Galapagos Islands Travel – Cruises on the M/Y GraceMay 2010
“The best laid plans of . . . “ I had intended on writing a blog about this incredible journey as it unfolded. I saw myself diligently writing every night, if not in blog format at least notes of what the day held. But, here it is already our sixth day in Ecuador I am just now putting fingers to keyboard. Galapagos Islands travel keeps you busy! Where do I start, oh yes, the beginning.
We left Seattle on a cold, wet morning (42 degrees F) wearing inappropriately light clothing but we had prepared ourselves for the equator, or so we thought. We had a hard time acting like seasoned travelers; while waiting for our plane to take off John and I frequently turned to each other to exclaim, “we are going to the Galapagos, for 3 weeks!”
When we arrived in Quito that night we were met by a driver and a guide sent by our tour company; they quickly whisked us through the airport and to our hotel. Carlos and Gina were to be with us through our two days of exploring part of mainland Ecuador before taking off for the Galapagos Islands.
In the morning (62 degrees at the equator, we hadn’t taken into consideration Quito is 9000 feet above sea level) we drove to Otavalo,
a two hour drive through the incredible Ecuadorian Andres Mountains. We went to the famous “Indian Market” where you can (and we did) buy hand crafted textiles, jewelry, and art for a fraction of their value by US standards. We also had the privilege of visiting the work shop of a weaver who demonstrated for us the techniques of carding, spinning, and drying the
alpaca and llama “wool” and how two methods of weaving are done. Then, visiting the workshop of a family of music instrument makers, we saw a set of “pan pipes” made and our musician played for us many of the different types of pipes they make.For lunch we ate (make that dined) at the Hacienda Pinsaqui, an absolutely beautiful hotel and restaurant that was once a monastery; incredible setting and incredible authentic Ecuadorian food.
On the way back to Quito we stopped at an equator demarcation line – of course we had to stand with one foot in each hemisphere. I would love to have conducted some experiments with water flow and such on each side. In the evening we had a unique view of the colonial “old town” of Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage site, touring the area in a horse drawn carriage. This vacation was already a unique and satisfying experience and we hadn’t even gotten to the Islands yet!
In the morning Carlos and Gina picked us up after breakfast to take us to the airport. Gina walked us through each step of the airport process, bypassing lines and, more importantly, bypassing the anxiety inevitable when traveling in an unfamiliar country.
And so we arrive in the Galapagos Islands for the first day of our Wildlife Adventure aboard the GRACE. She has in interesting history: Originally commissioned as a luxury boat in 1923, she sailed in luxury until WWII when she was commandeered by the Royal British Navy to patrol the waters off Britain. She served valiantly in that role; ferried soldiers between Dunkirk and France; and acted as annex to a Royal Navy hospital ship. After the war she was refitted and returned to civilian life. In 1951 she was bought by Aristotle Onassis and given to Prince Rainier and Princess Grace as a wedding present and this is where they spent their honeymoon. She was sold in 1958 and then sold and sold and sold again, until she was rescued from obscurity to be brought back to her original elegance and to bring the uniqueness of the Galapagos alive for people like us. She holds 16 passengers and 12 crew; the rooms are quite spacious and well appointed and the bathrooms are also comfortable in size. There is an upper deck lounge and bar; a main deck lounge on the fantail; an indoor common room complete with large flat screen TV; and the dining room.
Within an hour of boarding the Grace we had sailed to a cove for our first wildlife encounter – snorkeling. We had quite literally jumped into this adventure with both feet. Upon returning to the boat we were greeted with juice and snacks. I could get used to this life! The thing about the Galapagos water is cool. Yes, it is on the equator and yes, the air temperature is hot, but the water is not warm. You see, the Humboldt Current comes up from the Antarctic and keeps the area cool. That is why we were able to swim with Galapagos penguins. Long ago they rode the current up and they stayed because of the abundance of food. They were able to do so because the water is cool enough for them not only to survive but to flourish. Not to worry, the boat provided wetsuits so we were always quite comfortable. All the snorkeling gear was provided too although John and I had opted to bring our own masks and snorkels thinking they would be of higher quality. As it turned out, the Grace masks were identical to John’s. Still worried about the water temperature? Don’t be, not only did we have the wet suits, but the water temperature varied from site to site and the temperatures were moderated by the Cromwell Current, South Equatorial Current and the North Equatorial Counter Current.
