San Cristobal
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2011
1
255
289
Trip End
Sep 06, 2012
Where I stayed
Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Friday, August 3, 2012
The alarm clock went off at 5 am which was not appreciated but nevertheless we had to get up. We had to meet everyone at the tour operator office to pick up our snorkelling gear at 5.45 am and then head to the pier to get on the boat.
This time we were on a slightly bigger boat which you could sit inside and be sheltered from the spray. I thought it was going to be nice and comfortable and smooth. Little did we know that the sea was going to be even worse than yesterday. Oh my goodness, we were being thrown around everywhere. Some of the bumps were so hard, I thought I was going to be battered and bruised when I got off. Sometimes you would hit a wave so hard and high, by the time you came back down, the swell had dropped so you came crashing down. This happened for most of the 2 ½ hours we were out at sea. There was one poor little girl, who must have been all of about 3 was sick right next to me. I had to take a deep breath as the smell was horrible. I don't get sea sick at all, but the smell of someone else’s sick, or seeing someone be sick sets me off. I ended up moving to the other side by Mel and fell asleep. When I woke up Mel had gone. The reason for this was one, she felt sick and also the smell of fumes coming from the engines was wafting back into the boat. I’m glad I fell to sleep as I missed most of the horrendous journey.
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. There was a guy working on the boat who reminded me of Mr Stone. Yes Andy, I have found your doppelganger. Not only did he look like you, and work on a boat (from your navy days) he also had a stiff neck. There you go, you could be over here in the Galapagos working on the boats. You would love it!
When we finally arrived at San Cristobal, the sun had decided to come out for us. Yeay! We got off of the boat, which everyone was quite relieved about and then jumped straight into a bus to be taken to a nearby beach where we would be snorkelling. When we got to the beach, I was as happy as a kiddy in a sweet shop. The beach was teaming with sea lions. They were led around everywhere. We were allowed to go near them, but keep at least 1 metres distance and also not to touch, which is obviously a given (but some stupid people obviously try!) I led down next to one and just watched it for a while. They are so beautiful.
I wasn’t going to go snorkelling as I was fascinated by the sea lions, but I pulled myself away and got in. The section where we snorkelled was protected from the savage ocean by volcanic rocks which made a sort of protected inlet. I am so glad I got in as there were sea lions swimming around, but I got my first glimpse of a sea turtle. If it hadn’t been pointed out to me, I would not have seen it. It was sat at the bottom of the sea bed, which had to be no more than 2 metres deep, but it really did look like a rock. Wow, the Galapagos is the best place that I have visited on my whole trip and I want to live here! There were lots of fish swimming around and also a pelican that kept diving in to get his food. Around the shoreline were more marine iguanas, basking in the sunshine, building up their energy to go hunt for food later. We spent about 1 hour here before we had to head off for lunch, in the nearby port.
After lunch, we were back on the boat and making our way back to Santa Cruz. The first stop on the way back was to Kicker Rock. So many people were excited about this and I had no clue why. Kicker Rock is a huge rock in the middle of the ocean which drops down to about 35 metres. The reason why everyone was getting excited about this was that you can see a lot of sharks here. The guide explained to us that the ocean can be very rough here so only experienced and confident people should get in on the first drop off point where the sharks are normally found. The way he described it put the fear of god into most people. I was thinking about it and then decided against it as it was open water and extremely deep. Probably really cold too. The guide got in and about 2 people followed. The guy on the boat (who looked like Andy Stone) kept saying in Spanish that it would be okay so more people followed. I told Mel to go and get in form the both of us, which she did. When she got in she told me that the water wasn’t cold at all and the water was crystal clear. I still decided to stay on the boat until we went around to the other side where it was calmer. We watched the guys swim right up close to the rock and then through the small channel to the other side. I did eventually get in and I can honestly say the water was lovely. I thought that it being so deep it would be cold but I was pleasantly surprised.
I am so glad I got in because as soon as I did, Mel called me over and I looked down and saw the most graceful sea turtle swim past and dive down deep into the water. It was a beautiful moment. At that point, a sea lion joined us and wanted our attention. I think he was jealous that we were watching the turtle and not him. We played with him for a while before having to get back onto the boat. I wish I had got in first of all with the others as they saw a hammerhead shark and lots of white tip sharks. Gutted!!!
The last stop of the day was at Santa Fe Island for more snorkelling. The weather was getting a little chilly and I was getting cold again so I gave this one a miss. I’m glad I did really as everyone that got in, only stayed in for about 10 minutes as there wasn’t much to see and also because it was cold. Good decision made.
We had to endure the horrendous journey back. I say horrendous, I loved it. I think we got back to the port at around 6.30 pm and we headed straight back to the hostel as we were so tired. I have to say that this has been the best day by far, due to the animals I saw today. I never want to leave this place. Maybe I can marry a guide or someone here. I’ll keep an eye out. Well, Mel and I are hoping that we might find some single rich men here, but so far, not found anyone!
