To cover in great detail 8 days in Galapagos Islands would be impossible, so I will try to hit the highlights in a number of posts. I hope the best part would be my photographs. I managed to take about 2,000 only! I will try to add descriptions of some animals and places in my Galapagos album on flick here.
Day 1, Thursday, April 18
Arriving to Galapagos to find out that our boat has technical problems and will be ready mañana, mañana!! After being put in a hotel in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island, we headed for Charles Darwin Research Station to see the tortoise breeding center and Lonesome George, the last remaining Pinta tortoise.
Day 2, Friday, April 19
Our schedule is slightly changed and we are visiting the highlands of Santa Cruz while waiting for the news about the boat. On our itinerary - a farm with more tortoises, lava tubes ("Los Tuneles") and pit craters ("Los Gemelos").
The highlight of Day 2 was the afternoon visit to Tortuga Bay - a gorgeous beach with fine white sand, foaming waves and sky-blue water. Playa Blanca in Colombia is immediately forgotten. It is the first time for me to go jumping over waves in the Pacific Ocean and I love it! The water is not as salty as in the Caribbean.
In a cactus forest (Prickly Pear Cactus) a short walk away we find colonies of marine iguanas. They are black, the color of lava stones. Baby and adult iguanas are taking in the sun, hardly moving at all.
Day 3, Saturday, April 20
We are on the boat! Starting our cruise on South Plaza island. The morning hike was full of great shots - marine and land iguanas, and Galapagos sea lions. Up the cliff besides a stunning view we saw quite a number of birds - red-billed tropic bird, shallow-tailed gull, blue-footed booby, nazca booby, and various types of finches.
After lunch snorkeling became fun once we reached low cliffs where sea lions were playing in the water within the hand reach. Dozens of the them were right, left and below us speeding through the water. One of the pups smacked my mask with his fin. Otherwise they are quite precise and only seem to be on the verge of crashing into the rocks, but in the last second their bodies magically curve around the sharp edges.
In the afternoon we hiked in the wetlands of Santa Fé island. Spotted Santa Fé land iguana, found only on this island. On the sand beach we saw a harem of sea lions with one big male and a group of cows, immature sea lions and pups.
1 comment:
What did you get me? -m
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