Our last minute decision to go to the Galapagos turned out to be a brilliant one........it was everything we anticipated and more. Fortunately, the effects of the Chile earthquake were minimal on the islands. They made preparations for a potential tsunami (closing the airport and businesses, moving people to higher land, etc.) but it turned out that the water receded only 20 metres and extended an extra 20 metres so it wasn't much more than an immediate tide change and the impact to the people and wildlife was almost non-existant. When we arrived the following day everything was back to normal and there was no trace of any damage.
Our catamaran was well equipped with lovely cabins and the guide and crew were wonderful. It got even better when we started touring the islands and interfacing with the wildlife, which were anything but wild. Giant tortoises, marine and land iguanas, sea lions, lava lizards, crabs, blue-footed boobies and frigate birds seemed as interested in us as we were in them. We often had to step around them on the narrow tourist paths (strictly adhered to in order to minimize our footprint), and many times they would approach us, seemingly to pose for pictures. It makes you wonder what we have done in North America to make animals & humans so intimidated of one another. It was truly an awesome experience.
We visited 5 islands (Santa Cruz, Espanola, Sante Fe, Plaza, Seymour) and each one had something special to offer. The Galapagos islands are close to the equator so the daily temperature was 30C and with high humidity it was energy sapping but after our a.m. and p.m. island walking tours (average of 2 hours each) we were able to swim around the boat (water temperature was 27C) or go snorkelling. The snorkelling at Isla Espanola delivered a wonderful display of colourful marine life but the highlight was at Isla Santa Fe where we encountered a huge school of black-striped salimas. Our excellent and knowledgeable guide, Luis, estimated that there were over one million of them packed together....the black mass of fish 5 metres below us was almost 100 metres long, 20 metres wide and 10 metres deep.......but the best part was watching several 5-6 foot black-tip sharks make their way in and out of the school. Our guide didn't seem to be too worried about the sharks (even diving below the school and coming back up through the middle of the school) so we remained calm, but a little more cautious! In fact, a similar size shark had passed closely by Rhonda the day before, seemingly disinterested with so many healthier choices nearby.
All in all it was a great four days. We met some interesting people from around the world - Austria, Belgium, Germany, U.K. and the U.S., and had the opportunity to have interesting conversations during our time together.
Following an early morning hike on our final island where it was mating season for the birds (the frigates and boobies were performing for potential mates) we were taken to the airport for a flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest city, located on the coast. Having enjoyed the tranquility of the islands we decided to skip the city life there and took a 4 hour bus ride through the Andes Mountains to Cuenca, a smaller colonial style city in the southern part of the country which we will explore today. Tomorrow we will start travelling towards Peru.
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