A chance to send post cards home and pick up some to take back. The old barrel has been there for many years, and old seafarers used to leave messages for home, and take others if they were on their way back. We keep the tradition going.
Then we go kayaking(two in a kayak) around the bay in shallow water.
Afternoon. Deep water snorkeling off Champion islet, Floreana
Snorkelling with Sealions swimming around us was the highlight of this bit. Very bouncy because of swell bouncing off the rocks, and three groups passed us before the first group realized we were missing. We got whistled at from the cover boat to join the main group, who were 100 yards ahead of us. Why they all passed this spot so quickly I don’t know, but I know that this is one of the best bits so far .
We walk over to the other bay to see the turtle nesting grounds, and see a female turtle with half a dozen suitors in the surf. I think there were four males queuing up to mate with her. It's a wonder she didn't drown.
The sad thing was that for an uninhabited island, the amount of plastic rubbish washing up was horrible. The guides pick up large bits, but still toothpaste and bottle tops and small bits of plastic on the tide line. Strangely, although coconuts wash up, they don’t seem to grow here. We have not seen a coconut palm. After the talk for next days preview, there were lots of big Galapagos sharks surrounding the ship, catching flying fish attracted by the lights. The swallow tailed gulls fly by night, looking for squid and the like that they feed on.
Thanks, Hostafan. It was that time of year when mating is happening, so we saw quite a bit of sex on the beach.They were not shy. More to come. Those of delicate dispositions, avert your eyes.
Fantastic photos and video. The bit about the plastic washing up on to the shore is depressing but sadly not unexpected. Maybe you should post a warning before the next x rated instalment ! Seriously though, this is fascinating, thank you very much for posting.
OH goes on a long walk to photograph the land Iguanas, and the odd goat. This is termed as strenuous, so I have a leisurely breakfast instead.
Male Frigate bird
Frigate nursery
Young goat and Iguana
Yellow Land iguana
Blue footed booby.
Then deep water snorkeling at Guy Fawkes island. (No one seems to know why it is called after Guy Fawkes, other than he is the bloke who tried to blow up the British Parliament.) Not really very impressed by this. I am glad we did not book a dive boat. We have seen little or no coral, and the sealions we saw by snorkelling.
Most of the people on the boat are of a certain age (like people in garden centre cafes), except for one couple who really stick out. OH said he was punching above his weight, but I thought the relationship was more familial. It turns out I was right, when we were seated with them for lunch. We had called them Beauty and the Beast.
We had reckoned on Rich kids of Instagram.He is always taking photos of her in some pose or other. Not far wrong. Daddy has 40, 000 acres in Florida and runs 40,000 cattle on it(She says). Her brother is a butcher. (Well someone has to cut them up). She got a free trip to promote the company as she is “An Influencer” and between jobs. What did she do before? Studied law in England at Oxford. What college? Oxford college. Hmmm. I’ll believe you, thousands wouldn’t . In my experience anyone who went to Oxford always emphasized the college. I don't suppose the company would like to sponsor a "Poor pensioners of Gardeners World" I don't suppose it has the right ring about it. They want to promote the tour to youngsters. Trouble is, those who have the money are rapidly running out of time and fitness, and those who are fit and up for it don't usually have the money. It is noticeable that there are quite a lot of knee replacement scars on the rest of the guests. Quite a lot avail themselves of the hiking poles when we go for walks.
Afternoon.
Bachas Santa Cruz.
Sex on the beach part 2.
Nature walk with a wet landing. Just as we were backing up to the beach, there was a 6 ft galapagos shark in the shallows. That put off anyone fancying a swim.
We walk along the beach within sight of the airport. We see more turtle nesting sites. It must be the middle of the breeding season because there were fresh tracks up the beach. Sally Lightfoot crabs on the rocks and a large female Eagle ray with suitors in the shallows, flapping around.
We went up to the highlands in the morning,to the ecological reserve.On the way up in the bus is a sign, tortoises crossing. A hundred yards further on, there was a tortoise in the middle of the road. The bus had to stop until it decided which way to go. We changed into wellies as it was a bit muddy, and walked around the reserve. The Tortoises can wander freely up and down the island. They mate in the highlands, then the females go down to lay eggs. We saw tortoises having a mud bath, and a female was chased into the bushes by a large male. The grunts sounded like the people in the next hotel room to us at 1 am in Newfoundland last year. Thankfully that only lasted five minutes. Mrs Tortoise got chased into a bush, but he wasn’t giving up. Poor Mrs Tortoise has to put up with four hours of it. Then we went down a lava tube. Brilliant sunshine when we got there, then all of a sudden a full tropical storm and we got soaked. I bought some Galapagos coffee to take home.
