What a magical place! We were so looking forward to our visit to the Galápagos Islands and our experiences lived up to some very high expectations. As you know, we arrived to the islands on March 27. We conveniently passed all of the various inspections (health, sanitation, hull, etc.) and cleared into the islands just in time for happy hour. We enjoyed delicious caipirinhas (our new favorite cocktail), celebrating our arrival and clearance after a fun and interesting but grueling 10 days with a to do list that rivaled anything either of us ever had while working full time and raising three children. We have no doubt that our collective ahhhhh could be heard around the globe.
Alas, our first full day, March 28 (which we will call Day 1) was filled with more to dos. We already mentioned in our last blog post that we sent Mark up the mast to reconnect our wind speed indicator which was disabled by a gang of brown boobies. Operation Windspeed Restoration was a success! We also walked around town to get our bearings, drop off laundry at a local laundry service ($18 to wash and fold 3 large loads of laundry) and investigate dive trips to fill out our time in San Cristobal before taking off for Santa Cruz on March 31. We settled on a dive trip to Kicker Rock for Day 3 — which we write about below. In addition to some “on shore” tasks, we were delinquent finding a place for our boat in Australia after we arrive there in September so we spent a part of the afternoon working on those arrangements. Finally we needed to meet with our accountant (Zoom is a wonderful thing) to finalize our 2022 taxes and 2023 projection. As we have often said, while we are grateful for the many incredible experiences we have had exploring the world both above and below the water, and meeting people from different countries and many different cultures, when you sail around the world on a sailboat life is not just one big holiday. We have “stuff” to do like everyone else and it’s usually harder accomplish things that would be simple while living on land. Not a complaint but just a reminder that we aren’t on a 3 – 5 year vacation!
Before we talk about Day 2, a few comments on San Cristobal, the fifth largest and easternmost island in the Galápagos with a population of 8,000. We were anchored in the harbor off Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, which is the capital of the Galápagos province and the second largest city (after Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz) in the island chain. The city has two main streets — one that runs along the waterfront and another a couple of blocks east and parallel to it which is the main thoroughfare. We are not sure what we were expecting — maybe a sleepier town with little commerce on shore — but we found Puerto Baquerizo Moreno charming despite the development. The main center of town was a tad touristy with lots of souvenir shops but not in the tricky tacky way you find with many popular traveler destinations. The restaurants, hotels and shops — each locally owned and operated — were all very small and quaint. While, yes, there were definitely t-shirt shops, they were outnumbered by the shops filled with beautiful hand carved wood sculptures of the endemic animals, intricate hand woven baskets and other treasures made by local artisans. Sprinkled among them were fresh produce markets and other shops there to meet the day-to-day needs of local residents and visitors alike.
You can’t talk about Puerto Baquerizo Moreno without mentioning the resident sea lions who serve as the local welcoming committee. As we shared in our last blog post, there is a healthy colony of about 500 sea lions that live in the waters and shore adjacent to the town. They swim in the surrounding waters, lay on the rocks that run along the shoreline, walk along the docks and sleep wherever they like (no one is telling a 500 pound sea lion to move) including on the benches that run along the pier. Truly we could have spent our three days in San Cristobal just observing the sea lions — whether it was watching them catching and eating fish or climbing over each other to get the best spot for an afternoon siesta or observing mothers and cubs frolicking in the water. Of course, there is so much more to do in the Galápagos Islands than watch the sea lions so, with our chores out of the way, we were ready for the tour planned for Day 2 and, as mentioned, the dive planned for Day 3.
On Day 2 (March 29) we had a half day tour of the San Cristobal Highlands organized by our friends with the World Cruising Club. The tour started with a very steep hike up to El Junco Lagoon which is one of the few freshwater lakes in the Galápagos. The hike was interesting in that you pass through different vegetation zones from really arid to lush and rainforest-like. The lake was formed by the collapsed cone of an extinct volcano. Today it is home to a variety of local bird species though it is the frigatebirds that dominate the area. We enjoyed watching them soar through the air, feed on what they were able to pluck out of the lake and take a drink of water. We hiked around the entire perimeter of the lake reaching an area that gave us a fabulous panoramic view.
