The Galapagos Islands

I finally managed to book a trip to the Galapagos Islands the day before my tour was to start so I was up early and at the airport waiting for my flight to Baltra Island the next day. Leaving the cold and rain of Quito and landing on the Galapagos Islands in 35 degree heat was certainly a shock to the system and I was initially struggling with the humid conditions. After meeting half of my boat tour companions it was a bus-ferry-bus ride into the main town of Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island where we headed straight for Tortuga Bay which included our first interactions with the local wildlife and a much needed swim to cool off. Straight away we were in amongst the strange and interesting animals, many only found in the Galapagos Island chain as they are so isolated from any other piece of land, were the animals have evolved into their own unique forms to help them survive. Walking along the beach we came across marine iguanas, which swim in the ocean, pelicans and the gorgeous coloured sally lightfoot crabs but this was only the start and a little taster of bigger and better things to come.
The next day I met the rest of the people I would be spending the next 4 days with on our boat, the Guantanamera and we headed off to the famous Charles Darwin Research Centre for a up close and personal interaction with giant tortoises, huge land iguanas and baby sea turtles. We also got a great overview of the Island's history and amazing formation which helped to set the scene and try to help us understand the evolution process which has taken place out on these Islands. Later that day it was into the Islands highlands trying to spot giant tortoises in the wild, which we managed before descending into huge lava caves left behind by the volcanic eruptions which formed the Islands. Onto the boat that night for our first meal aboard before we set sail for the nearby Island of Rabida (the red Island). The next day we awoke right in front of the magnificent Island and once ashore we started to get amongst the wildlife and it was incredible. We also did some fantastic snorkeling where we swam with marine iguanas, white tipped reef sharks and a group of young sea lions which really blew my mind but was only a start of the amazing snorkeling we were going to complete over the coming days. Back to the boat and we sailed off to another Island, Isla Bartolome and the famous Pinnacle Rock. A quick tour over the volcanic and twin beach Island were we discovered sea turtle tracks and nests plus a host of marine iguanas, sea lions and the cool coloured crabs. Then, as it was heating up we donned the snorkeling gear again and got straight down to business where we swam with penguins, more reef sharks, sea lions and sting rays all in the one little bay. The marine life just wasn't scared of our human presence and in some cases was intrigued by us being in their environment. After recovering from the amazing snorkeling we got the walking shoes on and climbed up the small volcanic peak to get an incredible view of the surrounding Islands and the setting sun, what a perfect way to finish out the day. Another great meal aboard and a few laughs were had discussing the days activities before we again set sail for a long over night passage crossing the Equator to Genovesa Island. We awoke to another great day and after a dinghy ride to explore the volcanic cliffs and the resident bird life it was back into the water in the hope of swimming with huge hammerhead sharks!! The water was a bit rough but we dived from the dinghy straight into some deep water and within a couple of minutes were amongst some very frightening hammerhead sharks which were cruising the ocean below and around us. To make matters worse or better, I'm really not sure a school of approximately 70-80 huge sting and manta Rays joined in on the action and we were transfixed in the middle of all of this wondering what the hell we would do if it all went wrong!! After about an hour of this my nerves were a little frayed as the last hammerhead shark I saw was well over three metres long so it was time to head to shallower waters where we instantly swam into a sea lion who was very keen to play. We spent the next 40 minutes trying to catch the sea lion while he swam under, over and around us blowing bubbles and tauting us with his incredible underwater skills. He also would collect sticks in his teeth just like a dog and invited us to try and get it from his mouth. As we swam away he followed for awhile making barking sounds as he didn't want us to leave. We completed more amazing walks where we interacted closely with the bird life that seemed undisturbed by our presence and we managed to see and photograph birds with bright red feet, blue feet, and huge red puffed out chests just to name a few. That night we had another long sail in some choppy waters back across the Equator into the Southern Hempishere to the Island of North Seymour. Upon landing we had to walk over a sea lion and her pup but the sea lion had a huge wound on her side the shape and size of a large shark bite just reminding us of the potential dangers of swimming in these waters!!! More birds and wildlife were encountered and we even managed to see the famous Blue Footed Booby's love dance which had us all laughing as these birds look so cute but a little dopey!! After some breakfast it was back to the main Island where I said goodbye to a great bunch of people who were heading back to mainland South America as I was staying on for an extra couple of days relaxing on the Island of Santa Cruz with the local iguanas and pelicans!! What an incredible trip in such an unbelievable environment with the strangest animals and marine life I've ever encountered. It's definitely a must on any trip to South America and one I will never forget. Check out the amazing photos.......all are labelled so click on each or view in ´grid´format.