Watching Wildlife in GALAPAGOS

We are back from 9 wonderful days in the Galapagos Islands and had a fantastic time even though the weather now in the dry season was not great! It is almost always cloudy and therefore the seas are rough (thank God for seasickness pills) and the water is VERY COLD!

We joined a group of 6 tourists (from the US, OZ, Israel and Slovenia), one captain, one guide, one cook and one skipper on the beautiful sailboat MAREK and visited the islands on the southern loop - Santa Cruz, Mosquera, Santa Fe, Espanola and Floreana and then we spent a few days in Isabella Island relaxing on the beach and walking and the occasional snorkelling. It was brilliant!

The Marek with its 16 sexy meters is possibly the smallest boat in Galapagos offering cruises and it was great not to be stuck in a group of twenty or more when walking or snorkelling around with our guide Leonides. The boat was very comfortable (but hot showers would have been great) and we had fantastic food three times a day and everything we could possibly need.

We started in Mosquera with lots and lots of sealions - one of the biggest colonies on the islands. It was great to watch how they interact and how the cubs seem to be constantly begging to be fed. Very funny.

On the way to the shore in our little dingy we were suddenly surrounded by a huge school of golden rays just floating through the water and minutes later a school of friendly white tipped reef sharks! Ups was I glad not to be in the water!!!

On Santa Fe we saw lots of sea turtles while snorkelling and on the island we admired the rather ugly but unique marine iguanas (they like to hug and cuddle in order to warm up) and the equally unique upunia trees - like huge cactus trees. Feeding ground to numerous rare birds including the famous Darwin finches. We also admired colonies of the famous blue-footed boobies and albatrosses in Espanola. I will not bore you with any details but it is amazing to observe how well they are adapted to their harsh living conditions, each of them specialised in a specific plant or animal or other food source. More something for bird nerds really... lots of time for that later in life!

Snorkelling was great, especially in Devil´s Crown in Floreana. Huge schools of fish with maybe 2000 or more fish of each species. Quite intimidating to be stuck in the middle of one of those! And lots of green sea turtles, sting rays, sea stars, hogfish and moorish fish and sea urchins and lots and lots of colourful beauties that we do not remember the names of.

In Floreana I was swimming with a huge sea turtle once which was magical. I must have disturbed her in her afternoon nap and she tried to get away but I followed. We swam side by side for maybe 10 minutes and I really struggled to keep up with her! She just looked at me from the side and lazily moved her fins every couple of minutes while I was paddling like mad! Very cool! And then a sealion came to check us out and nearly gave me a heart attack! I think he was intrigued by my looks as I was snorkelling in my thermals (our boat had not wet suits...). I looked a bit unusual (especially as I kept having to pull my pants up!). But I shivered a bit less! Floating through the waters with a huge sea turtle and a little sealion was my absolute highlight of the trip and made it all worthwhile. It was magical and I barely noticed the cold...

(this is a picture that I did not take myself obviously, just wanted to give you an idea how big the turles are)

On day 5 we got off our boat and said goodbye to our crew and took a ferry over to the biggest island Isabella. We checked into a basic little hotel and took long walks along the endless beaches and into the highlands, some more snorkelling and lots of sitting in the hammock and reading our books, waiting for the clouds to lift. It was very relaxing - a totally different pace of life on an island with only a few 100 people and several active volcanoes...

We visited the giant turtoise breeding station and what bizarre animals they are! They have no natural predators in the Galapagos (once the whaling stopped) and are huge! The oldest one we saw is supposedly 175 years old and weighs 270 kg! I wonder what they talk about! The one here in the picture is a very unhappy female...

The Galapagos are definitely a unique and unforgettable experience and a once in a lifetime experience. I would not pay all that money again to go back because it is very overpriced and unless you are seriously into birdwatching, not as diverse as I expected it to be. But observing how the animals which are unique to the islands have managed to adapt to their living conditions is really impressive. I totally understand how Darwin was obsessed with the place!