Remedy Report #34
Galapagos
Mid-ocean Remedy provides transport for a red footed booby, for most of a day.
After a voyage of eight days, which included some interesting thunderstorms, course changes to avoid weather, and an impact with a hard object in the middle of one night (no damage fortunately), we finally put the anchor down in Wreck Bay, San Cristobal, The Galapagos, on April 11, 2011.
Visiting these infamous islands, which gave Darwin the basis for his evolutionary theory and are home to many unique species of life, had been a lifelong dream. Not for us the fear and disquiet that the islands caused the first Europeans who sighted them – we had read about and seen pictures of those giant tortoises, those awesome iguanas, those unique finches, and those blue footed boobies!
One could understand the reputation of the islands for the first arrivals however, when we sighted the landscape. Here is a group of islands formed by huge volcanic activity, which still in many places resembles a vast ‘lunar’ landscape – hospitable only to its unique wildlife. Over the ensuing weeks we came to understand just how close mankind came to causing the extinction of all of this, and even now we wonder just how much of the Galapagos flora and fauna will withstand the invasion of man.
The Galapagos are part of Ecuador, and that country works very hard, with of course much international interest and support, to preserve the uniqueness of the islands. The whole group is a National Park, and is now strictly administered – gone are the days when the whaling boats would take hundreds of giant tortoise for food (they can survive many weeks without food or water), or when the Museum expeditions would gather thousands of specimens to transport (often unsuccessfully) home, all in the name of science and preservation…
We had obtained an ‘autografo’ – a special permit that enabled us to take Remedy to five of the twenty islands. Without this, we would have been restricted to the anchorage of our arrival and would have to visit other areas in controlled tour groups.
San Cristobal provided us with a secure anchorage in Wreck Bay, and with our first encounters with the Galapagos sea lions.
Wreck Bay, San Cristobal, with a relaxed sea lion in the foreground.
For the first time we were grateful to not have easy access on Remedy’s stern – we watched with great amusement as sea lions of all sizes established themselves happily on any flat surface, sleeping away the day in contentment until the unhappy boat owners returned and bullied them away, then got out the broom to clean up the mess…
While The Barnstorms were away on a 3-day tour, this fellow (and friends) took up residence.
Friends on a catamaran had one sea lion who loved to sleep on their large cockpit table whenever they were ashore – always managing to thwart their attempts to block off the entranceway.
The sea lions are a real feature of San Cristobal – they frolic everywhere in the bay and lounge on (and under) the choice public benches ashore.
Ian and friends – this is as close as he got – when he moved along a little they all leapt into snarling fury.
A relaxed group along the foreshore, Wreck Bay.
Ian was snorkelling under Remedy checking the propeller on one of our first mornings, when he came face to face with a sea lion, as he came around the keel – he is still not sure just who was more surprised!
Ian and ANOTHER friend, a baby this time, but Mum not too far away. We snorkelled in this bay with several of the sea lions.
Pelicans and frigate birds squabbling over the remains of the fishermen’s catch, Wreck Bay.
Ian and shy young tortoise, San Cristbal
Every large island had a Breeding Centre for the Giant Tortoises. At the Centres they are raising young tortoise until they are old enough to survive in the ‘wild’. Introduced animals such as rats, goats and wildcats kill the eggs and the young, to a point where some sub-species are now extinct.
Come rain or shine those tortoises are doing their bit for the continuation of the species…
Along with the Breeding Centres, there are programmes to eradicate the introduced pests, and these have been successful on some of the smaller islands, thus the tortoises are transferred to these when mature (usually about 7 years).
The other main tortoise activity is eating…
Iguanas are the one of the other fascinating forms of unique Galapagos life – both marine and land iguanas.
The marine iguanas come ashore during the day and sun themselves at the beach.
Two beachcombers.
The Galapagos penguins were everywhere in the anchorage at Isla Isabella.
One of the things that we really hoped to see during our stay was the blue footed booby. This wonderful bird was very elusive, but we finally found a colony at Isla Isabella, with their wonderful turquoise legs and feet.
At last, the blue footed booby – this is as close as we could get, so you’ll just have to look carefully…
We were also lucky to spot this group of flamingos on Isla Isabella – with their gorgeous salmon, white and black feathers.
After three weeks of marvelling at this feast of unusual wildlife, we began preparations for the continuation of our journey west. The Galapagos had surpassed many of our expectations and we had enjoyed a wonderful experience. We left with some misgivings about the future success of preservation of this unique area, but thankful and delighted that we had been able to see just a few of its treasures.
Written at Tahuata, Marquises Islands
24 May, 2011
Remedy crew at Capo Rojo, Isla Isabella, Galapagos