Galapagos - The first few days
Our first day, Thursday, March 7th, we decide to take it slowly and not to participate in any formal tours. One of the first things we notice in this bay are the sea lions. They’re everywhere! We are warned to leave our dinghies up in the davits unless we want sea lions sleeping in them. The transom on the back of the boat (also called the sugar scoop by the Brits) must be barricaded or they will come on the boat. We are told stories where they actually come inside the boat and are found sleeping in beds! At first, we leave the bottom platform open, thinking it’s kinda cute to have sea lions sleeping back there. After a couple days of disturbed sleep - platform is behind the master bedroom and we can hear them coughing, barking, etc all night - and scrubbing their smelly, oily yellow residue off the boat, we decide we’ve had enough cute sea lion exposure and block the transom. There’s an art to this. They keep climbing over the fenders or squeezing under them. Rob finally figures out the perfect fender configuration to keep them off.
Later that morning, Rob and I check out the town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (the capital of the Galapagos, but not the largest city). It’s not at all what we expected. It has a lovely waterfront with a large, curving walkway lined with little shops, restaurants and the occasional hotel. Because we can’t leave our dinghy at the dock, there’s water taxis available to take us into town for $1. We then walk up a path to the Interpretation Center and the entry into the Galapagos National Park. A curving stone path through scrub and small trees brings us to an overlook of a rocky bay below with a platform where people enter and exit to swim/snorkel. It’s quite beautiful - the boulders are a large black volcanic frame to the deep blue of the ocean. A couple slumbering sea lions share the platform with the swimmers. Our walk is really hot and the inviting bay below draws Rob for a quick dip to cool off. He learns quickly that the water here is much, much cooler than in Coiba. A mini lesson on the islands… The rich marine diversity of the Galápagos Islands stems from three different currents that converge here, two of which are quite cold (the Humboldt Current/South Equatorial Current and the Equatorial Undercurrent) and the warmer Panama Current, fed by the North Equatorial Countercurrent. The cold from the Equatorial Undercurrent is why cold water species, such as the Galapagos penguin, survive here. We’re excited to see all the critters that have floated or flown to these islands over the centuries and managed to survive.
We close the evening with a lovely dinner with Joe, Mary and Chris from Ostara, a British boat, at the restaurant Muyu, considered to be one of the best dining establishments in town. Lesson learned - don’t order beef in the Galapagos. Rob ordered a roast beef dish. We couldn’t determine where the beef was? Puréed? He thought they forgot to put it on his plate! Weird.
The 360 Tour is scheduled early the next morning. It involves snorkeling around the stark Kicker Rock, motoring past a couple areas to observe Frigate’s nesting and sea lions playing, as well as a couple beach stops. It is a complete 360 of San Cristobal Island. We share the power boat with the witty Irish bunch from s/v RiRa, along with lovely Martina(from Germany) and her son, Cedric, from s/v Altaia. Kicker Rock is by far the most fascinating of our stops. It’s a huge rock formation that rises out of the ocean. Skyscraper, sheer rock walls that plunge deeper into the ocean than their height into the sky. We snorkel the periphery with a guide who helps us spot various marine life. Several spotted eagle rays, large Galapagos sharks, white tip sharks and numerous varieties of fish, sea lions and sea turtles. This snorkel feels different for a few reasons. Firstly, the temperature of the water is quite chilly, even through my wet suit, and the visibility is only fair. Also, the depth of the water is very deep in many places, where only the blue abyss is evident below, even when you strain your eyes to make out anything. Add to that the fact there are many sharks meandering their way through the area. All of this combined lends to the thrill of simply being present in these waters. Toward the end of the snorkel, a couple of us are getting cold and head back to the dive boat. Big mistake. Rob is super excited when he returns to the boat to tell me about a massive fish bait ball that he swam through - spinning as he swam, only to witness a shark weaving closely behind him and sea lions pirouetting through the bait ball. By Rob’s enthusiasm as he relays his experience, I know it must have been spectacular. I’m sad I missed it. Later that evening we meet for an Oyster arranged Happy Hour with the other owners, most of whom are here, followed by a quick run in the rain to a sushi restaurant for dinner with s/v Altaia and s/v Skana.
