Blog_ Galapagos Islands

Roughly 620 miles off the coast of Ecuador, Darwin’s “Enchanted Islands” consist of a cluster of 13 rather large volcanic islands (which are larger than four square miles), six smaller islands and more than 100 islets. Each and every one of them has it’s own unique and stunning atmosphere, a distinctive landscape and inimitable wildlife. 

 

Arriving at Santa Cruz, a 45min car ride took us to Puerto Ayora, where our cruise ship waited for us. We were welcomed by Angelika, who would be our guide for the next eight days, as she showed us the ship, explained all necessary details about our safety and how the next couple of days would look like. 

In 1965, a tortoise repatriation program began and eggs were removed from the nests in the wild to be incubated at the station. The hatching tortoises were then separated by age and reared in predator-proof enclosures until they are 2-3 years old. By that time, they are placed in larger pens, which contain terrain that is similar to their home islands. When the little „Galapaguitos“ are 4-6 years old, they have grown large enough that they aren’t likely to be eaten by predators such as rats, pigs or dogs. They are then returned to their homelands. Since 1970, more than 2000 “Galapaguitos” have been repatriated to the native areas. Although I know the breeding centres are doing very important work, I couldn’t wait to see these glorious behemoths in the natural environment.

  

  

2. Day: Santa Fe Island & South Plaza

​The next morning, we started the day with a delicious breakfast consisting of all kind of fruits, eggs, cereals and toast before we went on a little zodiac-drive along the coast and got onshore to explore the island. Santa Fe has one of the most beautiful coves of all the visitor sites in Galapagos. It is a turquoise cove protected by a peninsula that extends from the shores, by a row of rocks and a small island that are aligned with it. Santa Fe is an island that was not formed by a volcanic eruption so it doesn’t have the typical cone shape, but by uplift, which was the result of tectonic activity.

  

We were greeted by legions of Galapagos Sea Lions and many, many of their pups. They didn’t seem to be bothered by us at all! Some pups even came up close because they were so curious! Others were hanging around close by their mothers, some nursing, but most of them sleeping. Angelika told us that females would always allow their little ones to nurse, no matter how big they are. I guess the concept of tough love doesn’t work for them! From time to time we saw some youngsters moving among the adults and emitting a combination of bark and cry to find their mother. Sea lions recognize each other by their voice and if an adult was approaching which wasn’t the mother, she would rebuff pretty brusquely. We followed a trial from the beach, which ran along the coast and later on headed into a forest.

The ascending trail took us to the peak of a precipice where the Santa Fe species of land iguana can be seen; they are more bright yellow and have uncommonly large spikes on their spine. We made our way back to the land beach, where another trail in the opposite direction run, along side the coast and then crossed through a very picturesque forest.

During lunch, we motored to Barrington Bay, which is located at the northeast corner of Santa Fé. This beautiful cove is protected by a partially submerged peninsula, a row of rocks and a small island, and was the perfect location for our first snorkeling excursion. I absolutely love snorkeling, diving…anything really, as long as I am in the water. 

 

All 12 passengers went in the water, ready to explore the marine life and a little zodiac seemed always to be close by in case somebody wanted to get out. After 10 minutes, we met a bunch of sea lions playing in the water. It was definitely a highlight for me to be so up-close to them and another “wow” moment. They swam eight-figures around us and moved like torpedoes through the water, maneuvering between the underwater rock formations, performing loops. A couple of them came face to face with me and since I had my waterproofed Go-Pro camera with me, I tried to take pictures or film them, which turned out to be quite tricky. Some of them were so curious, came up very close and bit in my camera a few times to see if its something tasty they might like. We absolute loved watching them and didn’t want to leave the water when it was time. After the swim we had a couple of hours to relax in the afternoon before we visited the South Plaza.

  

The South Plaza is located about half a mile off the northeast coast of Santa Cruz and one of its main characteristics is the unusual vegetation comprised of Sesuvium plants (also called carpetweed) and Opuntia cactus (Prickly pear), some of them as tall as trees to protect their paddles and flowers to be devoured by land iguanas. The island was formed not by volcanic activity but by an uplift of the sea floor. Plaza Sur is about a mile long and approximately 800 feet wide at it’s widest. 

 

The Sesuvium is a succulent plant that stores water in its leaves, and forms a lovely reddish carpet that spreads on top of the grey rocks and add a fantastic shock of colour to it.