That first evening we formally met all of the crew, they dressed in their best “whites,” and we had a welcome cocktail with the Captain before we had our first “next-day briefing” and then had dinner. The briefings were to become an evening ritual before dinner each day. Dinner was a rather elegant affair (from the service standpoint, from the very beginning the passengers were quite casual) although served in a semi-buffet fashion. I say ‘semi’ because we were usually served a salad or soup before going on to the main courses. We always had a choice of entrée and sides and more often than not, we were tempted to try it all. The food was consistently wonderful! Sometimes meals were served in the dining room and sometime we ate “alfresco” at the stern of the boat. After dinner we sometimes watched the BBC series on the Galapagos Islands (very well done and in high definition) and on others we gathered in varying numbers on the fantail to talk about our day, our lives, the world in general. The camaraderie that developed between the passengers was quite remarkable.
Grace Day 2
Overnight we had sailed from Isla San Cristobal to Isla Genovesa a.k.a. Tower Island. It is a small island in the northeast area of the archipelago which only small boats are allowed to go to. To me it is the most wonderful of the islands because the abundance and variety of animals will simply amaze you. It took my breath away.
There we were on our first full day of our trip and I was surrounded, as in up close and personal, by frigates birds in full mating regalia and rituals, red footed boobies and their babies, Nazca boobies and their young, swallow-tail seagulls, Galapagos mockingbirds, storm petrels, shearwaters, striated heron, night heron, Galapagos doves, tropicbirds, and of course the ever present sea lions. To top all that off, we saw the rarely seen up-close short-eared owl who had just caught a storm petrel but wasn’t willing to eat it in front of us.
The owl was only about ten feet away from us when he tucked his catch under a bush for safe keeping then hopped out and hunkered down to wait us out. None of these animals were afraid of us. On this island, a wildlife photographer wouldn’t need a telephoto lens to get brilliant images of wild animals up close. This was an amazing experience. There are so few natural predators and the islands are so isolated these animals have not needed to develop a fear/flight response. Truly remarkable that a place like this still exists in 2010. My hat goes off to the country of Ecuador for preserving and caring for this unique place.
The flora is no less interesting than the fauna. One of the things that never ceased to amaze me was to see cacti on the shores of the islands. It always brought to mind the line from the Ancient Mariner, “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink”. The lowlands of the Galapagos Islands are all considered arid and we found cactus everywhere. Interestingly, it is the
cacti that allowed us to see the process of evolution as clearly as one might with the tortoises and Darwin’s finches (some might even say easier). On islands where there are no tortoises, the cacti grow short and bushy, their pads being close to the ground. On islands with tortoises, the cacti have developed long, hard “tree” trunks with the pads being quite high off the ground to keep the tortoises from eating them.
We ended our afternoon excursion on Tower Island with a swim at a lovely little beach. The water here was warm enough that wet suits were not needed. After boarding the Grace we immediately set sail; our next port of anchor was to the opposite side of the archipelago on the west side of Isla Isabela (largest island of the Galapagos) and the journey would take all night.
