WEATHER: Hot 25C all day and sunny!!!
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Choosing not to kill ‘bitter old woman’
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not killing ‘bitter old woman’
WORD OF THE DAY: Indigenous duck
Is there such thing as birthday blues? I am still getting Facebook messages and now have 364 days till my next birthday. I don’t know why people don’t like having birthdays. Maybe my tune will change when I hit 80 or maybe 90. I can’t see it happening before then!
Today was volcano day. We were walking on them, walking on lava, surround by them and awed by them all at the same time. Punta Moreno and Espinoza are some of the youngest islands in the Galapagos Archipelago at round 300,000 years old. Earlier in the week we were visiting islands that were over 4 million years old. So we had an early start this morning as Carlos wanted to get us on to Punta Moreno early before it got too hot. It is on the southwestern side of Isabela. From here there is a spectacular view of the Alcedo, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. Here there are a number of lagoons with different kinds of birds such as frigate birds, flamingos and pelicans. Punta Moreno has a desolate and pristine landscape of very impressive black lava flows with a unique system of brackish lagoons that are a magnet for wildlife. This newly opened visitors site offers Darwin’s finches, Galapagos doves, penguins, blue-footed boobies, mockingbirds and flightless cormorants. There is extraordinary and unusual vegetation here.
So our first landing was Punta Morena. It was a dry landing, but on the edges of 300,000 year old lava and it was quite a climb out of the zodiac. One lady couldn’t handle the steepness and unevenness of the landing, so she got a ride around in the zodiac while we completed the walk.
The lava was really tough on people’s shoes and if they weren’t good quality the soles were really getting cut up. The sound of the loose lava when we walked on it sounded like we were walking on broken plates. I can see why they wanted to get us out here early, as the lava is black and there was no shade at all and you really had to concentrate where you were walking over the lava as there was path markings to follow but no path made, you just had to choose the best route to get you over without falling down crevasses or holes. It was a challenging walk for us, so we have to give credit to the oldies that did the walk. The ship had walking sticks that you could use for any of the walks, so this helped them and I am not sure if they could have done this walk without them. But they got along, no complaints and just kept walking and taking their time to complete it all. There was one duck that only had on Lacoste shoes, so they weren’t even proper walking shoes the poor dear. Kudos to every single one of them I say!
¾ of the way through the walk Amy got a massive migraine, so when we got to the other side of the island, she was shuttle directly back to the ship as we got zodiac-ed around some of the small pools of the island. This was probably the best panga ride we had to date. Our mission was to find some penguins, where apparently 10-20 are found here out of the 2,000 that reside in the Galapagos and only after 3 minutes we found out first gut on his own on some rocks. Not far from him were the BIGGEST iguana’s we have seen all trip and then further down the rocks was a sea lion and some flightless cormorants! What a bevy of animal sightings and we also saw another group of about 8 penguins lazing around, all in different states of shedding their ‘Galapagos winter’ coats. In between all that there were Green sea turtles poking their heads up as we motored around. It was an amazing 45 minutes of wildlife viewing and got a bunch of photos that had all four species of Galapagos animals in the one shot. I am sure I have the ‘money shot’ or the ‘Nat Geo’ shot.
So it was back to the ship. We have some ground to cover today as we are on the west side of the Islands, heading north and for our very last landing of the whole trip at Punta Espinoza in the afternoon. It was nice to have 2 hours in the morning free to do whatever. I was going to start packing my stuff that was spread from one end of the cabin to the other, our cabin steward Angel must have thought I was a messy bugger!!!! But as Amy was sleeping to shake the migraine, and any excuse to put it off a little longer, I sat up in the lounge, updating my blog and trying to spot whales which would be highly likely in this part of the islands. I have been unsuccessful in being able to upload my pictures to Facebook for Antarctica and Galapagos, but I have a feeling that could be a Facebook uploader problem and it is driving me nuts. I have probably over 3,000 photos to upload! I know right, it’s gonna take me ages if I don’t keep up with it. I went out on the bow just before we left Punta Moreno, and it felt a little like the Expedition from Antarctic. Man that was such a good trip, but seem like a distant memory now, and it was only 9 days ago. Holy schmokes!
We arrived into Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island at 2pm. Uplifting and lava flows issuing from the massive domed cone of Volcano La Cumbre have formed Fernandina the most volcanically active island in the Galapagos. Punta Espinosa is a jagged promontory of cracked and eroded lava, but the name could also refer to the hundreds of spiny marine iguanas that drape the rocks. Pristine nature under an active volcano and a highlight of the cruise so far. Flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins, Galapagos sea lions, waders and the world's largest colony of marine iguanas thrive on the edge of a barren lava flow. Fine stands of mangroves support yellow warblers, Darwin finches, large billed flycatchers, Galapagos hawks and nesting brown pelicans. There are plenty of green sea turtles and marine iguanas underwater and shallow lagoons attract sea turtles more sea lions, fish and rays. Vegetation includes these funky looking cacti called lava cactus and pahoehoe lava. The immense shield of Fernandina volcano provides an impressive backdrop for Punta Espinosa, a narrow spit of sand and lava rock extending from the base of the volcano into the sea. the harshness of the recently formed landscape of Fernandina's slopes can be appreciated by taking the trail inland to the edge of a large lava flow.
