WEATHER: Overcast with patches of sunshine and a beautiful 20C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Arriving in the Galapagos
BUMMER OF THE DAY:
BUYS OF THE DAY: My ‘I love Boobies’ magnet…
WORD OF THE DAY: Sexful – Leo’s pronunciation of successful…..
We are off to the Galapagos Islands today. We found out late yesterday afternoon we were getting collected at 7.20am this morning for an 8.30am flight. It didn’t seem enough time for me, but they should know what they are doing so after double checking that this indeed was enough time we were ready just a little earlier to be on the safe side, which was lucky, as the transfer was 10 minute early and had 2 other couples. So if we weren’t early we would have looked bad that we were running late.
The airport was only a 10 minute drive and being so early there wasn’t much traffic till we got to the airport. The Galapagos flights leave from their own little terminal and it was super busy ay 7.25am. Before being able to enter the terminal there was a manual bag check for any food, seeds and meat products. As we are entering a National Park, it is important that they look after their environment and like Antarctica looking after the biodiversity of the islands. Now remember my bag is at bursting point, so I was dreading him opening my bag, not so much for everything just ‘springing’ out but just trying to re-zip the sucker after he had checked it. So I heaved my bag up on the table and he took one look at it and decided it was best not to open it and just asked me questions and then waved me through. Thank goodness. With a security check to get to the check-in counters we were asked to take some seats and they would check us in. The check-in line was about 15 people deep, but for some reason Edwin was able to bypass this line and with our bags in hand he checked us in within 15 minutes, given buttons to wear with our ship names on them for our arrival in Galapagos, our boarding passes, marine park registration form and a voucher for the ship with our cabin number. Finally we got some documentation!!!! Knock me over with a feather!!! So Edwin showed us where we needed to go through immigration and then we were free to head through when we were ready. The flight was delayed by an hour due to bad weather from Guayaquil. After getting to the gates we found some seats and were surprised that our flight was called only after 20 minutes. Not sure what happened with the delay, but it only worked out to be 20 minutes in the end.
We are flying an airline called TAME. Never heard of them before, but the aircraft was an Airbus A320. So plenty big enough. The seating configuration was 3x3, plenty of overhead space, seatbelts and legroom. It wasn’t a direct flight, we flew via Guayaquil. It was a full flight and we had 3 in our row. The flight from Quito to Guayaquil was only 30 minutes. I rekon that has to be one of the shortest flights I have done on my whole trip so far. We sat on the plane for only 30 minutes as people disembarked and we got a few new passengers. Our aisle guy got off here and we didn’t pick up anyone new for our aisle, so Aimes and I were able to spread out for the remainder of the 1 hour and 55 minutes to Balta Airport, Galapagos!!!
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, 972 km west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part of.
The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, are a national park, and a biological marine reserve with the islands having a population of around 23,000 over 4 of the 18 main islands that are inhabited.
The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. The first crude navigation chart of the islands was done by the buccaneer Ambrose Cowley in 1684. He named the individual islands after some of his fellow pirates or after the English noblemen who helped the privateer's cause. More recently, the Ecuadorian government gave most of the islands Spanish names. While the Spanish names are official, many users (especially ecological researchers) continue to use the older English names, particularly as those were the names used when Charles Darwin visited.
The airport we landed at was Baltra. Also known as South Seymour, Baltra is a small flat island located near the center of the Galápagos. It was created by geological uplift. The island is very arid, and vegetation consists of salt bushes, prickly pear cacti and palo santo trees. Until 1986, Baltra Airport was the only airport serving the Galápagos. Now, there are two airports which receive flights from the continent; the other is located on San Cristóbal Island. Private planes flying to Galápagos must fly to Baltra, as it is the only airport with facilities for planes overnight.
On arriving in Baltra, we were disembarked and processed though immigration and this is where we also had to pay the 100USD park fee. Whether you come for 4 days or 7 the fee is the same. The airport is what you would expect of a tropical destination, all thatched and open to the elements, a smaller version of Hawaii’s International, sort of. So we waited for our bags, exited, found our go-to man Leo, the other couple who was joining us and then we set off. Baltra is not inhabited. No-one lives on the island. The only way off is to be transported by a local bus to one of two docks. Our dock was a 10 minute bus ride to a ferry, which connects Baltra to the island of Santa Cruz. This was also a 10 minute ferry ride, with our bags just thrown on the flat roof of the ferry we set off to the main island of Santa Cruz. I guess they weren’t expecting rough weather with our bags on the roof with no sides and not tied down!!!
