Galapagos Islands Part 2

From 21 Islands in the Archipelago only a handful can be visited by cruise boats.The rest serves as a sanctuaries for flora and fauna. I learnt;  larger more expensive boats are less adventures usually tailor their schedule to older, more likely, less adventures traveller. As well, shear number of tourists on the boat dictate very tight and strict schedule.

Our boat New Flamingo had three decks. Bottom deck had five two bank air-conditioned cabins with private bathroom. On the second deck we had kitchen and the dining. The third deck served as a sundeck. The boat was converted fishing trawler. She was slow but had character.

View from the cruise boat towards the harbour.

Some of the fresh supplies we took on board.

Our first stop Kicker Rock, which I visited on my diving trip two days earlier.

I was here.

The Kicker Rock.

The seal basking on the rocks.

The ocean was very calm again.

Birds taking vantage point on the top of the rock.

Later, we visited Lobo Island just of the San Cristobal's coast.

Male great frigatebird ready for mating.

The canary. This is the very first canary I have ever seen in the wild.

Some pretty flowers found in the bush.

The boat is waiting ....

Overnight we crossed to Santa Fe Island. Santa Fe is considered to be the oldest island of the archipelago.

The bay is thought to be the remains of the ancient volcano crater.

The water in the bay was well sheltered.

Early in the morning, we had visit from this green sea turtle.

Seal basking on the rocks accompanied by blue footed Bobbie.

Blue footed boobies are the icons of the Galapagos.

Galapagos Hawk - apparently we were very privileged to see one. Only a handful inhibit the archipelago.

These birds are top predator on the islands.

There was seal colony on the island.

These bachelors are playing now but soon this will become serious fight to gain supremacy in the colony.

The skink.

During our stay there were more boats visiting the island.

We had discovery walk around the island.

We encountered many animals; land iguanas, birds and the snake. There are only two snake species on the Galapagos islands; pretty small and very slender.

Land iguanas are roaming this island.

.....  and the close up.

This specimen was one of the biggest I had seen on the island.

Later on, we snorkeled inside the bay and on the outside reef. The water was calm and crystal clear. We had seen numerous species of large fish, turtles but no sharks this time.

We continued our journey towards Santa Cruz Island and later on along the coast to Baltara Island.

We always had company in the air.

Male Great Figatebird

We stopped in the channel between Baltara and Santa Cruz islands. We snorkeled near the shore. The water was very clear but very few animals except for some small fish.

Next, we sailed further in to the channel were we refuelled and took on fresh water.

I was here.

Later in a day we sailed to our mooring destination where we stayed overnight.

Early in the morning, we snorkeled in the channel. Our guide 'promised' us, we are going to see hammerheads sharks. This time no disappointment. Between the islands there was pretty strong current creating perfect condition for sharks. Sharks have no gills and need water flow to assist them in breathing. We encountered hammerhead sharks on three occasions. The number of large fish was just staggering. This was really the most enjoyable snorkeling trip so far. After the breakfast we went on discovery walk around Baltara Island.

Our guide was very informative. He always had story to tell. 

His favourite subject - sex -animal sex of course.

The rain just stopped. The birds were drying off their feathers - the albatross.

Sea gulls

We were told this bird was a visitor from the continent - an American Oystercatcher

........ Male Great Frigatebird in full glory.

Unfortunately this young seal is going to die. It appeares its mum failed to returned from the sea.
- Darwin's natural selection in real life -

Another wet bird - The Heron.

....and wet Albatross - pink colour indicates this is juvenile.

The rocks were full of these little reptiles.

..... and another hopeful ...

This one, appears attracted a female.

Typical landscape on the island

View towards Santa Cruz island.

                                          This female Frigatebird is still looking for a partner

The albatross.

This little bird is trying to steal fish from the pelican.

..... and the devil - sea iguana basking on the rock.

After short snorkel we motored back to Santa Cruz island

Rising anchor Galapagos way - no motor on this boat.

We sailed towards Pinzon Island.  On the way we had short snorkeling trip on Eden Island. Unfortunately water was very turbulent and murky.

 We cut it short and moved across to Santa Cruz island .....

We headed for Tortuga Negra......

                   ......mangrove habitat famous for being nursery for juveniles sharks, turtles and birds.

We moved deep into mangrove channels.

Blue footed Bobbie.

Our boat in the distance.

We are back on board.

Our dining area.

Our Singaporean friends were champion swimmers - here just relaxing.

Some crafty talking....

We always had company in the air - Figatebirds

It was getting late.

Our guide preparing itinerary for the next day.

We spent the night just offshore Santa Cruz Island.

Early in the morning we made the landing and were ready for another discovery walk.

First - The Flamingo Lake.

The track was very muddy. Soon, each of us had about 5kg of sticky mud attached to each boot. Our guide chose to walk bear footed. Obviously he had done it before.... According to our guide this walk would be omitted on larger boats. We are very lucky we did it. The walk was superb.