Next on the hit parade after our visit to El Junco was a visit to the giant tortoise breeding center where we learned about these magnificent and prehistoric looking creatures and the local efforts to restore the population which was decimated by the early seafarers — pirates, whalers and merchants — who literally took them by the hundreds onto their ships and placed them in storage holds where the tortoises could live a long time with little food and water until these mariners were ready to cook a tortoise meal. Exploiting the abundance of these creatures that could be stowed in massive quantities allowed the officers and crew to subsist at sea for long periods of time. We will talk more about these wonderful reptiles when we discuss our private tour of the Santa Cruz Highlands with our incredibly knowledgeable guide Xavier. We ended our day with a visit to local beach, with the finest white sand, nestled between large sheer black cliffs of volcanic rock.
The highlight of our stay on San Cristobal was our two tank dive off Kicker Rock which we schedule for Day 3, our third and final day on that island. Kicker Rock is a huge monolithic formation that juts up 500 feet out of the water. It looks like the rock of Gibraltar that became the famous logo for Prudential Insurance if you add a spire like structure to the high end of the rock. There is nothing else around. Just this imposing rock. What makes this dive special is that the area is home to 3 different species of sharks: hammerheads, whitetip reef sharks and the Galapagos sharks. Zack had seen a hammerhead shark when we were diving off Turneffe Island, Belize about 11 years ago but Jill did not and we were both excited to dive among them. Aside from the sharks, Galápagos is known for its large palegic fish and many, many underwater treasures owing to decade’s long preservation efforts. The dive did not disappoint. For the first dive we explored the area on one side of Kicker Rock that descends steeply down to about 60 – 70 feet. The rock, itself, is very interesting. It is covered with colorful starfish in various shades of yellow and red, tiny sea crustaceans and pencil sea urchins. We were fascinated by these sea urchins in that they look like a cross between the black, spiny, sea urchins we were used to seeing in the Caribbean and sea anemones. The spines on these urchins were much more tubular with a gel like consistency than the very thin porcupine-like spines we saw on their Caribbean cousins. They are called pencil urchins because the spines look like pencils sticking out. As we studied the rock wall, large fish that are a part of the ecosystem swam around us. The ocassional stray sea turtle completed the picture.
Just examining the various crevices of the underwater volcanic rock and watching the fish feed and swim in between and through gateways would have been a fantastic dive but, of course, we were there to see the sharks. About 2/3rds of the way through the dive we came across a large schools of jacks. The dive master waved his hand in circles and, as if he had spoke an incantation and his hand movement had placed them under some type of spell, the jacks started to swim back and forth in a tight circle. The activity was enough to get the attention of the sharks and that’s when the magic happened! We soon saw a school of about 8 hammerhead sharks circling above as well as whitetip reef sharks and Galapagos sharks darting in and out among them. The current was very strong so if we weren’t kicking our feet we were being pushed backwards. To hold steady and watch the shark show we needed to grab on to the loose rock that was on the sea floor adjacent to Kicker Rock, being careful to avoid the eels, sea urchins and other things that bite or sting. These rocks were covered with old, dead, barnacles and, every once and a while the piece of “rock” you were hanging on to would break off, pushing you back into other divers until you found another bit if rock to hang onto. As we were watching the sharks, a school of large manta rays entered our field of vision — the sharks were stage left and the rays were stage right. You didn’t know where to look because both were putting on a magnificent show. We found ourselves shifting our heads from left to right and back again as if we were watching a tennis match. BTW, manta rays are really interesting looking creatures. They are huge (18 – 23 feet in width) with a silhouette that very much looks like the Batman logo if you just straightened out the curves between the wings.
