas, Land Iguanas in their natural environemnt and well as birds and the vegetation. Back on Board the boat to sail to Chinese Hat for a wet landing to snorkel and to have my most memorable momenmt. I was snorkelling with the company of 2 sea lions, 10 tortises, 1 shark, 1 penguin and MANY tropical fish... ALL AT THE SAME TIME!... and on my own!!!! Trult memorable. Then back on board the boat before getting back in the dingy to go ahore agian for a dry landing to see Penguins and Sea Lions in their natural environments and the landscape. Seems like a busy day but a 7am start means the days are long, we had a ot of time to relax both on board and on the shore.
Once back on board we had dinner, drinks and a bit of stargazing before bed for another early start.
Day 2 we went to Sullivan Bay, the highlight of my trip........XXXX. After a wet landing we walked around some lava fields (see my picture)and then some snorkelling. In the afternoon we went to Bartolome Island for a wet landing to see Sharks beach where sharks swin metres from the shore, saw the Postcard Pinnacle rock (see my picture). The late in the afternoon we had another dry landing to see the landscape and moonscape where our guide joked that this is where thery filmed the landing on the moon!!! We climed the 383 steps to the top of the Volcano outlet for a spectacular view of the islands and an beautiful sunset (see my pictures). Then back on board for another brilliant meal, drinks and more star gazing.
Day 3 was spent at Bachas Island, meant to be called Barges beach but the Spanish couldnt pronounce it right so it became Bachas!! True. This is where old Barges floted and beached themselves to rust away. You can still see some parts of the Barges. The landing was on a stunning white beach where we atched Blue Toed Boobies having their breakfast (see pcitures for explanation) and also got to see 4 Flamingoes in a lagoon. The sadly we boarded Sulidae fo rthe last time to head back to Baltra to catch the flight back to Guayaquil...
An amazing (and expensive, USD$1000+) experience, i highly recommend.
Here is a list of all the animals, reptiles, mammals and fish we saw:
Penguins (see picture)
Sea Lions (see picture)
Sea Tortises (see picture)
Pelicans
Blue Toead Boobies (see picture)
Flamingoes
Marine Iguanas
Land Iguanas
Lava Lizards
Sea Iguanas (see picture)
Carpenter Bees
Blue Hering bird
Finches
Cacti
Mocking Birds
Yellow Warbler bird
Great Frigate bird
Sharks
Places visited:
Sharks Beach
Bachas Beach
White Sand Beach
Pinnacle Rock
Lava Fields
Lava Cacti
Moon Landscape
Snorkelling
Sullivan Bay
Bartolome island
Bactra Island
Even as i sit here typing i still feel as it i am on a rocking boat... i guess it will take time to adjust to land again....
HOT TIPS for travellers:
(1) Highly recommend the Sulidae sail boat. Brilliant. 4 days cost me USD$570 and the return flight to Guayaquil was USD$370 (i was overcharged on this by about $40).
(2) I recommend .... as an agent to book your tour.
(3) Do believe the Lonely Planet, 4 days is sufficient. You can´t see it all even with 5 or 8 days. And the repetition of sightings would become a bore in my opinion.
