Monthly Archives: April 2019

Galapagos Trip, Worldwide Trips

Galapagos: Day 7 Santa Cruz and the Tortoise reserve

What a special day to visit the Tortoise Ecological Reserve, Fausto Llerena Breeding Center, and Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. It was even more special because it was my birthday! What a way to celebrate!

This is the view going into Santa Cruz harbor.

The geography in this part of Santa Cruz is completely different from the lava fields. It is the first town we saw since we boarded the ship 7 days before. There are about 23,000 people who live there. Some of the buildings are a bit interesting so I took a picture as we were going by.

The land is rich and there are farmers of all sorts growing everything from coffee to crops and dairy cows. We actually saw tortoises wandering alongside the road. The tortoises don’t really pay any attention to the cars going by them.

It was a bit rainy and then the sun came out but there were tortoises wandering along the water area on the side of the road.

The bus took us to the Tortoise Ecological Reserve which is about 45 minutes inland. It turns out that the “reserve” is actually a farmer’s field. The farmers on Santa Cruz are paid to protect the tortoises.  The farmers needed to fence their property so their dairy cows don’t wander off and the tortoises just live there. The solution is that the bottom wire of the fencing is tall enough for the tortoises to go through and low enough that the cows won’t wander off the property. This particular property backed up to a real preserve.

Guess it just wanted to get a bit cooler.
You can see the paths for us to walk but also for the tortoises to look for food.

The tortoises are everywhere you look. The property had watering holes and they just go from place to place very slowly. Once your eyes get used to looking for them, you realize they are everywhere. It is like going Easter Egg Hunting only for tortoises.

Another Tortoise wandering along a path.

They have paths throughout the property but we were able to walk off the paths to get a closer look. At the end of the paths, the farmers have food and drinks as well as bathrooms available so it is a very civilized way to see these magnificent creatures.

There were lots of Galapagos Finches along the paths as well.

We opted to forgo the trip to the breeding center because we saw so many tortoises that we didn’t think we needed to see it. As it turned out, the people who went said the morning trip was actually much better.

By the time we got back to the ship for lunch, I decided it was going to be champagne for the rest of the day to celebrate. Also, we had to pack because we would be leaving the ship the next morning.

A few glasses of champagne later….

It was a great trip. We were awed by what we saw and hope it remains available in perpetuity but we wonder about global warming and its effects on the wildlife there.

Galapagos Trip, Worldwide Trips

Galapagos: Day 6 Cerro Dragon and Las Bachas Santa Cruz

First of all, Santa Cruz is the most populated island in the Galapagos but it still has seriously dry, barren areas. Cerro Dragon is aptly named. Its meaning is Dragon Hill and the hill is full of land iguanas. They are everywhere. Many people went on the hike that day to see the iguanas. Alas, still no flamingos in sight.

And yet another iguana

Las Bachas is just a word for the rusting World War II barges that were abandoned on the island. You can see the rusty left overs of the barges. They are right the beach as you get off the zodiacs. If we weren’t told they were barges, I don’t think we would have recognized them as any kind of boat but then we were also told that the US built an air base on Balthus. It is kind of a romantic story.

All that is left of WW2 barges that landed in the Galapagos.

Otherwise, it is a beautiful beach that begs for you to walk along and look at the birds and all of the other sea life.

A bit of a different view from Santa Cruz. Notice the volcano in the back of the picture. There are still many active volcanoes in the islands.
Galapagos Trip, Worldwide Trips

Galapagos Islands: Day 5: Post office, Floreana and Punta Cormorant, floreana

In the morning, we were supposed to go to the Post Office. Okay, you might ask what a post office is doing on some remote island in the Galapagos. It is actually a most unusual post office. It is one that isn’t manned nor does it use stamps. Basically, it is a barrel where passing sailors would leave messages and hoped the next ship would pick it up and (it was hoped that someone) forward it to their families.

Now it is simply a place where tourists deposit mail and hope someone that lives close by their home towns would find it and bring it to the them. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make a landing at the Post Office because of the fairly high waves going into the island so we gave our mail to the ship to leave the next time they went to the “post office.”

Punta Cormorant Floreana

Punta Cormorant is a beach. The sand is soft and white. It is a perfect place to put down your towel and just sit. It is also a place that lends itself to a beach walk. We went on a hike that took us from the beach to an inland lake. There were lots of water birds along the way that were different from ones we saw during the trip. It is also supposed to be a place to see flamingos. Unfortunately, the flamingos were probably on vacation somewhere else. I was really hoping to see them in the wild but they just weren’t there that day.

We did see lots of turtle nests. It was egg laying time and you can see the mounds that the turtles build to protect their eggs. The females lay 72 eggs per nest and usually set up multiple nests. Once hatched, the babies head down the beach to get to the water. Unfortunately, there are predators that are also anxiously waiting for them to hatch.

I don’t know what kind of Plover this is but they were very common during our walk on the beach.
Another common bird on Floreana was this Oyster Catcher. The beak is a vibrant red-orange.

I believe this is a whimbrel. It is a migratory bird .

Endemic birds including the Galapagos mockingbirds were seen there as well as oyster catchers near the lagoon and other native birds that we didn’t see on other islands.

Galapagos Mockingbird

Thought I would include a picture that was pretty much taken every day as we debarked to the ship from any of our trips on the zodiac. It was a fairly steep climb.