Grace Day 3
Geology and the formation of the islands were to be our themes of the morning. Anchoring at Caleta Tagus (Isabela Is.), we took the pangas to a rather challenging landing site (come to think about it, most landings were challenging because the Parks Department believes in minimal human intrusion, as they should). We hiked up – and up, and up, and up. Along the way we had a wonderful view looking down on Lake Darwin and the bay but our goal was much higher with a more dramatic view. At the top we were rewarded with an expansive view of Isabela and her volcanic history. Miles and miles of volcanic lava fields, as far as the eye could see (well, almost). There were few
animals to be seen on this trek but we did enjoy the occasional Darwin’s finch and the wonderful songs of the birds in the trees. In these higher elevations the flora was, well, not exactly lush but there was a lot of green vegetation. We were fortunate to be visiting at the transition between the wet season and the dry season so everything was still green. In another month or so it would all be brown. Despite the fact that were[SinglePic not found] in the higher elevations, as we morning progressed and we hike down the heat became quite intense. Alex, our naturalist, carried a thermometer in his hat; periodically he would check the temperature – our high was 110 degrees but that was out in the open. Fortunately a good part of the hike was in shade. We received a remarkable treat when we got back for the panga pickup. A pair of frigate birds had made or returned to a nest right next to the landing site. We were within two feet of these birds who went about their business and completely ignored us. The female was sitting on the nest, the male was cleaning himself next to her, and a sea lion was sunning itself a mere six feet away. Part of what makes this place so fascinating is the juxtaposition of the animals; there appears to be such remarkable harmony. Once back on the boat, we quickly changed into our wet suits and set off again, this time to snorkel along the cliffs of Fernandina. Oh, the sights we saw. This was a particularly beautiful location and the water was very clear. I wish I could share with you the wonders underwater but, alas, we took no underwater camera. Just as well, it gave me a chance to just experience. A young sea lion decided to experience me. He/she snuck up behind me, tugged on my fins, swam around to the front of me to see how I was taking the teasing, swam back and tugged them again, came back up front. This little sea lion was playing with me! Wow! The white tipped reef shark that swam past me didn’t stop to play. Okay by me. We swam through schools of fish; watched parrot fish creating more beach sand; saw to many kinds of fish to list. When snorkeling, John and I were always the first ones in and the last ones out.
Just to the west of this site is the Island of Fernandina where we would spend the afternoon at Punta Espinoza. It is here that we would encounter our first marine iguanas. Oh so many marine iguanas. These animals are endemic to the Galapagos. In other words, they only exist here, they evolved here. When visiting the Galapagos, three words become critical to your understanding of life in the islands. “Endemic” means they are found only in this one place in the whole world; “native” means they got here by natural means but are found in other parts of the world; “introduced” means they were brought here by humans. “Introductions” have caused all kinds of havoc here in the islands, but that is a subject for another time. Marine iguanas and land iguanas share a common ancestor who managed to get to the islands long ago. Those who became the land iguanas were able to find enough sustenance on land to continue their ways.
Those who became marine iguanas could not find enough food on land so turned to the sea for their nutrition, feeding on the algae that are so abundant along the shores of most of the islands. They can dive fairly deep if need be and can hold their breaths for a long time. This life style takes its toll though. Like all reptiles, the marine iguanas are cold blooded and the waters here can be very cold. After a cool night on the lava flows, sleeping in piles, the iguanas need to warm up enough to tolerate the water temperatures. After feeding, they need to warm up again. This is why you will almost always see them depicted looking like they are worshiping the sun. They are exposing their chests to the rays of the sun, absorbing as much warmth as they can. If you see them laying flat on the ground, they are hiding their chests from the sun to cool off. This area of Fernandina was loaded with marine iguanas, thousands of them. They are black and gray so they blend right in to the scenery which is black lava flow.
When we first entered the area it was exciting to spot an iguana or two and then our eyes began to adjust and recognize what we were seeing. Truly amazing. Mixed in with the iguanas were sea lions. We were greeted by two cavorting youngsters when we first landed. The sea lions are scattered amongst the groups of marine iguanas, each ignoring the other. We did, however, witness an iguana eating the feces of a sea lion. Mixed in with the iguanas and the sea lions was another quintessential Galapagos resident – the sally lightfoot crab. You won’t have any trouble seeing them, they show up against the black lava quite well – they are bright red and orange, beautiful markings. When you start looking at the crabs you might notice the black lava around them seems to be moving. It isn’t the lava at all, the movement is caused by the black immature sally lightfoots and they are everywhere along the edges of the water. Apparently the adults can afford to be colorful because they have no predators but the young ones are a tasty treat for the Galapagos hawks, thus the camouflage. We stay until the sun is setting; it is illegal to be on the islands after dark. The quality of the light is wonderful, the kind of light that makes a photographer drool. We will be going only a short way tonight, tomorrow we will be just a little further south, again on Isle Isabela. I wonder if I will be able to sleep without the sound of the engine moving us through the water.
Grace Day 4
Today will be a “wet landing” and an easy hike inland at Urbina Bay on Isabela. This is our first chance to see lots of Darwin’s finches but they are small and constantly on the move so, as a photographer, I was frustrated. Once I relaxed and gave up on the photography, I thoroughly enjoyed their presence and their calls. Our goal for this outing was to find the land iguanas.