The Flamingo Lake again.

Unlike flamingos on the continent, these flamingos spend all their life on the Galapagos Islands, never migrate. There are only, a few hundreds flamingos on the archipelago.

In this colony we found around dozen flamingos.

Flamingos were spread around the lake.

Later, we walked toward so called Dragon Hill.

 We have seen many iguanas on the way.  There are two species of land iguana on the Galapagos Islands.

The male is larger and more colourful.

These two reptiles blocked our walking track. According to our guide iguanas are not dangerous but when scarred they can inflict quite nasty whip with their powerful tail.

                             The male in the foreground and smaller less colourful female in the background.

The Male's head closeup. Despite their ferocious look they are strictly vegetarians.

The view towards North Seymour Island and our boat.

We are back on the beach.....

......where we spent several hours basking and swimming but now was time leave.

We went back to our boat stationed about 500m of shore. Our Asians friends chose to swim. They are swimming champions in their country - Singapore.

The sunset was approaching fast. 

Next, we set off for an overnight crossing to Puerto Ayora. This was pretty rough night. Some, suffering sea sickness but nothing too serious, though.

In the morning we visited Darwin Centre and in the afternoon the bus took us to the centre of the island.  We visited sanctuary, where we had chance to see tortoises in the wild for the first time.

We were lucky. When we started our walk I spotted one in the distance.... at first I thought it might be a rock but our guide confirmed it. This was medium sized tortoise.

Later we came across this large specimen.

Mission accomplished, finally I could see tortoises in their own habitat. Unfortunately pirates, sealers and the early settlers did ¨pretty¨ good job nearly killing off the whole tortoises population on the islands - very sad. There are reports, even Darwin himself had tortoises on his dining menu when he visited island back in 1835.

Next, we visited lava tubes.

My luck left me there. When walking through the tunnel I bumped my head against the rocks splitting it badly. This was really very disappointing. The next day I was planning to take a day trip to Isabella Island where the itinerary included some swimming.

Our group.

We are near the exit.

Later on, we returned to Puerto Ayora. This was an official end to my cruise around the islands, but not before I visited local hospital where I was treated for injury. I received 5 stitches. I was pleasantly surprised, the treatment was free of charge. I only payed for some antibiotics and pain killers at the nearby pharmacy. In Ecuador the health care for foreigners is free.

Early next morning I boarded speed boat to Isabella Island. The crossing took about 1.5 hours. Firstly, I visited wildlife centre, where the biologists and the scientists trying to bring back tortoises from the extinction. This is simillar establishment to Darwin Centre on Santa Cruz Island.

This seal is on vacation ....

We visited another flamingo colony.

The flamingos on Galapagos Islands have this distinctive orange/ pink colouration....

.....I was told this is due to their diet. On the continent flamingos are pink.

View towards watch tower.

Panoramic view of the island from the watch tower.

We made small boat trip around the reef which included snorkeling. Due to my injury I could only watch.

Here, another Galapagos Islands icon - pygmy Galapagos Penguins.

They are quite rare. This was the first time I could see them in close proximity. Before, on the Floreana Island they were in the distance and my camera couldn't focus well against the rocks.

So called 'Canal De Los Tiburones' - Canal of Sharks. No sharks this time, though.

These birds are seasonal. They migrate from the mainland.

There was a large population of sea iguanas basking on the rocks.

All rocks are of volcanic origin. There are three active volcanoes on Isabella Island.

Later in a day we returned to Puerto Ayora. I had one more day to fill before my return flight to Guayaquil. The next morning I decided to visit Tortuga Bay for the second time.

There was walking path through the scrub towards the beach.

This is typical scenery. The walk to the beach takes about 30 minutes.

On my way I encountered many birds.

It was still very early in the morning.... this bird just left a hairdresser.

Some birds were feeding.

Most birds, were different species of finches. Now, there are many species of finches on the Galapagos Islands. All came from the same specimen who found his way to Galapagos Islands all these years ago. Finches were studied by Darwin in his famous visit in 1835. He studied, how the environment can change the specie, in this case their beaks. Finches adapted their beaks to different type of food. Now some of them feed on  insects, some on seeds and the others are sucking blood from other animals.

This skink is bathing in the early morning sun.

..... after about 30 minutes I reached the beach. 

To reach Tortuga Bay, I had to walk for another 20 minutes.

The Tortuga Bay...

...and again Tortuga Bay. I really liked this place - very idyllic.

There is very large population of sea iguanas in Tortuga Bay and around.

My 2.5 weeks long adventure on Galapagos Islands are coming to the end. The next morning I am flying back to Guayaquil.

Next blog, I am travelling up the Ecuadorian coast towards Colombia and Manizales. In Manizales I am planning to spent some time with Maria and learn more Salsa - enough said.