Our second week in the Galapagos, starting with San Cristobal again, Santa Fe and South Plaza

sunset off San Cristobal Island

Our changeover day, when we started our second week in the Galapagos and a new group joined us on the Majestic, was pretty quiet.  We started the day with a visit to the Interpretation Center, a very interesting small museum in the town of San Cristobal, documenting the geological, animal and human history of the Galapagos.  The center has an excellent set of trails leading to the top of the hill above town and down around the beaches occupied by numerous sea lions.  Well worth a visit if you go to the Galapagos. 

San Cristobal's tortoises

Later we drove across San Cristobal Island to another giant land tortoise sanctuary where we saw 3 more tortoises, always a thrill to see these huge creatures.  I preferred the sanctuary we visited on Santa Cruz Island because it was much more open and very easy to see and spend time quietly with the tortoises.

We also visited Santa Fe and South Plaza Islands, both very small.  Santa Fe has land iguanas that are found nowhere else in the Galapagos, large yellow reptiles with knobby skin.  It is a desert environment, with large cacti that provide shade to the iguanas, but not much food for the iguanas to eat, since they appear to be fairly finicky eaters (hard to imagine on a tiny islet that doesn’t offer much choice).  When their favorite plant dies back in the summer months, the iguanas sit under the cactus plants waiting for a cactus pear to fall off.  Then there is a mad scramble for the fruit by all the waiting iguanas.  Our guide tossed a small rock near the 4 or 5 iguanas under some nearby cacti and immediately they all swarmed towards the sound, only to be very disappointed.

South Plaza land iguana

young sea lion enjoying South Plaza beach

We snorkeled along the rocky coast of Santa Fe Island and found 3 enormous marine turtles about 50 yards off shore.  Usually they disappear quickly when they see the shadows of snorkelers above them, but these came up to the surface right next to us, one by one, to snag some oxygen before heading back to the ocean floor, which is shallow here.  I stayed with them just watching for about 15 minutes.  They moved easily with their front feet—big flippers—graceful giants amidst thousands of brightly-colored fish.  The turtles need oxygen fairly often when they’re eating or swimming, but can sleep on the bottom for up to 8 hours without an oxygen break.  They seem to shut down their respiration when they sleep, enabling them to get by with minimal oxygen.  So exciting to see them.  My big regret is that I didn’t bring an underwater camera with me. 

Santa Fe lava lizard

South Plaza Island is also very small.  Sea lions are everywhere, playing and sleeping.  We walked to the flat top of the island, to the cliffs high above the surf.  There were dozens of sea lions there, at least ¼ mile from the water and up a rocky slope.  They have to wriggle and flop their way up the rocks, but seem to like the result of all their effort.  South Plaza has its own iguana population, different from Santa Fe’s.  The walk is easy and very pleasant, with lots of sea birds, lizards, iguanas and sea lions to watch.  Off the cliffs, the shearwaters fly in clouds like swallows, only bigger, first into the cliffs and then back out over the waves, barely above the surface of the water.

Santa Fe cactus

 

Sante Fe--young swallow-tailed gull

 

Fernandina--Western Galapagos

area of Fernandina uplifted in 1960's

Fernandina Island, a small island, is across a narrow strait from Isabella, the largest of the Galapagos islands.  We walked on a large lava flow that was under water until the early 1960’s when the movement of the Nazca and South American Plates thrust it upward above sea level.  Today this large lava flow rises 6 to 8 feet above the ocean, so it received quite a push upwards only 50 years ago.

swarm on iguanas on rock

This is marine iguana heaven.  We saw thousands of them packed onto the black lava rocks right by the ocean.  They pile all over one another in their need to warm themselves before heading back to the ocean to feed on algae.  Because of the warmer water this year, the algae isn’t as plentiful as in colder years, so we saw quite a few iguana carcasses.  They probably starved to death for lack of sufficient algae.

marine turtle swimming withus

Cormorants sun themselves on these rocks also.  Even though their wings are too small for flight, they dry them in the sun, small wings outspread, before going back to their fishing.