Eventually it was time to head back up to the surface. Many in the dive group were down to less than 1000 psi and needed start their slow ascent. We sadly ended our first dive but were excited to talk about what we saw. The dive master shared that as he stirred up the jacks to attract the sharks the first hammerhead to arrive at the scene appeared to be headed right towards him. He thought he was going to have to fend him off but the shark veered towards the school of fish. After a no dive interval of about an hour it was time for our second tank dive. This time we would explore the other side of Kicker Rock where the the rock face extends down about 250 feet to the sea floor. So this would be a wall dive. On this dive we were treated to one of the most awe inspiring experiences of our diving history. As we dove down to about 60 feet the rock was to our left and a very dense school of fish (each about 8 inches long with that classic sleek fish body) was to our right. The dive master veered off towards the fish and, as we approached, it got very dark as if we were entering a cave. The fish formed a wall so thick above and around us that sunlight from above was not able to penetrate. (We later learned from one of the guides on our 5 day cruise that the fish do this to create the impression that they are one large fish and ward off predators that way!) As we marveled at the “structure” formed by the fish a sea lion entered the cavity and swirled around playfully, having an occasional nibble of fish, while we all watched. It was truly amazing. Eventually our sea lion friend moved on and we left our fish cave continuing to swim along the perimeter of the rock with the rock to our left. During the remainder of the dive we enjoyed the ecosystem that existing around the rock as well as the turtles and rays that would pass us on the “road.” Towards the end of the dive there was a school of very small fish (maybe an inch or two long) that formed what seemed like a curtain between us and the rock. How fitting it was for the curtain to close as we were completing our dive. (Though we half expected the curtain to reopen so that the sea life that entertained us could take a final bow before we returned to the surface.)
Day 4 (March 31) we took off for Santa Cruz. With no wind to speak of we motor sailed all 42 nautical miles. The trip was uneventful though we were entertained by the occasional sea lions, alone and in pairs, out for an off shore swim to catch fish. We also watched manta rays jumping out of the water —spectacular! Santa Cruz is in the middle of the Galápagos island chain making all islands accessible. As a result it has become the main hub of the tourist industry, with many tours and cruises leaving from there. The main city, Puerto Ayora, is the largest in the region. Still, like San Cristobal, it was replete with small hotels, restaurants, shops and galleries where artisans display and sell their creations. Puerto Ayora very much felt like the big brother to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristobal. Particularly if you got off the main drag and meandered down the side streets you found one beautiful boutique hotel and small 10 table restaurant after another. Very picturesque. We had a lot planned while on Santa Cruz: a tour of the highlands, two separate 2 tank dives and, of course, our splurge, a luxury 4/5 day cruise of the Eastern Galápagos Islands That gave us 3 days of sightseeing, followed by a few days to do stuff like laundry, before our cruise.
On Day 5 (April 1) we had arranged a private tour of the Santa Cruz Highlands though a local travel agent. We were paired with a wonderful guide, Xavier, who made the half day tour fun, enriching and memorable. We started the day visiting “The Twin Craters” which, despite the name, are not craters at all. They were formed over 2 million years ago by magma domes which hardened on the outside but continued to flow on the inside. As the volcanic activity ceased, the lava drained leaving huge but empty chambers that collapsed with the passing of time. These impressive holes — you felt like you were looking down into a football stadium from the very top of the bleachers — are filled with a rich and dense forest dominated by the endemic Scalesia plants. We were able to walk along the rim of the craters to appreciate the magnitude of the holes as well as the breathtaking scenery within.
Our next stop was the Rancho Primicias which is home to one of the many natural tunnels that are found on the island and also happens to be on the migratory path of the giant tortoise. This stop was a two for one affair allowing us to explore one of these tunnels while seeing and learning more about the giant tortoises and the local restoration efforts. The tunnel was fascinating. Similar to the two craters, these tunnels were formed by the hot lava that flowed down during a volcanic eruption. As the lava cooled on the surface it continued to flow like an underground river. When the lava stopped flowing it formed cavities underneath the earth. Though the tunnel we explored was very low and narrow in spots — at one point we had crouch down low and crawl on our hands and knees to get from one side to the other — most of the tunnel was wide and high with the “ceiling” height of up to 30 feet. With their domed appearance, parts of the tunnel had a cathedral like feel. We had to keep reminding ourselves that we were underground with layers of packed earth above us.