The first indication that they were around came from the scat then low and behold, right in the middle of the trail was a large iguana. Very different from its marine cousin, its colors are made up of varying shades of brown and yellow. They are stockier and have shorter tails too. The marine iguanas use their long tails to swim with, the length gives them strength and balance. Land iguanas have no use for that adaptation. They don’t scare easily but if we were to make too much noise
they would have moved into their underground burrows. Another difference from the marine iguanas – the land iguanas are loners where as the marine iguanas depend on the body heat of others to warm up after their cold forays for food. This area of Isabela had large open fields covered in morning glories, lots and lots of morning glories. Apparently the giant tortoises found in this area enjoy grazing on them. They
also enjoy the manzanillo tree fruit a.k.a. poison apple which is also found in this area. The nick name comes from the fact that eating the fruit can be lethal to humans. Even touching the sap can cause dermatitis. We only saw one wild giant tortoise on the walk. Since this was our first, it was very exciting even though we weren’t able to get close. Number nine of the National Park Rules states, “You must stay on the trails”. Another major rule is, of course, “The animals in Galapagos must not be handled or touched . . .” The animals can choose to touch you, but you may not return the favor. As tempting as it might be when a cute baby sea lion walks right up to you to check out yours shoes, you mustn’t touch. If you do anything, it should be to walk away.
Upon return to the boat, the Grace set sail for our next destination not far up the coast of Isabela. We had a pleasant lunch alfresco while we were underway. When we arrived at Point Viocente Roca we readied for snorkeling and were off in the pangas for what turned out to be an incredible experience. Sea turtles, Pacific green sea turtles are known to hangout in this area. We entered the water from the panga (there is no beach at this location) and immediately saw three turtles swimming nearby. We were so excited. We swam on; John and I always snorkel side by side. Pretty soon we saw more turtles in our vicinity; we counted eight, then ten, then thirteen. Oh, my, gosh! We were surrounded. John and I kept counting – our highest total was 25 but it was probably more we just couldn’t see them because our sight was blocked by so many. We lay there on the surface and allowed ourselves to be taken in and out by the surge of the water just as the sea turtles were doing. Some were huge, others small relative to the older ones. They seem so graceful and gentle; they were all around us and very, very close yet somehow managed to avoid touching us. We, on the other hand, had to lock our hands behind our backs to keep from reaching out on impulse or accident. This experience is forever burned into my brain and if I ever need to use visualization to find “a happy place” as the say in the movies, this will be where I go.
Although we had crossed the equator twice, it had always been
in the middle of the night. Today we would be crossing during daylights hours and that means a celebration. It was a beautiful afternoon, not too hot or humid as many of the preceding days had been. We all gathered on the bridge with a special toasting drink in hand when we crossed. I was in the bridge to photograph the exact moment – I managed to catch it within one thousandth of a second as you can see.
We’d had a full day, we were on our way to another island, dinner was to be served soon, life couldn’t get much better . . . but it did. From our vantage point high on the bridge, someone spotted a whale! And then a whale shark! It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. The captain stopped the Grace and we went running for the panga delaying only long enough to grab cameras and life vests. The captain and two crew members came with us as well. “Chasing” whales is a game of hurry up and wait for they tend to dive and then surface in entirely unpredictable places. We were all on alert. Someone would spot him and off we’d go, then wait, then spot, then go, then spot, then wait. You get the idea.
Maybe on paper it sounds dull but it isn’t. The positive tension is high and every spotting is exciting. While waiting we begin to see Galapagos sharks around us; they swim close to the surface and criss-cross under our panga. Finally we get a really good spotting as the minke whale surfaces fairly close to the boat. We see the entire length of its body as it glides gently into a deep dive. The sunset is beautiful and watching the birds harvest fish along the surface is fascinating but it is getting dark and dinner is waiting. We are on the far west of the islands; tomorrow we will wake up in the middle at Bartolome Island.
