At the origin of the species
Trip Start
Jun 09, 2010
1
23
Trip End
Aug 04, 2010
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The AeroGal flight brought me to the tiny St Christobal airport where I met the rest of the group of 16, which would be our diving team for the week. After a short bus ride we were at the lovely little port of Wreck Bay, ready to board the Deep Blue, which would be our home for the 7 days to come. Even from a look around the port you could feel the abundance of wildlife on the islands, with sea lions wandering around the town (!) and sea birds being everywhere in the sky.
The ship is new, the staff is very friendly and helpful, our naturalist guides and dive masters very very professional and, in general, the Deep Blue provides most of what you would look for on a live-aboard. Still, there is definitely room for improvement, especially taking into account the cost of the cruise; however, the surrounding scenery and the experience of the Galapagos won't let you focus on details than can go wrong.
Diving in the Galapagos is simply stunning. Sharks (whitetips, silky, hammerheads, Galapagos), eagle rays, manta rays, dolphins, whale sharks, turtles, sea lions, penguins. All of these, together with all sorts for tropical fish and the usual schools of barracuda, jacks etc swim next to you. It’s a diver’s paradise basically. Although the visibility during the week I was there was not great, which resulted in not meeting a whale shark, diving in the Galapagos was a unique experience. The beauty of the marine life makes you forget the water temperature, which can get down to 17C at some dive sites. I won’t get into the details of each dive site. I am just going to say that each of them has its own character, with Darwin’s Arch standing well above the rest.
Land wildlife in the Galapagos is just as exciting as the marine one. During three land visits we had the chance to see most of Galapagos wildlife animals, some of them being endemic to Galapagos. Sea lions, frigate birds, blue and red footed boobies, land and marine iguanas, tortoises, lava lizards… I can keep going on and on. The most spectacular thing about wildlife in the Galapagos is the action that is constantly taking place right next to you. Birds are hatching, sea lions are hunting, boobies and pelicans are diving for fish, frigate birds are flirting. A unique show just in front of you.
In a nutshell, a visit in the Galapagos will give you a taste of the magic that these Islands have, stemming from the crossing of ocean currents from all sides, strong volcanic activity and the will of nature that brought these species here.
