January 23 – Shove the Galapagos Fur Seal

Kathleen and I had stayed at Hostal Gardner again and found we most definitely liked Hotel España better. Much quieter and better amenities for the same price. Their Wi-Fi worked better, too. We booked our last night in the Galapagos at Hotel España.

Kathleen and I planned to do very little today. We thought about kayaking but found rentals to be expensive - $28 for two hours. This Marine Iguana didn't need no stinking kayak. We took a water taxi across to Las Crietas which was a part of Puerto Ayora we hadn’t visited yet. The suburb of the Pto. Ayora was the home of the Finch Hotel which is arguably the ritziest accommodations in the Galapagos. Kathleen and I were thinking a room went for $200/night. The teal here were enjoying a clean swim.We walked along a trail leading to a large crack in the lava flow making a saltwater swimming hole. Here we found people enjoying a dip and dive in the pretty clear water.Back in the main part of Puerto Ayora, Kathleen and I walked about and watched fishermen filet some fish with a few moochers waiting for a scrap. Occasionally, the guys would have to shove the Galapagos Fur Seal as they would a large dog trying to move the beast out of the way.After dinner Kathleen and I strolled out to the main pier which is lit with green and blue lights directed at the water. This pelican was taking advantage of the lights attracting fish. Kathleen snapped this shot at an ISO of 3200.Our last night in the Galapagos was a quiet one.

January 22 – Bartolome Island, Galapagos

A bus came by at around 5am and we boarded for our boat trip to Bartolome Island northeast of Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. We drove from one hotel to another picking up saggy-eyed folks who probably realized the night before they had to rise so early.

We headed for the small port in Canal de Itabaca between Santa Cruz and Isla Baltra. Upon arriving the sun was just making a showing. We boarded a wooden hulled and framed vessel that made me think of the African Queen in the movie with Humphrey Bogart and . . . oh, never mind. Kathleen and I went top-side as the boat began to chug from harbor. And I do mean chug. Kathleen could have swum faster. Jeepers! Your dog could have!!

By 7am we were puttering out toward the Islands of Daphne Major and Minor while having breakfast of eggs, ham, cheese, and toast. Kathleen and I could see some bird life flying over the sea, however, we could only identify things to general family. The Magnificent Frigatebirds were easily identifiable at any distance.As the morning wore on, we began to make out details of our destination. Bartolome Island is one of the most photographed of the Galapagos Archipelago. Bartolome is situated next to the much larger Santiago Island which has had some volcanic activity in the last 200 years.

By shortly after 10am we were joining a number of other vessels who were visiting Bartolome. The National Geographic ship Endeavor was parked in the small bay. Kathleen and I marveled at the ship and recalled receiving brochures for Galapagos tours aboard this same ship. The cost of our entire two month South American trip would still not equal the price for one of us aboard the NG Endeavor. Our 57-foot boat is also pictured.

We took a small dingy over to Bartolome for a hike to the summit of the island. Our guide, Alberto, periodically gave brief lectures in both Spanish and English describing what we were seeing in geology and evolution. The views from the highest point of the island were great. The peculiar rock formation jutting skyward is actually a volcanic neck. The magma hardened in the throat and the softer material of the cone eroded away. The two dark colored mounts to the left of the picture here were once surrounded by water. An eruption on Santiago in 1893 created a lava field that encompassed the islands and added roughly 5-square miles to Santiago Island.

We dingy’d back to our homely but trusty boat and prepared to storm the beach of Bartolome with snorkeling gear. Our snorkeling was pretty good as Alberto spooked up a White-tipped Shark that was roughly 6-7 feet long. Kathleen and I also followed along with a Galapagos Penguin. We had never had such experiences before.

Back aboard the Homely, uh, well, our boat, we had lunch consisting of some type of tasty fish, rice, and French fries. Upon completion of lunch we got underway back to Santa Cruz island. The seas had become rough and our vessel swayed back and forth. A wind was laying a broadside making excellent lift for Magnificent Frigatebirds to just glide along on nearly a 5-foot wingspan. These birds are aptly named as, in the days of pirates and their use of frigates to swiftly move in and steel from other ships, Magnificent Frigatebirds do the same. The birds are deft fliers and can swoop in to pluck a fish from a pelican’s beak, or will pursue a seabird until they regurgitate their food they’ve collected for nestlings. Most of the time they glide effortlessly for hours on the slightest breeze.

