Visiting The Galápagos: While travelling in Ecuador we made a last-minute decision to visit the Galapagos for a week. We had thought it would be beyond the budget for our 6-month trip, but we discovered the last-minute deals on cruise ships that can make it a lot more affordable. (We have a whole other post about finding these deals and loads of other details on land vs boat based visits).
What a simply SPECTACULAR place!
The Galápagos Islands are intrinsically entwined with Charles Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of Species’. The Galápagos Islands’ geology, flora and fauna piqued Darwin’s interest so much in 1835 they are credited with inspiring his theory of natural selection after a visit of only five short weeks. Having just spent a week in the Galapagos we get a sense of the wonder and curiosity these islands can foster in even a short time.
Face to Face
The sea lion’s beautiful brown eyes suddenly fill the entire field view of my snorkelling mask. The pup curves away at the last second, twirls and dives down to the sandy bottom just a few meters below. She looks up at me as if to say “Aren’t you coming down here too?”
When we slid off the zodiac into the water, she was one of the first to jump off the rocks and follow us in. We’ve been playing with her for the last 5 minutes, twisting, rolling and diving around each other.
One of the most precious and unique aspects of visiting the Galapagos are encounters like this, where we’re able to be so close to the animals. You feel like you’re part of their world rather than on the outside looking in. This is not because they are ‘tame’ or used to humans around, but is the result of thousands of years of having very few predators, if any. According to Charles Darwin they have always been this way: ‘It would appear that the birds of this archipelago, not having as yet learned that man is a more dangerous animal than the tortoise….disregard him’.
For the next week we have all kinds of wonderful encounters like this one.
Visiting The Galápagos: Cruising the Archipelago
The Galapagos archipelago is 1,000km off the shore of Ecuador. Our 2-hour flight brings us to Seymour Airport on Baltra island, the old US military airbase that brought North Americans to the islands and catapulted the archipelago onto the world stage. After the cool, cloudy temperatures of central Ecuador the warm, salty air is a welcome relief.
We meet the other 14 people who will be our boat buddies for the next 5 days, and pile onto a bus. From the airport, it’s a bus, ferry, bus routine. The second bus ride takes us the entire length of Santa Cruz Island from north to south, up over the highlands which are a subtropical region where some of the only arable land can be found in this otherwise arid volcanic landscape. Even coffee is grown here.
The Galápagos are a lot bigger than we were expecting. Santa Cruz is the most populous island of the archipelago and home to 25,000 people. Population growth has become such a significant issue that the government has had to control the number of people moving to the islands.
Arriving at the main port town of Puerto Ayora and the largest in the Galapagos, the streets are lined with restaurants and souvenir shops, and tourists wander the streets as they would in any other beachside town. From here we jump in two zodiacs that take us out into the bay for our first view of our yacht, the Grand Majestic. On the way we pass a small sailboat registered in Brisbane, Australia. The Galápagos are a popular stopping off point for around the world trips, but unlike other parts of the world you need to book well in advance to stop here.
Based on the Grand Majestic boat for 5 days, we see all kinds of amazing animals and plants. We snorkel twice each day in the wonderfully warm water, take guided walks on the islands as well as rides along the shoreline in the panga boats (small zodiacs). Advanced warning: Our camera ain’t waterproof, so you’re not going to see any/many snorkelling photos. Our delightful prose is going to have to suffice for some of these descriptions.
Which came first, the Tortoise or the Saddle?
Some people say the Spanish named the islands “Galápagos” because the tortoises’ shells resembled the Spanish horse saddles of the same name. Others say that in fact the name comes from the old Spanish word for tortoise and the saddles are named after these famous tortoises. Either way, at 250kg and 1.5m long it’s no wonder these giant beasts were a distinctive feature on the island.
Click below for video…
The other distinctive trait is the shape of their shell, which is different to the dome-shaped tortoises in other parts of the world. One of the many examples of animals that have adapted to life on the islands, the shell of the giant Galápagos Tortoise has changed shape to allow them to reach their heads up high and eat the scarce sources of food on the arid volcanic islands.