Grace Day 5
We are awakened earlier than usual today; grab a quick snack of juice and biscuits; pile into the pangas and we are off to explore Isla Bartolome. The early departure is necessary as we soon find out. We climb to the summit via five hundred plus steps the National Park has built to stop erosion. Despite the early hours it is hot work but oh so worth it. Our
surroundings are awe inspiring in the desolation, the primalness. The only life besides us is a few lava lizards and two kinds of pioneer plants but even they are sparse. I equate the landscape of Bartolome to Mars – barren, red, rocky. Actually Bartolome is a tiny island just off of Santiago Island. It is so close; many might think it part of its much larger neighbor. The panoramic view from the summit is said
to be the most photographed landscape in the islands. The hike down is much faster than coming up for obvious reasons but what made me go faster was the intensity of the sun. Have I mentioned that a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen are essential to any trip to the Galapagos? I go the extra step and wear long pants and long sleeved shirts, but I’m of Norwegian decent.
After a great breakfast and time for our stomachs to settle, we were off to snorkel. This site was different from anywhere else we had snorkeled before, but I guess that can be said of everywhere we went. What made this different were the sea stars. These panamic cushion sea stars were everywhere and they were all colors – purple, red, blue, green; five arms and quite large maybe 12 or more inches from tip to tip. We saw parrotfish, angelfish, blennies, damselfish, trumpetfish, pufferfish and so much more and a white tipped reef shark swam right by me again. This might have been the site where we saw a large spotted eagle ray resting on the sandy bottom. Being able to snorkel everyday is one of the benefits of traveling in the Galapagos Islands but without a camera or note taking, the details of the forays into the water tend to blend. After being in the “middle of nowhere” for five days, tomorrow we go to urban Galapagos when we visit Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island.
Grace Day 6
Santa Cruz is the central most island of the Galapagos with the largest population of the five inhabited ones (the archipelago is made up of 18 islands); Puerto Ayora is the largest town on all the islands with a population of around 10,000. It had been the main bases for tourism for over 25 years and is the home of the national park headquarters and the Charles Darwin Research Centre. Though we took a bus from the harbor to the Darwin Centre, it is not far and we could have easily walked since it lies just on the outskirts of town. Though mainly a research center, CDRC is also a busy tourist site. It has trails and board walks though natural terrain which took us to the old tortoise raising center (these are tortoises that cannot be returned to the wild, most of them having been rescued from would be pet owners) and on to the baby tortoise raising areas. Each subspecies of tortoise has to be kept isolated from the others to maintain the pure “bloodlines”. These giant tortoises are being breed for reintroduction to their islands. We had the opportunity to visit Lonesome George, the last of his subspecies from Pinta Island. The scientists are trying to breed him with a female of the closest genetic match but so far they have had no luck. The latest news is that his lack of interest may have been due to diet; since changing his diet recently he is beginning to act more like he should when around receptive females. Not only is the center researching the islands fauna, they are working to protect and return the island’s flora to a more natural state. There is a huge problem with introduced species competing with
and destroying endemic and native vegetation. As part of their efforts, the center offers education and free plants to the residents, hotels, restaurants to encourage them to use the Galapagos
plants to create their landscaping rather than bringing in and propagating introduced plants.
We climbed back on board the bus and headed out of town up into the “highlands” of Santa Cruz. On the drive we saw agricultural area with cattle ranches, banana farms, and avocado groves. Our destination was a ranch that now serves as a tourist center for people wishing to see wild giant tortoises. They also serve a terrific lunch. To our
surprise, there was Fransicso (our steward on the Grace), laying out the picnic table with tablecloth, flowers, and “the good china” for our ranch BBQ. After eating we trekked out into the wilds to see if we could find any wild tortoises. This ranch abuts the national park lands and since the tortoises don’t know about boundaries . . . tempted by year round watering holes they are willing to hang out in the area. We found several giant, giant tortoises. Their size will astound and amaze you. We were extremely lucky, we happened upon a pair mating. It looks like a lot like you would image boulders would look if they mated.
From here we went on to visit a lava tube, a giant lava tube/tunnel. [SinglePic not found] This is also on private land and has been rigged with electric light bulbs and a staircase. As an added treat, a rarely seen barn owl lives at the entrance to the tube and we were able to get a glimpse of him sleeping in the branches of a dense tree. From here we went back to town and for the first and last time we would have free time to shop, wander around town, have an Ecuadorian beer, or just hang out. One of the most interesting places to hang out was at the fish dock. The local fisherman brought their days catch in to be sold by the fish or by the inch. What was entertaining were the pelicans and sea lions lining up to take advantage of the “waste” discarded by the fishmongers. Tonight we will be setting sail (you do realize that is a figure of speech, the Grace is classified as a motor yacht but “motoring” to our next destination just doesn’t have the same panache) for the island of Espanola.
