Galápagos - San Cristobal

Tuesday March 17th 2015

Galápagos- San Cristobal

Well it was bound to happen one of these days...

It was almost 11:00 pm on Tuesday March 16th night when it finally happened:  We were boarded while we were sleeping...

I first heard a “thud” and then some movement on the deck. I look out the back window and I can see him, he is right in front of me, laying on his stomach, he looks a little bit disoriented, looking around, swaying back and forth.

I giggle and I run to wake Mark, “Get up, one of them’s made it on to our deck!”

“Get the camera” Mark says as he slides the companion way door open. “No, no, lets just go see him and convince him to leave”.

When he sees Mark and I, he is surprised, and quickly jumps into the water.....

    “Did he pee?” I ask,  “Not sure”,  Mark says as he takes the hose and splashes some water on the deck. “Oh, ha, look there is another one on the transom!”

I must admit I feel badly about shoeing them off, after all, they are just looking for a  place to sleep, and they are just so darn CUTE !

Our first look at the Galápagos on the morning of March 11

A Nazca booby takes off

A turtle greets us in the eerily calm waters

Of course, our encounter with our uninvited guests, the sea lions, was just another one of the wonderful experiences the Galapagos islands offers us on a daily basis.From the moment we arrived to these enchanted islands,  we have been spoiled with close up meetings with sea lions, sea turtles, giant tortoises, Marine Iguanas, Blue Footed Boobies, and the list goes on! 

Blue footed booby

We are in San Cristobal, one of the 12 larger island of the Archipelago after a 5 day crossing. We were all so excited to visit; The Galapagos !!!

We plan on staying three or four weeks, visiting as many islands as we can. We only have  permission to sail to the three main islands (San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isabella), but from these we can join tours to visit some others too. Each Island is unique and has so many interesting things to see. 

On San Cristobal we have had many chances to swim with Sea lions (they come up to the boat everyday!)  Matthew is just as fascinated by them as the rest of us. They are gorgeous, with their glistening fur and long eye lashes, but they sure do stink !  We have seen quite a few marine iguanas. These are fascinating creatures who have evolved from the land iguanas. They jump off of cliffs, into crashing waves to swim down to 10 meters into the cold water, to eat the algae they need, before swimming back to land, where they must use every inch of energy left to claw their way back up amidst turbulent water back up  to the black volcanic rock, where they will rest and let the sun bring their body temperature back up, before they can start all over again. They have a particularly “dragon-like feature”: They “spew” or “snort” out the excess salt they take in while diving, out of an opening on top of their head. They are so well camouflaged with their scaly black and red skin against the volcanic black rocks, that we have often walked right by them without seeing them until the very last second.

The amazing marine iguanas

The Giant Tortoises have been another exciting meeting for us. These iconic creatures are fascinating !  Their necks can stretch out so much, and their legs are like tree stumps!  We have seen some who are more than 150 years old !  They are wise old souls, each with unique facial features from one another. We took many photos of them, of course!

Giant Galápagos Tortoises battle 

Colourful crabs

The Rare Red Footed Booby on her nest

Meg and MC get their Sea lion quality time !

MC and Sea Lions, Loberia beach

Today we are going diving/snorkeling at Kicker Rock, a very impressive looking monolith which rise out of the ocean on the South-West side of San Cristobal Island. We plan to leave on Thursday, and will be headed to the largest of the islands, called Isabella.

We look forward to writing more about our discoveries from there.

Of of the many visitors to Amelie

The fascinating vegetation of the Galàpagos islands, San Cristobal

Loberia Beach

San Cristobal

Loberia Beach

Our hike to find the Red Footed Booby

Our first day in San Cristobal

Mark and the Sea Lion

Sea Lions have taken over the town

Kicker rock, where we went diving