A large marine turtle was also feeding on the algae in a deeper pool of water just off the lava flow.  It came to the surface for air so was clear enough for a photograph.  Later, when we snorkeled off the rocks, we saw 3 turtles, including one very large one, eating the algae all around the edge of the submerged lava flow.  A very large Eagle Ray glided past us paying us no attention.



flightless cormorants drying wings

During our afternoon snorkel, there were so many turtles swimming with us it was hard to decide which way to go to stay out of their way.  I backed away from one turtle only to nearly run into another.  I counted 17 turtles during our 45 minute snorkel.  Some were feeding on the rocks while others were gliding through the deeper water and still more were rising to the surface to gulp a little air (no more than a couple of seconds) before diving again.  It was wonderful to swim with these huge animals who didn’t seem to mind our intrusion at all.

sunset over Fernandina

lava cactus--a "pioneer" species on lava flows

yellow warbler

 

In the evening, we cruised around the north end of Isabella, where the Wolf Volcano has been erupting.  We could not see lava flowing or red hot rocks being thrown into the sky, but we could watch the clouds of red smoke puffing upwards from the main crater and then down along the sides of the volcano, so it appears most of the activity was inside the crater.  Quite beautiful to watch the display.

 

 

Isabella--largest island in the Galapagos

Isabella near sunset



Land Iguana

The Wolf volcano on Isabella Island is still erupting, though less actively than a month ago when rivers of lava flowed down its southeast flanks.  Nevertheless, we could see surges of red through the clouds surrounding the crater that told us Wolf is still erupting.  We anchored at Tagus Bay on Isabella in time for a 6 a.m. hike to a ridgetop where we could see the huge lava flows filling a valley from earlier eruptions.  Quite a spectacular sight with the black lava flowing to the turquoise ocean and 3 volcanos in the background.  We were glad for the early start since it is quite hot in the Galapagos even though this is the cooler time of year here.

2 flightless cormorants

We went out in the pangas to see if we could find birds, penguins, sea lions and turtles.  Flightless cormorants—a species of cormorant that evolved to have small wings, not large enough to fly, and large webbed feet, perfect for swimming, diving and hopping around the cliffs—live and nest here.  We saw many of them grooming themselves on the cliffs.  

Galapagos penguin finally on top ofrock

Later, while snorkeling, we watched 2 cormorants diving for fish.  The bird turns itself into a little rocket, diving down very deep from its swimming position on the water.  While underwater, it stays in a very aerodynamic pose and searches in and around rocks and crevices for small fish.  When it needs air, it uses its large feet to propel itself rapidly to the surface.  Don was watching one cormorant as it fished about 40 feet below.  He was right where the cormorant wanted to surface, so she did, right between is hand and his chin, whereupon she settled happily on the water until she was ready to dive again.

marine iguana with crabs

On this snorkel outing, we found 6 marine turtles feeding on the algae on the rocks and swimming in the deep water.  They move so easily despite their large size and weight, seeming to be suspended in the water before they use their large front flippers to move on.

blue footed booby high on cliff

Our afternoon jaunt took us a short distance inland to land iguana territory.  We saw 6 or 7 huge  iguanas, with their nobby yellow skins.  On the beach, a Galapagos penguin was swimming, trying to get a wave to lift her high enough to get on a rock she fancied, about 3 feet above the surface of the water.  She swam round and round and finally got the boost she needed and scrambled to the top of the jagged rock.  These penguins are very small, much smaller than any penguins we have seen at the southern tip of South America or in Antarctica.  This species is the farthest north that penguins live as they are usually cold water birds and the water temperature here is in the low 70’s right now.

pelican enjoying a moment of contemplation
 

 

Bartolome and Santiago Islands

 

craters on Bartolome Island

The Galapagos Islands are all volcanic, some formed from the explosions of volcanos and some uplifted as underwater volcanos filled the sea with hot magma that built up over time into islands.  Right now, the island of Isabella’s Wolf volcano is active.  But most of the dozens of volcanos that have created these islands are quiet.

underwater crater on Bartolome

Bartolome (or Bartholomew) is one of the most recently created islands, probably less than a million years ago.  It is stunning, covered with craters and twisted rock of many colors.  There isn’t much life on the island yet because there is still very little vegetation.  One of the “pioneer” plants is a low-growing cactus that helps break up the volcanic rock over time so that seeds carried by birds or the wind can begin to grow.