Another adaptation of these amazing creatures almost led to their extinction. They can survive for more than a year without food or water, which made them an excellent source of meat on the sailing ships in the 16th and 17th centuries. For a time they were also a key source of oil. Sailors and pirates would visit the islands and start grabbing them. They’d stack them up four-high in their lower decks, to give them a source of meat whilst away from shore. Double whammy, the females tended to be smaller than the males, so they would grab more of them. It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of tortoises were captured in this way over the years. Later, the baby tortoises on some islands fell prey to introduced animals like rats.
Luckily conservation efforts in the last 70 years have helped to bring these populations back from the brink, although they are still classed as endangered. On our first day we see lots of Galápagos tortoises in the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz island. They house a large tortoise breeding centre, and we see hundreds of them in all sizes, from babies that will fit in the palm of your hand, to the old geezers who are over a hundred years old and massive. The babies are kept here until they are big enough to fend off their predators and can be released into the wild.
The babies have numbers on their backs to indicate which island is home.
These tortoises were at the research station but you can also see them in the wild in the highlands of Santa Cruz island
Birds of Paradise
A female great frigatebird glides over our heads and circles the low bushes in front of us. Suddenly the bushes are filled with giant bright red balloons as the males puff several litres of air into their crimson throats, warble, and spread their jet black and green wings wide – a meter on each side. All this while sitting on the nest they’ve built in the low shrubs in anticipation of attracting a mate.
Having been completely ignored by the female nonchalantly cruising past, the males fold their wings back in, and rest their long beaks on their still-inflated throats.
One of the unique aspects of the Galápagos is that the islands sit at a junction of three large ocean currents. The end of April marks a change. The warm Panama current from the north is being replaced by the cooler Humboldt current from the south, bringing nutrients and fish from the South American coast. The abundance of food heralds the beginning of the mating season. Hence the abundance of male great frigatebirds displaying their virility.
Overnight our cruise ship has travelled 10 hours from Santa Cruz Island to the tiny island of Genovesa in the north of the archipelago. We wake up to find ourselves moored in the flooded caldera of an ancient volcano within Darwin Bay. One side of the volcano that formed Genovesa Island has collapsed, allowing the sea water to flow in and boats to pass through a narrow gap. Cliffs tower 100m above us, and below us the water plunges to a depth of 60m.
We take a panga across the bay and take the Prince Philip Steps up to the rim of the volcano (Apparently they added the stairs after Phillip visited in the 70’s and took spill making his way down the natural steps of the cliff. And then named the stairs after him). Immediately we are surrounded by birds perched in low trees.
The Galápagos is home to hundreds of different species of birds, many of which can only be found here. The first bird we see is an adorable Red-Footed Boobie which grips the branch of a tree with its bright red webbed feet as it preens itself with its baby blue beak. It’s completely unperturbed by the group of us ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ right below.
From the steps we walk through a grove of Palo Santo (holy stick) trees which stand just 2m high and are perfect nesting spots for great frigatebirds, nazca boobies and red-footed boobies. As we walk further the trees disappear and we’re walking on deep red rocky petrified lava tubes, some of which have collapsed to form crevices.
Hundreds of birds fly above us and out to the Pacific Ocean. A baby bird sits on the rocks, neither she nor the mother worried about us walking right past. On this island in particular the birds are unperturbed; not even the Galápagos hawk can be found here as a predator.
Later the same day we snorkel twice in the warm waters of Darwin Bay, seeing hundreds of brilliantly coloured tropical fish. Michelle even glimpses a hammerhead shark. Half wishing it would come closer and half hoping it turns away… The water is about 25 degrees Celsius and we wear wetsuits more for sun protection and buoyancy than warmth. During our second snorkel of the day a large sea turtle floats up from the deep and swims along underneath us for a few minutes (yo, dude) before it slowly dives back down so far we can’t see it anymore. Like a sloth of the seas, he moves seemingly in slow motion.
In the late afternoon, we walk along the broken coral of a white sand beach in the bay and walk amongst almost 100 nesting birds in the low trees, just a metre off the ground.
This is not to scale
Even the plants here don’t need strong defences. Peter encourages us to ‘pat’ the cactus and it takes a lot of faith to bring our hands even close to the spines. But when we do it feels like patting a cat. Without the threat of being munched on by land iguanas, the prickly pear cacti here have developed fine, soft splines like angel hair.