Santa Cruz Island was given the name of the Holy Cross in Spanish; its English name derives from the British vessel HMS Indefatigable. It has an area of 986 square kilometers and a maximum altitude of 864 meters. Santa Cruz hosts the largest human population in the archipelago, and the town of Puerto Ayora. The Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galápagos National Park Service are located here. The Highlands of Santa Cruz offer exuberant flora, and are famous for the lava tunnels. Large tortoise populations are found here. Black Turtle Cove is a site surrounded by mangroves, which sea turtles, rays and small sharks sometimes use as a mating area. The capital Puerto Ayora is approximately one hour from the ferry, which was going to be our final destination this afternoon. We had a private transfer from here and meeting our new friends Charlie and Lada from California, we set off in the van to our first stop to at 2 massive lava pit craters that looked like it had been created by a meteor. This was our first glimpse of some of the Galapagos birds, Finches and some of the fauna. From here it was a further 15 minute drive to get us to our lunch stop and to meet the rest of our fellow cruisers.
So it is here that the penny drops that we have joined the cruise halfway through its voyage, well sort of. As the cruise ship continually travels the same itinerary all year round, there are 2 points that you can embark. It seems the San Cristobel option is the most popular, where 98% of these passengers joined the cruise and then there was us, the four of us that joined in Baltra. There are 3 itinerary options that you can choose from. A 3 night, a 4 night or a combination of the 2 to get the 7 night cruise (which is what we are doing) so there are people coming and going all cruise. Our group of 4 arrived a little late for lunch, so we all got separated. Aimes got on a table with lawyers and I got onto a table with some young kids and family, which were really pleasant to talk to and hear how their last 4 days had gone.
After lunch the main group went to the Charles Darwin Research Center and we were given the option of going there to see Lonesome George and the breeding programme they have there for the tortoise or go and see the animals is the wild. We decided we wanted to see the land tortoise in the wild rather than in captivity, so we drove 10 minutes to some land that was privately owned and to walk through to see if we could see some of these amazing creatures. We weren’t disappointed and we didn’t have to wait long to see these massive animals. The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise is the largest living species of tortoise, reaching weights of over 400 kg and lengths of over 1.8 meters. With life spans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates. A captive individual lived at least 170 years. The tortoise is native to seven of the Galápagos Islands. Shell size and shape vary between populations. On islands with humid highlands, the tortoises are larger, with domed shells and short necks. On islands with dry lowlands, the tortoises are smaller, with "saddleback" shells and long necks.
These island-to-island differences played a role in the inception of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
Tortoise numbers declined from over 250,000 in the 16th century to a low of around 3,000 in the 1970s. The decline was caused by hunting for tortoise meat and oil, habitat clearance for agriculture, and introduction of non-native animals such as rats, goats, and pigs. Ten subspecies of the original fifteen survive in the wild. An eleventh subspecies has only a single living individual, in captivity, nicknamed Lonesome George. Conservation efforts beginning in the 20th century have resulted in thousands of captive-bred juveniles being released onto their home islands, and it is estimated that numbers exceeded 19,000 at the start of the 21st century. Despite this rebound, the species as a whole is classified as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
After walking for just over an hour, we probably saw just under 50 land tortoises and the highlight would have to be seeing around 20 of them in this massive mud pit where they drink, poo and cover themselves in mud to protect them from ants and parasites. A little pongy, but the photo opportunity was super cool. We also made into some lava tunnels. They were created as lava flows downslope; the top often cools and forms an insulating crust that keeps the interior lava hot and running. As the eruption subsides, the molten lava drains out of the end, living a hollow chamber that can be many kilometers in length. These tubes have smooth sides with grooves that show different levels of lava. We didn’t venture too far in, but was cool to be standing in one and the colour of the moss was an incredible green.
It was a further 30 minute drive to Puerto Ayora, and since we were doing so well for time, Leo surprised us and said we have time to see Lonesome George if we wanted to. Yes please. He is pretty famous around these parts. Everyone knows Lonesome George if they have read their guidebooks before coming here. He’s the last of his kind, the sole surviving member of his species, the only remaining Pinta Island Giant Tortoise. It’s George that gets on all the Galápagos calendars, t-shirts, post cards and coffee mugs. He’s the one with an enclosure for himself (and his girlfriends) at the Charles Darwin Research Station. Lonesome George is the Galápagos giant tortoise's last hope to stave off extinction.
The 100-year-old reptile is the last of his subspecies, a type of tortoise that once roamed the islands in the thousands. But despite thousands of potential mates, George is still yet to produce any offspring.
The serial bachelor has two girlfriends move in Georgina and Georgette, but the chances he'll take to one of them are slim. Scientists have been trying to find him a mate since 1971. Scientists believed that his weight was a factor keeping him from mating. But since slimming down in the 1990s, George is still yet to have reproduced. Unfortunately, George really does seem to be the last hope for his subspecies of giant tortoise.
But right next to George, in the enclosure reserved for the tortoises from Española, is “Super Diego.”
