The drive back to Quito is much more pleasant than our trip out; it's daylight, the roads are clear, and we are giving a lift to Karen. On the way in to town we stop to pick up our video camera. It has been fixed, and we use most of our remaining sucres to pay the bill. Traffic downtown is miserable, our flight to the Galapagos leaves early the next morning, and after dropping Karen at her hotel we have only 25 minutes to find a replacement battery for the Canon. Gabriel once again picks up on the tension and howls non-stop so loudly that it is hard to think straight. At 6:50 we find a camera store that carries what we need, and we verify that with a new battery the camera works fine. We then drive to Hostal Los Alpes for another delicious meal and the three of us sleep soundly for the night in a king-sized bed.
|
DEC 17th: GALAPAGOS- PUERTO AYORA
|
After returning the car, we wait at the airport for our flight to the Galapagos. It takes about 45 minutes to get to Cuenca, and then after a quick change of planes we are off to the Islands, the long-awaited highlight of our trip. We take a half-dozen pictures upon arrival, then pass through customs and pay our $200 national park entrance fee. I am suprised to find out that they accept cash only (no traveler's checks), but fortunately Tomas- who for some reason is used to this sort of thing- has enough extra dollars stowed away to cover it.
We are met at the airport by a representative from Galapagos Cruises, who helps us onto a small bus for the short dusty ride to a ferry off Baltra. It was then onto another, even smaller bus for the longer ride to Puerto Ayora. They had miscounted passengers and were three seats short; with the low roof there was no chance of standing. I am last on, but Tomas yields his seat. After about 15 minutes we decide to put Gabriel in his car seat on our laps and he falls asleep. I am lucky and sit next to the window; just as the guide starts talking about birds I see a vermillion fly-catcher in a tall tree beside the road. I try to tell the others, but no one can hear my voice over the engines, and few people could see that far out the windows anyway.
At last the ride is over and we are transferred by dinghy to our luxury yacht the Isabella II. Because we have the child, (for whom we had to pay an additional 50%), we are given a triple cabin complete with a double bed. I am in ecstasy. We have another delicious, multi-course meal with hot soup, lots of fruit, meat and vegetables, and dessert, and then disembark for an excursion to the Darwin research station and a chance to see the large tortoises up close. Another group of passengers, who had begun the cruise several days earlier, were already onshore, visiting the central highlands of the island.
Within minutes I spot several finches and a yellow warbler, and am captivated by the marine iguanas. We take far too many pictures of the first creatures we see, and the guide has to hurry us along so that we would have enough time to enjoy the turtles. Tomas gets to hear the story of the evolution of the different tortoise species, a history of their exploitation and of the subsequent efforts to save the few remaining animals while I keep an eye on Gabriel who is entranced with throwing pebbles outside. The highlight of the day is a visit to the largest galapagos turtles in a large enclosure, where the guide feeds banana leaves to one very large individual and we all take dozens of pictures of this enormous creature. Then it is time to go back to the boat for a welcome cocktail and supper and a chance to get to know the other people on board.
The Isaballa is a beautiful ship, with a comfortable bar/lounge, elegant dining room, sunroof with exercise equipment and a jacuzzi, small store, and plenty of room to run around.
There are a total of 38 passengers, and we are divided into three groups: the 'Boobies' consist of everybody who was on the 8-day itinerary (about 18 people, including a Puerto Rican couple with two children, a girl of 13 and a boy about 15, an American couple with two boys, about 12 and 14, a British couple with a 13 year old son, an Ecuadorian-American couple with a 6 year old girl, an American couple with no kids, and a New York lawyer and his wife who mostly kept to themselves), the 'Cormorants' are a group of about 10 Japanese, including three high-school aged girls, who had been living in Chile for the past three years and served as translator from Spanish to Japanese for the rest of their group, and the 'Albatrosses' -the rest of us- a Yugoslavian couple and their two children- an 11 year old girl and a 17 year old boy, two childless American couples, one our age and one quite a bit younger who were working in Quito for the year, and us, a 30-something Mexican-American couple with a toddler just about to turn two years old. We are delighted that there are so many children, and are happy to find that the average age of the adults is pretty much our own. (At the end of the trip, the captain commented that this group had been one of the most enjoyable he'd seen, and I'm sure it had a lot to do with the enthusiasm of the kids, which was really infectious.)
|
DEC 18th: GALAPAGOS- TOWER ISLAND
|
Overnight we sail from Puerto Ayora north to Tower Island, where we we will be spending this whole day. Tower is a fair distance from the main islands of the archipelago and we feel fortunate to be able to visit it. Wake-up call is at 7:00am, and after a delicious hot breakfast we break up into groups and depart for shore. Many dozens of juvenile red-footed boobies perch at evenly-spaced intervals along the wires of the ship, and we can see a sea lion waiting to greet us on the beach. On shore, we pass a newborn sea lion pup, nestling against its mother, with the umbilical cord still attached. There are many frigate birds here, but their mating season has passed so we do not get to see any inflated red pouches. We do get to see quite a few juvenile frigate birds resting in their nests. I am amazed at the docility of all of the birds; they are truly unafraid and one can approach quite close. We have been lectured on the absolute necessity to avoid touching, feeding, or in any way interacting with the wildlife on any of the islands, and on the importance of not straying from the narrow designated path for any reason; I can see that this policy has paid off.