This is one of the best spots in the archipelago to see land iguanas and Swallow-tailed gulls, both are endemic from the Galapagos and are the only nocturnal gulls in the world. They have light spots on their beaks, which help them to feed their chicks at night. According to our guide Angelika, the gulls also emit clicking sounds when they return to their nesting sites at night. These sounds are believed to be a rudimentary form of echo –location (just like bate use), so that they don’t crash into the cliffs at night. The cliffs of the southern shore were great for observing the different birds. 

  

There were also Iguana nests scattering all over the hill. Lying under the cactus trees, barely moving, the greenish-yellow iguanas waited for a juicy pad of the prickly pear cactus to fall. They eat primarily fruits and pads of the Opuntia, which is the reason why these plants have evolved into trees.  They can also go a whole year without fresh water since most of the moisture in their diets come from the cactus fruits and pads. Land Iguanas can grow as long as 3 feet, but the ones living on the South Plaza are among the smallest subspecies in the archipelago. They reach sexual maturity around the age of 12 and live as long as 60 years. I quite liked watching them; they look a bit dim-witted because of their slow, lumbering movements. However, once they are warmed up, they are surprisingly quick. We witnessed a fight of three land Iguanas about a huge chunk of Opuntia cactus, which was very entertaining. Later on, we returned to the ship, had dinner and our briefing about the next day.

 

2. 3. Day: Chinese Hat- Rabida Islands
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4. In the morning we visited Chinese Hat (“Sombrero Chino”), one of the most recognizable Galapagos Islands. The islet off of Santiago is shaped like an old-fashioned Chinaman’s hat, a gently sloping cone rising out of the clear crystal waters and is less than a quarter of a square kilometre in size. The site has a beautiful landscape and a spectacular white coral sand beach. It is also a good place to observe lava formations such as spatter cones and small lava tubes. It is one of the smallest Galapagos Islands but has a terrific and unforgettable view. Like most of the other islands, Chinese Hat is volcanic in origin. A long time ago, the volcano close to Santiago erupted, spewing rocks and forming what is known as the spatter cone. Hence it is essentially a mountain, made out of lava and rocks from an erupting volcano. Over time, the mountain was eroded away and the water from the ocean carved a channel between the Santiago Volcano and its spatter cone. 

  

The visitor trail started at a gorgeous white sandy beach and the path pasts quite a few endemic Galapagos sea lions. A little pup was feeding from its mother and he didn’t feel disturbed at all. It really amazed me every day what a close encounter you can have with the wildlife on the Galapagos Islands. We also passed a lava field and found plenty of lava cacti growing in the cracks. The trail had a fantastic reward at the end: a beautiful view of the cliffs where waves crashed into the shores. 

 

I absolutely loved the Sally Lightfood crab, which were swarming over the glistening rocks and looked like out of a cartoon. They have clear brilliant colours and walk on their tiptoes. They also have remarkable eyes and an extremely fast reaction time. So if you walk slowly, they move slowly ahead of you in droves. And if you hurry, so do they. When you plunge at them, they seem to just disappear! Their species is commonly found on the rock shores of the Pacific Ocean from North America down to Peru as well as the Galapagos Islands. There wasn’t one single island where I didn’t see the magnificent Sallys. Fully grown, they are about the size of a splayed human hand and are prey for a couple of other Galapagos species, such as the herons, octopuses and turtles. They primarily eat algae, however they also act as the beach sanitation squad and feed on anything edible discarded by birds or whatever has washed up. They have been seen preying on booby chicks and turtle hatchlings.

Sombrero Chino is also known as an excellent snorkeling spot since the water is fairly calm, however still deep enough to attract some spectacular marine life. So after lunch on the boat we all went snorkeling. I was lucky enough to see a Galapagos Penguin, which passed me in high speed. I tried to follow him but he was just too fast for me. We also met a bunch of sea lions and saw colourful fish. Going snorkeling was always the highlight of the day for me, every time I was surprised by the diversity of marine life. 

 

After a short siesta, a visit to Rabida Island was planned. Rabida is a relatively small and arid island with steep slopes. Most of the coastline is rocky except for a maroon-colored sand beach on the northeast side, where we made our landing. Several small volcanic craters and the high amount of iron in the lava give the island its distinctive red colour and appearance. We saw heaps of sea lions that were resting in the shades of the caves nearby or went for a swim in the ocean. Behind the beach is a saltwater lagoon where, at times, you can see feeding and breeding flamingos. Unfortunately we didn’t see any when we were there. Angelika told us that the number of flamingos on Rabida varies each year and in some years they were not observed at all. We followed along the trail; the vegetation consisted primarily of Opuntia cacti, Palo Santo trees and scrubby bushes. We spotted blue-footed boobies nesting on the cliffs and heaps of marine iguanas lazing around. 