There are no iguanas yet on Bartolome.  But we saw some lava lizards, one colorful grasshopper that must have been blown ashore and one finch.  Otherwise, there are a couple of plant species that have started to grow and not much else.  You can see from the craters that this volcano blew with a lot of force, from many vents.  The energy of the blasts created several dozen craters which are still jagged, colorful rock, barely eroded at all.

Looking at Santiago Island from Bartolome

 

Across a narrow channel is Santiago Island, also a mass of volcanic craters.  Santiago is considerably older than Bartolome and has some areas of lush and varied vegetation.  Other areas have seen more recent lava flows which are very obvious from the vantage point of Bartolome’s highest peak, which we climbed (335 steps, so not so high).

stairway to top of Bartolome

 

Santiago is recovering from attempts to colonize the island.  For decades it had wild goats, dogs, cats and pigs that settlers left behind when they gave up their attempt to farm on the island.  The goats, pigs and dogs are gone, cleared out by a massive effort on the part of the government to rid the islands of invasive species.  There are still rats and wild cats as well as a bird that was brought to the island because it eats lice on the backs of cattle.  Unfortunately, the bird preferred the lizards, finches and iguana eggs to lice, so, while the cattle disappeared, the bird thrived by killing off many of the other animals.  Today, the Park Service is trying to rid the island of the bird and to breed finches in captivity to release when the island is safer for them.  There are only 100 native finches left today.

The Galapagos is home to thousands of sea lions but not many seals.  Santiago has a fur seal population.

fur seal relaxing in rocks on Santiago Island

 

Galapagos Penguins

This day included 2 snorkeling opportunities.  Both were wonderful.  In the morning, snorkeling off Bartolome in the rough volcanic rocks underwater, we saw a small ray and a huge ray as well as 2 reef sharks, each about 6 feet long.  The sharks just wanted to hide from us under the rock shelves, but did let us get a good look before vanishing.  The small ray tolerated us for a while, then, with a blast of sand, slid under a big rock.  The large ray swam with us amidst the rocks giving us quite a thrill.  We also found Galapagos Penguins and a small heron on the rocks off Bartolome. 

Later, snorkeling off Santiago Island, we saw 3 marine turtles feeding on the algae near the bottom of the shallow ocean floor.  Since they seemed quite unconcerned about us, we swam with them and watched them for about half an hour.  The largest one was about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide—just enormous.  It’s so amazing to watch them swim gracefully through the water given their size and weight. 

handsome Marine Iguana on Santiago

 

In the evening, we were across the channel from the Wolf volcano on Isabella (the largest island by far in the Galapagos, with 63% of the archipelago’s land mass) and watched it flare for about an hour.  We were too far away to see the lava flow, but could see big red flares wax and wane as the volcano erupted, then went briefly quiet before blowing again.

Galapagos hawk circling over Santiago

Santiago's main volcano

yellow crowned night heron

 

Genovesa Island, Galapagos--not to be missed!

Red-footed booby and chick

Each island seems to be my favorite as we move through the Galapagos.  Our visit to Genovesa began with a “dry” landing, where you move from the panga to a quay or rock without stepping into the water.  Genovesa is a tiny island with a very large, circular lagoon open to the Pacific.  It’s a former crater with a section that collapsed, thus opening the lagoon to the ocean.  The entire perimeter of the lagoon is cliffs, and, fortunately, a crack in the cliff wall in one place where you can climb some steps to the flat top of the island.

Male frigate birds in full mating form with his huge red pouch

This is a birder’s paradise.  As we walked across the flat top of the island, we were surrounded by thousands of birds in all directions.  This is nesting season, so we saw many varieties nesting in rocks, in bushes and on the ground.  Genovesa is the main breeding area for red-footed boobies and frigate birds.  We saw parents sharing time incubating their eggs (larger than duck eggs and no more than 2 or 3 in each nest)—one parent sits on the egg while the other goes off in search of fish to feed its mate.

