The Galápagos Islands Day 8

Wednesday, April 13th, 2022

Today was a very early start and it was a beautiful sunrise.

Every morning the ship chef had fresh fruit and a centerpiece of fruit carved into an animal shape! This morning was our favorite!

Our first activity was to navigate around Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat) which was located near Santiago Island. It was an island with a small volcanic cone that resembles a Chinese hat. We had a wet landing and a hike around the island.

Along the beach we immediately saw a sea lion swimming, sally lightfoot crabs scrambling around and a great blue heron!

Sally lightfoot crabs, Great Blue Heron, and a Sea lion playing in the water

A mother sea lion was nursing on the beach near where we came ashore.

There were also a lot of sea lions hanging around.

The island trail from the beach headed through a lava field. We saw wildlife and the views were spectacular.

As we hiked on the trail we saw marine iguanas out on the rocks.

Common carpetweed could be found all over the lava field! It is an endemic species of plant to the Galápagos.

After our hike on Chinese Hat we went back to the ship to get ready for our last snorkeling excursion. We can’t believe it is our last time. We’ve had such fantastic experiences so far. Well, let us tell you, our last snorkeling time was one amazing encounter. We had read that the snorkeling by Chinese Hat was excellent because the area is pretty protected and the water is clear and full of marine life! It did not disappoint. We saw Galápagos penguins, stingrays, white tip sharks, sea turtles, sea lions, sea stars, and many varieties of fish! Our entire group was pumped up when we came to the yacht.

Some pictures from our last time snorkeling!

We saw a lot of sea cucumbers!

And so many fish!

This afternoon Fernando gave a lecture called “What Are We Stepping On?” He discussed the three main types of rocks that we have seen. The first: magmatic or igneous rocks which were formed from the cooling and solidifying of magma or lava. The two main types of igneous rocks were intrusive(plutonic rocks) and extrusive(volcanic rocks). Extrusive rocks were formed on the surface from lava and intrusive rocks were formed from magma that cooled and solidified within the crust, they never reached the surface. The second type of rock was the sedimentary rocks that were formed on or near the Earth’s surface from preexisting rocks and/or pieces of once living organisms. And the third type of rock he discussed was the metamorphic rocks. These rocks began as one type of rock and then were exposed to high heat, high pressure, hot mineral-rich fluids or any combination of these and gradually changed into a new type. These conditions were found deep in the Earth or where tectonic plates collide.

Some of the passengers were interested in touring the yacht’s kitchen! Fernando arranged it. We couldn’t all fit in because it was small and no air conditioning so it was very warm! It was amazing all the delicious food he produced within such tight, hot quarters!

Our next stop was Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island. It was a rocky terrain. We had a dry landing for a hike which lead us to a lookout point. The sky looked threatening but we didn’t have any precipitation.

The island was very green and as we came upon the lagoon we were hoping to see flamingos. We could see their tracks in the water but they weren’t around but we were hoping to see them when we walked back to the beach.

Prickly Pear Cacti around the lagoon and if you look closely a dragonfly

We saw a lot of birds and iguanas!

On our way back from our hike the flamingos had arrived to eat! We saw two that were feeding in the lagoon as well as some marine iguanas floating around! They were American Flamingos.

As we were getting on the dinghy to head back to the yacht, there was a blue-footed booby.

Once we were back on board, we had our briefing with Fernando to go over tomorrow’s schedule. It’s hard to believe we only have two more days! This has been such an experience!

The Galápagos Islands Day 7

Tuesday, April 12th, 2022

This morning we were at Puerto Egas (Egas Port) on Santiago Island. Our landing this morning was a wet landing so we carried our hiking shoes in a dry bag. The yacht also provided us with a special cloth for wiping the sand off of our feet before we put on our socks and shoes! It really helped. Our landing was a black sand beach.

Building left from former Salt Mining Company

This was the only place where we saw Galápagos Fur seals. They are endemic to the Galápagos Islands and are the smallest of the eared seals. We saw them resting on the rocks or playing in the water!

There was an abundance of marine and land animal life this morning. Below are just a sampling from our morning walk!

This area had black volcanic formations and also rock crevices and tide pools. The shoreline was carved from the water into interesting shapes. This area provided homes for a lot of creatures.

After our hike we went back to the yacht to get on our wetsuits and grab our gear for a snorkeling adventure off of the dinghy.

The pictures below were taken by Fernando with Dave’s GoPro! The quality is so much better than our underwater camera. The variety of fish that we observed was unbelievable. Everywhere we snorkeled there was something different to see. We were blown away!

When we were finished snorkeling our chef on the yacht gave a ceviche demonstration. He taught us how it was made and Fernando interpreted for him because he doesn’t speak much English.