These are Santa Cruz species. They have dome shaped shells.
On the pier is a tent marked as Nicotine Assassins. I thought it was a stop smoking program, but it went far beyond that. They showed bags and bags of cigarette butts,(all picked up off off the floor) some sculptures made of them, and the damage caused to the environment. Our ship has a 100 guests and about the same crew, but I haven’t seen anyone at all smoking, even in the designated area. Not even a vape in sight.
Afternoon, trip to the Darwin research station,(Fausto Llerena breeding centre ) to see poor old (stuffed) Lonesome George in a climate controlled perspex box. Other half commenting that they needed someone to show them how to put display cases together. The edges were very iffy.
We saw how they breed the tortoises and grow them on to about five year old before they release them back in the wild. They are also breeding one of the finches that is endangered.
I did think $85 for a shirt was a tad expensive, even if it did contribute to the upkeep of the centre. No souvenirs from here, not even a "I love boobies" t shirt.
We walked back to the pier via the fish market, with pelicans and frigates and the odd sealion looking for lunch. Time is pressing so we can't stop, we have to get back to the pier.
The pier is obviously a comfy resting spot for sealions. They hang around in a nice shady spot.
When we went to California, many years ago, we thought we would have to get a boat to see the sea otters, only to find they were all over the place in Monterey, on the back of boats, floating in the harbour. The Sealions here are the same, don't care about people, just get on with doing what they want to do.
Four hours ?!!! Glad l'm not a tortoise (although l probably move at about the same speed). Love the sealion on the bench looking so chilled. Those cigarette butt sculptures are very clever, l despair about the state of this planet though, with all the plastic, fag butts etc. Shame you didn't "accidentally" knock that guy into the sea..... Thanks again for this.
I don't get it with americans. They can see you are pointing a camera at something, so they walk in front of you. It happened multiple times, to OH as well as me.
Posts
Post Office Bay, Floreana
A chance to send post cards home and pick up some to take back. The old barrel has been there for many years, and old seafarers used to leave messages for home, and take others if they were on their way back. We keep the tradition going.
Afternoon. Deep water snorkeling off Champion islet, Floreana
Afternoon walk, on Punta Cormorant, Floreana.
The sad thing was that for an uninhabited island, the amount of plastic rubbish washing up was horrible. The guides pick up large bits, but still toothpaste and bottle tops and small bits of plastic on the tide line.
Strangely, although coconuts wash up, they don’t seem to grow here. We have not seen a coconut palm.
After the talk for next days preview, there were lots of big Galapagos sharks surrounding the ship, catching flying fish attracted by the lights. The swallow tailed gulls fly by night, looking for squid and the like that they feed on.
Seriously though, this is fascinating, thank you very much for posting.
Thursday February 7th.
Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz.
OH goes on a long walk to photograph the land Iguanas, and the odd goat. This is termed as strenuous, so I have a leisurely breakfast instead.
We had reckoned on Rich kids of Instagram.He is always taking photos of her in some pose or other. Not far wrong. Daddy has 40, 000 acres in Florida and runs 40,000 cattle on it(She says). Her brother is a butcher. (Well someone has to cut them up). She got a free trip to promote the company as she is “An Influencer” and between jobs. What did she do before? Studied law in England at Oxford. What college? Oxford college. Hmmm. I’ll believe you, thousands wouldn’t . In my experience anyone who went to Oxford always emphasized the college.
I don't suppose the company would like to sponsor a "Poor pensioners of Gardeners World" I don't suppose it has the right ring about it. They want to promote the tour to youngsters. Trouble is, those who have the money are rapidly running out of time and fitness, and those who are fit and up for it don't usually have the money. It is noticeable that there are quite a lot of knee replacement scars on the rest of the guests. Quite a lot avail themselves of the hiking poles when we go for walks.
We saw how they breed the tortoises and grow them on to about five year old before they release them back in the wild.
They are also breeding one of the finches that is endangered.
I did think $85 for a shirt was a tad expensive, even if it did contribute to the upkeep of the centre. No souvenirs from here, not even a "I love boobies" t shirt.
Those cigarette butt sculptures are very clever, l despair about the state of this planet though, with all the plastic, fag butts etc.
Shame you didn't "accidentally" knock that guy into the sea.....
Thanks again for this.