After visiting the lagoon, we followed the path leading up the red coloured rocky cliffs and ending at a cliff overhang, presenting an awe-inspiring view oft he island’s lagoons, red coloured cliffs and the ocean. When we came back to the beach, we had some time to go snorkeling. Unfortunately the water was a bit murky that day and due to the red sand, I didn’t have a clear vision. Nevertheless, I met some sea lions playing in the water and even some iguanas looking for food.  

1. 4. Day: Black Turtle Cove- Dragon Hill

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In the morning we visited the Black Turtle Cove that is located on the north shore of Santa Cruz.The coves and inlet are surrounded by mangrove and is only accessible by dinghy. Once we were into the cove, the boat continued with its engines off and we begun to explore the mangrove-sheltered cove. It is prohibited to use a motor so we paddled the dinghy for a quiet journey through the area. There were a number of small passageways, which we wouldn’t have found without our guide. 

The mangroves themselves are really beautiful, diverse and dense. We saw a couple of pelicans feeding in the coves and perched in the mangrove trees. There are three different mangrove species at Black Turtle Cove and their root system merge directly into the shallow blue saltwater. From far away it looked like a dense forest of trees and branches but there are pathways everywhere, which meander through the mangrove swamp. 

 

The shallow cove is a safe haven for young marine life. Fortunately, we spotted black-tip and white-tip reef sharks, plenty of sea turtles and a large school of golden rays. They were my absolute favourite as they swam under our dinghy and returned, at least 50 of them. Black Turtle Cove is known for being the best place in the Galapagos to find the Golden (Mustard) Ray. The Green Sea Turtle uses Black Turtle Cove for mating which usually occurs around January. They lay their eggs in February, whereas they lay many more than ultimately will survive (around 50-200 eggs) because the little babies need to navigate their way tot he water and are vulnerable prey to predators during that time.  

 

In the afternoon we visited Dragon Hill, which is located in north-western Santa Cruz and consist of a trail that runs through three different environments at just 1,600 m long. Pretty impressive hum? This is a very uncommon but beautiful site and directly related to a conservation program of the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galapagos National Park. In 1975 feral dogs decimated the population of land iguanas of northeast Santa Cruz. Hence, as an emergency response to the the devastation, the breeding and rearing program for land iguanas begun. In addition to the breeding program at the Charles Darwin Research Station, 38 land iguanas were released on the nearby islet of Venecia. This semi-captive population lives under natural conditions. Unfortunately, the islet had no suitable area for nesting. Hence, soil (approximately 100 m³⁾ was moved from Santa Cruz to Venecia to create an artificial nesting area. The population thrived. 

The program has been very successful and the last land iguana was repatriated to Dragon Hill from the Iguana Center in 1991. The population on Venecia continues to grow and iguanas continue to be transferred to Dragon Hill approximately every three years. The visitor site was opened in 1993 to provide an additional chance for observing land iguanas. Today, they seem to be doing fine…more than fine! Always pay attention where you step at..they are everywhere!

 

We headed inland on the trail and passed two small salt-water lagoons where we spotted a couple of flamingos feeding. We saw a couple of them stomping in the pond, looking for food.  The flamingos feed on microscopic organisms that need very specific water conditions to survive and there are only a handful of suitable lagoons in the archipelago. The trail then took us up a hill called Dragon Hill. On the way there and on top of the hill we saw several iguana nests. 

1. 5. Day: Post Office-Devils Crown

 

On the fifth day, we visited Floreana Island,which has the most interesting human history of all of the Galapagos Island.We hiked up to the "viewing point of the baroness" and enjoyed a great view over the entire island. The Widmer family arrived to that island in the beginning of the 20th century and started building a life in the highlands. Next to their house is a huge area, where quite a few tortoises are living. We were able to walk around, watch them and take quite a few good snaps.

We visited the Post-Office Bay later on, which is a historical site because of a wooden barrel that was put in the 18th century by a group of whalers. From that time, tourists and seaman have used it as a post office. Visitors sift through the pile of postcards and letter deposited inside the barrel, and if they find one that they can deliver personally to its destination, they take it with them. We also wrote one to ourselves to see when it would be delivered.

 

In the afternoon we visited Devil’s Crown, which is a volcano crater that has been eroded by the waves. The inside of the crown is a perfect environment for coral reef that attracts other marine life, making this one of the best snorkeling sites in Galapagos.