After traversing the tunnel our guide took us further into the ranch where we walked around and had an opportunity to observe the giant tortoise in their natural habitat. These tortoises are impressive — slow moving and slow growing, they don’t reach full maturity until around 20 to 25 years of age, can live upwards to 175 years and a fully grown males can weigh 450 pounds. As we mentioned, the ranch covers land that cuts across the natural migratory path of these tortoises. It is illegal in the Galápagos to build any structure that would impede the migration of these tortoises as they mate in the highlands and the females then make the 4 – 9 mile journey (on a straight line) to the lowlands near the shore to lay their eggs. This pilgrimage can take between 2 – 4 weeks. With the exception of small fenced areas around crops that would be attractive to the tortoises, any fence on the island on the migration path must meet certain height and width specifications to allow the tortoises to pass unharmed. As you might be picking up, the people of the Galápagos are very serious about preserving and growing their giant tortoises population. Through restoration efforts, which include the breeding center mentioned above, the people of the Galápagos have been able to grow the population back to around 60,000, up from the population of 20,000 in the early 1970s before these efforts began. Still that is a fraction of the estimated 200,000 – 300,000 Giant Tortoises that lived in the Galapagos between the 16th and 20th centuries. In addition to the adoption of strict rules that foster the successful breeding and egg laying of the tortoises, this population growth has been accomplished by collecting the eggs of the tortoises after they are laid and allowing them to hatch and then grow in special centers until they sufficiently mature (e.g., their shells have hardened) to be re-released into their natural habitats without great risk of harm. This is somewhere between 3-5 years of age. Funny thing is that every time Jill got close to a tortoise it hissed at her. No such reaction for Zack or the guide passing close. We capped the tour of the ranch with a lovely lunch — fish for Zack and sautéed vegetables for Jill. It was a truly delightful day.
On Day 6 (April 2) we were back to a two tank dive and were taken to Daphne Rock. We won’t write extensively about this experience because, in large part, it was like Kicker Rock take 2. (Zack refers to it as our “Kicker Rock Lite” dive tour.) We did similar dives — first down to the sea bottom on the shallower side of the rock and next a wall dive on the deeper side — and saw similar fish, crustaceans and sea mammals. Having so enjoyed the Kicker Rock dive we were delighted to get a reprise. We were particularly thrilled by the hammerhead shark who got up close and personal with Zack — he could have reached out and touched him — as well as another underwater “blackout” induced by a dense school of fish that attracted 2 sea lions. At one point these fish closed in on us and we could barely see one another until our dive master, Israel, took his regulator out of his mouth to release air into the water. The bubbles that flowed from the regulator caused the fish above us to scatter, creating a clear column. The other sight that had us captivated was the humphead parrotfish. These are fish we had never seen the the Caribbean. They look very much like colorful garden variety parrotfish you see in the Caribbean if you imagine a parrotfish that inadvertently swam into an underwater rock wall at great speed causing a lump the size of a ping pong ball to form on its forehead. Though they varied in size we saw some that were over 2 feet long and close to a foot from top to bottom.
Day 7 (April 3) we were off the Gordon Rock for our final 2 tank dive. If Daphne Rock was Kicker Rock lite, Gordon Rock was Kicker Rock on steroids. We got to see everything we saw on the Kicker Rock dive but in many multiples. Both Gordon Rock dives were great but the first dive was particularly spectacular. It started out slow with few marine life sightings but then we crossed paths with a school of 6 eagle rays. They slowly glided past us from left to right as we waited at the metaphorical stop sign. After they finished their crossing we carried on, first swimming over a sandy bottom covered in starfish creating a wonderful tapestry. After crossing this field of starfish we turned a corner around the underwater rock and, at that point, BAM, it was sensory overload with one fish, mammal or reptile after another and all at once. We saw hammerhead sharks, whitetip reef sharks, blacktip reef sharks, turtles and sea lions galore. All at the same time! And all were very close up with the sea lions actually in invading our personal space. There was a young pair that seemed to be as interested, if not more, in us as we were in them. They would dive down, twirling in the water, and then shoot back up in a ring-like swim pattern that brought them closer to us until they arched away as they completed their circle. As the dives came to an end we did our 3 minute safety spot along side the volcanic rock wall and got one last opportunity to examine the crevices and marvel at the creatures that called them home.
