Snorkeling with hammerheads and sea lions in the Galapagos

Anyone who tells you that a visit to the Galapagos Islands is a one-of-a-kind experience is definitely being truthful. However, those who tell you it will be the most amazing place you ever visit are exaggerating just a little.

One obstacle is the price tag. The islands are quite an expensive undertaking so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone on a strict budget. That being said, I don't really regret forking out the moolah for it truly is unique when it comes to the wildlife and the proximity with which one can rub elbows with sea lions, iguanas, and boobies. No, I don't mean Ecuadorean bosoms -these are actually a kind of bird found in abundance on the islands. Why they are called "boobies" has to do with foreigners mispronouncing the locals' Spanish term for the bird ("bobo"). If I were to dissect the place into bits and then compare it to other places I've been fortunate enough to visit, the Galapagos Islands don't necessarily always come out on top. For example, although many of its islands resemble the planet Mars due to its volcanic rocks, this is much like Iceland which I found even more interesting due to it having a number of active volcanoes and the presence of mineral hot springs. Furthermore, the snorkeling on Galapagos was only so-so when compared to the crystal clear waters of the Maldives (although I must admit that my tour did not include the southern islands which apparently have the very best snorkeling). As for the beaches, they are quite beautiful, sporting a variety of colors depending on the type of sand. But I've been to some spectacular beaches, so again...what's the big deal about this place?

Well, in a nutshell, it's the fauna. The behavior of the animals you encounter is completely dissimilar to anything you will ever experience ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET! The animals simply do not exhibit any fear towards humans, therefore, they do not flee when one draws near. They just stare at you and barely even flinch a muscle. Extraordinary! For a photographer, it is a smorgasbord of opportunity for close-up shots and I must have taken close to 200 shots just of the animals. Seriously, I'm still a little in shock by the experience.

But let me give you a little description of my tour...

I booked a 5 day/4 night tour on the ship, the Encantada, which carries 12 passengers. I shared a cabin with an English gal, Jenny, who was a pleasant bunkmate thankfully. The last-minute booking price for the tour was $750, plus $365 for the flight, and also $110 for the entrance fee to the national park. All told the grand total was about $1225. Told you it wasn't cheap!

Our itinerary included a dinghy ride around Caleta Tortuga Negra on the first afternoon where we spied sea turtles attempting to copulate, a big sting ray, and a number of white-tipped reef sharks. On the second day we stopped in the morning at the isle of Rabida where I had my first among many thisclose encounters with sea lions and iguanas. In the afternoon we visited Bartolome island and saw MORE sea lions. We also got the chance to go snorkeling twice -in the morning sea lions swam under me a few times which was definitely an exhilarating first and in the afternoon, in addition to some colorful fish, I saw an eagle ray.

Our afternoon activity was the big disappointment of the trip -we went up the 300 steps to the famous Galapagos lookout point which is so often featured in brochures. It's a marvelous 360 degree viewpoint but our guide forced us to ascend slowly and all together so that by the time we reached the top, the sun had dropped too low to get a good photograph of it. It was
completely the wrong time to go up there-sunrise or midday would have been loads better. The guide's rationale for the timing was so that we could be up there for the sunset, but frankly, it wasn't that spectacular. Phooey!

On Tuesday (Day 3), we sailed overnight to reach the less-often visited island of Genovese. Due to it being the nesting season, we were able to see loads of birds nesting as well as newly-hatched chicks and birds in various stages of development. The island is home to both the red-footed and blue-footed "boobies", mockingbirds, herons, frigates, tropic birds, and
Darwin finches. My favorite was the red-footed boobie due to its bulging blue eyes. One gross thing I witnessed was a mamma bird regurgitating a shrimp she had swallowed in order to feed her baby chick. Yep, apparently vomiting and feeding go hand-in-hand in the Avian empire.

After our morning walk, we went snorkeling and I was 110% THRILLED to spot 3 hammerhead sharks in the murky water below!!! One of them was quite large as well, but was I scared? Nope. That's another one to tick off my lengthy bucket list.

Our last full day was spent on the main island of Santa Cruz, which has roughly 25,000 inhabitants. But before arriving there, we stopped for a brief visit to the isle of Plazas, which is home to many land iguanas. There were also numerous sea lions there which was absolutely shocking...NOT. ;) Apparently, we missed the live birth of a sea lion cub by mere moments for its mother was still partly covered in blood and the placenta was lying next to them on the rocks. While the mother protected her cub, some scavenging birds, including a pelican, hovered nearby eyeing the placenta as a tasty treat! Slowly, the pelican inched its way nearer, behaving cautiously so as to not provoke the mother sea lion from attacking those who dared get close to her baby. Our group quietly stood by, rooting for the pelican to gather up its nerve to grab the placenta. I tried to record a video of the event on my camera but somehow managed to hit the wrong button so that nothing was recorded. Bummer -I can only imagine how many hits I might have gotten if I'd uploaded it to YouTube with the attention-grabbing title, "Attack of the placenta-eating pelican!"

We docked in Puerto Ayora, the main town, at about 10 am and had a few hours to kill so we all hoofed it to the exquisite Bahia Tortuga (Turtle Bay), which is about 2.5k outside the town. Its pristine, soft white coral sand is lovely for walking barefoot and the surf is most definitely UP for those inclined. I explored the whole area and was happy to share the shore with a lively group of children on a school outing.

In the afternoon we regrouped with our guide (a patronizing control freak, Mauricio) in order to visit the Charles Darwin Research Station, which is the home of the humungous tortoises. The most famous one is named "Lonesome George" as he is the sole remaining survivor from the isle of Pinta. He's "lonesome" as he has no mate. However, there have been repeated attempts to get George to copulate with other large tortoises from other islands, but so far he has refused to "rise" to the sexual bait. Hee hee. In the past few years, there was an American student doing an internship at the research station who made it her mission to get George laid. Ha ha. She even went so far as to regularly masturbate the tortoise! Alas, George, although endoubtedly appreciative of her stimulation, aka hand job, has still not made a move towards any of the female tortoises. When are they just going to admit that George is gay!!

After the tortoise tour, our group split up with 5 of us heading to a hotel for our final night while the other 7 returned to the ship for another 3 days of cruising. We did meet up with a few of them later that night for drinks though. Good times!

Boobies, hammerheads, placenta-eating pelicans, and a sexually-stimulated though sadly celibate tortoise. You can see it ALL in the Galapagos -IF you're willing and able to cough up the beaucoup bucks. The choice is yours. Mine has been made...