Isabella Boat Tour

Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Fri 28 Feb 2014 17:29
Today we did something out of the ordinary for us - we booked a boat trip! As we live on the boat we rarely book to go on any boat trips, we prefer to see inland, the bits we can't do ourselves. Anyway, we had spoken to the guide running the tour and he really sold it to us. We needed to get a group of 10 people together and once he had the necessary permissions from the Navy we could go. You seem to need permission from the Navy to do lots of things here, from boat trips to buying diesel and petrol for the boat!
When we had been sold the tour we were told to expect to see just about everything on our Galapagos wish list, so we were all very excited. We had teamed up with Pat and Stuart on Brizo and their two friends, Kay and Nigel, and also Paul and Susi from Firefly, another yacht in the rally.
The day was always going to be a long one and it started with a pick up from the boat at 7am. As it was Election Day, voting is mandatory here in Galapagos, we had a short wait while the crew voted, drinking fresh local coffee on the dock, before leaving.
The trip took us to the west coast of Isabella. It was a two and a half hour trip to the furthest point. On the way we saw lots of manta rays, turtles and dolphins. We kept a look out for whales but didn't see any. As we neared our first stop the crew put the fishing lines out and, once we had caught three cod fish, a local name for a type of grouper,and another which we think was a Spanish mackerel of some kind we were on our way again. This was going to be fresh ceviche for our lunch.

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John safely lands part of our lunch

The first stop was a small bay where we could snorkel. The entrance in was interesting, we had to go in on the crest of a wave to stop the boat from grounding! Once in we went round the bay by boat and saw the first Galápagos penguin of the day and also flightless cormorants.

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How cute are these guys?

The Galápagos penguin is a relative of the emperor penguin and arrived here carried by the Humboldt current. Once here, the penguins were a bit overcome by the equatorial heat, being used to much colder weather, and gradually over time shrunk to the size they are now. This reduces the surface area exposed to the sun and keeps them cooler. In the water we were able to get really close to a penguin sitting on the rocks. We also saw flightless cormorants - these are endemic to Galapagos and exist nowhere else in the world. These have lost the ability to fly over the years as it has become unnecessary, all the food they need is within 100 metres of the shore and they have no natural predators. They don't however have waterproof wings and they need to sit on the rocks and hold out their wings to dry once they are onshore again.

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Flightless cormorants looking for lunch

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You can just make out the cormorants sitting on the rocks drying their feathers - it was very difficult trying to get photos of them as the landscape camouflages them perfectly!

The evolution of the islands themselves is also fascinating. Isabella is a collection of volcanos which have all welded together over time. There are new ones forming regularly. The whole group of islands is also constantly moving, about 5cm east each year, towards South America due to the effect of the Nazca tectonic plate. The islands will never reach the mainland though, as the plate dips and they will then sink into the Ocean.

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The smaller volcanos which make up this area of Isabella

The landscape is all lava in this area, making taking pictures of the wildlife difficult as they are so well camouflaged. The marine iguanas, also an endemic species which exist no where else, are dark grey and although the rocks are covered in them they are easy to miss. These are another fabulous example of evolution. All iguanas previously were land based. When they arrived here in the Galapagos they were also land based, but it was a case of learn to swim or starve, so over the years they began to be able to cling to the rocks and then swim and eat from the sea ensuring their survival.
Volcanic soil is very fertile, so some areas appear very green, covered in what is a relative of the humble dandelion. These are thick brushy trees which cover huge areas. There is no access to this part of the island by land and no human habitation is possible at all.
After we had snorkelled with the penguins and seen a few turtles, it was time to eat the fresh fish we had caught. As you can imagine, cleaning fish on the back deck brought out the birds and we had swooping pelicans and frigate birds all clamouring for a piece of the action. At one point we were treated to a fly past by 3 flamingos - just beautiful!
After all the excitement of the morning, it was time to set off again on the hunt for more wildlife, specifically boobies and fur sea-lions. These are different to the common sea-lion and were hunted for their skins.

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This, believe it or not, is a fur sea-lion

We all loved the boobies! This is the Spanish word for stupid. They are amazing birds. You can get really close to them. The reason they have blue feet is down to the fish they eat. A male bird who has really bright coloured feet will be a good hunter and provider and will be hugely attractive to the females when mating season starts. They do a wonderful mating dance which we also got to see a bit of when we saw a pair by the tunnels later in the day.

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A pair of boobies - check out this blue feet!

The last stop of the day was Las Tuneles which is a lava landscape of tunnels. If we thought the entry into the first bay was a bit exciting, it had nothing on this, the waves were huge and we were on a small 27 foot boat surfing between rocks - the captain had fantastic boat handling skills but I think he thought he was out surfing at times and drove the boat like he rode his board!
After a ride around the lagoon we got off the boat and went for a walk to the turtle cleaning station and saw about 50 turtles swimming into the pool. This was where we got up close and personal with a booby and saw the mating dance as well. After a snorkel through the lagoon we got back on board to return to the dock. On the way back we had yet another treat - a fabulous sunset, the perfect end to a brilliant day.

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The tunnels - it almost looked a bit faked, a bit like a Disney film set!

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John gets ready to go snorkelling

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I now feel as though we have seen something of what the Galapagos has to offer. Initially it seemed a bit disappointing, lots of bureaucracy and paperwork, and the first island was not very nice, but these last few days in Isabella have certainly made the trip worthwhile.
On Tuesday we leave to go back to Santa Cruz to meet up with the rally again and get ready to leave for the long trip to the Marquesas, our first stop in French Polynesia. While we are there in Santa Cruz we need to get our sail stitched - there is no sailmaker or repairer but there is a cobbler who may be able to help! We went to raise the sail again today, only to find a small tear at the top where the fabric has just frayed in the sun and rotted away. It should be a fairly straightforward job as long as he has a sewing machine. Getting the sail off the boat and back on again will, as ever, be the hardest part.
Apart from that we are ready to go. A few last minute provisions, mostly fresh fruit and vegetables from the market on Saturday morning and that will do. The supermarkets here are basic but you can get some things, such as American bacon, which we all love and haven't seen for ages. When I saw it in Santa Cruz, I got all 5 packs that they had. I was hugely popular when I got back to the boat to say we were having bacon sandwiches for lunch!


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