Days 8 and 9 (April 4 and 5) it was time to do all the things we didn’t do for the last week while we were playing — laundry, cleaning, shopping, boat repairs, beginning to organize our visit to the states in October (get those doctors’ visits on the books — check!), making water, showing Mark how to run the generator (since he would be staying aboard Che Figata while we were on our cruise and the batteries would definitely need charging at some point — you don’t get the benefit of “shore power” when you are anchored in a harbor), bill paying, getting things ready for our new crew member, Lane, who was arriving the afternoon of April 5, a bit of work for Jill and, of course, packing for our 5 day cruise. We crammed a lot of “to dos” into 2 days and, though we debated whether we should schedule a dive for one of those days we needed every bit of both days to complete our long task list. We would have rather been diving (😀), but we kept reminding ourselves of all we had done and seen since we arrived in the Galápagos Islands on March 27 and what we still had in store for our remaining time on the islands.
And then it was showtime! April 6 (Day 10 in the Galapagos) — the start of our cruise aboard La Pinta — was here and it was an early start. We had arranged a transfer from Puerto Ayora to the small airport on Baltra Island with the company that owns and operates La Pinta. To get there we had to be picked up near the pier in Puerto Ayora at 7:40 AM. This meant that we had a 5:30 AM wake up “call” that morning to have sufficient time to get ready, pack our final items and hail and ride a water taxi into shore. From Puerto Ayora we were taken by private taxi to the northern end of Santa Cruz (the same place, incidentally, that we met our dive boats) where we picked up a ferry to Baltra Island — just a small hop from Santa Cruz. Once we arrived on the shore of Baltra Island, we took a bus to the airport where we met a few of the naturalist guides who would be aboard La Pinta. They were there to meet us as well as other La Pinta guests arriving on a 9:40 AM flight from the Ecuador mainland. Even with all of the transfers (a taxi, a ferry and a bus), we arrived at the airport at 8:40 AM. We were actually surprised to hear that we were waiting for this plane to arrive and, of course, by the time it arrived, the passengers disembarked and got their luggage, we didn’t get on the final bus that would take us to the shore where the La Pinta tenders would pick us up to deliver us to the vessel until about 11:00 AM. We are sure that you are picking up our snarky tone at this point. Yes, we were somewhat annoyed that we had to get picked up in Puerto Ayora at 7:40 AM to arrive at the Baltra airport at 8:40 AM and then basically wait around for nearly 2 1/2 hours. We kept lamenting about the extra 2 hours of sleep we could have had.
If we were irritated at the transfer process (and, yes, we definitely were), all of that melted away the moment we boarded La Pinta. We were greeted by the cruise manager, Jennifer, who had the warmest of smiles, while crew members distributed moist towels so we could refresh ourselves and we were quickly ushered to the lowered deck where we would receive an informational briefing and be served wonderful snacks that included a lovely vegan option of vegetable ceviche. Following the briefing we were shown our large (by cruise ships standards) and beautiful room with a sizable floor to ceiling window looking out to the ocean. We should explain here that this was not the typical cruise. The La Pinta is a small cruise ship — in the highest luxury level offered in the Galápagos Islands — with only 24 guest cabins. There are almost as many crew members as passengers. This cruise was a total splurge but, as we have explained in other posts, though we arrived in the Galápagos by our private boat, we were not permitted to sail around the islands. Being highly regulated to preserve the biodiversity, there were only three designated areas we could anchor our boat and once anchored, we were not permitted to explore the islands or the surrounding waters without authorized naturalist. Knowing that it was unlikely we would be back here again, and with the Galapagos Islands being one of the places on our bucket list for years, we decided to supplement our land tours and diving trips with a 4 – 5 day cruise. The cruise on the La Pinta was the only one that fit our schedule and timing needs so though we weren’t specifically looking for a luxury experience, that’s what we signed up for. We must admit (with more than a tinge of guilt), that after living on our boat for just over 2 1/2 years and little in the way of luxury accommodations to speak of during that time — except our 4 day stay at the Seattle Fairmont Hotel for our younger son’s wedding and a 3 night stay at the Greenwich Hotel in NYC while visiting our daughter — we are almost giddy as we looked around the ship, entered our private room, took in the itinerary of activities and saw the food and cocktail menu! We quickly shifted from, I cannot believe we are doing this to “can’t we do this another week” as we began to imagine sleeping in an air conditioned room, taking long, hot showers with strong water pressure just because we could and having 5 days where we didn’t have to fix anything on a boat! That was, of course, a rhetorical question but we truly felt like the proverbial kids in the candy shop.