After Eddy, the chef, finished his demonstration, we then had some for lunch! It was delicious! Our yacht then sailed to Bartolomé Island. It was a small island and it is known for its Pinnacle Rock, it looked like an obelisk. It was a volcanic plug that was part of an eroded volcanic dike that once connected Bartolomé Island and Santiago Island.

We did an afternoon snorkeling from the dinghy near Pinnacle Rock. We were excited because we saw Galápagos penguins up on the rocks!

We were thrilled to have the penguins join us in the water and swam all around!

We observed a lot of sea life when we snorkeled both this morning and this afternoon. There was a blacktip shark, stingrays, and huge schools of fish.

We changed into our hiking clothes and shoes and had a dry landing for our hike on Bartolomé. We hiked up Escalera Hill where we saw lava bombs, spatter, and cinder cones. The Galápagos National Park Service built stairs (about 375 steps) for the climb.

Grey Matplant was found growing on the side of the volcano and is endemic to the Galápagos Islands.

The views from the top were awesome. We read that if it was a clear day you could see more than ten islands.

Once we were back on board the yacht, we had our briefing for tomorrow’s activities and also watched the last of the Galápagos Affair. It was another fantastic day in the Galápagos.

The Galápagos Islands Day 6

Monday, April 11th, 2022

This morning we began with a wet landing and then hiking at Urbina Bay, along Isabela’s western coast. This area was uplifted from the sea and showed signs of a coral reef on land! This elevation occurred in the 1950’s from an eruption of The Alcedo Volcano. It is one of the six that make up Isabela Island.

As we trekked inland we spotted many Galápagos tortoises or Galápagos giant tortoise. It was the largest living species of tortoise. These tortoises grazed on grass, leaves, and cactus. Many were feeding and a few were mating. As Fernando stated, “love is in the air”!

Land iguanas were also lying around. These iguanas were very different from the marine iguanas. They were primarily herbivores and they were cold-blooded. These yellowish land iguanas were one of three species of land iguanas found in the Galápagos Islands. The other two species were not found here.

The Manchineel tree was found on this island. One doesn’t want to touch this tree. It had a toxic sap that was in the bark, the leaves, and the fruit which resembled a green apple! This toxic tree caused severe blistering. This tree was also discussed the Jodi Picoult book, Wish You Were Here.

Poison apple tree only tortoise can eat it.

We spotted a hermit crab which was a scavenger and looking for food. It would eat whatever it could find.

After our trek we got ready to snorkel from the beach. We used the lava rocks to take off our hiking shoes and underneath we wore our swimsuits. We just put on our wetsuits and grabbed our snorkeling gear and off we went into the water. The tide was coming in so the water wasn’t very clear and the current was strong. This was our shortest time snorkeling.

Dave is busy checking out the ocean floor.

After lunch we sailed to Tagus Cove which also was part of Isabela Island. We went kayaking and saw the names of hundreds of ships names painted (grafitti) on the high stones. This is prohibited now. The names were everywhere. Tagus Cove also was a hideout for whalers and pirates because of its protection by the surf.

After our kayaking adventure we went snorkeling here and the water was much clearer. Fernando’s GoPro broke so he used Dave’s to take pictures and video the rest of the trip. The pictures below were taken with our underwater camera.

The following snorkeling pictures were taken with the GoPro! It captured some wonderful underwater life!

Next we had a dry landing and hiked uphill! At one of our stops we saw Darwin Lake (crater lake) and Tagus Bay! It was just a small strip of land separating the two bodies of water. It was threatening rain so the visibility wasn’t very good.

An interesting fact about Darwin Lake was that it’s salty! They think it was because of the volcanic eruptions that caused earthquakes and tsunamis that caused the ocean water to get in the lake.

We continued our climb to the top of a parasitic volcanic cone. It started to rain and it made the trek down slippery and daylight was fading quickly.

It was a very busy day and we were tired but excited about what all we experienced! We stayed awake because the captain invited us to the bridge to see the latitude roll to all zeros as we crossed the equator.

The Galápagos Islands Day 4

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Our day began early for a dry landing on Sullivan Bay which was located on the southeastern side of Santiago Island.

On our ride in the dinghy we spotted Galápagos penguins which were endangered! Our two dinghy’s watched them on the rocks and then watched as they jumped into the water!

Galápagos Penguins jumping in the water!

Fernando shared yesterday that this hike would be hard and with the heat and humidity he wasn’t kidding! The walk was filled with pahoehoe, which is lava that looked like pieces of rope! This formed around 100 years ago.

