Galápagos++

It’s been a busy few weeks. We celebrated matrimonies and feasted with our families. We climbed mountains and swam with a mermaid. We traveled back in time to teenage years. We spoke Spanish for the first time in a while. We drank cold beer in a hot tub, and tequila poured from clowns. We danced with a robot. We lit the sky on fire and slept by the ocean. We roamed a castle and saw life beyond death. We witnessed a golden angel wrestle victoriously against evil. We ascended the Pyramid of the Sun and survived Montezuma’s Revenge. Then after all that we took the best vacation of our lives!

There’s no time to break down everything we did in Arizona and Mexico, so use your imagination. I really only exaggerated a little bit. The coolest leg of our journey was a cruise around the Galápagos Islands, so I’ll focus on that. Shout outs to Ryan & Victoria and Nick & Marlene for your awesome weddings.

I really wanted to go on a cruise when I was a kid but it never happened. Then I realized people on cruises just drink for a week straight and norovirus breaks out and the plumbing stops working and everything is expensive, so I figured not going on a cruise was cool too. The Galápagos is different though because boats are small and the clientele aren’t there just to party. Our boat had 15 passengers, 7 crew members, and a rich itinerary. It’s an immersive escape from modern life because there’s no cell data out there. For a week your only contact is with exotic animals.

Cruising

Shout outs to Renata, Jutta, Gerald, Pia, Stewart, Lauren, Jen, Ian, Arlene, Bryce, Leah, Harry, and Linda! Our shipmates were from England, Germany, New Zealand, Switzerland, and USA, and the crew was all from Ecuador. On the boat we ate three course meals together and enjoyed each other's company despite some small language barriers. Off the boat we mostly spent our time snorkeling and hiking the different islands with our Naturalist guide Felipe. Every day was like playing Pokemon Snap in real life. A typical schedule was like this:

* 6:00 Breakfast
* 7:00 Hike
* 10:00 Snorkel
* 12:00 Lunch
* Siesta
* 3:00 Hike
* 5:00 Snorkel
* 7:00 Dinner

We also did some kayaking, dinghy rides, beach lounging, bird watching, and Felicia even taught us all synchronized swimming in the ocean! Our last day was spent in civilization around Puerto Ayora. We toured some research and conservation projects, and learned about the impact that humans have on the islands.

When the skies were clear we spent evenings stargazing from the top deck. We crossed the equator like five times so it was pretty neat watching the sky flip upside down. We were in bed early every night because the days were so long. Sleeping while navigating was great. It felt like mama ocean was rocking the crib just right. There was only one night when she was in a bad mood and our small boat felt like a roller coaster.

Marine Life

We swam with penguins, sharks, turtles, sea lions, flightless cormorants, iguanas, sting rays, octopus, lobsters, forests of starfish, puffer fish (the kind they make fugu out of), and various schools of fish by the thousands. We also spotted whales and manta rays from the boat, and raced with pods of dolphins. The sea lions are super playful and curious. You try not to get too close but they swim right at you and then do cool spinny moves at the last minute to dodge before circling back around. Galápagos is also the only place in the northern hemisphere where penguins live. They’re pretty silly on land but It’s amazing how fast they are in the water.

Diversity

The islands are located a major intersection of trade winds and ocean currents, which means lots of animal migration traffic. Each of the islands rose from volcanoes at different times, and the lava flows on each island establish boundaries between isolated ecosystems. The result is an abundance of micro-habitats within close proximity, each of which was seeded at a different period in history and has evolved independently of the others. Some flora and fauna are capable of island hopping, so their species have homogenized across the islands. Other plants and animals have adapted differently to their specific environments. For example there are 12 known species of giant tortoise and 15 known species of finches! I was excited by some first generation “pioneer plants” that we saw on a remote lava flow. These plants are the first generation of an adaptation process that will lead to new habitats and development of new subspecies.