We got a zodiac run into a dry landing and there was a sea lion sitting in the small concrete pier, stopping us from coming in. We still drove straight in and I think he got the message as he slinked into the mangroves to let us disembark the boat. Well after the last person was off, the big Argentinian guy walked to the end of the small pier and the sea lion jumped back up and had him cornered between it and the water. It was so funny and made a great photo opportunity; before the seal looked like had had his laugh and slinked back into the sea again to let him back to dry land. Well the first thing we see are my favorite animals the marine iguana – NOT. These things are SO So U-G-L-Y!!!!! Really they are and I have mentioned before they give the Wildebeest in Africa a good run for their money in the UGLIEST thing in the world call. Really. To be honest they also scare me, they are that ugly, they spit and these ones seem to be massive. They don’t give a hoot that we are walking within 40cm of them as they cover the walking path and tracks everywhere we have gone, but they really give me the heebie geebies.
The Marine Iguana is an iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. The Iguana can dive over 10m into the water. It has spread to all the islands in the archipelago, and is sometimes called the Galapagos Marine Iguana. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove beaches.
The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.
This island is also made up of old lava, but wasn’t on mass as Punta Moreno. There was a Blydes whale skeleton that was on show for us to see what a ‘small whale’ looked like at 6m long. It was missing its skull, but someone had replaced it with a dolphin’s skull which looked a little out of place. We were able to touch the skeleton and I handled one of the spinal disks and it was light as a feather and as big as a bread plate, it was pretty big.
This walk was a combination of lava and beach walking. The beach was a stunning white beach, but made up of all broken shells that had busted up over the volcanic rocks. That stuff is pretty nasty and I would hate to fall over on the stuff that is for sure. We found some more Iguana, and because they are marine iguana’s they are dark in colour and with the black volcanic rock you really have to watch where you are walking as they are so well camouflaged that you could easily step on one if you let your guard down, which I did twice and nearly DID step on some. Thanks to Amy she saved me a few times as well. I would hate to see the scene had I actually stood on one. Their claws/talons are massive and I am sure they could do some serious damage. This group of iguana seemed to be more energetic than ones we have seen previously in the week so there were lot of them moving and walking around, I felt like I was watching my back the whole time!! Yick, they really are a horrible animal.
So the walk continued and we were back on the beach. We had to stay to the left of the path markers as the iguanas had eggs buried in the sand and we didn’t want to disturb their nests, damn right about that! We were watching a large iguana that was getting swept off some rocks from the waves crashing in to the beach, where he decided to give up and swim to shore. To actually see this ugly animal swimming was fascinating and he looked a little like a snake as he swished his tale in the water to help him move. Well he was just about to the beach when Carlos came in behind me and grabbed my left calf like a jaw and I have to say I squealed like mad hog, but managed to keep all the expletives I had in my head right there and chased him half way down the beach for a slap. My heart was in my mouth, it scared the hell out of me, but it gave Carlos and Amy a great ol’ laugh. Yeah hardy har har guys. Carlos thought I would have been a better schmuck than Amy knowing how she felt about snakes. Yeah well iguanas aren’t that far off my hate list either buster. What a scare!!!
Moving further along the beach we came across a ‘hord’ of iguanas. That’s their official collective noun. A hord. There would have been 100+ of them all lazing around, on top of each other, next to each other, in pairs, triples singles you name it they were doing it. It was disgusting and fascinating all at the same time. As ugly as they are it made for some great photos with a mass posse. Seriously, imagine if they all had decided to move at the same time – ugh I hate to even think the thought.
There were sea lions playing and frolicking in the small pools as we walked to the point of the island to see some more wildlife. I think after the seals, the most photographed animal I have taken is the Sally Lightfoot crabs. These crustaceans are so pretty with colours of blue, orange, yellow and reds, they make for some great close up photos. There were hundreds of them on the rocky point, and we had to make sure that we weren’t going to step on any of them as well, but they are a bit more skitterish than the iguana’s and generally move out the way before it even becomes an issue! There were also more sea lions basking on the rocks and like all the other guys we have met, they were pretty non plusses without arrival and presence. I just can’t stop taking photos of them, they are so cute. Amy can’t believe I am still snapping photos after 7 days of seeing these guys and she stopped on day 2, but they all look so different and it’s better to have too many than not enough – right…….. We also did a photo swap. I have copied Amy’s 536 photos and I copied my 1567 photos for her and that number already has the dud’s already removed. Surely I didn’t take that many more of seals than Aimes?
