The Galapagos Islands are just as fascinating as the seas around them, rich in many varieties of odd creatures, most of which are unique to these remote shores.
One of my first animal encounters here was with the frigatebirds that followed the boat. Day and night they shadowed us, hovering just overhead, riding the wind to keep pace with our progress. Their silhouette is almost prehistoric; it's easy to imagine that them as pterodactyls, especially at night when their lean, rapacious shadows crisscross the deck constantly in the bright moonlight.
When they tired, they would perch for a while on the awning that shaded the top deck.
The males have a bright red bladder on their throats. More about this in another post. They're very large birds, with wingspans sometimes reaching as much as 7.5 feet. The ones here are smaller than that, with wingspans closer to 4 to 5 feet. They are superb fliers, rarely even flapping their wings as they cruised alongside us.
The volcanic landscapes are prehistoric, too. The Galapagos are a relatively new set of islands that developed over a hotspot like the one that formed and continues to form the Hawaiian Islands. The oldest islands here are only about 5 to 6 million years old, while the youngest, Isabela and Fernandina, formed about a million years ago. Isabela has two recently active volcanoes and Fernandina one, so the process of island formation continues.
One of the most spectacular landscapes is Isla Bartolome. We visited the island for a land tour.
We had to jump from the panga to the rocks to get ashore because the landing was occupied.
Other than the sea lions (we came here to snorkel with penguins, but there were none to be found), the island is practically devoid of life. There are a few small, gray bushes.
A snake that preys on the lava lizards that are also prey for birds. Like all the islands in the chain, Bartolome is its own ecosystem with lifeforms that have adapted to thrive in these very specific conditions. It's like a living textbook on evolutionary biology.
The government of Ecuador has done its best with its limited means to protect these fragile habitats, Bartolome has a system of raised walkways to allow access to its unique vistas while minimizing the impact of hundreds of tourists per day.
You may remember this otherworldly landscape from the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
The other islands we visited had their own unique geography sculpted by wind and sea from the easily-eroded ancient lava flows.
Wolf Island is riddled with caves, large and small.
And sheer cliffs teeming with raucous colonies of birds.
Darwin, the most distant island, is little more than a vivid green dot in a very large ocean.
The famous Darwin's Arch tinted gold by the setting sun.
On the way back south, the weather came in, and the sailing got bumpy. My cabin was on the upper deck, so the motion of the ocean was intensified. The boat rolled and pitched, and anything not securely fastened clattered and banged. There were a few times when I thought I might be rolled out of bed, but toward morning the seas flattened out a bit, and I was able to get a little sleep before the 6 am bell told us it was time to get ready to dive again.
P.
1 comment:
It looks like a great trip, Peter. Dis you run into any iguanas on land? or blue footed boobies?
Post a Comment