The La Pinta crew wasted no time getting us engaged in activities. On our first day we started with a hike on South Plaza Island where we saw a colony of sea lions, swallow-tail gulls (with a distinctive red circle — which looks like it is hand painted — around their eyes), frigatebirds, mockingbirds and marine iguanas. It was a great introduction to endemic and native species on the Galápagos Islands. The island, itself, was stunning with a carpet of scarlet sesuvium succulents and a “forest” of the largest prickly pear cactuses we have ever seen. (Well, “forest” is a bit of an overstatement because they weren’t dense but they were everywhere and looked magnificent against the backdrop of black lava rocks and volcanic shoreline.)
For Day 2 of the cruise (Day 11 in Galapagos) the morning activity was a tour of Santa Fe Island followed by an opportunity to snorkel. (We should mention that the day starts early on La Pinta. To avoid the worst heat and sun of the day, breakfast is served at 6:15 AM and the tenders pick up guests for the morning excursion at 7:15. ) While on shore we saw land iguanas that are endemic to Santa Fee as well as more sea lions. In the water, snorkeling around Santa Fe’s rocky coast, we swam besides sea lions and among the oversized marine fish that flourish in the protected waters — parrotfish, angelfish, yellow tail sergeant fish, sergeant major fish, triggerfish, and many other saltwater fish too numerous to mention, all looking like they had taken growth hormones! In the afternoon we sailed to San Cristobal Island. While transiting between Santa Fe Island and San Cristobal we were entertained by a pod of at least 50 Peale’s dolphins who where displaying the typical dolphin swimming behavior — propelling themselves forward with their tails causing their bodies to glide up and down above and through the water — but also leaping straight up into the air, sometimes appearing to reach a height of 15 feet before crashing back down into the water with a large splash. The captain of the ship indulged us by doing a large circle around the dolphins to prolong our encounter. Once we arrived on San Cristobal the planned activity was a visit to the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center. We declined that excursion having visited that center during our tour of the San Cristobal Highlands. Instead we enjoyed a quiet day on the upper deck of La Pinta.
Day 3 on the ship (Day 12 on the islands) we moved to the northern most shore of San Cristobal and visited Punta Pitt where we entered land on a beach with dark sand created by volcanic ash and walked up a very rocky trail to a summit which provided breathtaking views of volcanic structures with a plummeting coastline and water below. Though the dramatic scenery was enough to make the hike worthwhile, the real feature was the red footed boobies and blue footed boobies that call Punta Pitt home. Everywhere you looked there was one of these species with the red footed boobies in the trees and the blue footed boobies on the rocks and grounds. The blue footed boobies are particularly striking with their large webbed sky blue feet. We were able to observe them engaging in mating behavior as well as nesting, complete with eggs. Our feature photo for this blog entry is a picture of a blue footed boobie trying to catch the attention of a female. (For those curious, the female was not impressed.)
