Beagle Day Four - San Cristibol Island

Friday Feb 14th - Happy Valentine's Day!!!

In the morning we took the pangas to a small beach and then walked a trail through and up some rocks.  We saw tons of BOOBIES!  Red footed boobies!  Blue footed boobies!  And Nazca Boobies! This is the only island in the archipelago where you find all three types of boobies.  The blue footed boobies nest on the ground and there were some with chicks and some with eggs.  The red boobies nest in trees...we saw just one or two with a chick.  Wow.

We snorkeled two times today.  We saw:  sea turtles, HAMMERHEAD sharks, reef sharks, a huge herd (?) of sting rays, sea lions, and tons of fish.  Unlike our other snorkeling, this was deep water. One of the locations was at a rock formation called Kicker Rock.  Some people think the formation looks like a sleeping lion so it is also called Leon Dormido.  It is two huge rocks jutting from the ocean and a channel has formed between them and we snorkeled in between them.  Regardless what it's called, the scene was just mind-blowing. 

On the way back from snorkeling, the guys on the crew had heard from a nearby boat (The Darwin, can ya believe it?) that there were dolphins nearby.  And so we sped off on the little pangas where the dolphins were and they swam alongside the boat.  After we returned to the big sailboat and started motoring again, the dolphins followed us and jumped along the from of the big sailboat....WOW!!

Tonight we get to go into a little port town called Baquerizo Moreno.  Hopefully we can get some free wifi and I can upload a few days of blog posts.  There is no free wifi on the high seas.  :-)

Beagle Day Three - Española Island

Thurs Feb 13th

Soooo many amazing things to describe!!   I must sound like a broken record but each day really does bring something breathtaking.

Wow wow! We did a hike at Suarez Point and there were so many marine iguanas we had to walk carefully so as to not step on then. It is mating season here so the males are a spectacular red and green color.  We saw a lot more sea lions including some BABY ones.  One came right up and sniffed one of our fellow passengers shoes. We saw several little lava lizards cruising around too.

We hiked a path through the rocks and saw a ton of Nazca Boobies with their chicks.  He he he...I said “Boob”.  Their chicks are goofy awkward things some were only as big as my hand and some the same size as the adults (“Bob Jr, you’re still living at home it’s time to get your $hit together and get a job and move out!”).  It’s hard to describe but super neat to see.  We also saw lots of crabs too.  

We walked along the top of this large cliff that Walter the naturalist guide called the “Albatross Airport” as those large goofy birds can use the winds to assist when they land and take-off.  At this time of year, however, the albatrosses are not at this island.  Oh well...maybe next trip! :-(   We did see several Galapagos Hawks fly right over our heads like on cue for a movie scene.  And pelicans.  And several other types of birds.  Amazing.

Later we went snorkeling and saw more turtles and tons of fish.  The plastic “waterproof” case that I bought for my iPhone let water seep in so I was not able to capture any underwater photos.  The whole thing was breathtaking.

Later we visited an absolutely amazing pristine beach.  There were sea lions laying about catching some sun rays.  We found a big pile of bleached out whale bones.  Oh and we also saw tracks from where a few sea turtles came up the night before to dig a huge hole in the sand lay their eggs.  Wow!!

Beagle Sailboat Day Two - Floreana Island

Wed Feb 12th

Wow Wow!

Today was our first full day on the Beagle.  It did not disappoint.  

Our first activity was a visit to the highlands of Floreana Island.  This island is mostly uninhabited.  We took the panga boats to a small dock.  As part of the briefing for the day, Walter the Guide will tell us what type of landing we will do - dry landing (feet will not get wet so ok to wear your hiking shoes), wet landing (feet will get wet so maybe wear water shoes), etc.  This was a dry landing.  

We took a small chivo (bus-truck thing) up to the highlands.  From there we walked a trail where we saw GIANT TORTOISES living in the wild. Wow!  True it's actually part of a protected reserve area but OMG it's giant turtles in. the. wild.

We also saw caves the first Europeans settled in when they arrived.   If you get a chance read up on it as the story is filled with interesting characters, drama, and murders.  Some of the descendants of these folks still live in the Galápagos.  The caves are near a natural spring which made this island a stop for whalers, sailors, and pirates. Also, as there were thousands of giant tortoises here that passing ship crews would take on board their ships for food.  Giant tortoises can live for months w/o food or water so people would load their ships to have fresh meat on the seas.  This happened so much the turtles actually went extinct on this island at one point.  Sad.  

Back at the beach we saw lots of sea lions, crabs, and Marine Iguanas.  It's mating season for the iguana so the colors on the males is a vibrant red and green.  We also checked a big wooden barrel that is the "post office" where people put addressed post cards for other travelers to pick up and hand deliver to the addressee.  There were several for Seattle, Washington so we grabbed two.  This little site is an imitation of an actual site on the other side of the island where in the 18th century, lonely whalers would drop of letters just hoping a passing sailor might pick up and help deliver.  It's just a tourist tradition now.  Neat story though.

After returning to the sailboat, it motored to a beautiful spot to have lunch.  Meals are set out at a big table where all 13 of us passengers can eat family style.  We've got a great group of fellow passengers that are all super nice, adventurous, and full of wonder.  They are from all over the world - Canada, Netherlands, England, and Nevada.

Next we took the panga boats and snorkeled at a place called Devil's Crown.  Amazing!  It's a crater of a volcano that is mostly submerged. We saw tons of fish, a reef shark, blue footed boobies, and a sea turtle.  Dave caught a lot of it on his GoPro. 

Later in the day we spent time on another portion of the island where on one side we saw a lagoon full of FLAMINGOS!  So elegant, so pink.  Then we walked to another beach and saw Sea Turtles floating at the waters edge waiting for dark to come dig a big hole to lay their eggs.  And then we actually saw some come up on the beach to dig their hole.  Oh My God!!  We had lucky timing as it was late evening, very high tide, and a relatively cool day so some female turtles decided to come out of the sea a bit early.  People are not allowed on the beach after dark because that is the usually egg-laying time.  It was mind-blowing.  Definitely a highlight.

Later, after dark we discovered that the sailboat was surrounded with a hundred or so Galapagos Sharks!!  It was incredible!  They were hunting these FLYING FISH that would occasionally pop up and swim/fly out of the water...then the sharks would swarm and eat them on the way back down.  Several of the flying fish would fly smack into the side of the boat so some sharks and a big sea lion would hang out their waiting for an easy meal.  We used headlamps and flashlights to light up the water to see the sharks.  Twice a flying fish actually landed in the boat and had to be "rescued" which meant tossed back in just to be snatched by a shark.  The whole scene was phenomenal and intense and it was hard to look away.  Definitely another highlight.  This whole event went on for about an hour until we pulled anchors and sailed away.  

What an incredible day!