Many of the nests (really a euphemism since most of these “nests” are simply cleared spaces on the ground) had recently hatched chicks, adorable little balls of white fluff with beautiful eyes and beaks.

Nazca booby and chick

Some birds were still in full mating frenzy.  Male frigate birds have a bright red pouch under their beaks which they puff out to enormous size when they are trying to attract a female.  Apparently the bigger the red pouch, the better, and dozens of males were displaying their attributes in hopes of enticing a female into mating distance.

There is a small owl on Genovesa, the short-eared owl, that is mostly a ground-dwelling bird.  It hangs out in the rough lava rocks and grabs storm petrols as they swoop close above the ground, tempting fate and sometimes losing.

Galapagos Owl

Genovesa has only one small species of iguana and several lizards, but is mostly a haven for birds, particularly during breeding season.  Some bird species only nest here.

Our next stop was along the cliffs of the lagoon for snorkeling.  We tried two spots, but found the water today to be pretty murky, not as crystal clear as our other snorkeling trips over the last few days.  But—we did see 2 enormous marine turtles eating algae off the rocks on the ocean floor.  When they see anything in the water above them, they take off for the deep ocean, but I was able to follow one for about 50 yards before it dove too far down for me to see it anymore. 

small Galapagos iguana

sea lions on beach

These turtles live far out at sea, often traveling thousands of miles in search of food, but come back to the Galapagos Islands to mate and lay their eggs.  Then, they’re off again.  This is turtle breeding season and you can see their tracks on the sand, leading to their nests, holes they dig in the sand dunes where they deposit their eggs and then cover them over with sand.  Having done her job, the female leaves her brood to incubate themselves and heads out to sea again.  She will usually repeat this process 6 to 8 times a season, laying 60 to 80 eggs each time.  The eggs are very vulnerable to predators, including large rats that probably arrived in the Islands on ships, but also pigs that were brought in by farmers more than a century ago.  Once the eggs hatch, it is a mad race for the sea by the tiny, newly hatched creatures, trying to beat the hordes of birds who swoop down to devour them.

Genovesa Island

red-footed booby

Our afternoon visit was to a small beach inside the lagoon, filled with birds, fur seals (uncommon in the Galapagos) and sea lions.  Thousands of birds filled the area around the lagoon with their nests and now their chicks, which have to be ready to fend for themselves in only a few weeks.  Meanwhile, the parents are very busy securing food—fish—and feeding the babies.  Usually only one chick will survive the contest for food and enough safety to survive to adulthood.  We saw many abandoned eggs, probably victims of their parents’ need to beat off starvation and predators.

 

pangas in lagoon

swallow-tailed gull chick

Floreanna--a birder's paradise

 

Floreana flamingos in lagoon

Our second day out, we left the Majestic early to go to a nearby beach.  This was Post Office Bay, so named because for centuries sailors had stopped at Fioreana Island to get fresh water and meat, both hard to find in the Galapagos.  They set up a barrel just off the beach where lonesome sailors could send letters home.  Then, the next ship heading back to Europe would pick up the letters and mail them upon their return to their European country.  In this way, a postal service of sorts was set up in the Galapagos, known to everyone who sailed the Pacific.

our guide, Javier at Post Office Bay post office

Floreana has a lovely lagoon that is home to several dozen flamingos.  While we were there, the birds were slurping water, siphoning off the tiny shrimp and other small fish by flapping their lips rapidly and pushing their catch through teeth, much like whales do when they’re eating fish.

The island is also home to marine iguanas, lava lizards, selly lightfooted crabs and many birds that come here to reproduce.  We saw hundreds of blue-footed boobies—quite beautiful with their truly blue feet and beaks and white and black bodies. 

blue footed boobies

Wave albatross nest on Floreana.  We saw a mother feeding her chick who was frantic for food even though he was almost as large as his mother.  He was still too young to fly, but will need to learn fast because all the adults will be headed out to sea shortly.

wave albatross mother feeding frantic baby

Floreana is one of the few populated islands and has some very interesting stories connected with it.  In one case, an obstreperous sailor was deposited here by the ship’s captain because he caused too much trouble.  Word got around so no boats that stopped at Floreana would take the hapless guy home.  Eventually, after 2 years, he stole a sailboat, captured some black sailors to sail it and took off for home.  He survived the trip, but no one else.

