Galapagos Islands

A marine iguana - the only iguana that swims

Places like the Galapagos make people come to South America. I have been fascinated by this archipelago ever since I heard of its existence in a Franco-Japanese cartoon in the 80's : "Les Mystérieuses Cités d'Or".

Over time I learned more about it thanks to Georges Pernoud's "Thalassa" or Sir David Attenborough's programmes on BBC.

And here we are, The Galapagos islands ! A dream come true. 

Obviously I have uploaded on Picasa a selection the pictures of our stay : The Galapagos Islands

First sight of the Galapagos

The archipelago is made up of 15 "big" islands, 3 "small" ones and 107 rocks and islets. The formation is located some 1000km west of Ecuador and the islands saddle the equator (about 1.4°North and South). A 2hr flight gets you there. 

We are subject to thorough searches upon arrival

Only after having cleared all the security procedures (bag search, sniffing dogs, questionnaires, etc) can one start to soak up the atmosphere. 

Unknown boy on Isabela

We decided to spend 5 nights in the Archipelago, starting with the biggest (and the least populous) island : Isabela. 

Boat requiring repairs or a paint job

Taking in the heat from the sun before going out to sea

As we arrive on the jetty, we are welcomed by marine iguanas ... Oh we are here alright ! 

Casa Rosada

We go to our Hostel : it's the last house on the beach, and beyond only an endless white sandy beach and the ocean ! 

Spectacular sunset - picture taken from our porch

The morning looks good ! 

With 4.600km² Isabela is more than twice the size of Mauritius ... yet only 4.000 souls live on it (vs. 1.3 million in Mauritius) ! So you can imagine the peace and quiet that prevails on the island.

A perfect spot to watch men and sea lions alike surfing the waves

We decide to SCUBA dive the next day at Isla Tortuga. We meet a very nice British couple : Dave and Jo with whom we spend this day. First dive : lots of turtles, and a couple sting rays. Rather uncomfortable current and disappointing visibility as compared to Mauritius.

Easy life for him !

Second dive : the best dive of our lives so far ! We see a small Galapagos penguin, the only penguin that may be seen in it's natural habitat in the northern hemisphere. Then a white-tip shark (Oceanic whitetip shark) and a 3.5 metres hammerhead! (Hammerhead shark) : it appeared from behind the reef at less than 2 metres from the instructor and 5 metres from us. Our hearts were sent pounding and we probably used up 500 psi of air right there. What a dive that was ! 

On the way back we see a bunch of sea lions leisurely basking in the warm sun. We are indeed in a unique place!

Relaxing time after a long day

Weighing in the tortoises

The following day we visit the tortoise breeding center. The Galapagos land tortoise came close extinction a few decades ago before they were rescued and systematically bred in this center before being released back in the nature at adulthood. This was a very interesting day and the size of these tortoises compare to those in Mauritius.

A Galapagos gecko

We are on the Galapagos ! 

The sheer size of this crater is unbelievable

After that we go to the volcano Sierra Negra, the second biggest active volcano in the world with an overwhelming 10km diameter caldera. The landscape is out of this world ... I dare say moon-like.

A White tip shark swimming through a narrow passage

That afternoon we go snorkeling in the lagoon. Again the strong currents and very poor visibility are a huge let down. But the most impressive was Tintorera Island on which colonies of sea lions and iguanas rule. Unbelievable !We also catch a rare sight : a school of white-tip shark resting on the lagoon floor. Next to them on the rocks are hundreds of bright red crabs labouring away. 

A sea lion just waking up from his afternoon nap

Almost ! 

What a sight just before breakfast !

Our last day on Isabela is a bright sunny day. On the porch of Casa Rosada, dozens of iguanas are charging up their batteries in the sun. We rent bikes, go to a place in the middle of the mangrove forest where the US Army had set up a camp and a radar monitoring centre during Second World War. They were supposed to be an advance warning station protecting the Panama canal of a hypothetical air strike. They waited for a war that never came...

High up over the mangrove forest

Land tortoise in the wild

Best snorkeling so far - a bit chilly though

In the afternoon we rent some snorkeling gear and go for a dip in a small lagoon near the port. This time the water is crystal clear, and we see a sting ray, a huge turtle, a penguin and the cherry on the cake : a sea lion that comes to play at about 50cm from me. We are indeed fortunate to be there !

A sea lion waiting patiently for the fishermen to give him some fish skin

The very last day on the Galapagos is an early start. 5am rise to catch the 6am speedboat that brings us to Isla Santa Cruz : smaller than Isabela but with a population of 25.000. We reach Santa Cruz 2 hrs later, check our hostel and as we are starving, we go look for breakfast.

Alone on the beach

Gotcha ! Bird in mid flight

We then walk the 6km to the Tortuga Bay where funnily enough we found no turtles ... but I did get some cool pictures of small birds in mid flight.     

Then the following morning we take the plane back to the mainland. All in all it was a unique experience and we enjoyed Isabela much more than Santa Cruz.

Leisure walks in the evening

Awe inspiring ...