We easily could have spent another our here walking around and taking in the surrounds with massive volcanoes, swimming sea lions, sunning sea lions, crystal blue waters, iguana’s, sally lightfoots and green turtles popping their heads up now and then. But with the tide coming in fast, we had to high tail it back to the waiting zodiac and get back to the ship. The Captain was getting that worried/frustrated that he even sounded the ships horn as we pulled out of the little pier coming back. The water had also got a little rougher, so maybe the weather was about to change as well? Either way, we were on our way back and made it safe and sound.
Our next activity wasn’t until 6.00pm, which was an invitation to the Captains Bridge for a champagne as we crossed the equator at 0 0 0 degrees. So Amy and I spent the afternoon packing our bags. Mine for airline travel for the last time, well for 5 months at least anyway. That is one thing I am NOT going to miss, airports, planes and packing. We did some hand washing and the ship has a dryer that we could use which was awesome, so I am now travelling with a brand new pack of clean clothes. My backpack is still chocked to the brim, and I am just waiting for one of my zips to pop and then I would be up the creek. The old girl just needs to hang on for one more day and 2 more flights. I now have a broken top strap, a half ripped side pickup strap, a small hole developing on the bottom and I think my frame maybe starting to change shape as well. I have to say after packing everything in, the bags seems to weigh the heaviest I think it has ever been, so I am hoping I don’t get done tomorrow for excess baggage tomorrow at Baltra Airport.
The call came at 6pm to head to the Bridge. It was going to be pretty cool to cross the Equator on a ship. So we all gathered on the bridge with a champagne glass in hand. There was a beautiful sunset happening at the same time, so I thought I would have enough time to go out and get a photo and then back inside for a photo of the ships instruments to get the 0 0 0 readings. Well Amy and I missed it the first time around, along with a number of others, so the Cap did a U-turn, which took around 10 minutes, for us to do a countdown to get the 0 0 0 readings the second time, well when it came to 0 0 2 it skipped the reading 0 0 0 so for the last time we swung around again and got a third chance to get it. I even changed my camera to burst mode to make sure I got it with 15 frames and I missed it again with 0 0 2…… Needless to say the Captain wasn’t going to turn the boat again, so I will just have to steal some-ones photo off Facebook, as I think I may have been the only one who didn’t get it. Damn it. Like the Expedition in Antarctica the La Pinta also had an open Bridge policy, which I think is quite rare in ships, so it was pretty cool to see all the gadgets and instruments that they use to navigate us safely though the islands.
Even though this is our last night and more than half of the people are leaving tomorrow, it is not classified a Captains Farewell, so no freebie drink and no slide show for our last 4 nights. Bugger. We will be able to see the slide show next week once it is loaded on their web site, so that bit, we will still get, but it is sucky that the ships itinerary doesn’t work for all passengers. We were given feedback forms to fill in, which everything was an excellent. It was very hard to fault the La Pinta, its staff and its crew. They were all amazing and it was certainly a nice and luxurious way to see this part of the world. We signed the guestbook, we paid our bill popped out tips into the boxes provided for staff, bar and naturalists and we were packed. I think I will write a separate letter to Metropolitan Touring suggesting about the arrival letter for guests that come in on the ‘off’ arrival days. Just to make us feel loved.
Our last dinner with the ‘rowdy’ bunch was as funny as ever. Dermot, Jane, Mike and Nicola have made wonderful dinner companions and will be missed around my eating times for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The exchange of emails and Facebook addresses we swapped and with the promise of if I was in their neighborhood to pop in next year. Well I am not sure if they know but I will be in a position to do just that and will certainly take them up on it mid next year on my back through Europe when I finally head home, well if I head home. We certainly had some great laughs, even if we got shushed by the bitter old woman the other night. Stupid old bat! Her and her racist husband were the only 2 people on the cruise that Amy and I did not like one iota.
On that note, it was time for bed. We had an early start in the morning with bag collection at 6.15am, breakfast at 6.30am and a 7.15am departure from the ship. We said a few farewells, but hoped we would see everyone at the staggered breakfast times in the morning for the final goodbyes.
So it another successful trip, another wonderful experience, more new friends made, more memories to lock in my travel bank and more thanks to be given to my travel gods and to my mum. The Galapagos Islands is truly an untouched paradise, a once in a lifetime experience and something that you will not experience anywhere else in this magical world we call our home.
So as all my other trips I would like to thank my new friends for making this experience what it was. Life and travel is also about the people you meet as well as the destination and the things that you create with them. So thanks guys and in no particular order:
Charles and Lotte Moore – USA
Dermot – Northern Ireland
Jane – UK
Mike – UK
Nicola – Scotland
Peter – UK
Amy – CANADA AY – old friend but you deserve a BIG thanks – love ya xx
Carlos – Ecuador
Victor – Ecuador
Antonio - Ecuador
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