I found Kathleen talking to El Capitan in the wheel-house. He owned the boat and worked a number of such daily charters for much of the year. Like many Ecuadorans we talked to on the Galapagos, he had been living on the islands for over 20-years. As his engineer went to check on the engines, which had gotten uppity earlier causing us to stop, I took a turn at the helm for about 20-minutes. Keep her just west of Daphne Major at 133 degrees.As we approached Daphne Major, Alberto talked about the couple who were conducting research on the island. Kathleen and I suddenly realized just how significant this football stadium sized island was. This is the island where Peter and Rosemary Grant are studying a finch which does not migrate on or off the island. Their into their thirtieth-some-odd year of study and are actually documenting evolution happening in the finches on Daphne Major. They’re findings indicate evolution can happen within a species or subspecies faster than previously thought in anything other than viruses. The couple live on the island for several months a year catching, measuring, and observing the finches. Their accommodations aren’t much more than a few tarps for shade and a couple dozen jugs of water and buckets to store food.

Passing by Daphne Major, Canal de Itabaca was soon in sight. By 7pm we were back on the bus headed for Puerto Ayora. We had a great trip and wished we had time to visit Seymour Island where we could walk among nesting seabirds. Perhaps another time.

January 21 – A fine dose of humidity

Our day started early again as we were voyaging back to Santa Cruz Island. We enjoyed staying on Isabela Island and the town of Puerto Villamil, Galapagos. However, we had to catch the shuttle boat at by 5:30am for a 6am shove-off.

Fortunately the shuttle boat ride back was with fewer people and much calmer waters. We arrived in Puerto Ayora around 8am. Just in time for breakfast.

We checked into the Hotel España and quickly realized we liked this hotel over the Hostal Gardner next door. For $30/night we got a fan and air-conditioning. And the place was pretty quiet, thus far.

Kathleen and I took the day pretty easy with a hike out to Tortuga Bay via a brick path that was nearly 2 miles long. The day was good and hot with a fine dose of humidity.

We found Tortuga Bay a nice stretch of beach. The Galapagos Mockingbirds would periodically flit about foraging on the stone path.We returned to our room early as yet again the next day was going to start early with a trip to Bartolome Island.

January 20 – Creatures of habit

Kathleen and I had signed-up for a guided tour to Volcano Sierra Negra and Chico de Isabela. Both had erupted within the last 30 years; Volcano Sierra Negra in 2005. We rose early to join the tour before the next eruption.

We joined the party of adventurers who were on the horseback riding option of the trip. Others were on the hiking only option (we learned later this was over ten miles round trip in mud for $5 less). Our guide strongly recommended to Kathleen and I that we should pay the $2/person for rubber boots. We thought about this for a moment and figured why not?

Via shuttle bus, we took a nicely paved road up to a parking area shrouded in the drizzly fog of a cloud forest. Here we found a small herd of trusty steeds waiting. The hiking group started out. Kathleen and I tugged on our rubber boots as a caballero herded the horses off up the trail. Uh, wait. Aren’t we to be on the horses? Well, no. A detail our guide eventually provided was that the trail from the parking area was too treacherous to travel by horse. We were to hike for a mile or better before mounting-up.

Within a quarter mile, Kathleen and I realized the rubber boots were the best purchase we had made on the trip! The horse traffic coupled with the constant drizzle had created a rutted muddy slog for a trail. Additionally, horses aren’t particular where bladder and bowel movement events occur. Add that to the mud. The rubber boots were well worth the price of rental.

We slogged our way to the staging area for mounting-up on the horses. I picked out a pony and mounted up. Kathleen was having trouble directing her horse to move on to the trail. I dismounted and broke one of the first rules of horsemanship when riding an unfamiliar horse. I didn’t hold on to the reins of my horse. I went over to Kathleen’s horse and tugged the animal to where Kathleen wanted. I then went over to my horse who instantly began walking away. With every attempt to catch the beast, the horse trotted further up the trail. For roughly a quarter mile the horse and I both trotted. I tried catching the devious equine. I finally got ahead of the horse who wheeled about and headed back down the trail, eventually running into the rest of the mounted travelers. Kathleen managed to get a hold of my horse. I promptly mounted-up. Don’t ever drop the reins of a horse you don’t know.

We rode horse-back for the next couple miles at a pace most people on crutches could hold. Our animals were creatures of habit. Horses, subjected to a daily routine for months on end will staunchly adhere to that program. They get saddled; go rider-less to a point; haul a rider from point A to point B; stand around at that point; haul a rider back down to a point; and then goi rider-less to the stable. Any deviation from that routine will require considerable brute force, a whip, or electroshock persuasion. I tried the former to no avail.