Following the hike we snorkeled off the rocky coast line and observed more of the usual, oversized, marine suspects. It is so fun to snorkel among them because, living in a highly protected area where they are not hunted by humans, they really have little fear of us. We would dive under and swim in a school of fish just like we were one of them. During one particular moment while she was underwater with Zack by her side, Jill was thinking to herself how incredible it was to swim among a large school of huge yellow tail sergeant fish ever so slowly and nonchalantly when all of the sudden they started to dart about quickly. It didn’t take long to figure out why. As the fish scattered in a frenzy before her, leaving a clear path in front, she saw a sea lion heading straight for her. (These fish may not fear humans but they have a healthy respect for the sea lions who eat them!) This sea lion came within 2 feet of Jill’s face before veering off to her left. Though she was not scared she was definitely startled. Jill was not expecting to have an underwater stare down with a sea lion!
In the afternoon, after a lunch time show of a manta rays doing triple flips right next to the boat, we visited Cerritos Bruno on the western coast of San Cristobal. The feature there was an unspoiled absolutely gorgeous beach about a 1/2 mile long covered with the finest sand we had ever seen. It was so fine that it had a silky feel and was almost silt like. It felt incredible on your feet and, despite the fact that it rained most of our visit, we enjoyed walking down the beach and our encounters with iguanas, sea lions and crabs along the way. (Though we didn’t particularly care for our run in with a sea lion that tried to chase us off when we dared to invade her beach). We have been privileged to visit many spectacular beaches but this one rivaled the beach on Fort George Cay on Turks and Caicos we visited nearly 2 years ago. We described that one as “beyond stunning” in our blog post published in May 2021 and entitled The leisurely sail back up to New England — Part IV — April 29 through May 8 (Subtitle: We swam with wild dolphins — be that got your attention!)
The next morning, Day 4 on the cruise (Day 13 in the Galapagos), we visited Punta Suarez on Espanola Island where we walked on a challenging terrain of lava rocks and boulders to reach a “blowhole” created by a lava formation close to the shore. As the forceful waves approach the shore where the blowhole was situated, water shot up through the blowhole reaching heights that must have been at least 30 feet. Though the blowhole was awesome to see, the main reason we hiked there was to see the albatrosses that live in that area of the island April through January. This island (Espanola) is the only place along the equator in the entire world that is part of the albatrosses migratory path. Alas, though we did get a glimpse of a flying albatrosse when we got off the tender, we did not see any on land. They return to Espanola at the end of the rainy season — generally the beginning of April — but it was still quite wet on the island as evidenced by the abundant foliage growing between the lava rocks giving the terrain a very beautiful curated appearance. Outside of rainy season the island is arid and void of any greenery. This has delayed the return of many of the Albatrosses, making them more difficult to spot.
While the albatrosse viewing was minimal, we did get to see more blue footed boobies, including some with eggs and small chicks, a hawk that had captured a baby boobie for breakfast and many marine iguanas that were a colorful green and red — colors they take on only during mating season. The female marine iguanas were very busy digging nests for their eggs. We also got fabulous views of the very dramatic volcanic coastline around the island with steep drops down to beaches covered with lava rock. Following our return to the ship, a lecture about Charles Darwin by the lead naturalist on La Pinta rounded out our morning. We learned several interesting factoids that were new to us. For instance, we weren’t aware that Darwin actually only spent 5 weeks in the Galápagos Islands though the trip there and back took nearly 5 years.
In the afternoon, after watching large blacktip sharks circling the boat during lunch, we had one last opportunity for a deep water snorkel. This time it would be — in the words of one of the 10 year old guests on the boat — in the “shark infested” waters close to the ship which was still anchored off Espanola Island, now in Garden Bay. During the brief snorkel around a large rock in the middle of the bay we saw the usual complement of salt water reef fish as well as a whitetip reef shark, a stingray, an eagle ray and chocolate chip starfish. Then, as we were returning to La Pinta by tender, we saw more large blacktip sharks and a beautiful golden ray. After a quick return to the ship, and change into dry cloths, we went back out in the tenders to visit the exquisite beach just across from the rock we snorkeled around. Though different than the gorgeous beach we visited the prior day, it was equally stunning. Like the beach the day before, this beach had a lot of direct ocean real estate, affording us the opportunity for a long and delightful beach stroll with waves splashing over our feet, occasionally spraying water up on our clothes. But while the last beach was covered with fine, almost silt-like sand that had this marvelous silky, almost creamy, feel this beach had that quintessential fine white sugar sand which, together with the vibrant turquoise water, made it look like a picture postcard. The highlight of the afternoon though were the blacktip reef sharks, increasing in numbers, swimming around the ship. At one point we counted 8 swimming closely together with their fins peeking out above the surface of the water. As if they were waiting for food (hopefully not one of the guests) to fall from the boat, these sharks stayed very close by for hours. We had a great time watching them from the upper deck of the ship as well as from the floor to ceiling window in our cabin. We had an incredible view of these large predators.