Super Diego, another Galapagos Giant Tortoise, has traveled more than George, done more to assure the survival of his species and is still going strong at the ripe old age of 130! Meanwhile, the search was on for other Española tortoises worldwide. It was known that a group of 13 Española tortoises had gone to the San Diego zoo in the 1930’s, and it turned out that one was still alive: Diego. Diego was sent back to the Galapagos in 1977, where he rejoined his fellow Española tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station. Diego had been well cared for at the San Diego zoo, which had actually managed to hatch Galapagos tortoise eggs in 1959. Since returning to Galapagos Diego has dedicated himself to the survival of his species. It is estimated that he has about 1,700 children! Diego and the other Española tortoises have been allowed to breed away from predators and hunters. Many of the young tortoises have been returned to Española, where the tortoise population is thriving once again. In 1994, descendants of tortoises sent over from Charles Darwin Research Station were discovered on Española Island, so it is good to see the programme working. Very positive news. At least Diego is doing a hell of a lot more than George, but looking at him today, it looks like he has fathered 1700 kids. He looked so tired and old and tired. Poor fella. It was a big responsibility, but he has done his species proud!
Now I do have to mention the Charles Darwin Research Centre. The theory of evolution by natural selection was formulated by Charles Darwin, who was the first to recognize natural selection as an important cause of evolution. Evolution by natural selection is a consequence of three widely accepted premises: 1) more offspring are produced than can possibly survive, 2) traits vary among individuals, leading to differential rates of survival and reproduction, and 3) trait differences are heritable. Thus, when members of a population die, they are replaced by individuals that are not born from random parents. Instead, these new members are born from parents that are better adapted to the environment in which natural selection took place. This can cause the evolution of traits that are seemingly fitted for the functional roles they perform. Natural selection is the only known cause of adaptation, but not the only known cause of evolution. Other, non-adaptive causes of evolution include mutation and genetic drift. Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organization, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins. Now I am not sure if that makes sense to anyone, but I could not, not put something in the blog about evolution even if I don’t understand the whole concept.
By this point Amy and I are STUFFED. We had no idea that we would hit the ground running once we landed in the Galapagos. We thought we would be heading straight to the ship, get time to unwind and meet our fellow guests. WRONG. So it is now 5pm, we have been up since 6am and we have hit a brick wall. We got 30 minutes to have some shopping time in town before heading to the port, boarding the zodiacs and finally, FINALLY getting to the ship. We were told this was our only opportunity for some shopping, and even this did not fire us up and we hoed and hummed our way through a few shops before giving it all up and walking the 10 minutes straight to the pier. The zodiacs were going back and forth to the ship, so we said out goodbyes to Leo and hopped on the next available one to take us to our home for the next 7 nights. Now as you know I am not a massive zodiac fan and I no longer have Jeff looking after me (miss him) and for the first time, the zodiac came into the gangway NOSE first. No no, I only know how to get on the damn thing via the side. I KNOW how to do that and I am fairly comfortable. What is this nose / bow loading thing……. The water was also a little choppy, so it was quite scary for me, but the one thing they did do that was familiar was the sailor grip to get us on, okay this I do know how to do. Well I got on fine, but I looked like I hadn’t done it before……. The ship was anchored a fair way from the port, about a 10 minute rough ride, but we arrived safely, welcomed on board, handed an arrival drink and then left standing there. Ummmmm can some-one show us where we need to go? What time is dinner? Are our bags in our cabin? It was a bit fluffy and we were floundering around a little. But we did get shown the ‘Flip your Chip’. There is a board, with colored chips with our cabin numbers on them. Once you get on board you ‘flip your chip’ to yellow that you are back. When you leave you ‘flip your chip’ to red. So we flipped them and decided to go looking for our cabins ourselves. Cabin 305 is us for the next 8 days and they are beautifully appointed. There are 2 single beds, a small desk and a small area with another chair. The cupboard space isn’t much, it is half the size as the MS Expedition but the bathroom is amazing. The shower is triple the size of Expedition, they supply the body wash, shampoo and conditioner as they are biodegradable (saves me having to use my own stuff) and you could ‘just’ swing a cat in there. Amy and I were both thinking that we are glad we got the upgrade though.
There are 2 TV screens, one in reception and one in the lounge with the day’s itinerary, so after having a quick look around the beautiful La Pinta it was time to head for the 7pm briefing for tomorrow just before dinner. There are 42 guests and we all fit comfortably around tables with 4 chairs. Charlie and Lada joined us and we were shouted a drink from the Captain to welcome us onboard and we sat through the 30 minute slideshow and briefing for tomorrow. It was all well set out and all very clear and Amy and I just can’t wait to get out there. Dinner was buffet style, which was great as we could eat and run and not have to stay around for the usual 1.5 hours of an al’carte meal tonight. Our eyes were really hanging out of our heads.
No comments:
Post a Comment