Galapagos, part 2

Day 2: Española



In the morning when we arrived at Española, I awoke to the anchor dropping. Outside of my window, the sky was great and it appeared as though we would have company on the island today--a National Geographic cruise ship was in the harbor. Over breakfast, we hypothesized who was actually in the ship: cameramen or retiros. Retiros are an interesting breed. They have large hats, big sunglasses, unevenly spread sunscreen, wear socks with their Tevas, and have cameras that they typically don't know how to use (at least three of them!). There isn't much wrong with any of the aforementioned, just that it usually means you will be stuck behind a logjam on the paths of the island... for what reasons, I am not entirely sure.

After breakfast, we hauled off to the shores with our snorkel gear in tow, ready for warmer waters. We calmly walked the beach, soaking in the morning sun, playing with baby sea lions and scoping more turtles from a far. We wandered up and down the beach searching for sea lions until it finally got too hot and we had to jump into the ocean.

We swam through the usual sea turtles, manta rays, tropical fish, and the like in search of the ever so elusive white tipped shark. This FLASH popped out of the corner of my eye and I turned to come face to face with the sea lions. One after another, they all took turns swimming around all of us. They spun, ducked, and dodged in order to not get too close to us. It was a brilliant site--I could have cared less if I saw a shark at all. Though we did, eventually make our way out to the cave--a place where Serg told us that we could see sharks. After our unsuccessful voyage, we swam back to shore and mocked the mocking birds... No, really... for about 15 minutes. It was probably the dumbest thing I have done since I left home, but you know, you have to find joy in the little things, right?

I think that despite all of the animals that I have seen since I've been here, sea lions have been and are my absolute favorite. They remind me of dogs, which is probably why. They are probably even more entertaining than boobies--the blue footed kind (I can't say much about the red footed ones).


It was a curious one...

In the afternoon, the skies turned to grey and we walked around a rocky path in search of marine iguanas. We stumbled across this baby Albatros, and watched the adults cruise through the sky, while Serg explained that they only live on a particular island because it has cliffs, which allows them to take off and catch the wind. Of course, my camera died at this point, leaving me with nothing but mental pictures.


They are easily one of the most graceful looking birds... at least when in the sky

We eventually walked back, with only the Galapagos Hawk on the agenda... I think we were lucky, because this was waiting by the boat when we got back:



Day 3: Santa Fe and Plazas

The final day was much like the first two, only better. At Santa Fe, we finally got to swim with the white tipped sharks who were resting in the bay. I was even fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of two Golden Rays masterfully gliding through the crystal blue waters. The water, however, was freezing, making me almost unable to truly appreciate such sights.

Later we walked onto Plazas Sur, which looks like a desolate waste land of red plants and cactus--very much out of a sci-fi movie. We were lucky to stumble across a flower falling from a tree, which caused chaos amongst the land iguanas who ferociously clawed over one another to get to it.


You can play fetch with them. I'm serious...

Knowing it was one of our final islands, we decided to get a little ridiculous, and just started taking pictures of ourselves and talking about which British Celebrities were big in the states and vice versa. Fortunately, for the pictures, I was wearing my Husky Tee... which is still available through the University of Washington Bookstore for the low low price of $15. It makes a wonderful Christmas present, by the way... All proceeds benefit student scholarships too.


The Husky Tee goes global, and only in its first year

We got back on the boat, feeling like it was over. I was sad to know that we had just one trek left, and even more sad to know it would be at 6:30AM. Little did I know what was in store for all of us...

As we sailed towards North Seymour--our final destination--the sun began to set slowly over the Island of Santa Cruz. As we patiently awaited dinner, we grabbed a beer and went to the deck of the ship to take in the sights. As I relaxed and gathered my thoughts, the Polish women started screaming with excitement... DOLPHINS WERE RACING THE BOAT! A huge pod of dolphins--probably six of them, which isn't really huge by Galapagos standards (or so I heard nonchalantly from Serg)--was gliding at the bow of the yacht, darting back and forth, flying every which way. I tried my best to capture the momentous occasion here:

There is nothing like being raced by a dolphin

Eventually the boat slowed down, and the dolphins were no longer entertained. We returned to our prior positions, this time feeling even more accomplished than before. We had now seen four types of lizards, three types of Rays, white tipped sharks, boobies, albatroses, pelicans, tortoises, frigate birds with their grand red pouches, dolphins, sea lions, sea turtles, crabs, and more. What more could we ask for?

The sky turned a bright pink, and the wind picked up. Chris--a Scottish fella--yelled, "What the hell was that?" We all rushed to the side of the boat to take in the sight of Manta Rays wildly flinging themselves out of the water (in order to clean themselves is what I have been told). It was easily, the strangest and most fascinating thing I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I have no way of sharing it with anybody else except for the people I was with...

We went inside, had the ceremonial farewell cocktail, and readied ourself for another ruckus game of peanuckle. Then we found out we were floating above Galapagos Sharks (the dangerous ones...). It was a serindipitous end to an amazing and unplanned journey. Though, we still had the hike in the morning.

Day 4: North Seymour

We took the last hike in the morning, and I stuffed my face with as much as I could in order to reap the benefits of an open semi-buffet breakfast. I am, after all, on a budget. We saw more boobies, with babies this time, and started to feel like this life was the norm--at least I did, for just a moment.


Like father, like son

The bus pulled up, and we got in. I stood there, thinking I was crazy for not planning such an adventure. For thinking it might not be worth it... Neil and I chatted a bit, until a woman interrupted me and said, "excuse me, but you look very familiar... are you from the University of Washington? I think I recognize you and your t-shirt..." I told her "Yeah," and then allowed myself to feel self important for the moment...

As the rest of the group got ready to board their plane, I sat back and waited for the bus to Puerto Ayora. I was really glad that I had gone. The Galapagos islands were easily one of the top 5 things that I have ever done in my life, and no words that I ever write will be able to do my experience justice. It made me feel really really lucky, as if I didn't have enough already. It made me change the way I am thinking about this trip... I'm not sure if I want to be gone for more than eight months, but I am sure that I want to live the time I do spend away to the utmost.

Once I got back to Puerto Ayora, I contacted a trekking agency in order to book a trip on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I'll let you know how it goes once I return. For now, I'm off to Peru.