Galapagos Day 10

Up early, 6:00am, for breakfast, then to Charles Darwin Research Station to see tortoises and Lonesome George, the only surviving tortoise of his species from Isla La Pinta. They tried to mate him with close species but he shows no interest.When we were getting into the dinghy to go to the research station, Daisy was driving the dinghy. She's the bartender on the boat. When I got on, I said to her "You drive the boat?" She replied, "Si." I then said "Tengo miedo!" ("I'm scared!") She laughed and said "Oh no, it's ok...do you like to swim?" Everyone laughed.To the airport around 9:00, bought some souvenirs. Our flight doesn't leave until 11:00am.Back in Quito, Consuelo, Suzanna, Raphael and Masako came with us to our hostal. We took the trolley, very cheap, 25 cents. There was a pick pocket on the train, and he tried to get into three of our bags.Back at the hostal, showered and crap, went to bank, went to the observatory to ask about viewing times, the guide lady went to check and came back and told us 5:30-6:00. We thought that was early (still light out), but she said she checked with the physicists. We went back at 5:30 and the security guard told us 6:30. So, we left and went back at 6:30. No dice. They're probably all laughing at us.We (all of us, except Masako) went to Marsical, the hip area, via bus, had supper, then back to hostal and to bed.

Galapagos Day 9

Up at 6:50, breakfast, then did a wet landing on a beach on Floreana Island. Here we saw pink flamingos, sea turtle's nests and had some beach time. Cloudy and cool, but there were lots and lots of rays at the beach, you could stand in knee deep water, and they'd swim around you. They feel really weird when they touch your feet.Then did some snorkelling from the dinghy. COLD!! Lots of fish, great visibility. Our guide then took us to another snorkel spot, and told us we can swim only for 10 minutes. That's it, as soon as he says go, we go, but then get back into the boat within 10 minutes. I thought it was because the government puts restrictions on the times that boats can do things, but I later found out that our boat was not authorized to snorkel in that spot. But that was our guides favorite spot, so he wanted to take us there for a bit.We headed back to the boat and had lunch, then headed to Post Office Bay. This was setup by the whalers way back in the 18th century. Whalers heading out would leave messages in a barrel, whalers heading back to Europe would go through the letters and if there were any near where they lived, they would take them back.The tradition continues today. You're supposed to leave a postcard to yourself, and go through the postcards, and if there's any that are near you, you take them and hand deliver them to the person. I left a postcard to myself and also one to my parents, as they'd probably like that. I wonder how long it'll be before someone from Moose Jaw happens by the Galapagos Islands! We didn't find any exist postcards for Cagary that needed to be delivered.Also at Post Office Bay, the boat crews have setup a soccer pitch. Boat crews then play soccer against each other. Our boat lost. The Galapagos Gods shined on us while we were at the beach.Back to the boat at 2:00 and headed back to Puerto Ayora.After supper, went to town, used the internet, then we went to a pub for a few beers with everyone. It's our last night on the boat together.

Galapagos Day 8

We got to sleep in a bit this morning, breakfast was at 7:30 instead of 7:00. We went to Esponola Island over night.Went to the beach about 8:00 to hang out. Cloudy and cool today, but the sun came out for a bit at the beach. Got an awesome picture of a pelican hitting the water, fishing.Back to the boat and dinghy snorkelled. At the first spot saw a turtle and a couple of rays. Second spot had tons of fish. Super strong current at the second spot.After lunch we headed to Suarez Point for a 2.5 hour hike. Very nice. Albatrosses, blue-footed boobies, doves, iguanas, etc. And an awesome blowhole. Lots of nice views on this island. This is the oldest of the Galapagos islands. Also saw a seal that suffered a shark attack.Back to boat, briefing, then supper, the left early for Isla Floreana.In the evening, we found a little bird on the upper deck of the boat just hanging out. We thought it was injured, Mehmet and me wanted to tell our guide, but Evan picked it up and threw it overboard. It started to try and fly back to the boat, but hit the side of the boat, and into the water. A few minutes later we found another bird (or the same bird?) on the upper deck. Evan left this one alone.

Galapagos Day 7

Up at 7:00 for breakfast, then a hike on South Plaza Island. Once again, this island is very different, very beautiful. Saw Galapagos shearwaters soaring, large colourful Galapagos land iguanas, and loser male sea lion colonies. A male sea lion has a harem of females, and other male sea lions try and fight to become the dominant male of the harem. If they lose the fight, they retreat to here to recuperate and try again another day.After lunch, Sante Fe Island. Snorkelled in the bay, the water was very cold, but very clear, good snorkelling. There were sea lions playing with Rafael, jumping out of the water, right over him. There was also a male sea lion swimming around, right by me. He was HUGE!!!!! And scary, when he looked at me, I just had to back away, it was pretty frightening. Snorkelled with a turtle as well.Later in the afternoon, did a hike on the island, more sea lions, yellow land iguanas, Galapagos snakes, Galapagos doves, mockingbirds. Also saw a black bird walking through the shrub. I asked our guide about it, he said it was impossible, there are no black birds on this island. Evan (Aussie guy) saw it too. Our guide took out his picture guide book and showed us a picture of an ani (and introduced bird species), and it looked like it could've been it. He said it's bad news if the ani is on this island, as it's very destructive to other bird species. He was concerned.Coming back to the boat on the dinghy, we saw rays and a shark and lots of turtles.Afer supper we had a dance party again.Before going to bed, I watched a sea lion swim around our boat, then back to our wooden dinghy, take a look inside, then he jumped up into the dinghy and fell asleep inside. Haha.