Galapagos Trip, Worldwide Trips

Galapagos Day 4: Exploring and Snorkeling, Isabela Island

Caleta Tagus, Isabela and Bahia Elizabeth, Isabela

We spent the day exploring different parts of Isabela Island. According to legend, Caleta Tagus was a favorite spot for pirates and whalers to look for fresh water. There are inscriptions in the rocks (we now call it graffiti). There was a hiking adventure that went up about 322 steps. We decided on the zodiac tour in the early morning and a snorkeling adventure later in the morning. Again, lots of sea life and lots of different rock formations that came as a result of the sea and the lava. One of the amazing sights was a group of golden rays. They are bright golden in the sunlight and seriously beautiful as they slid through the water. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a good picture of them but am including what I could take because of their golden color. Mainly, they look like golden blobs but they were amazing to see.

The gold colored blobs were golden rays traveling together. There were about 6 or so of them swimming by. The color alone was amazing. Sorry the photography failed to capture them. Extraordinary sight!

At Bahia Elisabeth, we mainly had zodiac tours because we went into a mangrove area. First, we saw a couple of islets called Las Marielas. To me, they looked more like a few rocks at the entrance to the mangroves but these little rocks were loaded with birds, crabs and penguins all fighting for space but staying together. Once inside the mangroves, it felt like we were in another world. Living in Florida, we have kayaked among the lush mangroves but this just seemed juxtaposed in a place that is mainly stark lava caves and walls with little plant life. We saw great blue herons, pelicans and penguins looking for fish, sea lions snoozing among the branches, and some other birds that belong in that particular ecosystem. It was quiet and serene and gave us a peaceful sense of being.

It was like entering a different world in contrast to the stark other islands and parts of Isabela as well.
We were so close when the Pelican finally decided to take off.
Try and find the sea lion sleeping on the log. OK, he is the golden brown color. There were actually a couple of them. It looked a bit uncomfortable but better than a rock.

Snorkeling in the Galapagos is special! It is pristine, serene, and truly different from any place else we have ever gone. The water was a balmy 76 degrees. The ship provided short sleeved and short pants wetsuits. Once we got into the water, it was fine but the first splash in was tough for me. The views were superb. We saw lots of sea turtles both swimming and just lying on the sandy bottom. We also saw so many beautifully colored tropical fish. It was like swimming in an aquariums. Along with the fish, were the Galapagos Penguins and Sea Lions. We saw one momma with a nursing baby. We just stopped to watch them.

Just so cool to see them underwater and looking for fish..
Pacific Burfish. There are lots of the puffer fish families in the Galapagos waters.
I didn’t take this picture but we loved seeing the sea lions underwater. They are the clowns of the sea.

On our way to the mangroves, we passed a number of islets that are mostly rocks. On them were collections of sea birds and mammals all looking for fish. They really crowded each other and jostled for the best position.

A Galapagos Penguin and Galapagos Cormorant sharing a space (not much of one)
Another view of the rocks with blue footed boobies, sea lions, cormorants , penguins, little crabs, and anything else that could land there.
Same islet , another shot of a blue footed boobie (and their feet are really that blue) and the Galapagos Cormorant.
Galapagos Trip, Worldwide Trips

Galapagos: Day 3 Zodiac Trips

Punta Vicente Roca, Isabella and Punta Espinosa, Fernandina

Isabella Island is unique in that it looks like a sea horse. It is the second largest island in the Galapagos and has the most active volcanoes in the islands. For the most part, the island is covered with lava fields and almost no vegetation except for a couple of cactus trees, the southern highlands have dense vegetation and mangroves that can be explored by canoe, sea kayaks, or zodiacs. We visited the island a couple of times during the trip.

We spent quite a bit of time watching the Orcas. This one has a sea turtle hitching a ride on its tail. They are usually Orca food.
You can see the Orca is playing with us. Hi is traveling between the two zodiacs. It was quite a sight. The Naturalists told us they haven’t seen them in a while.

Punta Vicente Roca is available to snorkelers but we only had access to the area using zodiacs. Once again, the zodiac trip was outstanding. As we were exploring the island for the wildlife, all of a sudden, the zodiacs turned seaward and went toward something the naturalists didn’t expect that day. We saw Orcas. It turns out they may be seen in the western part of the islands but it was a couple of years since they appeared. The Orca almost seemed to be playing with us. It came up between the zodiacs. We could almost reach out and touch it. The naturalists were so excited. We followed it around as it came up for air.Finally, after more than an hour of Orca excitement, we turned back to the island exploration.

Punta Espinosa, Fernandina

A wingless cormorant and iguana that just came up from his swim
The wingless Cormorant (also known as the Galapagos Cormorant) co-exists with the flighted ones on the islands. The marginal wings does stabilize them so they can jump from rock to rock. Their feathers are more dense than the winged ones and keep them warmer in the water.

As we found out in our lectures, Punta Espinosa is one of the very few pristine places in the world. No animals were introduced to the island so it is an intact ecosystem. It is also very stark and barren but it is still full of marine animals. It has marine Iguanas that swim in a funny way. They use their tails to swim and pop their little heads up to breathe as they go along. There are also lots of the little red crabs that are everywhere (called Sally Lightfoot) as well as the penguins, cormorants, and boobies.

These little crabs called Sally Lightfoot are everywhere. The Galapagos people call them the “clean up patrol.”

There were hikes in the afternoon but I did not participate as it was too rocky for my ankle.