{"id":11519,"date":"2018-04-04T12:42:30","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T02:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/?p=11519"},"modified":"2018-04-04T12:42:30","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T02:42:30","slug":"the-galapagos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/?p=11519","title":{"rendered":"The Galapagos!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Galapagos – our visit to these magical islands was a dream come true<\/p><\/div>\n

We boarded an old rickety public bus, windows slid open for ventilation on a mega-humid day, and left the remote airport of Baltra for the main town of Puerto Ayora.\u00a0 The road crossed the rough desert scrub, nothing special, when suddenly the driver slammed on his brakes and the old bus reluctantly skidded to a stop.\u00a0 What on earth could have caused the driver to take such drastic action in such a remote place?\u00a0 Crossing the road, very slowly, was a giant tortoise, his large hardened shell supported by his fat stumpy legs, his head and neck stretched out to have a look, an animal possibly over 100 years old.\u00a0 This was his kingdom and he was in no hurry.\u00a0 After all, we were in the Galapagos and that\u2019s just what happens here!<\/p>\n

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Getting up close and personal with the islands’ most famous resident – the giant tortoise<\/p><\/div>\n

The name Galapagos conjures up great images \u2013 remote location, beautiful islands, unfettered wildlife, unique creatures.\u00a0 The Galapagos Islands are special in many ways but its biggest drawing card is the unique environment which has created a home for a fascinating range of animals, the most famous of which is probably the tortoise.<\/p>\n

The environment is special primarily for two reasons.\u00a0 First, the remote location \u2013 the islands are almost 1,000 kilometres from the Ecuadorean mainland coast which over many thousands of years has protected the island\u2019s flora and fauna from most outside influences, predators, competition, introduced species, diseases, etc.\u00a0 Second, these animals don\u2019t hunt each other (with the exception of the jittery fish which seems to feed everyone) so they have no known predators and live peaceably side by side.\u00a0 How good is that?<\/p>\n

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Julie and I are in a local bus traversing Santa Cruz island after landing at their small airport<\/p><\/div>\n

The islands also have a unique history.\u00a0 They were probably accidentally discovered by passing ships blown off course in the 16th<\/sup> century and were infrequently visited by whalers, pirates and other passing ships for the next two hundred years.\u00a0 They became part of Ecuador in the 1830\u2019s and were later used as a penal colony (answer to a good trivia question \u2013 what does Australia and the Galapagos have in common?).\u00a0 During World War II the US built an air field and military base on one of the small islands which after the war they handed over to Ecuador (which is the airport we landed at).<\/p>\n

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We walked around the town of Puerto Ayora and noticed a few unique features – such as this sea lion looking for free snacks at the fish market<\/p><\/div>\n

But the fragile and unique eco-environment of the islands has taken some hits.\u00a0 Passing ships and early inhabitants introduced many new plants and animals, some of which devastated the unique wildlife and plants on the island.\u00a0 For instance, black rats ate all the baby tortoises on some islands and goats \u2013 which were introduced by whalers to help provide food \u2013 ate just about every plant in their path (as goats do).\u00a0 As a result, some unique species have become extinct and others are highly endangered.<\/p>\n

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What these guys lack in agility they make up for in size – and their amazing survival capabilities<\/p><\/div>\n

The Ecuadorean government and many external organisations have worked very hard over recent years to eradicate these animals and bring the Galapagos back to its original state.\u00a0 Its an ongoing project and an impressive example of ecological conservation.<\/p>\n

The Galapagos\u2019 most famous visitor was the renowned naturalist Charles Darwin who came to the islands in 1835 on HMS Beagle.\u00a0 His studies of the animals on the different islands, and in particular how the different species of finches on the different islands developed different beaks to cater for the different food sources of each island led to his theories of evolution based on natural selection and the publication of his famous book Origin of the Species.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This guy is feeling a bit amorous but his technique doesn’t seem to meet her requirements<\/p><\/div>\n

We walked down Charles Darwin Avenue (of course!) in the town of Puerto Aroyo that first afternoon, exploring the souvenir shops and taking in the whole scene.\u00a0 On the public jetty two sea lions were lounging in the shade while pelicans flew overhead and a huge sting ray swam under the pier.\u00a0 There was an area roped off down near the water where land iguanas were breeding.\u00a0 It really felt like we were walking around a natural zoo.<\/p>\n

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A colourful land iguana rests in the shade<\/p><\/div>\n

The next day we headed out early to the Charles Darwin Research Centre (of course!) to learn more about the fascinating work scientists are doing to save the different species of giant tortoises.\u00a0 The tortoises are the flagship animal of the islands and flourished here for thousands of years untouched until humans came along and almost drove them to extinction.\u00a0 These fascinating creatures, which can live for up to 250 years and reach 300 kilos (650 pounds), are now fully protected, heavily studied, much loved and as a result flourishing across the islands.<\/p>\n

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The Charles Darwin Research Centre gave us a good understanding of these amazing animals and the challenges they face<\/p><\/div>\n

We then went down to the public jetty and were taken out to our new home for the next five days \u2013 the Archipell I, a stylish catamaran which sleeps 16 people plus crew.\u00a0 There we sat down with our shipmates, who were all in the middle of an eight day cruise and we were just joining them for the last five days.\u00a0 Never mind, they all seemed to be good fun and our matrimonial bedroom, as it was called, was small but super-comfortable.<\/p>\n

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Our first look at the Archipel I – our home for the next five days<\/p><\/div>\n