The cliff face is adorned with huge white paint from pirate ships sheltering on their way to or from a plunder of the riches of mainland Spanish colonies, and later from whaling ships. It was a tradition to write the name of the ship and the date. Early graffiti!
Back on board, we sit in the hot tub on the top deck with the sun setting over the ocean. We can hardly believe this is only our second day in the Galápagos. They fill the days full on these cruises!
Dancing the Flamenco
Tap, tap, tap. “Hello, hello, hello. Good morning good morning ladies and gentlemen”. Our guide Peter’s voice gently rouses us from our relaxation to ready ourselves for the first activity of the day. Peter is a third generation Galápagos resident and has been guiding here for 34 years. He has a rich knowledge of the islands’ animals and plants as well as a dry sense of humour.
After a delicious breakfast of pancakes, eggs, fruit and much more, Peter is getting us ready for our third day of activities. Another overnight journey has brought us to Rabida Island and we woke this morning to sunshine and a view of the rich red, rocky headland. The water is perfectly calm and we watch schools of sardines and anchovies bubbling below the surface and leaping out of the water in unison, presenting a seafood buffet breakfast for the diving pelicans.
We take the pangas to the red sand beach of the island and walk about 50m to a brackish lagoon. Standing in the water are 35 pink flamingoes about 5ft tall. Peter is visibly pleased to see so many flamingoes here. Rats, which were introduced to the Galápagos years ago, had made their way to this small island and disrupted the ecosystem enough to cause the flamingoes to leave. After 20 years they are finally starting to return.
A group of 10 flamingoes stand on the edge of the lagoon and give a wonderfully comical mating display. Like an orchestra they make a few sounds in preparation and then in unison they switch their heads from side to side, each one bows and spreads their wings to reveal vivid black underwings. This goes on for several minutes, stops and then starts again. With these very short sharp movements you can see how the flamenco was inspired by this captivating dance of nature.
Click below for video…
Later, we don our snorkelling gear and swim from the beach around the headland. We swim through huge schools of anchovies and see parrot fish, lots of other vivid tropical fish as well as a white tipped reef shark sleeping in the rocks. It’s hard to pull our attention away from all there is to see underwater but we have to remember to pop our heads out of the water every so often to see the animals on the rocks. A group of about 20 blue footed boobies clinging to the cliff look out at us as we swim by.
Visiting The Galápagos’ Hot Spots
Our second stop today is at Chinese Hat Island, which is jet black volcanic rock with not a single piece of vegetation in sight. We’ve seen three very different islands in the space of just 24 hours, all volcanic. From the beach at Rabida Island we’d seen six volcanoes including Wolf Volcano on Isabella Island, which last erupted just over 12 months ago. There’s been over 50 eruptions in the last 200 years.
While the islands all look quite different, they have one thing in common. They are all part of a chain of mountains formed by a hot spot (a so-called “mantle plume”) releasing magma from the ocean floor. Who knew there were so many different types of volcanic rock? The islands are sitting on the Nazca tectonic plate, which is steadily moving south east and subducting (slipping below) South America. The hot spot stays in place and spews out magma, which produces a chain of mountains under the water. The mountains that grow large enough to poke out above the water appear as islands for a time, before the movement of the subducting tectonic plate causes the islands to submerge again under the ocean. This process has been continuing for millions of years.
The islands on the west of the archipelago with active volcanoes are growing taller at 10cm every year and are the youngest at a mere half million years. Meanwhile the islands in the east, Espanola and San Cristobal, are the oldest at over 5 million years and will eventually submerge back into the ocean.
Pop Quiz
While we’re moored at Chinese Hat Islet, near the southeast corner of Santiago Island, we snorkel in a narrow channel that is just a few metres deep and has a white sand bottom that contrasts with the jet black rocks. At one point we see a large, one metre marine iguana below the water feeding on seaweed from the rocks.
The marine iguana, found nowhere else on earth, is thought to have evolved from ancestor iguanas that came from the mainland on floating pieces of land. They have been here for over 10 million years.
Now wait a second – were you paying attention? – we just told you that the oldest islands here are only 5 million years old. So how can it be that these marine iguanas have been here for double that?
Aha! I’m glad you asked. The answer is that the islands that make up the Galápagos we see today are not the same islands that made up the Galápagos millions of years ago. The older islands have gradually moved east with the tectonic plate and are currently underwater. The iguanas eventually swam to new islands when the old ones submerged under the ocean.