The diversity of the animals follows from the dynamic landscapes. Some islands are predominantly red sand because of the rich iron content. Other islands have white sand beaches, others black. Some beaches are organic, which means they’re composed entirely of little shell flakes. One island reminded me of Mars because of its desolate terrain. Another was even more otherworldly - a lush swampland with an abundance of cacti. In some places mangroves dominate the coast; in others lava flows clash with the sea to form inter-tidal grottoes. We walked through a massive lava tunnel and saw the giant pit craters that fed it with magma before they collapsed. One of my most visceral memories was watching penguins swim against a backdrop of lava rocks, red sand, and candelabra cactus.

Fernandina

It’s not fair to pick a favorite island - one of the things that makes them so cool is how they contrast with each other. But my favorite day was spent on Fernandina. That’s where they filmed the epic iguanas vs snakes scene in Planet Earth 2. It was the first time we saw marine iguanas, and there were piles of them. We also saw one of the racer snakes (although it wasn’t hatching season), some sea lions, various large birds, and tons of crabs. The iguanas have no concept of personal space. One iguana was just minding its own business when another one crawled on top of him and took a big dump, then crawled off and scurried away. The first iguana just sat there and took it.

The snorkeling that day was incredible. Our swim began with iguanas diving down to feed on algae. We followed them until some big webbed feet caught my eye on the sand about 30 feet below. It was a flightless cormorant, so we watched it dive and feed for a while until Felicia spotted an octopus, so we checked that out until some schools of fish were startled, which looked awesome because of the way the light reflected off of them all moving at the same time. A moment later a group of penguins zoomed through, changing direction on a dime, catching as many of the fish as they could get their beaks on. We tried to keep up but they were too fast. When we lost them we were surrounded by more sea turtles than we could count, so we just mellowed out until it was time to get back in the boat.

Boobies

Blue-Footed Boobies are large white birds with huge blue webbed feet. “Boobie” comes from the Spanish “bobo” which means clown, because of the way they lift their feet when they walk. The blue pigmentation comes from the nutrients of the fish that they eat. More fish means bluer feet, and deep blue feet is a sign that a mate will be a good provider for their chicks. Sexy blue feet is a good start, but it’s not enough to get the green light for reproduction. Once a male has attracted the attention of a female, he charms her with a silly courtship dance. If she accepts the proposal then she will join his dance, and eventually they start a home together and get down to business. They don’t build traditional nests out of twigs, but they find a sandy area between some rocks and poop together in a circle around it to establish their territory. Sometime later the female will lay her first egg, then about five days later she will lay a second egg. The male will help incubate the eggs (another important function of those feet) and he will also guard the chicks underneath him after they’ve hatched. As whimsical as nature can be, it is equally as savage. The second egg that the female lays is a sort of insurance policy, and they don’t often need it. If the older chick is healthy and strong then the parents will favor it. If food is scarce then the younger chick will starve to death. The older sibling sometimes murders the younger one by pecking it or dragging it out of the nest while the parents watch idly. I love the bright side of nature. Respect the dark side.

Recommendation

Don’t spend too much time trying to pick the “perfect” Galápagos vacation. There’s no way you can do it all in one trip. Pick a couple animals that you want to see and research the best months to see them. Many animal mating/hatching habits depend on the climate. They have a cool/dry season, and a warm/wet season. The other variable is itinerary. Most boats have a 15 day itinerary to tour the islands, and they generally break it apart into two week-long cruises. We did the 8 days west tour on Tip Top II. It’s not cheap, but you get what you pay for. I had a lot of uncertainty arranging this trip but we absolutely loved how everything turned out, so I cannot recommend Rolf Wittmer highly enough. We booked our tour through Happy Gringo. If we go again, we’ll pick a month that best fits the animals of the Eastern itinerary.

Fun Facts

* Galápagos Tortoises can live up to 180 years, and weigh up to 770 pounds
* A group of iguanas is called a mess
* As a result of global warming, tortoise/turtle eggs are hatching dramatically more females than males
* 21 of the 23 reptile species (including all 3 snakes) found in the Galápagos are endemic to the islands
* 41 of 400+ known species of fish in the Galápagos are endemic to the islands
* The islands have 837 miles of coastline - more than mainland Ecuador
* Galápagos tortoises can live up to a year without food or water, so sailors used to keep them alive on their ships as a food supply
* Marine iguanas use their nostrils like a blowhole to expel salt. Over time the salt residue calcifies on their heads like a crown

TGIB!