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Our cabin on the ship – very comfortable, fun and novel…but not as good as Tramp<\/p><\/div>\n

That afternoon a bus took us to a private property where we wandered along the trails to see giant tortoises living in their natural habitat and walked through a long lava tunnel that was formed when a deep river of lava cooled and hardened on top but kept flowing underneath until the hot lava all flowed out, leaving a long hollow volcanic tunnel.\u00a0 That\u2019s cool.\u00a0 The steamy hot weather was broken by a heavy tropical downpour that soaked all of us while we were hunting tortoises but added to the fun.<\/p>\n

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These guys can live to be up to 250 years, partly because of the unique environment they inhabit<\/p><\/div>\n

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Okay, its not that exciting but they eat almost exclusively grass<\/p><\/div>\n

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We also went into a very cool lava tunnel – not as big as the ones we’ve visited in Australia but much longer<\/p><\/div>\n

That evening back on the Archipell 1 we got to know our fascinating eleven fellow shipmates a bit better (Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Switzerland, Austria, Israel!\u00a0 Doctors, firemen, nurses, teachers, lawyers!), dined well and from the observation deck on top of the ship were able to see the Big Dipper in the northern skies and the Southern Cross in the southern skies.\u00a0 That\u2019s a trick only possible on the equator.<\/p>\n

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The dining area of the Archipel I where we enjoyed great meals every day<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Archipel was a touch of luxury we enjoyed and appreciated<\/p><\/div>\n

During the night we motored to the island of Floreana and in the morning boarded the zodiacs for a wet landing on a soft sandy beach which featured the famous blue footed boobies on the rocks and a sea lion lounging on the beach.\u00a0 Under a blazing sun we trekked inland to a small lake which had a group of about 25 flamingos \u2013 apparently a rare treat since the flamingo population on the islands is down to about 300.\u00a0 We then walked up and over to another beach where we saw marine iguanas, sea turtles, sting rays and more of the beautifully coloured Sally Lightfoot crabs.\u00a0 This was animal heaven – Julie and I had to keep pinching ourselves that we were in the Galapagos.<\/p>\n

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Our first blue footed boobie – a very cute bird we would become familiar with over the upcoming days<\/p><\/div>\n

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We were lucky to see this large group of flamingos as their numbers have been declining across the Galapagos<\/p><\/div>\n

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The quiet little protected beach we walked to and discovered more creatures<\/p><\/div>\n

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The colourful Sally Lightfoot crab can be seen by the hundreds on the rocks near the waterline<\/p><\/div>\n

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A face only a mother could love – an iguana suns himself on a rock near the beach<\/p><\/div>\n

We had a great snorkel off the volcanic rocky shore and spotted many beautifully coloured fish in the warm water before lunch, the highlight perhaps a playful sea lion who slid off the rocky shore and swam right through us.\u00a0 With a group of only 13 we were getting to know our fellow travellers and found them all fairly like-minded and of similar vintage. \u00a0The biggest difference was that all of them had flown in specifically to see the Galapagos and after the cruise would be flying back home again.<\/p>\n

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Travel between our ship and shore was via these zodiac boats<\/p><\/div>\n

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Julie boarding on of our zodiacs where life jackets were mandatory unless the staff forgot to bring them<\/p><\/div>\n

After a post-lunch siesta we climbed back into the zodiacs for another land excursion.\u00a0 Tradition has it that crews of whalers, pirates and other passing ships would write letters and leave them in a special place on Floreana Island with the hope that another ship would come by and sailors would see a letter intended for a place they were going and personally deliver it.\u00a0 So the legend goes that this is the world\u2019s only free postal service\u2026but you have to be very patient.\u00a0 A few people in our group saw postcards addressed to people in their home town and agreed to take them home and hand deliver them.\u00a0 Kinda cool.<\/p>\n

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Our group posing at the post office on Floreana Island – keeping up a tradition that is centuries old<\/p><\/div>\n

Based on our guide Gustavo\u2019s advice, we put on our snorkel gear and went hunting for turtles.\u00a0 Not just any turtle but the huge Pacific Green Turtle which is often found off the island\u2019s rocky shores.\u00a0 Sure enough, within minutes Julie and I found a huge turtle nibbling away at algae, then another, then another.\u00a0 In fact, at one stage all the snorkelers were crowded around these poor turtles like they were rock stars, which in Galapagos terms I guess they were.\u00a0 They lazily went about their feeding business, totally oblivious to the crowds they had drawn.\u00a0 Great stuff.<\/p>\n

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Snorkeling for Pacific Green Turtles was an instant success. All photos of turtles are courtesy of Ed who was our master underwater photographer.<\/p><\/div>\n

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These guys would just go about their business without any worries of the audience they had drawn.\u00a0 Thanks Ed.<\/p><\/div>\n

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You didn’t want to be directly above a turtle when he decides to surface as he could literally swim right into you. Thanks Ed.<\/p><\/div>\n

Our first couple of days in the Galapagos had been a dream come true but we knew there was more to offer over the next couple of days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We boarded an old rickety public bus, windows slid open for ventilation on a mega-humid day, and left the remote airport of Baltra for the main town of Puerto Ayora.\u00a0 The road crossed the rough desert scrub, nothing special, when suddenly the driver slammed on his brakes and the old bus reluctantly skidded to a stop.\u00a0 What on earth could have caused the driver to take such drastic action in …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[42,43],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-11519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecuador","category-galapagos","tag-galapagos"],"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/DSC_0786-e1522807955186.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11519"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11562,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11519\/revisions\/11562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourpangaea.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}