It was a very eerie landscape to walk on. We were all drenched by the end of our hike!

Fernando sitting in one of the lava flow gaps!

The hardened lava flow!

On our hike we did see some small Mollugo plants that were growing in the lava fissures.

A lava cactus was also spotted!

After our hike we took a dinghy ride back on board and put on our wetsuits and picked up our snorkeling gear for our first opportunity to snorkel! We purchased off of Amazon our own wetsuit so we didn’t need to rent one and we also brought our own mask and snorkel which was very convenient. The ship provided the fins and a mesh bag with our cabin number on it so our equipment was always kept together. It was a very efficient process. Once we were ready we boarded the dinghy again to the area where we would be snorkeling and we snorkeled off the dinghy! We all were excited for our first snorkeling experience in Sullivan Bay. Dave took video and pictures with his GoPro and I had our inexpensive underwater camera. The pictures below were taken with the underwater camera and no flash because it was prohibited. The national park felt that flash photography could impact the animals behavior.

After a delicious lunch we sailed to Rabida Island and had a wet landing from the dinghy to explore the beach and the trails. The beach here was red sand!

Drying our feet and putting on our hiking shoes!

On our hike we saw sea lions and lizards!

We observed an American Oystercatcher female watching over her eggs and the male oystercatcher nervously looking on as we hiked by.

A Galápagos land iguana is endemic to the islands. Endemic means that is is only found here.

There were seven different species of lava lizards that resided in the Galápagos Islands. They were called lava lizards because they spend a lot of time moving across lava rocks. Predators included snakes, scopions, Galápagos hawks, herons and sometimes from other lava lizards!

We saw a Galápagos Mockingbird. It is endemic to the islands.

The prickly pear cactus is endemic to the islands and there were six different species that could be found. We also saw Palo Santo trees on Rabida Island. Two species of the tree could be found and this picture shows the species that is endemic and can’t be found anywhere else in the world!

As we walked we observed a Galápagos Dove which is an endemic species. You could recognize it by its red feet and its striking blue eye ring. They ate mainly seeds and insects.

We observed ground finches that were endemic to the Galápagos Islands and ate mainly seeds.

After our hike we got ready to snorkel from the beach.

It was a busy day but we enjoyed the hiking and snorkeling that was filled with land and marine life that was unique to the Galápagos Islands.

This evening our Naturalist guide, Fernando, gave a lecture called the “Enchanted Islands”. He discussed the weather and how the islands are volcanic. He also gave the briefing for tomorrow’s activities.

The visibility was clear so they woke us up to go see the Wolf Volcano on the western side of Isabela Island so we could see the lava flows. Unfortunately we passed by at night. We didn’t get to view it during the daylight.

The captain got us within half a mile before sailing on to our next stop. Almost all of us were up on the top deck watching this phenomenon. Then back to bed to get some sleep before our early start in the morning!

An Odyssey Down Under: Australia and New Zealand Day 28

Wednesday, March 4

We were anticipating today and hoping that the weather would cooperate because we were going on a full day cruise on the Great Barrier Reef! We were going to have the opportunity to snorkel among the coral reef and the marine life around the area.

The weather was perfect! We boarded our boat with our sunscreen applied and cameras ready! At 8:30 AM we departed for Michaelmas Cay. This Cay is a National Park and a protected sanctuary for migratory seabirds. It is located on the western tip of Michaelmas Reef. The entire Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage area and part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It is also one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

It was a relaxing ride to Michaelmas Cay. When we got close the crew gave a safety demonstration, reef brief and snorkeling demonstration. We got fitted with our snorkeling masks, fins, life jackets and wet suits that had mittens to protect our hands and hoods to protect our heads.

When we arrived at Michaelmas Cay the crew did a fish feeding demonstration. We saw some really large fish!

Our group ate lunch and had a Semi-submersible tour with our guide. He pointed out the various fish that we saw and the many types of coral. The pictures that we took in the semi-submersible don’t show the beautiful colors of the fish and the coral.

We took the beach buggy shuttle to get to the island where we put on our life jackets, masks and fins and then began our snorkeling around the reef.

We spent the entire time that we had to snorkel around the area. It was magnificent!

Our boat returned to Cairns late afternoon. By the time we showered from our day spent at the Reef it was time for dinner.

Near our hotel there was a large number of flying-foxes. We saw them hanging in mass in many of the trees. At sunset, they fly away to go eat.

We walked along the Esplanade and didn’t have a restaurant in mind. We decided we would eat at a place that looked good to us as we explored the area.

Citizens Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, a sculpture by Brian Robinson

After dinner, we were still floating from our day snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef! It was a day to remember.

Tag: snorkeling

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