With their large claws and frill running along their spine these guys look absolutely prehistoric. In fact they have evolved (relatively) recently and adapted features different from their continental ancestors. They are black, just like the black lava rocks of the islands and they have developed short stubby noses that allow them to eat the tufts of seaweed sticking out of the rocks under the water. They’re also able to dive 80 metres under water and stay under for up to 45 minutes at a time.
The Evolution of the Theory of Evolution
One of the things that struck Charles Darwin when he visited was the differences between the animals. Differences both to animals on the mainland and also between the islands of the Galapagos. Darwin noticed that even though the islands are less than 100km apart, and often much closer, there are distinct species on each island. This might not seem so odd to us now, but in the 19th century it was unheard of.
With the age of enlightenment, science was moving ahead in leaps and bounds in the 19th century. The Academies of Science were questioning the beliefs taught by the church, like our French friends in Ecuador determining the shape of the earth a few years earlier. Some people were even beginning to reconsider the doctrine that each animal species had an individual design and couldn’t change.
Observing and collecting plants and animal from several islands in the Galapagos, Darwin later developed the concept that an array of species, like the four different types of iguana on the Galápagos, could come from a single ancestor and could adapt based on natural selection.
It should be noted that Darwin didn’t just observe all this and then pen the Origin of Species on the back of an envelope on the way home to England on the ship. It took him another 20 years to compile his thoughts and check his hypothesis. During this time he spoke with animal and plant experts and did all kinds of weird and wonderful experiments. At one point he soaked seeds in increasing levels of salt water and then tested to see if they germinated, to check his theory that seeds could travel 1,000km from the mainland to the islands.
It’s also kind of interesting to note that although everyone seems to think it was the finches that led him to his theory, in fact they don’t even crack a mention. Darwin did collect quite a few finches, but it was scientists much later on who saw the changes in beak shape. It seems that the mockingbird may have had more of an influence on his ideas.
We saw lots of blue-footed boobies but oddly took very few pictures
Our Feathered Friend Watches From On Board
Feathers had hoped we would see some of his penguin cousins at Chinese Hat Island but alas they’re not there today. As the boat heads east, we keep an eye out for them just in case. We’re sitting up on the top deck enjoying a cool drink and watching the ocean.
At one point we see a splash in the water and then suddenly a huge marbled ray leaps straight up out of the water just to the right of the boat. Its whole white underbelly body is out of the water and we can clearly see its teeth. Just as quickly it disappears. To quote Keanu Reeves, “Whoa!”
Our last stop for the day is Northern Santa Cruz Island where the crew go ashore to restock from the planes that have brought supplies from the mainland. When our tour ends they’ll be heading straight back out on an 8-day trip. It’s a different itinerary to the one we’re doing, with no opportunity to get supplies. The National Park tightly controls the movement of the cruise boats to prevent overcrowding by restricting visits to any one site to once every three weeks.
We watch another beautiful sunset and after dinner the crew turn on some spotlights to shine into the water off the back of the boat. Hundreds of small fish are attracted to the light, which in turn attracts the flying fish. Eventually this attracts what we’re hoping to see: six Galápagos sharks which glide around the boat feeding for 40 minutes. Every few minutes we see some sea lions come out from under the boat to feed as well and one very cautious pelican. We’re worried we might witness a shark taking one of the sea lions, but Peter assures us that the sharks don’t need to bother attacking a sea lion when there are so many fish around.
Click below for video…
The pelican is not so sure, and he keeps close the boat and makes a hasty retreat as soon as our boat pulls away to take us to tomorrow’s site. Sharks are one of those terrifying creatures that I’m very glad to be experiencing from the safety of the deck.
Click below for video…
A Witches’ Cave and a Sleeping Lion
The fourth morning of our tour we wake to a view of a large hill with cliffs descending into the ocean on one side, and a gentle green slope on the other curving around to a white sand beach. We’re on the Western shore of San Cristobal Island at Witches’ Hill.
We pile onto the pangas for a closer look at the cliff face of the ancient volcano. As the two pangas follow the line of the cliffs that rise 120m above us we see huge, cathedral-like crevices – the result of the crashing waves eroding the side of the volcano. Driving past blue-footed boobies diving for fish in the surf, we come to a natural archway called the Witches’ Cave.
