Tuesday, May 22 – Espanola Island
Tuesday, May 22
This morning my view was that of Gardner Bay on Espanola Island and of the G Adventures ship Yolita which has some of the same stops that we have it seems.
After our 7 o’clock breakfast call we grabbed our snorkelling gear and headed for the pangas for a wet landing on Gardner Bay Beach. A wet landing, not too surprisingly, means that we jump off the panga in the water up to our knees or thighs and wade up on to the beach. (A dry landing means it’s from the panga to a dock or stairway.)
We walked along another stunning white sand beach stopping to check out the wildlife. There were the usual sea lions, this time some of them body surfing in the waves as I had done yesterday. Thankfully no one made a connection. And we saw a few Marine Iguanas on the beach and on the black volcanic rock along the beach. They sit on the rocks to warm themselves up after the cool nights. There were a couple of small lava lizards as well.
We had been warned about Mockingbirds and today experienced them first hand. Up until the government set aside the land in the Galapagos in a National Park, there weren’t any rules and regulations about interacting with the wildlife. There isn’t a lot of fresh water on some of the islands and these intelligent birds had discovered that people coming to the islands carried water in bottles in their backpacks and they were successful in getting water from them. So even though we’re not allowed to give them water they still try and get at our water bottles if they are outside of our day packs. They’re really quite pesky.
Then it was time to put on our wetsuits and snorkel gear and head out to and around a small island just off shore to check out the potential wildlife there. The group has broken into two groups with those of us who have some experience snorkelling and are comfortable with it in one group (called the Rambo snorkelers) and the other group of newbies. I’m happy to report that I’m in the Rambo group. It split up pretty much half and half with some folks brand new to snorkelling. Milton, one of our Guides, is great with those not yet comfortable with it all. He took them into a shallow area yesterday to get used to the equipment and then today for the deep water snorkel he got in the water with the group and took along one of the life preserver rings from the boat and let them hold on to it to get their gear on and even hold on to it as they moved along the rock formation. They really appreciated the slow and patient approach and are all up to try really deep water snorkelling tomorrow. I figure once it’s over my head (and let’s be real, that doesn’t take much depth) it really doesn’t matter how deep it is. I love not having to use a life jacket because the wet suits create some buoyancy as well as keep us warmer and from getting sunburned.
So, I grabbed my underwater camera and away I went off the beach and on my way out to the small island. I’ve had no problems at all with this camera until today. I guess maybe the seals are not holding or some salt water got into it somehow, so I only got a few not-very-good pictures and not it doesn’t seem to be working at all. I’m so disappointed because there was so much to see and I feel like I let you down, Rae. Sorry about that. Next on my toy list is a Go Pro. But after Galapagos I can’t imagine I’l ever see the diversity of sea life we’ve already seen in 2.5 days.
There were schools of different kinds of fish such as Parrot Fish, King Angel Fish and Surgeonfish and individual ones like Flounder and almost transparent Cornetfish. I swam alongside a Green Sea Turtle for quite a long time until he went off in another direction. I saw some small sting rays, but missed seeing a 2 sharks that a couple of the others had seen. You had to dive down to see them and I haven’t yet mastered that technique. I float like a cork and getting my butt down is a problem for me. I also seem to always end up with water in my tube and not able to clear it without surfacing and taking it out or my mouth and cleaning it out. Hopefully by the end of this week I’ll have mastered that. One of our travellers from New Zealand, Andrew, is like one with the sea lions. He can stay down for a long time and zips and spins around like they do. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The advanced group headed back to the boat to get rid of the rest of our gear from our walk and to go for another one hour snorkel in deep water off the side of another small island. This was a more technical snorkel with currents and rock walls to avoid, caves to carefully explore, and a lot cooler water. But my goodness the fun we had with the sea lions. So first of all, although they are sea lions, they are a much smaller variety. They look more like seals to me, so they’re not like the big hulking ones that line the docks on the west coast.
Between our guide and Andrew going down and playing with them, the sea lions, 10 – 12 of them at one point were having great fun swimming among us. They frequently brushed up against us, and jumped over our heads more like dolphins. They genuinely seem to like to play with their human guests like puppies. I just floated and enjoyed the hijinks. One of my most treasured moments of the trip for sure. But we were getting cold so it was time to get out.
Did I mention that they have snacks and juice or ice tea waiting for us when we come back from each of our activities? Fried plantain, or yuca fries or little sandwiches, or chips and hot sauce or cookies….. you get the idea. They’re always really appreciated because we’re working for them. This last snorkel we burned a pile of calories just keeping warm. After some snacks and iced tea I headed to the shower to get warmed up.
Our days seem to be following the same pattern where we have free time after lunch and til 2:30 or 3:00 and I think it’s the time that most of us really appreciate. Gives us a chance to soak in all that we’ve seen and done, talk about our experiences, or just have a nap on one of the lounge chairs on the top deck.
This afternoon’s activity was a 2.5 hour walk over lava beds, so as you can imagine if we were cold from our morning snorkel, we warmed up pretty fast with the afternoon sun, at the equator, on a black background. It was a hard walk, having to watch where you put every step over sometimes smooth and sometimes jagged rocks. But we saw so many interesting things.
There were marine iguanas everywhere. The Galapagos is the only place in the world where iguanas have adapted to be able to swim and feed in the ocean. They are not cute and cuddly like sea lions so I’m glad we haven’t run into them in the water. They tend to congregate together on the black rocks to keep each other warm and you see piles of them. While they are feeding in the water, they take in a lot of salt water along with their food and to eliminate the salt, there is a process whereby the salt is expelled from their noses, and it looks like they’re spitting. Also not terribly attractive. The ones on Espinosa Island are black with green and red markings that are quite subdued during most of the year, but in the fall, during mating season they apparently turn very vibrant and they call them Christmas Tree Iquanas.
The cliffs made for some great scenery and there was even a blow hole along the way.
There were a couple of new breeds of birds to discover here as well. You met the Blue Footed Boobies the other day, but on Espinosa there are Nasca Boobies, which are larger and much more aggressive. Although we did have a visit from a Blue Footed Boobie as well and guide Milton became photographer Milton.
Another of the different species of birds is the Waved Albatross.They are the most awkward looking birds on the ground with their big feet and funny legs. But in the air they are excellent flyers and we watched them soaring off a cliff on the back side of the island. They are nesting at the moment and there were dozens of them sitting on an egg each, that are huge. And like the other wildlife here, they let us walk right beside them without any fear. There are 18,000 couples in the Galapagos and they mate for life.
We gradually made our way back to our starting point carefully picking our way over the rocks and praying to not turn an ankle. While waiting for the rest of the group and the pangas to arrive I went Sally Lightfoot Crab hunting. Photo hunting that is.
I had time for a quick nap when we got back before our briefing for tomorrow at 6:30. We’re headed off to Floreana Island tomorrow and will do a nature walk first thing, and a panga entry snorkel and then in the afternoon we’re going penguin hunting, although I’m not terribly confident we’ll see any given that there are only 14 – 16 of them on the island. We’ll have a chance then to snorkel off the beach, and visit a post office that has been in operation since 1793. More on that tomorrow.
Lois' Adventures 