Before, after and in between the various activities we ate, and we ate, and we ate. Three amazing meals with food — including Jill’s vegan options — that met the standards of a fine restaurant with plenty of snacks (nuts, wraps, small skewers of veggies and seafood, etc.) to fill our bellies after our excursions. Just to list a small sampling, we were offered prawns with citrus potato and avocado, fish and octopus ceviche marinated in lemon juice with onion and coriander, red quinoa and shrimp hydrated with basil sauce, chives and tomatoes, Galápagos bluefin tuna marinated in citrus soy, pork medallions with a port wine reduction, thyme fish, dill salmon, and mushroom stew with peas and coconut rice. And, oh the desserts! Creamy mango served with white wine sorbet, house-made Tiramisu, chocolate and passion fruit volcano with a liquid center of semi-sweet chocolate and passion fruit sauce plus the artisan house-made ice cream of the day served with freshly baked cookies! Don’t even get us started on the cocktails. With everything fresh made (no pre-made mixes) they were amazing. Definitely the best caipirinhas we had ever had and, as readers of our blog know, we have had quite a few of those in many different places at this point! After we returned to Che Figata and Jill put on her fanny pack that fastens around her waist she wondered aloud who had tightened it while we were gone.
On top of the great tours, superb food and the pampering we met some really wonderful people. That included Peg and Lee from Minnesota who were visiting the Galápagos Islands with their very mature 15 year old grandson, Ed, who lives in England with his parents. There were assigned seats at meals and (after some confusion) we were placed at their table. We hit the jackpot of dining mates. We so enjoyed getting to know this interesting couple and their lovely grandson. And our own grandchildren will be benefactors of our encounter with Peg and Lee. When we inquired why they were there with just Ed they shared that they had made a commitment to their grandchildren that they would take each one on their own “trip of a lifetime” when they were old enough. Ed, the oldest, was the first the cash in. As we watched Peg and Lee enjoying their alone time with Ed — and Ed’s exuberant response to the experience — we decided that we loved their idea and look forward to taking separate trips with our current and future grandchildren as they get old enough to travel independently with grandparents and appreciate a trip to a special part of the world.
We sadly left La Pinta on the morning of Day 5 of the cruise (Day 14 in the Galápagos). While the all the other passengers were taken by a tender to land for the taxi, then ferry and then bus ride to the airport on Baltra Island, we remained behind — enjoying some quiet alone time on the upper deck — as we waited for our private tender transfer direct to our boat. We were tickled when we heard Jennifer announce over the ships loud speaker “Mr. & Mrs. Hummel, your limousine is ready to transport you.” After savoring our last few moments of luxury, our re-entry to life aboard Che Figata was harsh. With only two days before our scheduled departure for the Marquesas Islands on April 12 we had much to do — laundry, provisioning, arranging more repairs (it never ends!), purchasing more fuel, run the watermaker to top off the water tanks, preparing for clearance procedures (with yet another official inspection of Che Figata), setting up our new Starlink system (yay!!!) and route planning to name just a few of the items on the task list. With a blink of an eye it was the afternoon of April 11 — Day 15 in the Galapagos — and we were on the eve of our longest passage, nearly 3,000 nautical miles, during our circumnavigation. We are ready and excited to embark on this leg of our journey. We will undoubtedly write copious amounts about this passage — including a critique of our new Starlink system (purchased primarily to prevent a painful and lengthy New York Times withdrawal) — in our next blog entry.