Back on the beach we walk along the sand sparkling with silica that was brought to the surface by the volcano as molten and then crystallized as it hit the cool sea water. White ghost crabs scuttle out of their holes towards the surf while the stunning Sally Lightfoot crabs are not so skittish and seemingly pose on the black rocks. They hardly look real, and more like ceramic ornaments carefully painted in bright red, orange, yellow and blue designs.
Leaving Witches’ Hill behind, the captain steers the ship around a huge rock formation offshore. As we come around to the other side we can see why the locals call this Sleeping Lion rather than the alternative Kicker Rock. (And why Kicker Rock? In this football-mad continent it should come as no surprise that it’s because it looks like a giant boot).
Our Last Playful Encounter
Our last snorkel of the trip is a little further south at Sea Lion Islet, a rocky outcrop 100m from the shore which forms a channel of crystal-clear water with a shallow sandy bottom. We take the panga to the end of the channel where a group of sea lions are sunning themselves on a dock used to access a walkway.
It seems like today is our time for playing with sea lions. Earlier at Witches’ Hill beach we’d snorkelled and played with a family of sea lions while it looked like the parents were teaching the pup to dive. This time a pup swims up to us and just wants play. We’ve become more accustomed to this now, and have fun diving down, twisting and turning to encourage the pup to stick around. This is even more fun that playing with the llamas in Ecuador!
Click below for video…
The visibility is perfect and as we glide along we swim through huge schools of three different types of fish with thousands of fish above us, below us and all around. We feel like we’re part of the school.
In the late afternoon we go back to the same spot to watch birds feeding as the evening light brings large schools of fish to the surface. Large mullet skim the surface of the water. Boobies fly up, twist as they descend and then spear the water, while pelicans dive in to take a huge gulp, neatly pirhouetting as they hit the water.
Click below for video…
Our final evening we spend in the harbour of San Cristobal island at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno township and enjoy huge grilled Galapagos langoustines for dinner.
Visiting The Galápagos: Back on Land
We say farewell to our cruise buddies who are all flying out today and head back to our less luxurious digs for our last two days on land, in San Cristobal. We spend much our time wandering and visiting the bays of the calm west coast, all within easy walking distance from town.
We also take a taxi out to La Laberia on the rocky east coast that obviously bears the brunt of the prevailing winds and waves. The shore is rocky and the low trees are bent with the wind. There’s even some surfers out in the small swell. The lifeguard encourages us to hang our clothes and towels on the hooks provided because the sea lions lying around are ‘muy curioso’.
Traffic jam in town
The draw card here is snorkelling in a small protected natural bay where sea turtles congregate. We find several hanging out on the sandy bottom just a few metres below us. One swims off slowly and we swim with it as it makes its way through and under huge schools of fish. Lots of small fish busy themselves in and around the turtles, eating off their shell and skin. Every so often the great beasts slowly rise to the surface, take a breath of air and then slowly ease back down.
We return to shore and follow a path at the far end of the beach over the rocks to a steep bay. As we round one corner a huge marine iguana spits at Al, who leaps about four feet in the air. At the bay we watch about eight sea turtles in the surf. On the return journey, despite being ultra aware that the iguana is ahead somewhere, Al still just about steps on him and again defies gravity.
Preservation and Visiting The Galápagos
We feel very privileged to have been able to visit this special place. The foresight of the Ecuadorian government to set aside 97% of the archipelago as National Park back in the 1950s has helped to ensure the animals and plants have to a large extent been preserved. More recently, large, expensive conservation efforts have helped eradicate invasive animals and plants. While tourism does take its toll and sustainable tourism is a priority, the continued flow of dollars no doubt encourages this protection to continue.
‘No area of earth of comparable size has inspired more fundamental changes in man’s perspective of himself and his environment.’
– Robert Bowman, UNESCO 1957
In A Nutshell: Visiting The Galápagos
We had an absolutely amazing time in the Galápagos, and it’s easily one of our favourite things we did in all of South America. While it was expensive, we definitely think it was worth it.
We have another entire post dedicated to helping you plan and budget for your trip to the Galápagos!