On Saturday, the 9th, we have another early morning tour departure. This one is to return to Kicker Rock and scuba dive the same site we snorkeled yesterday. There’s some sense of trepidation with this dive. After all, there are lots of sharks, but we’ve also been warned about the current. At times, so powerful you cannot swim against it; you have to hold onto the rock wall and pull yourself along by your hands. Hmmm.
Our tour stops at a beach for a brief walk followed by a buoyancy check. Wearing 5-7 mm wetsuits (due to quite cold temperatures in the deeper water) causes us all to be much more buoyant than normal. One of the divers has to add 35 pounds to his weight belt in order to descend! Crazy. Once we’ve properly established our buoyancy and have situated ourselves with all the proper gear, we motor out to Kicker Rock. The dive is unlike any I’ve ever experienced. There’s not much in the way of coral growing on the rock walls, although the nooks and crannies in the walls are teeming with miniature life - different types of sea urchins, gobies, an occasional eel, small sea plants, etc. Portions of the dive have vast, hazy blue in every direction with intermittent sitings of large creatures gradually forming out of the haze, most notably the school of hammer head sharks, black and white tip sharks, Galapagos sharks, eagle rays and turtles. We strain our eyes in the distance in every direction, searching for a dark shape to gradually materialize into a sea creature. Kind of disturbing, really. But, also quite thrilling. We ascend after about 45 minutes and return to the boat for a warm up and snack.
The second dive was similar to a Jacque Cousteau special. It began like the first. We descended to about 40 feet and followed our dive master, Christian, along until he turned and gave us the hand gesture to cling onto the rocks. We all obediently obeyed. The current was visible around the corner of the rock - the water rushing by in the opening of a narrow channel. We had to pull ourselves around the corner into the current and along the wall. Current powerful enough I was quite sure I couldn’t swim against it if my handhold failed. Yeah - there’s no way I was letting go! Once we passed through the current, we followed Christian to the huge fish ball Rob had seen on the snorkel the day before. Absolutely enormous, situated against the wall and extending way out in an undulating, mass of activity as the fish swam in a tight, continuously moving circle. As I look back at the videos, they don’t capture the magnitude of size, but also the breadth of life bursting in and around this mass of bait fish. It attracted schools of sharks and barracuda, continuously circulating and diving sea lions, tuna, turtles, etc. Every direction we looked, there was activity. And we missed so much - I’d see a shark swim behind Rob, tap his shoulder and point, and by the time he turned around it would have disappeared in the misty blue beyond. As we swam into the ball, the fish separated for us and then closed in behind; we were completely encased in the dark mass. The water temperature inside this ball of energy was notably warmer than the water just outside it. I made sure to stay close to the others - it was quite disorienting, as the fish moved continuously vertically, horizontally, in every direction. In front of me, Rob’s fins disappeared as the fish closed around him. Suddenly, I felt very alone. I allowed that to happen only once, staying close until we moved out of the fish ball. It’s hard to describe what a unique and thrilling experience this dive was. High on our list of favorite activities on the rally thus far. See video in the link below.
Our last day in San Cristobal is rainy. We spend most of it searching for decent coffee beans, fruits and vegetables at tiny grocery stores and preparing the boat for an early departure on Monday. The following morning, we’re up at 5 am and the next 10 hours we motor sail to Isabela Island. We are reminded how handy our centerboard is upon arrival because we can tuck up in the shallow bay, out of the swell that is rocking the other sailboats back and forth, day after day. I probably appreciate it the most because I end up catching a stomach bug that’s been moving around the fleet, and for three days I’m boat bound. Rob, Calvin and Ellie spend one day trip snorkeling the volcano tunnels, Los Tuneles. The following day, Rob goes on a 10 mile hike with the crews from Distraction and Tir Na Noq up to the Sierra Negra Volcano and then around the active caldera, which is the largest one in the Galapagos. They settle after their long day at the bohemian Pink Iguana beach bar for a well-deserved beverage. Calvin, Ellie and I join the party a couple hours later to find a drunken lot taking turns trying to walk along a taut strap tied between two stumps, about two feet above the sand. Alcohol may reduce inhibitions; it definitely impedes balance! The Spaniard, Fernando, from s/v Poco Loco put us all to shame by gracefully traversing the entire line. Multiple times. We look forward to picking up our Galapagos guide tomorrow, which will allow us to enter in many areas of the islands that we would otherwise be prohibited. hg
All of this sounds awesome and a bit terrifying. I think I prefer fish balls served with crackers...