Friday, December 31, 2010

Galapacos: Seals, Sharks and Boobies.

Apologies to all avid blog readers, I`m sorry for the delay in telling you all about adventures south of the Equator.

So, the question for today is, can you go to the Galapacos without having to thieve from the very strigent budget? Is the ROI positive?

Lets get this straight, the Galapacos is expensive, but its brilliant! We made a few adjustments to the budget to funnel a little extra to Decembers budget and it was well worth it! We went, we swam with seals, hammerhead sharks and penguins and were still able to afford to go on holding hands throughout South America.

So for starters when going to the Galapacos you have to get a three hour flight from the mainland to get out to these tiny volcanic islands in the middle of nowhere. A plane and not a 36 hour rickety bus? Yes please!

Despite all the cost fearmongering, this dynamic duo did everything we wanted to without having to call the IMF (International Mammy Fund) for a bailout. For starters, we met a nice man who had been on the flight and who offered us our own apartment complete with wifi (weak as it was), television, dvd player and kitchen all for the low low price of only 15$ per person. Considering all research points to accommodation at least 20-25$ per night for dorms, we were pretty chuffed. In general, all the accommodation is of a pretty high standard because land based tours have to compete with boat cruises, so you can do very well in terms of finding somewhere to stay even in the supposed high season.

There are heaps of fun things to do on your own in the Galapacos, like a trip to the Charles Darwin Centre where you can meet the saddest Turtle in the whole world. His name is Lonely George and he is the last of the turtles from Isla Pina in the galapacos. He is litterally the only one of his kind. Thanks to those loveable rogue pirates who used to eat turtles and all the introduced species destroying turtle nests and habitats, 70 year old George is the last of his kind. George isn`t the oldest turtle in the research centre, and he isn`t the biggest either, he`s just the only one left.



After visiting George, you can wander off down to Tortuga Bay which is the softest whitest most beautiful beach in the world. Its also home to a load of marine Iguana`s and blue footed boobies. You walk about 2.5km down a path lined wth cactus and finches and you arrive and a surfers heaven and a paradise beach. No wonder turtles like to lay their eggs in the sand dunes at the back of the beach.



When we were in the Galapacos, we made a decision not to go on a cruise and to visit what islands we could by ourselves. Instead of an 8 day cruise, we did 8 dives from two different islands. The water is cold, and the diving is unbelievable. You hear the guide`s rattle and look up, there`s a seal swimming by. Look back again, there`s a hammerhead shark. If you see one of those, look up, look around, do a full 360, because when you do you`ll realise that there`s probably about 20 or 30 swimming around you. If it were possible for your jaw to drop to the ground in sheer awe as Manta Ray`s the length of a table glide by, it would!




Some of the diving isn`t easy, you can spend most of your time stuck holding a rock trying not to get pulled into the school of sharks by the current. Also, the diving isn`t cheap, but if you shop around the dive shops you can get better deals, they don`t all charge the same price. I was definately wishing I had my drysuit, all this warm water diving has me spoilt, I can`t handle the 18 degree water anymore.

Once we had spent a few days exploring Isla Santa Cruz, we got on the fast boat to Isabela and booked straight into a hostel under contsruction. The owner was slowly building his hostel and most of it is still a small building site at the moment.

Our first stop on Isalbela, Volcano Sierra Negro. A recently active volcano who`s lava flow cooled only 3 years ago. Its not a particularly high volcano, and its not a difficult walk to the top, but the crater is just over 10km wide, and as you go up and around it, the scenery changes dramatically. On the walk up the volcano, the guide points out plants endemic to the Galapacos and the introduced fruit bushes that are taking over and strangling them. The green is vivid. After we stop for lunch, we move on to Volcan Chico which is a series of volcanoes that go right down to the coast of the island. You feel like you`ve stepped into the Land Before Time and any minute a T-Rex is going to come charging after a herd of Stegasoraus. The quiet around the innermost part of Volcan Chico is deafening. There`s no life in the rocks yet. It was only about 5 years ago that it errupted and lava seeped down to the bay below. There are no plants, no insects, no birds, nothing. Since the island is by law mostly uninhabited, there is no sign of any kind of civilisation anywhere. Not only that, but you can actually see down to the point where the Equator passes through the top of the island. You`re litterally standing in the Southern hemisphere on a volcano, looking at volcanoes on the northern hemisphere. I`m not sure how many places in the world you can do that.





One of the cooler things to do while in Isabela, is to go on a tour of the bay. The bay is literally the harbour where the boats come in. Its so protected and shallow though that it takes any captain a lot of patience and great skill to get in and out. Not only that, but seals think its a great place to hang out since its so shallow, not many sharks. You can snorkel with baby seals while they try to impress you with their spins and then snort bubbles at you when you`re simply not as fast as they are. You drive by blue footed boobies and penguins hanging out on the lava rocks. You walk around to pools where sharks like to hang out for a few zzz`z and get trapped when the tide goes out. You might be lucky enough to catch 10 or 15 sharks taking a cat nap there. One of the best parts though, is snorkelling over to the car wash. There`s a particular lagoon formed when the tide goes out, and that`s where the cleaner fish like to hang out. Coming up to mating season, in preparation for their big night out, you can find 15 or 20 turtles hanging out about 4 meters down, sitting on the sand waiting their turn to get cleaned up and dolled up for their upcoming big night out.



When we`d explored Isabela including checking out Flamingo hot spots, (the birds rather than the nightclubs) we made our way over to Isla San Cristobal. Chilled out, popular with surfers and sea lions, its actually the capital of the Galapacos, even though its a smaller town. We went all around Cristobal, everywhere we were allowed. There were sealions everywhere from park benches to the locals boats. The locals got so desperate in their attempt to keep the sealions out, that they started putting barbed wire around their boats.

The sealions as a rule are very cool They`re not terribly aggressive, but you would definately know when you`ve gotten to close. Generally, the biggest, grumpiest bull seal on the beach will waddle up to you and shout furiously. I`ve seen people not being able to get into the water because a bull seal was blocking their path. We also watched as one poor man who was trying to get an artistic shot of a baby seal was chased down the beach by a bull seal. The man was trying to keep his camera from falling into the water while holding onto his shorts which were now somewhere around his knees and all the time the bull seal shouted and chased him down the beach. Kodak moment if ever I saw one.

So, the Galapacos has penguins, famingoes, boobies, turtles, more turtles, sharks and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. You can surf, dive, snorkell and hike. Its a place like nowhere else in the world and it is spectacular. If ever you get the chance to go, do it! You won't be disappointed.

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