Islas Galápagos

Increíble. The word I would use to describe the islands. 

For the past six days, we've been living on a sailboat, the Cachalote, with 12 other people from all over the world.

Our days aboard the boat were very long and packed with adventure. Obviously it's hard to sum up our whole trip in one post but here goes my best effort of the highlights from each day...

Day one: San Cristobal 

My mom and I met my grandparents in Quito the night of the 1st and flew to San Cristobal the next day. Once we arrived on the island, we were greeted by the wonderful warm, humid air as we exited the plane to the tiny airport. We quickly discovered that there are sea lions everywhere; basking in the sun on the picnic tables and benches all over town.

After settling on the ship, we took the pangas (dingies) to the mainland and visited a tortoise breeding center. We learned that most of the tortoises on the other islands have completely died off due to the introduction (by humans) of rats. The rats eat the young tortoises before they reach maturity and eventually entire populations were lost on the islands. It was very interesting to learn of the conservation efforts that are being put into place here on the islands because so frequently we hear of the negative damage humans have done but this breeding center is beginning to make a very positive impact on the tortoise population.

Day two: Española

On this day, we went to a gorgeous white sandy beach surrounded by bright turquoise water. We found a whale skeleton near the water, kayaked around the rocky cliffs and sat on the beach, watching the sea lions play in the waves. Later that day we went snorkeling and saw beautiful, exotic fish, and sea lions that came to play with us. This was my first major experience snorkeling and for those of you who haven't done it, it's pretty much straight out of Finding Nemo. Later that day we went for a hike along the shore and saw hundreds of iguanas and even more seals. Sadly, we also saw many dyeing or dead seals and birds. This wasn't a part of the Galápagos we had expected to see but was very raw and real; just like the environment that we were staying in. This reminder of reality was refreshing and eventually I was able to look at it as a beautiful thing. I was able to look at a decaying bird and think of how amazing it is that it will biodegrade into the ground and that its body will fertilize the plants around it and nourish other animals as well. 

Day three: Floreana

On this day we went for a hike across the island and next to a lagoon where we saw many flamingos. Once we arrived at the beach on the other side, we were told to shuffle our feet through the water so we could safely watch the stingrays. There was a huge school of the Rays so we stood still as they grazed the bottom of the ocean floor, right around our feet. Afterwards, we went to a snorkeling area that was an eroded volcano in the ocean called Devil's Crown; a flourishing reef with many different marine species. At the end of our snorkeling venture, we were joined by some playful penguins and got to swim through the water with the feeding birds. They are very small and incredibly agile. What a pleasant surprise! Next, we sailed to Post Office beach. Here, we dropped off our post cards into a wooden barrel that was brought there in 1793 by a whaling captain. Historically speaking, the sailors would drop their letters here and when other boats came by, they would look through the letters to see where they needed to go. If one was close to where he/she lived, they would take it home with them and hand deliver the card or letter. Today, the custom is still going so we did the same. We boarded our boat and put up the sails. El Capitan let us take turns steering the boat, teaching some of us how to navigate using the compass and the wind. For the rest of the evening we sailed the open seas and watched for whales on the horizon. 

Day four: Santa Cruz and Santiago

We woke up and went on a hike through the the barren landscape on the Western side of Santiago. Contrary to what I expected, many of the islands here are very arid and somewhat dry. Although there are no seasons, the trees lose their leaves during this season (the dry season) to conserve their water. On land, we saw a few land iguanas, finches, and huge cacti that grow in clusters resembling trees. After our hike we got back on the boat and sailed to Santiago Island. We walked over the lava flow from an eruption that happened only 115 years ago. The ground was covered with intricate patters and drips of black lava rock; in some places it looked like artwork it was so beautiful. It was a very neat geology lesson and interesting to think that this is how life started on all the islands. The lack of life present in this island gave us a good perspective of how long it took for the other islands to grow luscious forests and vegetation filled with animals. 

That evening, we used our flashlights in the water to attract the fish, and with the fish came the Sharks. From a safe (but very close) distance, we watched the Sharks circle our boat. There was also a curious sea lion that came to our boat and we watched him chase the flying fish through the water. The sea lions here have adapted a method of fishing that enables them to catch these fish because the fish are much faster than them. The sea lions chase the fish into the sides of the boats so they can catch them. 

Day five: Genovesa

We woke up on this morning to clouds and rain but continued with the day's agenda. We took the pangas to the cliffs on the edge of this island and walked up old stairs to the top of the rocks. We hiked around the top of the island and saw hundreds of different birds. There aren't any predators of the birds here so they build their nests on the ground and aren't really afraid of humans so we were able to get quite close. We saw two beautiful little owls and many blue footed boobies, red footed boobies, nazca boobies, seagulls, and frigote birds. There are many different species of finches and it is very interesting to see them up close and observe the size and shape of their beaks based on what they eat. This is some of the evidence Charles Darwin used when formulating his theory of evolution and it is fascinating to see in person. For example, one type of finch has a huge, big, bulky beak because they primarily eat from hard shells and rocks; whereas the other species has a tiny sharp beak to get blood from other birds as a source of water. We then put on our snorkeling gear and went out into the water again. Here we were very excited to see the Hammerhead sharks. The first one we saw appeared out of the murky deep water and was almost 12 feet long. We swam right above the Sharks, observing them as they moved through the water. We also saw an eagle Ray, some trumpet fish, a couple of sea turtles and many other different schools of fish. After our hike we went kayaking around the shoreline to look for fur seals and then went to the beach to walk through the mangroves. We found a dead baby whale and learned that it died because the whales' sonar gets interrupted by the radar on the boat's navigation. The whales get stuck in the cove area and are unable to navigate without their sonar. This was our final night with our friends and our crew members so we made a toast before dinner then set sail. 

Day six: Baltra

For our last day we went for a ride around the mangroves to black turtle cove. We spotted dozens of turtles, back tipped reef sharks and manta rays. On our way back to the boat, we found an area where thousands of blue footed boobies were synchronously diving into the water to catch sardines. The method the birds use to feed was incredible to watch and very systematic. They would all take turns diving and coming out of the water then rejoining the circle; flying back up to the top where they would dive back in again. 

Overall, our trip was spectacular. We met really incredible people from many different places and got to see beautiful new landscapes and exotic new creatures. The time spent with family will always be a special memory and it was a great way to begin my big adventure.