Everywhere we look we see more birds; there must be hundreds living on this tiny island. Immediately we see a cactus finch, one of the 20 or so finch species on the islands from whose variations Darwin got his ideas on evolution. I keep my eyes open and am lucky enough to spot an adult white-feathered red-footed boobie. (The majority (90%?) of the red-footed boobies have brown feathers, and are attractive enough with their red feet and blue beaks, but the white ones are truly stunning.) We also see a good number of masked boobies and endemic (found only in the Galapagos) swallow-tailed gulls.
On our short walk near the beach we pass several small tidal pools, and the guide points out yellow-crowned night heron and lava heron. I am busy taking pictures and miss seeing a lava gull; I am later told that they are fairly hard to spot and vow to find another one before the end of the day.
Later in the morning, our group subdivides and the majority, including Tomas, go off to some nearby cliffs to snorkel. I remain at the beach with Gabriel, where we learn the consequences of misapplying sun goo. In just under an hour, Gabriel gets a terrible burn on the 5mm of skin under his eyes where we have forgotten to rub the cream, and I discover that in my haste to leave I have applied the goo outwards from my torso only down to my elbows and knees. The snorkellers return to the main ship, and another panga is sent to pick us up from the beach. Tomas comes out with this panga to meet us. He is a little disappointed that while nearly everyone in the snorkelling group got to see hammerhead sharks, he missed them. His luck changes quickly- we pass close by two mating sea turtles on our way to the main ship.
After lunch and a brief siesta, we travel by panga along another part of the coastline, where we see the long-tailed tropic birds and some Galapagos fur seals. I am very excitied to spot a blue-footed booby on the cliffs. This turns out to be one of only two sightings we 5-day cruisers get of this famous bird, which is common on several of the islands visited on the 8-day itinerary. The boat sidles up to the rocky shore and we jump off onto a steep path that overlooks the cliffs. The guide says that we are looking for the short-eared owl, which frequents this part of the island but is only seen on about 10% of these trips. I scan the horizon and see many storm petrels but no owls. The guide says that they like to hide in crevices during the day, and we check many crevices beside the path without any luck. Then, using my binoculars, I spy what I think must be an owl about 100 yards away. I point it out to the guide, who can't see it with the naked eye (no one can) and then pass the binoculars around so that everyone can have a look. On the way back, the Japanese group (who have people with even more powerful binoculars) points out two more owls, much farther away. Before returning to the boat I finally spot a lava gull, and a Galapagos dove.
Dinner is another lavish feast. Gabriel falls asleep after just a few bites and we linger for a long time at the table talking with the other passengers. I retire to the cabin with the child, and Tomas moves on to the bar for another hour or so of conversation.
|
DEC 19th: (GABRIEL'S BIRTHDAY) GALAPAGOS- FERNANDINA & ISABELLA
|
Gabriel turns two years old this morning. I have planned ahead and packed a boxed cake ('chocolate decadence' from our local gourmet shop) along with a '2' candle and a half dozen small presents. We decide to have his birthday celebration in the dining room at the end of lunch, as he will most likey fall asleep before we are done with supper. Tomas makes arrangements with the kitchen crew to have someone bring the cake out to the children's table, and we start our day.
The first excursion is a rather hot and dusty 4km hike to an overlook on the island of Fernandina, where we get a nice view of the ocean and a landlocked salt-water lake which is unfortunately devoid of wildlife. I spot several different types of finches, but no one is able to identify them for me. We have a very rough time with the 'dry' landing, and several people get wet up to their thighs; the rocks are slippery and on the way back one of the passengers in the 'Booby' group falls into the ocean while trying to reboard the panga which is being tossed around by large waves. We all discuss what steps should be taken to minimize any lasting damage to his camera and lenses. I am glad that we have brought a special life jacket for Gabriel; it was a real hassle to find and took up far too much space in our suitcases, but it gives us a very necessary measure of extra security.
We then head out for a panga excursion along the rocky coast to look for Galapagos penguins and flightless cormorants. |
|
