Setting sail

Day 1 - Baltra pick-up, Daphne Major, North Seymour

We had to travel back across Santa Cruz Island, cross the channel to Baltra, then back on the bus to the airport to meet our guide.  The airport was slightly chaotic but eventually we found Fabricio and the rest of the group.  Then back on another bus and down to a little harbour where there was no sign of the Nemo II . . . 

After half an hour she motored into harbour, we transfered over and had our briefing whilst the crew loaded all the supplies; boxes and crates and chillers and fruit and vegetables.

Finally we were  underway, to circle around Daphne Major, the island Ben had taken a photo of from the plane.  This is the top of a volcano and is famous for the work of two scientists on the finch population evolution.  Fabricio told us how the scientists are a couple who spend 8mths of every year there, living in a tent, and have been doing it for over 40 years.  All I could think was that it could be a sure recipe for divorce!  We saw sealions, nazca boobies, frigate birds and tropic birds.

The first landing was on North Seymour,  a low lying island north of Baltra.  As we climbed into the panga  (the name for the inflatable tender)  we were filled with anticipation and excitement.  As the rocky landing grew closer sealions swum under the panga, crabs skittered round the rocks and seabirds soared overhead.

As our first proper introduction to Galapagos it was fantastic: wildlife everywhere and totally unconcerned with us.

There were blue-footed boobies everywhere; doing the boobie courtship dance and sitting on their nests. The boobies are a favourite of visitors and it's easy to see why; the dance is carried out in slow motion and does look quite hilarious. From the side the birds look quite intelligent, but when they look at you directly they look  a little daft.

Frigate birds are very common throughout the islands, huge soaring seabirds with a wickedly hooked beak.  They are a little unusual as they don't have oil in their feathers, so they can only fish food from the surface of the sea.  The males have an extraordinary mating acoutrement - a large red throat sack.  On North Seymour we saw them in all life stages; nesting, juveniles, males with deflated pouches and one in all his displaying glory.

There were more marine iguanas for Ben to take even more photos of, plus different kinds of lava lizards.

The other large reptile is the land iguana.  These were imposingly stationed throught the brush; much larger, more colourful and even more dinosaur like than their marine cousins.

As we slowly meandered back to the panga, our senses overloaded, our camera cards brimming, our landing was completed with sealions cubs.  Fabricio imitated an adult's call, so they duly came over to us, hoping that we would have some food as they wait on the beach or rocks while their mothers fish.  Up close they were even cuter.  Apparently 60% of all photos taken in the Galapagos are of sealions . . .  though I think Ben had more marine iguanas.

Even though we had been told about how the wildlife was so unconcerned with people in their midst it was still wonderful and delightful to be so close.

That night in the saloon, as we were motoring through the waves, Fabricio reviewed the day and the briefed us for the next day.  This wasn´t the best strategy as by dinner we were down to only half the passengers . .  . there were some seriously sick people, though I have had to promise not to name names.  Luckily Ben and I had stocked up on seasickness medication so were fine.  Dinner was a delicious three course affair, as all the meals turned out  to be, the food was fanastic.

Sunset up on the deck, motoring past Santa Cruz island, the stars slowly coming out , the odd manta ray leaping out of the water, nocturnal swallow-tailed gulls soaring with us; amazing.