Grace Day 7
And yet another unique island. How could Darwin have not developed his theories on evolution after spending time in the Galapagos Archipelago? Here on Espanola the large marine iguanas are red and
green and so they
are called Christmas iguanas. They cover the rocks by the hundreds if not thousands, usually piled one upon the other like the black marine iguanas on the other islands. Every once in awhile we see one swimming through the surf – a strange sight indeed. If we were to be here at the right time of day (in the morning after warming in the sun) we would see them moving into the water to begin the days feeding, not all at once but with definite regularity. Sharing the rocky beach with the iguanas are, of course, the ever present sea lions. When we made our wet landing this morning, we had to side step all the sleeping sea lions while we were greeted by the pups curiously sniffing at our feet.
As we walk the trail away from the beach we pass through a colony of blue footed boobies. They never cease to amuse. Several are standing in the path, it’s their path and they choose not to move so we detour around. That’s fair. The blue footed were in great form this morning dancing up a storm. The booby is famous for its foot lifting dance but the ritual is much more complex. It appears as if they do the little dance then raise their wings at a rather awkward angle and point the bill straight up. After a bit the wings and bill come down and it’s back to the fancy foot work. Our naturalist told us there is a theory that the bluer the feet the more attractive the female finds the booby. The blueness is related to copulation. The less sex the bluer the feet. There is the possibility that this is a story made up for the gullible gringos; I honestly don’t know.
On our walk we also pass through a lot of Nasca boobies nesting in the rocks. They have the same goofy
face as the blue footed and red footed bobbies. I think their cartoony looking expression is caused by the forward facing eyes. The babies have the same goofy look.
The only island in the archipelago with a breeding colony of the waved albatross is Espanola, although they are only present from between April and December. These birds mate for life and when they return to Espanola after months and sometimes years at sea, they find their mate from the previous year and begin their mating/courting ritual. The result is one egg laid in a shallow depression on the ground; both male and female incubate the egg. All of us were fascinated by these large, gentle albatross. It felt like such an honor to be so very close to such unique and rare birds. It was a culmination of the sense of awe felt many times during the week.
Our last afternoon in these “Enchanted Isles” was to be on an enchanted beach; a long, narrow beach of snow white, soft as cotton, sand. I’ve never been an anything remotely like it. The sandy beach slopes gently up to a rise in which the green sea turtles lay their eggs. Beyond the rise grows saltbush and mesquite. We were allowed to roam free as long as we stayed on the beach. There are no trails into “the bush” which is off limits anyway. The water was a little warmer here than what we’d become accustomed to so some people swam, some dozed like the sea lions scattered on the beach and others, like us, walked this remarkable stretch of pure, natural beauty.
This evening, when we gathered for our next-day briefing we didn’t receive the usual educational lecture, instead we looked at photographs on the 40”HD TV screen in the Grace’s common room (hardly common, it was beautifully appointed) that Alex had taken throughout the week to document our Galapagos Islands travel together. We had a great dinner, but we had come to expect that, and we shared a farewell toast with the captain; we exchanged e-mail address and promises of creating an Internet site where we could share photographs; we talked into the night sitting on the fantail enjoying the warmth of evening and friendship. In the morning we will wake-up at San Cristobal Island once more, eat breakfast and take the pangas one last time to shore. Saying goodbye will be hard, we’ve developed a bond of sorts. I know the bond will be broken with distance and time but right now it comforts me because we shared an extraordinary journey on our Galapagos cruises of the islands.
[...] want to know what a Galapagos cruise is like? Check out our recent Galápagos blog by John and Jane [...]
Hi Jane and John, Thank you Jane for your wonderful summary of our week on the Grace. You captured the trip beautifully. The week surpassed all my expectations. I too enjoyed Otavelo and the mountains and would encourage anyone visiting Ecuador to spend some time in Quito and in the countryside. When I am on the subway or traveling to work I go to the same happy place where the turtles and sea lions gathered in the cove. It was pure magic. I have shared your blog with family & friends giving credit where it is due. Happy travels, where to next??? Cheers, Kathy
It was great to read about your experience. Glad that you are back safely and expecting nice weather! See you soon. Ayn