Galapagos Galapagos

Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Sat 4 May 2013 01:28
My feeling towards Galapagos was surely not enthusiastic, the reason for going here was mainly for the children. Why? I think that when I was here 20 something years ago I had so much trouble with the authorities, and then the shooting of the film was really hard work.I remember when we edited the film I was astonished on how many great pictures we got but I had no feeling of actually experience this place.
So now here I am, with the whole family in our own boat and it is a total different experience. So nice, so unreal, so friendly.
Yesterday we had the inspection on board and we where approved to stay and to go ashore. So we jumped in the same Taxiboat as the people from the four different authorities and got ashore. My task was to get us ready with the harbour captain (wich is the biggest office on the islands) and that was not so easy. But I really feel I can take it much more easy now.OK if it does not work now, we'll do it later. No big deal. I went to the main street wich is a dirt road with some houses on a stretch that is 250 meters. Found my family in a restaurant eating lunch for 3 USD a piece. I got lunch as well and then the kids had been promised ice cream. We found a shed with some shading palmtree branches and there they got their ice creams. A guy was playing the guitar and a young guy from Equador started to ask us on how we got here. We had a really nice chat. He is a guitar teacher that has taken a long brake to try to find out what he wants to do in life. He took his guitar back from the guy that was playing it and played some spanish song about an elephant in love, he had written it himself, then he asked if we could play and of course my family had to tell him I've been playing for a little while.
So we played a Swedish song (Jag är en fattig bonddräng) and the kids where really cute when they gave all they had.
After that we took a walk (we really need to walk now!!!) and found a beach with a lot of marine iguanas. They are really small black monsters that are incredible to watch. They eat some sea plant that they take from the bottom of the sea. That plant cannot be digested just like that so the iguanas boil it before they can eat it. BOIL IT? Where? In their body! They are black and they lay down on the black lava in the sun. So their body get so hot they actually boil the sea weed. How can you tell? The water that boils comes spouting out from their noses. Looks absolutely crazy.
 
Today Ellinor and I went diving with friends from other boats. Christina on Miss My took all the kids.
We went with a diving boat to an island called Tortuga Island and there we dropped down in big waves that where splashing towards the walls of the island. On the island itself there where birds nests all over and the fregatt birds are just starting their mating season. It is the fregatt bird that blows a red baloon on their throat to atract the females. Very strange beaviour. Another thing is that fregatt birds cannot fish themselves, they are all dependent on stealing fish from the boobies. The locals here call them pirate birds.
Under the water we noticed that the fish was much bigger than usual. The school of barracudas where like a big black wall, hundred thousand of individuals, suddenly broke up when a sealion came down to hunt them.
We came very close to white tip sharks, lots and lots of big sea turtles, big schools of surgeon fishes etc etc.
The visibility is not big, about 8 meters, because of all the nutrition coming with the currents. We could actually see and feel the currents moving up. And it was a current dive, we went along the wall of the island with it.
We had two dives and then went home. Very nice! We found our kids playing on the beach with at least 5 other kids and they had no time whatsoever to talk to us. On the beach you find humans but also sea lions getting some sun on their body.
Iguanas cooking food and the Galapagos crab (orange like a warning sign).
Tonight we are back on board and right now Ellinor is reading Villervalle på Söderhavet for the kids.
Galapagos is fine....