06 Mar Got the 9.40am bus from Alusi to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. We checked into our hostel and booked our flights to the Gallapagos at a nearby travel agency. They were also owners of a cruise company operating out there and offered us a last minute deal of an 8 day cruise for $1400 USD. We said that we´d pay $1200, but they declined. So we booked the flight anyway and decided to check out trips once we were there.
Later in the day we were in an internet cafe and I was sitting beside this lad who was wearing his headphones and singing away on his computer next to me. He was bopping his head and tapping his fingers and generally being an irritating git. I looked in his direction a couple of times hoping he would get the message that his attempt to be cool was backfiring in the extreme, but he didnt get the message. I didnt have the neccessary Spanish to convey my feelings (Oy d**khead! , shut the f**k up) so i put my headphones on but music was then required as I could still hear him. The online music was choking the internet speed so that failed too. Racking my brains and unable to concentrate on my interneting I came up with a plan. We were in a vegetarian restaurant earlier on and as a result I was farting like a volcano. Holding them in at the internet cafe had built up a large gas supply and I let them go all at once. Silent but deadlies, the green nerve gas danced and swirled its way left of my arse and entered my freind nose with devasting effect. In an instant the tapping of his fingers slowed, his face twitched and the singing stopped. His bopping head went from going up and down to moving left an right. My oblivious nature and my innocent face noticed nothing. A steady supply over the following 5 minutes had him packing and on his way. Great!
That night Frog met up with a lad he had met in Colombia and we all went out for a Mexican and beers.
07 Mar Up and out at 5am to get our taxi to the airport for our flight to the Galapagos. Our journey took us 950km west off the coast of Ecuador and over the Pacific to Santa Cruz, one of the bigger islands. We checked into our hotel in the main town, Puerto Ayora, and off down the town we went bargain hunting for tours. We went into this place that was selling the same tour we were offered in Quito and got it for $1100 each, $300 less than the Quito price. We couldnt believe that the Quito office let us walk away having offered them a $100 more each and now they have to pay that agent a commission too. Anyway, South America is full of bad business acumen. Puerto Ayora is a nice small town that is a complete contrast to the rest of Ecuador, the difference is money.
08 Mar We were due to set sail at 5pm so we had all day to look around. We went to the Charles Darwin centre where they had a historical and present day presentation of the Galapagos, a turtle conservation centre where we saw giant turtles that weighed 40 stone and their shells were as hard as rock. The conservation centre was neccessary as years ago turtles were taken on board ships as they could survive for a year without food and water thus making them an idea source of food and oil for the ships making the long journey back to Europe. They were too popular with thousands of turtles being taken and eventually brought to near extinction. The centre are incubating eggs and repopulating the islands.
That evening we got onto our ship, the Aida Maria, a 16 berth cruiser which was a nice vessel with good cabins, food and fellow passengers.
09 Mar Up and out at 5.45am for breakfast and briefing of the days activities at 6am. Firstly we went to Plazas island where we saw sea lions, heaps of birds and fish including Mantra rays. We walked around the island for a couple of hours and towards the end of our visit we came across a camera crew doing a documentary on Gallapagos finches for the `Nova Nature channel´ in the US. I posed in front of the video camera and had a photo taken with the camera man and the sound engineer playing along. Created a good laugh doing my David Attenbourough impression.
After lunch we arrived at Santa Fe island where we saw Iguanas, more sea lions and their pups which came up to us for a look. They were very funny and looked like they were doing a dance for us the way the walked and acted. They loved having their photos taken lifting their heads up and arching their backs with those big eyes looking at the camera. That afternoon we went snorkelling around some coral reefs and saw amazing shoals of the most colourful fish imaginable (no idea what they were)
10 Mar After travelling through the night we awoke to the spectacle of Espaniola island. We were at Suarez point which is a hotspot for wildlife. The amazing thing about the Galapagos is that each island is different and has different variations of animals and different ecosystems. Each island requires the animal and plant life to evolve differently to accommodate their different circumstances. On Espaniola we saw hawks, mockingbirds, lizards, Iguanas (miniture dinosaurs), blue footed boobies and sea lions. It was so amazing how close you could go up to them and they just sit and watch you in as much amazment as you are of them. We were under strict instructions not to touch them, not to use flash photography in their eyes, no food and keep at least 1 metre away (not always possible when they are chasing after you, playfully of course).
That afternoon we cruised to the other side of the island and went ashore onto Gardner bay, where we walked along the beach amongst hundreds of sunbathing sea lions. We then went snorkelling amongst schoals of tropical fish whilst dipping in and out of warm and cold currents flowing alongside each other (this creates a huge diversity of warm and cold water fish). We floated along with the fish going with the current and the tide, ebbing and flowing with them. An amazing experience.
11 Mar Up and out at 6.30am onto Post office beach at Floreana island. It was called post office beach as passing ships dropped off their mail into a big post box made from a whiskey barrel, had a look at the other mail and if they were going in that direction took it with them. Apparently it worked a treat back then and is still kept going by the tourists today. It was and still is a free service. Although nothing hitching a ride to Ireland at the time of checking. We didnt put any postcards in either as we only learned of its existence that morning.
Before lunch we went snorkelling at a place called `The Devils crown´, a rock formation about a mile off the Floreana coast. We saw schoals of fish and great under water rock formations. The most exciting thing were the white tip sharks checking us out and was great to be able to swim with them.
Later in the afternoon we walked to Cormorant point to a protected sanctuary beach where turtles crawl up on the beach at night, dig a hole and lay their eggs. It was a paradise. We set off at 4pm back to the main town, Puerto Ayora for supplies and offload some passengers that were on a 4 day cruise. Along the way we came across a family of Minke whales (up to 50ft long) and watched them come up to 20 ft off the deck. They were huge. As soon as they passed the dolphins arrived and they were jostleing each other to swim in front of the bow of the boat. They were jumping in and out of the water and seemed to be enjoying it more than we were. We got to the town and had the welcome opportunity to go to the supermarket, check internet and have a few drinks.
Part 2 due in a couple of days
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