Our ride was shrouded in a dense wet fog. Somewhere along the western edge of the trail was a crater 5½ miles by 6 miles and nearly a thousand feet deep. Volcano Sierra Negra. The largest active intact caldera on Earth, having provided a significant erupting in 2005. In contrast, Ngorongoro crater is 14x12 miles and nearly 2,000 feet deep; making the African volcanic formation the largest intact caldera on Earth.

We dismounted our horses and continued on up the trail. As we topped over the shoulder of the unseen crater, we started down the east side wear the environment went from damp, cool, and cloudy, to hot, dry, and sunny. Here, we hiked along a basaltic rock path discovering our rubber boots were just shy of the experience of walking barefoot on sharp stones.Volcano Chico de Isabela erupted in 1979 complete with lava flows down to the ocean. Here we sat and absorbed the views. Since the eruption, time and weathering has provided little evidence of the eruption except for areas where no vegetation exists. Wait about a hundred years for a sprout or two. When we returned to our horses, the fog had lifted providing a view of Sierra Negra. What a vast lava field in a punch bowl! Kathleen and I would have enjoyed sitting on the rim and gazing into the caldera, however, we had to go. A down-side of organized tours is the constant goading to get going.Back in the saddle again, our mounts had a new found vigor. They were eager to go! This phenomenon is called being ‘barn sour’. Part of the programming in a creature of habit, such as a saddle horse, is their understanding that the sooner you get to the point where the rider gets off, the sooner you get to trot back to the stable, equating to the sooner you get the saddle taken off and no human bothers you. We nearly galloped down the trail along the rim of the now exposed crater.Our horses suddenly stopped at a non-descript point. One of the caballeros came up and directed us to dismount as this was where we were to walk due to the treacherous trail conditions. We dismounted, and the whoosh of air that rushed past us was filling the vacuum left by the horses who nearly broke the sound barrier as they continued down trail.Kathleen and I walked down to our waiting van which arrived back in Puerto Villamil by about 4pm. Kathleen and I showered and did laundry in the sink. This was becoming routine for us.After a brief walk along the beach, we had dinner at the same place furnished with plastic patio furniture. A tidy meal, and then bed.

January 19 – Iguanas have the right-of-way

Crikey!! During the night the wind blew hard against the Hotel Dolphin as the rain came down. The surf roared. By morning, you couldn’t tell anything had happened in Puerto Villamil, Isabela Island, Galapagos.

Kathleen and I took the morning and meandered about the outskirts of the little sea coast town. At Iguana Crossing, a boardwalk off the west end of the main drag made for an inviting walk along and through a couple of lagoons. Iguana Crossing was aptly named as Marine Iguanas sauntered across the sandy road from the boardwalk. On the Galapagos, iguanas have the right-of-way. The boardwalk turned out to be a nice path to explore the plants and wildlife of Isabela. Here I'm walking among Mangroves. Interestingly, they have a tree, which is related to poison ivy. Yeah, your presumption is correct. The tree is poisonous to humans, causing a rash and blisters. Giant Tortoise are immune to the poison and eat the leaves and fruits.

We came upon this juvenile heron. Having no identification guide, the young adult could be any of 2 to 3 species.We came to the Giant Tortoise propagation center at the end of the boardwalk where, as at Darwin Station on Santa Cruz Island, the reptiles are hatched, raised, and released on to the appropriate island. In the case of Isabela, the largest island in the Galapagos Archipelago, five sub-species of tortoise exist.

We walked out of the tortoise propagation center on to the road and continued further on. We came to a quarry and found Greater Flamingos foraging in some ponds. During our observations they got into a tiff about something, most likely a territorial thing. Hence the ruffled feathers.Kathleen and I walked back to Puerto Villamil via the beach. Along a number of places we were the only humans in sight. For the afternoon we booked a tour of the bay and snorkeling. We boarded a small boat and our guide/captain did his best to convey to Kathleen and I what we were seeing. Blue-footed Boobies, Galapagos Penguin, and Galapagos Fur Seal to name a few. And the ever present Marine Iguana. Kathleen and I stepped off the boat for stroll on a trail circumnavigating an islet. Iguana and colorful crabs were in close for viewing. Some of the Marine Iguanas were the size of dachshunds.After our walk we boarded the boat and went off into a lagoon for snorkeling. Our guide jumped in too and helped point out a number of fish. He would name them by what Kathleen deduced as names the locals used. They were pretty to look at anyway.

By late afternoon we were docked, and Kathleen and I headed back to town. Showering in our room we found the water to be slightly salty and not warm or even remotely hot. We speculated on the availability of freshwater.

Dinner and bed rounded out our day as we had a half-day tour to a volcano the next day.