Upon our safe arrival in the very quiet capital city of Quito, we started our hunt for our long anticipated Galapagos adventure. The Galapagos have been number two on my list (after the African safaris) from the beginning of this trip so I was more than just a little excited. We had anticipated flying to the main town on the islands and cutting our own deal direct with a captain of an eight-day cruise but after some research this sounded more of hassle than it was worth. Plus we did not want to get over there only to find that all the trips were booked. We bargained with one of the only agencies that was open during Carnival, owned by a Swede who was clad in a Swedish hockey jersey boasting about an Olympic gold medal. What the hell happened up there? We leave for a year and we lose our hockey glory! Our home for the next eight days would be the ¨New Flamingo¨.

We flew from Quito via Guayaquil to Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz, which is one of the handful of Galapagos islands that lie 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador. Made famous as the proving ground for evolutionists by Charles Darwin who in 1835 identified how the few species of animals that made it out to these volcanic rocks evolved into what is required to survive here. These vary from tortoises with long legs for navigating the rocky islands to iguanas that can drink salt water and a host of other unique species characteristics. Of course their most endearing gift is their lack of fear of human beings given our newness into their world. The ability to swim with sea lions, walk alongside of a tortoise or sit amongst blue footed boobies (get your mind out of the gutter, they’re birds), can be done nowhere else in the world.

We met our guide, Alfonso, at the airport and he escorted us to the ¨New Flamingo¨, which looked to be a pretty good motor cruiser of about 60´, but could have dropped the ¨New¨ from her name before Brandy was born. We met our fellow passengers: Rene, Eva, Judith and Nicole from Austria; Daniel from Switzerland; and David and Katie from Lake Tahoe. All seemed like good people alleviating my fears of being stuck on a small boat for eight days with the wrong people. After an enormous lunch, which was Chef’s way of giving notice we would all be adding some weight over the next eight days, we made our way to a thriving Giant Galapagos Tortoise colony. They have been brought back from the brink of extinction after years of being caught by the thousands by sailors who used them for lamp oil and for fresh meat as they could live in a ship’s hold for a year or more. Once numbering over 450,000, then down to a few thousand, they are now 20,000. We saw more than 50 ourselves, which was 49 more than I expected to see. It was incredible to stand beside these 250 kg giants, listening to them munch on the vegetation and lumber from one shrub to another. With few no predators over the eons, they have outgrown their shells and cannot fully encapsulate themselves. As one of Brandy’s favourite animals is turtles, she was loving it.

After another gastronomic assault by sheer volume we got under way for a night run to James Bay. Unfortunately, as the sun set and darkness crept into our cabin, Brandy’s second greatest creepy-crawly fear (after spiders) came a callin´. Not the big cockroaches but lots of little ones: in the head, on our bunks and even under our pillows. After two tough nights of ¨cabin lobsters¨ as the crew called them, we slept on deck under the stars for the rest of the voyage, which was really better by a long shot. We had come to Galapagos in the rainy season thought we were blessed with eight gloriously hot, sunny days and seven clear, cool nights.

The next six days were filled with mainly four things: hiking and snorkelling, usually twice a day; relaxing on the sun drenched deck; and eating more food than I thought possible. Oh, and of course running up a large bar tab. When we hiked we saw incredibly tortured lava rock formations, huge cacti, mangrove forests, volcanic craters and red, black and yellow sand. Bird colonies of boobies (remember, birds) that were in mating season and would do the funniest goose-step dance with their pale blue feet to win a mate. The enormous-winged frigate birds, the males of which would blow up a volleyball-sized red balloon under their chin to impress the females and then search for the right stone or stick as the deal-closing gift. Vivid pink flamingos that would leave murky water trails like doodle lines in the shallow salt pool water we viewed from a hill above. There were so many types, the sheer number of winged creatures and the fact most would let you sit right beside them or their nests was incredible.

We saw dozens of land iguanas done up in their mating season yellow, orange, red, and green colours. The males protected their cactus (food) with the same ferocity as the females protected their nests. We were close enough to pet them but these 1.5 meter dragons bite so it’s not advisable, even if the Park did allow you to touch them. Along the beaches we saw many tracks of female sea turtles that would drag themselves ashore in the dark to dig an enormous hole for their clutch of eggs. Marine iguanas crowded the beaches in such numbers that they were sometimes two and three deep and you had to watch where you were walking or you might step on one. They are not the most handsome creature in the world but they look funny, especially when they sneeze salt out of their nose, a consequence of drinking ocean water.

Sea lions covered some of the beaches, dragging themselves dozens of metres inland for a warm night’s sleep. Along the marked hiking trails lay young dead pups, grim reminders as to why humans should not touch them. It causes the nursing mother to not recognize the pups´ scent, thus rejecting them causing the pups to starve to death.

Snorkelling provided another world of uncountable fish varieties, diving boobies (birds), and pelicans, comical penguins that look so uncoordinated on land and fly like birds under the water. Manta, sting, golden, marble and eagle rays were common. They would soar through the water with such grace. The young sea lions were playful, sometimes biting on our flippers, twirling when we twirled and stared into our masks like it was a window into what we were. You really could not get enough of swimming with them until the dominant male brought us to order. Reef fish were bigger then any we have ever seen. Sea turtles soared through the blue water. We even saw a huge lobster. We swam with more sharks than I could believe possible. White tip reef sharks were a daily sight. Occasionally we saw the black tipped or Galapagos, but even thought we hunted for hours we did not see the hammerhead. We are now so used to them that yells of ¨Shark!¨ sends us scrambling into the water to have look instead of onto dry land.

As we headed back toward Puerto Ayora to end our boat journey, we were treated to an incredible acrobatic display by a huge pod of dolphins. They hurled themselves in our bow wake, spinning and looking up at us with laughing eyes and then disappeared as magically as they had appeared. What a way for the Galapagos to say Adios!

The quantity of animals was so much more than expected and to get so close to them was amazing. Really it was like a petting zoo (without the petting) and so much more spectacular than I could have envisioned. What a great way to wind down this incredible around-the-world adventure. If you want to go to the Galapagos, bring lots of money and if you go on the New Flamingo, bring roach traps and elastic waisted buffet pants! Alfonso was such a great guide, he was worth the roaches.

Now we’re off for some Ecuadorian surfing before our return to the real world on March 23.

Adios for now.

KLH

Photos:
Us with Giant Tortoise
Us with Marine Iguanas
Kevin and Frigatebird
Us at Viewpoint
Land Iguana
Frigatebird Looking for a Mate
Brandy and Land Iguana
The ¨New¨ Flamingo
Us with Sea Lions
Brandy with Marine Iguana
Boobies Mating (Rated ¨G¨)
Galapagos Penguins
At the Feed Trough with Dave and Katie
Dolphin Beside Boat
Dinner Group Shot
Brandy with Giant Tortoise