When it was finally snorkel time for us, we were dropped near the exterior side of the crater and swam our way towards the inside. The water was a bit rough and some passengers had some problems with the strong current, so that Agnes and I were almost by ourselves at the end. We swam through a tube on the western side and came out the other side. Lucky us we saw a couple of reef-sharks and plenty of reef fish. 

  

 

1. 6.Day: Punta Suarez- Gardener Bay

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Española is the oldest and the southernmost island. Geologists estimate it is about four million years old. The quantity and variety of wildlife on this site is remarkable because it is one of the most isolated islands in the archipelago and has the highest proportion of endemic fauna. Española is a classic shield volcano, created from a single caldera in the centre of the island. Over thousands of years, the island slowly moved away from the Galapagos hot spot where it was formed and the volcano became extinct. Erosion began to occur, eventually resulting in one of the flattest islands in the archipelago with one of the lowest elevations. Española also has a high percentage of endemism because it is isolated from the other islands, meaning the species on this island have no gene flow with species from other islands. 

 

One visitor site on Espanola is Punta Suarez, which we visited in the morning and is located on the west. It is one of the most popular visitor sites since it offers an amazing variety and quantity of wildlife. We disembarked near the small lighthouse and heaps of sea lions playing in the water and iguanas backing in the sun, welcomed us. The marine iguanas have a turquois colour with red during the breeding season and there was a bunch of them on one spot bundled up. The sea lions didn’t pay any attention and were crawling over them without even realizing it. 

From the beach, we started following a long, looped trail that headed up to a large plateau covered in croton, lyceum and atriplex (salt sage). These plants burst into green during the rainy season. Among the bushes, the waved albatrosses nests from April to December and since we were there in March, we were able to see quite a few of them. It is the only place where the waved albatross nests and in fact, 10 to 12,000 pairs of albatrosses on Espanola are the only individuals of this species that exist on the planet. It is a giant of a bird and flies above the seas all by himself for three months before returning to the islands. He then finds its lifelong mate and performs its alluring courtship dance and breeds.  When they need to feed and its time to hunt, they waddle clumsily to the cliffs at the southern end and launch themselves off. They are unfurling their 2.5-metre wings when they take off and transform into gracious flying creatures. Along the cliffs you can also observe swallow-tailed gulls, Nazca boobies and red-billed tropic birds. 

A blue hole, located in the west, sends regularly a tall jet of spray gushing through a fissure in the lava.  We spend at least half an hour just watching the birds taking off and the blowhole erupting over and over again. The trail continues along the bluff and dips down to a rocky area, which is populated by countless Nazca Boobies and Marine Iguanas. Form the High Coast we made our way back to the lighthouse and back to our ship.

In the afternoon we visited Gardner Bay, on the northeast side of the island, which offered a great possibility to enjoy some beach time in the Galapagos. Gardner Bay offers a lightly curling strip of soft, white, coral sand that is lapped by a dazzling blue sea.

  

At the ample beach we could walk and watch sea lions, who were energetically patrolling the waters. It is a great spot for some swimming, but snorkeling is better around the offshore islet nearby.

7. Day: Punta Pitt- Kicker Rock

In the morning we visited Punta Pitt, which is located at the east end of San Cristobal Island. We got on land at a beach and immediately followed the 1,400m steep and gully path that ascends to the top of a volcanic tuff hill passing through several natural viewpoints. 

  

Punta Piss is composed of volcanic tuff substrate and high winds have led to natural erosions. It is considered by many visitors as one of the most beautiful places in the Galapagos since it is the only place where you can watch the three species of boobies, red footed, blue footed and Nazca, due to the abundance of food there is hardly any competition. Also, the blue footed boobies nest on the ground in the interior (rarely on the cliffs), red-footed boobies nest on cordia lutea bushes whereas the Nazca boobies make their nest on the cliffs. Staff of the Technical Office of San Christobal, conduct periodic inspections of non-native animals especially cats and rats, in order to keep them from eating the lava lizards and the chicks of sea and land birds.

 

The trail also offers a closer look at the hardy vegetation of Punta Pitt that managed to thrive in this volcanic wasteland. From Saltbush and spiny shrubs, growing next to the beach, the trail leads up to an area of Palo Santo trees, tiny cacti and in the dry season, even carpets of red Vesuvius. We returned to the long olive-yellow coloured beach (the result of the ocean’s erosion of lava rock and shells) and home to sea lions, lava lizards and marine iguanas. Agnes and I decided to swim to the boat instead of taking the dingy. I was quite convinced that we would made it, although after a while I realised the boat was much further away than first expected. It was a pretty good workout for us I would say. 