Galapagos Day 6

Up early for a walk around North Seymour Island. Saw male frigatebirds trying to attract females by inflating a large balloon sack on their throat. Also some some humpback whales from a distance.Back to the boat for breakfast, then we boated to Baltra to drop off passengers and pick up new passengers.I gave Glenn and Sarah (Aussie couple) some postcards to mail for me, then just as they were leaving the boat, I remembered that I didn't write addresses on them. Doh! I got them back before they left.We went to Baltra beach while new passengers boarded. Tried snorkelling, but very murky, not much to see.Had a few hours to kill before going to Bachas Beach for a hike to see pink flamingos (only three this time of year) and a great heron. Then hung out on a beautiful beach for snorkelling and swimming. At one point, a massive flock of birds all took off from behind a rocky outcrop and flew overhead, thousands of them, heading to the far end of the beach, where they appeared to be gorging on something in the ocean. Consuela (Italian girl) was walking down the beach, and tsome pelicans came in very low over her and she had to duck to get out of the way of them. It was hilarious. I happened to take a great picture just as this happened. Also saw Sally Lightfoot crabs.After the hike, we had an unexpected briefing back at the boat. Gustavo, our guide, was leaving, and we were getting a new guide. Over the past couple of days, he had gotten in trouble from other guides for letting us wander off trails and such. Gustavo even took us off the path at one point to see an iguana. We suspect other guides reported him, and he was being called back for reprimand and re-training. Or maybe losing his job.We had a briefing with the new guide at 6:30pm, then we had a toast with the crew. They were all dressed up in their mariner uniforms, such a change from the dirty t-shirts and jeans we've seen them in up until now.In the evening, after dar, watched fur seals and pelicans fish using the help of the lights on the boat. The sea lion would start chasing a fish, the fish would jump out of the water and 'fly' along the water, trying to get away. Sometimes they'd slam right into the side of the wooden dinghy....BONK. BTW, Google Sky Map is amazing, I'm glad I brought my phone.

Pictures courtesy of Lisa

Hey all. I probably won't be uploading any pictures until I get back, but Lisa and been uploading some selected pics of our travels so far.Check them out at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lmratte/EcuadorPartI#

Galapagos Day 5

Up at 7:00am for breakfast. Steamed all night to Genovesa Island. Huge waves, had trouble sleeping again.Did a dry landing at Philip's Step. Saw red-footed boobies, blue-footed boobies, nazca boobies, tropicbirds, Galapagos doves, striated heron and frigatebirds (and probably others). This is the only island where red-footed boobies are found, I believe.Nazca boobies mate almost all year, so there were lots of young ones. The nests and the young ones are everywhere, even right along the edge of the walking path. You can walk right up to them, stand 12 inches away and take pictures. If you get closer, some will try to bite you, but they don't really care, and don't try to get away or anything. It's amazing how they see humans as absolutely no threat to them. Needless to say, I'm getting some awesome pictures. It's so easy!After the hike at Philip's Step, we went back to the boat for some dinghy snorkelling. The seas were rough and we're in a bay, so unfortunately lots of garbage collects in the waters here. It's also one spot where hammerhead sharks like to hang out, but unfortunately they were not around for us today.When we were getting ready for the snorkel, Daisy (the bartender) was helping us get into the dinghy's at the back of the boat. Our guide (Gustavo), in his wet suite, picked up Daisy and gave her a big bear hug, her feet were off the ground. The cook saw the opportunity, ran across the boat, onto the back platform and pushed Gustavo and Daisy into the water. They cook then ran and hid, laughing (as we all did too). Daisy was not impressed at that moment, but once she swam back to the boat, she was laughing too.The food on the boat is amazing! There's breakfast, lunch and supper, and mid-morning and mid-afternoon, Daisy always has snacks for us.The afternoon outing was a wet landing at a beach on Genovesa and a walk to see more sea lions and birds and amazing views.Every outing just continutes to blow my mind. It's absolutely amazing that none of the animals has any hear of us. We can walk right by their nests, a mere foot away, and they don't care.We swam at the beach after the hike. On the beach, I was watching a bird fly to the beach, land, pick up a black lava rock and then fly over to a rocky outcrop and put it down as part of the nest. His mate stood nearby and watched. I was curious about the nest he was making, so walked over to it. While I was watching, a couple of others came to watch too. There was another bird couple there, they were both looking for rocks for their nest together. The male bird picked up a black rock in his beak, the female looked at it, threw her nose up and walked away in a huff. The poor male, he dropped the rock, stood there, alone, looking at it, thinking, 'What's wrong with that rock? It looked fine to me.'Back at the boat, the crew were preparing fish for supper and throwing the head and guts overboard. There were sharks in the area, they came to gorge! Big sharks, coming to the surface, it was awesome. It would've been more awesome to snorkel with them, but I think these guys were not friendly sharks. They were not hammerheads, someone said they were grey sharks.We had supper, then the briefing for the next day. We have an early start tomorrow, 6:00am, because we're dropping off passengers and picking up new passengers.The stars are amazing at night, with no light pollution, and the phosphourence in the water at night is equally amazing.