Galapagos...'The Origin of the Faeces'
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Sun 19 Feb 2012 23:20
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0:57.9S 90:57.8W
Puerto Villamil, Isla Isabela, Galapagos,
Ecuador.
The pundits were correct, Puerto Villamil is a
lovely snug little natural harbour free from swell, chop and the noisy masses.
There were already three boats in the anchorage and friends Matt & Jean on
'S/Y Superted' joined us a day later and pretty much took the last
remaining slot. It is like being anchored in the middle of a nature park
here. You can swim with turtles, penguins and seals off the back of the
boat............splendid. But that does have its down side, which I will come to
later and is, in essence, the nature of our most
notable discovery.
The other boats,... a nice collection of Frogs,
Limeys and Hunns, had already been here for a while and had done all the ground
work on the best trips and spots to visit. So we tagged along on the trips to
the 'Tuneles', 'Tintoreras' and the 'Sierra Negro Volcan'. We crammed them all
into one week only shortly after we arrived. We really could have done with
some rest first and spaced them out a bit because we are now completely
knackered. But we figured the trips would give us a good early insight
into this enigmatic corner of the world,......and we were
right.
This archipelego of islands is essentially a bunch
of volcanoes. Not the most attractive of locations you might think, but what
makes this place so interesting is the un- tampered-with wild life.....probably
the finest example of natures natural evolution on the planet, and of
course the basis of Darwin's famous or infamous 'Origin of the Species'. We
decided that we weren't going to be 'out done' by this Darwin chappie and were
quite determined to make our own even greater discoveries. So we put on our
'Safari Suits' and set off on our personal mission of
discovery.
The 'Tuneles' was the first trip. It involved a
wild speed boat trip driven by the local petrol-head hoon called Fabricio. He
drove the boat skillfully at high speed through the Pacific surf and local
reefs to the western corner of the island. This spot is completely remote and
was only lately discovered by fisherman fishing for lobster. It has
a unique landscape of lava tunnels formed by the molten lava
solidifying when it flowed into the sea. The result is a perfect natural habitat
for turtles and sharks, and an ideal spot for tourists and intrepid
explorers, to observe them.
  The
Tuneles
The noble turtle
The second trip was to the Tintoreras which was
close by to the anchorage and only involved a short boat ride and then a
walk & snorkel through the National Park. Here we were able to witness
a typical Friday night British Pub scene ..........ie female dragons
hissing, spitting and fighting over the best male.
However, these particular 'horny' Iguanas were
scrapping through years of evolution & instinct and not because of
a belly full of lager n black or alco pops.!
  The Iguana
stud
Friday night beauties
We also got to swim with a local enclave
of seals. This was truly fantastic. These beasts are
so cumbersome out of the water but so agile and athletic in it.......a
bit like us really but in reverse. But if you swam underwater with them, you
really felt that you could interact with them and they would show off and
perform tricks around you. It was a great experience, one that we will
never forget and will look forward to repeating.
The penguins are our favourite bird, they are
both cute and comical. They certainly make up for their
flightlessness with speed and agility
in the water. Unlike the seals, they are a bit shy and you only get fleeting
glimpses of them in the water. They speed past you chasing sprats
leaving only a small trail of bubbles in their wake but are fun to
watch.
  Me with a seal (I'm the one in black
behind)
Pingu and his pal
The final trip was to the Sierra Negra Volcan. It
is billed as the volcano with the second largest crater in the world. It seems
that all volcanic islands seem to make the same claim but this one was certainly
large, about 10 Kms diameter, and was quite impressive. The Chiva (an open-sided
bus) took us part way to the top and the rest was done by foot.......all 5 hours
of it, there and back.
  The crater of Sierra Negra
Volcan
And one of the volcano's grumpy residents
So there you have it..........a brief insight
todate into Isla Isabela, the Galapagos. But after all that exploration we still
did not uncover one of the great mysteries of the universe.................what
was source of the stinky brown substance found in the bottom of our dinghy
every morning?......A real head scratcher, well at least until yesterday morning
when Jo got up early to the sound of a strange barking noise from the stern of
our boat, only to find the guilty party basking in the early morning
sunshine from the comfort of our dinghy.
Yes...a cheeky little seal was using
our dink as her bed for the night and would leave a little stinky
thank-you note for us before leaving every morning.....bless her little cotton
flippers.
 Caught in the act.....poop taboot
There we are then...............'The Origin of the
Faeces',..........so what do you think of that then......Mr smarty pants
Darwin!
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