In the afternoon, we visited the Kicker Rock, one of the most iconic and spectacular landmarks from the Galapagos Islands. The Kicker Rock is a magnificent rock in the middle of the sea. Rising 500 feet straight from the ocean, this giant uplifted rock looks like a sleeping lion  (from the south), hence the Spanish name León Dormido, while from the other side it looks more like a boot, hence the English name Kicker Rock. Although I have to say I couldn’t picture the lion. The Kicker Rock has a split with towering walls on both sides forming a narrow channel through which small vessels could navigate in the past, but forbidden now.

The rock itself attracts Nazca boobies, frigate birds, blue footed boobies and, of course, my favourites, the sea lions. However, the highlight is below the surface; expect an abundance of spectacular wildlife: Galapagos sharks, white-tip sharks, eagle rays, exotic fish and plenty of turtles...and if you are really lucky hammerhead sharks. The Channel goes down 19 meters to the sea bed. 

Since it was the last time we would be snorkeling, I had high expectation and was especially keen to see hammer-head-sharks. When we got to the rock, we navigated around it to see the wildlife above the water before we jumped in. They dropped us at the beginning of the channel and we started snorkeling through it. Agnes and I were one of the first ones and we immediately saw some sharks lying at the bottom and some rays were passing by.  A mild current was passing through the two rocks so it was quite easy to just relax, do nothing and just float. 

My absolute highlight that day was the amount of turtles we saw. All in all, 13 turtles were passing us and we were able to swim next to them for quite a while. It was amazing watching them slide through the water and I was able to take heaps of photos. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any hammerhead sharks, which was disappointing. 

1. 8. Day: North Seymour- Baltra
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North Seymour is a low, flat island that was uplifted from the sea by underground seismic activity. Located North of Baltra, this is one of the best places to see blue footed boobies and magnificent frigatebirds up close…. a perfect last excursion. We landed at the rock staircase on the southwest shore of the island which was a bit challenging since the wind was quite strong. After everybody made it on land we started walking the trail. Right up, a little sea lion pup blocked our way with a stick in his mouth and expected us to play with him. It wasn’t until Angelika clapped her hand several times, until he let us through.  

 

The nature trail meandered leisurely through large colonies of nesting Frigate birds and Blue-Footed Boobies. We were able so witness a thrilling mating ritual between two boobies, for which these birds are famous for. They offer each other gifts, whistle and honk, stretch their necks towards the sky, spread their wings and dance while showing off their bright blue feet.  The female booby is a little bigger while the male booby likes to whistle. Their name comes from the Spanish “bobo”, meaning “clown” or “stupid”.

  

The Frigatebirds are the huge, dark acrobats, who have 5-foot wingspan and males, with inflated scarlet gular pouches, were sitting precariously in the low bushes watching over their chicks that are equally as large. It was an amazing site, to see the males with his signature pouches extended in full glory. They are inflated when they are trying to attract or catch the attention of a mate. These birds are also known for their interesting connection with the Blue-footed boobies. Due to the fact that the Booby is an excellent hunters and fish in flocks, the Frigatebird likes to dive bomb the Booby to force them to drop their prey or steal the food right out of the Booby’s mouth.

I found the Frigatebirds super interesting! They sometimes flu in the air to call for more attention to themselves, while the puffy flaps threw off their sense of balance!

The circular path took us back to the shore where the waves crashed and sea lions body surfed by the shore. We got on the dingy to return to the boat and collected our belongings before it was time to say goodbye. 

We got our stuff and made our way to the deck where we said our goodbyes to the crew. We got into the dingy and drove off to the pier. After a couple of minutes our driver said that he saw a shark close to the boat…. an hammerhead-shark. We all got excited and looked around but unfortunately I couldn’t see anything. Argh, I got so super close…but this only means I have to come back!

On land, the bus picked us up and brought us to the airport. It was the end of our adventure and you could tell nobody was happy about it. We said our goodbyes to our travel buddies and sadly entered the plain back to the mainland of Ecuador.

I never thought that these islands would be so diverse, different from each other and each unique and beautiful. The Galapagos Islands are probably the most famous wildlife-watching destination in the world and it’s almost impossible to exaggerate the sheer spectacle of the place! It provided inspiration for Charles Darwin’s ground breaking theory of natural selection and I completely understand now why everybody seems so fascinated and enchanted after they have seen such a wonderland! 

Sandra Kormann works for Chimu Adventures, read more about her here.

For more information about Galapagos cruises, click here.