If I had to pick one word to describe the Galapagos . . . surreal. Luckily, for me anyway, I am not so limited. The last two weeks have been the most amazing part of my trip. I know I probably say that in every entry, but the Galapagos really does stand out from the other things that I´ve done. I´ll spare you from a detailed description--it would take a novel to describe this trip--but every day in the last two weeks I have enjoyed incredible sunsets and sunrises; sailing in clear aqua water; and snorkeling/swimming/diving with sharks, turtles, sea lions, rays, and/or penguins.
Here are some of the highlights:
The first time we went snorkeling--I found myself swimming with a whole school of angel fish. I was floating along, taking in the moment, when the fish scattered. I looked over and there was a four- or five-foot white-tipped shark. Though I knew that it was harmless, I froze. It looked too much like a shark from Jaws. Before I had time to recover from my initial shock, a sea lion buzzed by on my rights side, then another on my left side, chasing the shark away. Suddenly I was surrounded by sea lions, who seemed to be just as curious about me as I was about them. One approached me and cocked his head to the side as if he were trying to figure out what was this strange creature. The others were flipping and twirling and basically teasing us about our limited swimming abilities.
Laying out on Espanola at Gardner Bay--There were so many sea lions and they would waddle up to where you were laying and just plop down beside you.
Animal watching--Every day we would walk on at least one new island. It never ceased to amaze me how unafraid the animals were. Birds, iguanas, sea lions, land turtles, lava lizards, you name it, they would walk right up to you.
The view from Bartolome--Bartolome was by far the most beautiful island we visited. Though it didn´t have as many animals as some of the other islands, from the summit you could see the lava field on Santiago, Sullivan Bay, and the other beach near Pinnacle Rock.
Cafe Limon--Though the music was horrible, every time we went there (only 3 times) we had a great time.
Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras on Isabela--After a long day riding horses to Volcano Sierra Negra (the world´s second largest volcanic crater) and sea kayaking, it was very refreshing to go snorkeling especially in a place with so many sharks. I swam past at least four very large white-tipped sharks.
Scubadiving at North Seymour--This was a great dive along a channel. I saw a LOT of moray eels, a garden eel, several spotted rays, and, from a great distance, a hammerhead shark.
The People--I made so many great friends on this trip. It made it that much harder to leave the island.
For the curious, here are the places we visited:
Day 1-Baltra and Bachas
Day 2-Islas Plazas and Santa Fe
Day 3-Española (Puerto Suarez and Gardner Bay-scubadiving!)
Day 4- Floreana (Punta Cormorant and Post Office Bay), the Devil´s Crown, and Santa Cruz (Puerto Ayora)
Day 5- Santa Cruz (Charles Darwin Center and Parte Alta)
Day 6 - Rabida and Santiago (Puerto Egas)
Day 7 - Bartolome (summit, pinnacle rock, Sullivan Bay)
Day 8 - North Seymour and Baltra (this is the part where I was supposed to return to Quito, but I changed my flight and spent an extra 5 days in the Islands). Return to Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz and check out Las Grietas, a gorge with a salt water tide pool at the bottom.
Day 9 - Isabela (Laguna Flamenco and longest beach in Los Galapagos)
Day 10 - Isabela (horseback ride to Volcan Sierra Negra and Volcan Chico, sea kayaking to Las Tintoreras to see the shark canal, snorkeling near the shark canal)
Day 11- Santa Cruz (Turtle Bay)
Day 12 - Scubadiving at North Seymour and, after returning to Santa Cruz, the Charles Darwin center beach.
Day 13 - Goodbye Galapagos.
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