One pregnant woman came ashore to give birth.  She lived on Floreana with her daughter and a second child.  Floreana is the name of her daughter, who stayed on the island and eventually started a tour company that still owns the Tip Top boats.

Like most of the islands, it is covered with low scrubby bushes filled with thorns.  A great place for wildlife, but not so for humans.  Today, though, a handful of people live on the island.

frigate bird coming in for landing in nest

Floreana bay and beach

Selly Light-footed crabs are everywhere

ghost crab scurrying into sand hole

 

 

Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos

Giant tortoise meandering

Santa Cruz Island is not the largest island in the Galapagos, but it has the largest permanent population (Isabella is the largest island, united into one body of land by repeated eruptions of its several volcanoes).  San Cristobal is the administrative capital; Santa Cruz is the commercial hub, if you can call it that with only 32,000 permanent residents living in the Galapagos.  Certainly it is a much larger town than San Cristobal and has an airport as well.  Most of our crew were born here and continue to live here with their families.  The crews work 6 weeks on and 3 weeks off.  Our guide, however, is a free lancer, also born on Santa Cruz Island, also living here with his wife and 2 daughters, but he chooses his boats and his work weeks (which is most of the time, he says).

sunset off Santa Cruz island

The Galapagos is home to giant land tortoises as well.  Because the population was decimated before the 1960’s and has only recently been considered endangered, there is now a big effort to increase their numbers.  Santa Cruz Island has a very interesting breeding center and several farms in the highlands that serve as refuges for these huge creatures.  We visited both.

First, Santa Cruz, unlike most of the Galapagos Islands has several climate zones.  Near the water, the environment is dryer, but as you drive up to the mountains (about 2500 feet high) you get into a cloud forest with lots of rain and fog, so able to support a true rain forest.

sinkhole where lava ceiling collapsed

Our first visit was to 2 very large sink holes, much like the cenotes or wells you find in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, but much bigger.  These sink holes were formed when the underlying structure, which was probably a volcanic cavern roofed by lava, collapsed thousands of years ago.  The lava flows also formed numerous tunnels like this one:

lava tunnel

Higher up, we visited a farm that is a land tortoise haven and saw the most enormous tortoises lolling in the mud holes or moving ponderously through the high grass.  This was just a thrill to me as I’ve never seen these animals outside of a zoo.  One of these giants lived to be at least 175 years old, so it is expected that their lifespans could be close to 200 years.  Their heads are not beautiful, looking battered with thick scales almost like callouses, but they are handsome creatures nonetheless with their beautiful shells and giant legs and feet. 

giant tortoise head and front legs

Closer to the main town of Puerto Aroyo, there is a tortoise breeding center named after Charles Darwin.  The center staff go out to the beaches on the nights the tortoises lay their eggs and scoops up hundreds of them to put into incubators.  When they hatch, they are carefully tended and moved from enclosure to enclosure until they are large enough to be on their own, about 4 years old.  Next they are put into much larger enclosures where they need to fend for themselves before being released to the various islands to, hopefully, reproduce and repopulate the tortoises on each island.  Since each island had its own sub-species of tortoise, the center is trying to return to each island only those individuals whose genetics match the original tortoises of that island.  Couldn’t get a really clear answer as to how they determined the genetics of each island’s tortoises since the animals became extinct on all but a couple of the islands decades ago.

2 year old tortoises at Darwin breeding center

Several years ago, the breeding center was given 2 young male tortoises.  The staff tried to get them interested in a female, but they didn’t seem to care about her until they put the 2 young ones, the female and an old male into the same enclosure.  The old male quickly taught the 2 young ones what to do and now all is going well with this aspect of the breeding program.

Santa Cruz’ harbor is always full of boats, even more so than San Cristobal.  Tourism is the heart of the Galapagos’ economy, so virtually every economic activity has some relationship to tourism.  

Santa Cruz fresh fish market with patient sea lions

The local fish market has beautiful fresh fish daily.  Sea lions and pelicans are customers also and don't seem to bother the patrons much.