I was up at 5:00 this
morning, and on the sundeck before 5:30, to watch
the sun rise. The darkness was just ending, and
light, dawning.
As the sun started to rise, I could
see that we were entering a beautiful area, known as
Tagus Cove. The
sunrise was gorgeous and such beautiful colors began
to fill the sky.
Just as the sun started to become
visible,
a heavy fog set in
Before long, nothing
was visible to me anymore. These islands are often
referred to as the Enchanted Islands, because they
just seem to disappear and shortly after, they
reappear. When the fog comes in, it is very dense,
but it doesn't last long. Within 30 minutes,
the fog was gone, and the sun was shining brightly.
Breakfast was at 7:15. It was served buffet style,
and
everything imaginable was offered on two very large
serving tables. There are all types of juices, fruit,
breads and buns, and hot and cold dishes. During
breakfast, dolphins and sealions were swimming
near our ship. We interrupted our meal several
times just to look out the large portholes and watch
them. We fortified ourselves with this good food,
then
went to the sundeck for a safety meeting.
At 8:30 we
were called together by group, and down the stairway,
and into the panga we went. We were not allowed to
carry our cameras, beach and snorkel gear, or other
personal items into the little boat ourselves. After
we were all in the panga, our belongings were loaded
for us by members of the staff, and lined up in the
middle of the deck. We were now off for our first
excursion, heading to Isabella Island, the
largest of the Galapagos.
We began with a panga
ride along the coastline of Tagus cove, where we saw
brown pelicans, blue-footed boobies, brown noddy
terns, large marine iguanas,
Sally Lightfoot
crabs,
various species of sea lions and Galapagos penguins.
The penguins swam and played around our panga. They
are so cute to watch. They climb out of the
water onto the rocks, and
waddle along on their tiny
little legs.
When ready to go back into the
water,
they jump from rock to rock, to the water's edge, and
then just jump or 'slide' in. Did you ever imagine that penguins existed at the Equator?
Shortly after, we
had a dry landing onto some slippery rocks. We then
hiked on Isabella Island for 1 3/4 miles, to Darwin's
volcano. We were heading for
Darwin's Lake, which lies in the crater of the
volcano. We climbed to the top of the volcano. The
lake is a beautiful, crystal clear,
shade of
green.
There is a spectacular view here of not
only the beautiful salt lake, but a panoramic view of
5 very large volcanoes as well.
As we hiked back down, we watched a sea lion
catch a large fish. Before devouring it, he
played with it for a very long time, by throwing it
in the air, letting it drop into the sea, and then
retrieving it. He did this over and over for at least
15 minutes, before deciding to eat his prey.
We saw
many Darwin finches here, and some very interesting
flora. We also had a friendly encounter with a giant land
tortoise, and quite a few land iguanas.
Before we
knew it, it was time to reboard the Santa Cruz for
lunch. We spent the entire morning filming and
viewing all the wonderful creatures we had been
exposed to.
When we exited the panga to climb the
stairway up to the Santa Cruz, we had to stand on the
stairway and get hosed down with fresh water, so as
not
to carry any microorganisms aboard. The islands are
extremely delicate, and great care is taken so that
nothing foreign is brought onto the islands, and
nothing is carried off.
On almost every excursion we
were able to swim and snorkel in the beautiful
waters. We had special towels that were to be used on
the beach. They were yellow. Our bath towels were
dark blue. Bath towels are not allowed to be carried
off the Santa Cruz, and used yellow towels are not
allowed to be brought back onto the Santa Cruz. The
yellow towels are specially treated, and cannot be
mixed with the blue.
Lunch was served buffet
style. It was another sumptuous meal, which included
an appetizer, soup, salads of all kinds, cold cuts,
and several hot dishes as well. There were always
lots of different fruits and juices available at
every meal. Lunches and dinners were topped off with
absolutely decadent desserts. Our breakfasts and lunches were
served buffet style, dinner was always served
formally, and the dress code was casual at all times,
however, swimwear was never allowed in the dining
room.
We
had a brief rest on the sundeck after lunch, and then
headed out again in the panga to visit Fernandina
Island. All of a sudden, there were dolphins leading
our little panga to the island. They were swimming
right
at the bow of our
boat.
It was incredible!
Within seconds, there were dolphins all around us.
They were jumping in and out of the water. We could
just reach out and touch them. We were getting
sprayed by the water they were shooting from their
blowholes! This was the most awesome thing I had ever
experienced. They were playing with us, and leading
the way for our journey. As far as we could see in
this vast Pacific, were dolphins........jumping and
swimming everywhere! I will never, ever, forget this
experience. I couldn't believe my eyes! As we neared
the island, the dolphins gradually swam away from us,
satisfied that they had taken us here safely.
We
had a dry landing on Fernandina Island. This volcano
last erupted in September 1998. We took a one mile
hike
over lava flows and sandy areas.
We saw marine
iguanas,
sealions, lava cactus, shorebirds,
intertidal life, and flightless cormorants.
The
cormorants have no need to fly, as they have no
enemies. This is one of many species where evolution
is very obvious. These cormorants had long wings at
one time long in the past, which allowed them to fly.
Now, their wings are very short,
and make it
impossible for them to fly. They just sit on the
rocks with their short little wings spread wide,
drying them in the sun, although they aren't really
wet. There are only 800 of these beautiful creatures
left in the world.
Sea turtles surface here and
there, but they surface only for about one second.
You must keep your eyes peeled, if you want to see
them. It was impossible for me to snap a picture
quickly enough to catch one surfacing, although I was
able to photograph them under the water.
On this
island there are numerous carcasses of marine iguanas.
Their cause of death has not been
determined. It is a sad sight. Marine iguanas sneeze
frequently. They are clearing out the salt when they
sneeze. When they are angry, they
shake their heads. We were able to observe a few
altercations between some of the dominant males.
Sea lions give birth to one calf each year, although
occasionally, twins are born. Nature has provided
them with what is known as delayed implantation.
Approximately three months after mating, the
fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall.
Nine months later, a calf is born. These animals, as all the animals found on these islands, do
not scurry away when humans approach them.
All
too soon it was time to head back to the Santa Cruz
for a briefing and dinner. Time went so fast. I was
so amazed and so deeply involved in what I was seeing
here.
After a relaxing shower, we had a review of
the days activities. There was a briefing, complete
with
h'ors d'eurves, about the next days activities.
Dinner was at 8:00pm. We spent some time on the
sundeck after dinner chatting with others, and
observing the beautiful sky. Time for bed now, to
refresh ourselves for another exciting day to come.
