I wake up on the upper deck warmly wrapped in my blanket. The sun is halfway above the horizon and the wind blows gently across my salted face. I smile wide, get up, stretch out stiff muscles and take a look around.
We are anchored in fairly calm waters in a near circular bay, high grey cliffs climbing quickly out of the salt water. There’s something strange about Tagus cove though, the galapagos has so far been an all but untouched natural paradise for these past five days. A few paths, a few boardwalks, and one town, but here, scrawled all over the grey cliffs, is graffiti. Tons of it. I remember as I head to breakfast that Johan told us about this and that most of it was left behind by whalers, and a few pirates, who would land and capture the giant tortoises for food purposes. tortoise was extremely popular not just for it’s taste but because the animals can live a full year with no food. Cheap, fresh meat. Of course now you’re not allowed to eat them, though I can’t quite put my finger on why.
I get to breakfast and continue my streak of not missing out on muesli. Soon after we’re climbing into the dingy’s for a hike up those cliffs to Darwin’s lake as well as an excellent look out.
Not one for changing, the landscape is barren as we climb up a well defined path to the top of the first set of cliffs. We see sea lions and turtles in the water, heads popping up occasionally for air. Johan leads us through a stark forest of leafless trees and scrubland clinging to life in the windiest place we’ve been so far. Countless finches buzz from branch to branch around us, but beyond that and a lava lizard or two, there’s not any animals to be found.
Darwin’s lake is more of a huge salt water lagoon, bordered mostly by high cliffs, and then by a narrow strip of land separating it from the coast. The water is hugely salty and does not do much to sustain any life, for this reason we don’t see a collection of animals around it.
We continue up higher and pass another group, again with an age imbalance and I look to all my new friends and feel thankful I listened to Betty back in Puerto Ayora and booked my cruise with Guantanamera. Among other reasons, for photos like this.
We reach the uneven peak of this section of the island and look out at a collapsed caldera, the blue sea in the distance. As we clamber up through thick heavy volcanic sand onto the rocks themselves I take a moment to just breath and stare out at the scene. Almost as far as the eye can sea the deep red earth before me is dotted with tiny white spindly plants, giving the place a feeling of another planet.
As we prepare for our walk back down to the boat I stop Christian and suggest another multiple Luke panorama shot. He gladly obliges though in the rough terrain it’s difficult to move with the true velocity i’m capable of. We still pull of something pretty decent though, even If I do take a bit of a spill off camera along the way.
We hurriedly head back to Guantanamera for a snack before grabbing our snorkelling gear and piling back into the dingy’s. They drive us out a ways and we’re told there will be plenty of sea turtles and that’s got me good and excited, especially since the water’s calmer and visibility should be a lot better.
We jump off the boat and into what most would call chilly waters and I’m instantly immersed in the underwater opera on show for anyone with a mask and the time to look. Johan wasn’t lying and after 15 minutes in the water we’ve all lost track of the amount of turtles we’ve seen, but this snorkel is especially plentiful we see countless fish, two types of rays, and another white tip shark. Max, the friendly swiss doctor and excellent free diver is kind enough to take my camera down with him to check out a ray. That and many other videos follow.
Johan finally forces us back onto the dinghy’s where we hurry back to Guantanamera ands set sail immediately for Fernandina. Most of us sit on the front of the boat in the lounging chairs searching for dolphins in the water. We spot one or two jumping in the distance but not much else before the bell is rung for lunch.
I’m buzzing with excitement the whole time as Fernandina, the youngest island in the Galapagos, and one supposedly even more full of wildlife. I wolf down lunch and remember at the last moment to put on some sunscreen as we climb into the dinghy’s and move in to land. As we motor in towards the rocky landing we pass by a turtle and several swimming marine iguanas, which still look strange in the water to me.
From the moment I set foot on Fernandina it is almost as if I’m on a different planet, one which suffers from Iguana overpopulation in all it’s glory much as this one does with humanity.
Marine Iguana’s surround us as we wander out of a mangrove forest and onto a series of stunning beaches, accented by the ever present black lava rocks. As we get closer to the accents I suddenly notice that they also have more than their fair share of accents, in the form of thousands of marine Iguanas. This many together is truly overwhelming and we stand their stunned, picking our way through a crowded path, and snapping photos until our fingers are sore. They are everywhere and they have a strange beauty to them. It’s also to amazing as the huge groups of them all seem to spit very loudly. Johan tells us it’s closer to a sneeze and that it’s using a gland near the nose to help get rid of the salt from the water.
We continue along past the endless colony’s of marine iguana’s watching them leap off rocks and into the water as others return to shore climbing out of the sea their scaly skin glistening in the bright sunlight.
I even encounter an unlikely friendship between a lava lizard and one of the bigger male iguanas. I do believe the pictures speak for themselves.
We come to another beach and find a sea lion swimming in the shallows and most definitely posing for all of us. She sat there in the shallows soaking up sun and all of our attention for quite a while. Julie and I felt committed to finding a way to bring her back home with us. Honestly, a fight almost breaks out over who gets more custody. Johan ruins it all by informing us that exporting sea lions is strictly prohibited. Stupid rules.
She eventually leaves the water behind and finds a comfy lounging spot as seen here.
She then proceeds to pose for more photos with us quite amenably, even staring up at me to add a uniqueness to one of my shots. (See Julie, she liked me best!)
We continue along and find still more colonies of Marine Iguana’s, crabs, Sea Lions, as well as pelicans and gulls.
The island is utterly infested with life. Including this sea lion pup making a move for the waters.
Of course, with life there also comes death. We nimbly hop out onto a rock outcropping and find a rotting sea lion in a tide pool. There’s a few dead birds littering the ground two, and we even pass an overheated and rotting marine Iguana carcass. The great circle of Death in action.
It’s strange but dead birds tend to bring a smile to my face, my parents taught is in costa rica that it was a signal of a good trip, and that’s kind of stuck in my head. Still, with so many beautiful animals around us, it’s sad to see them dead.
We continue onto a beautiful outcropping point and i grab some panoramas of the incredible scene. We also pose for some photos with one of the smaller colonies of marine iguanas sunning themselves on the beach.
Phil even gets in on the act of the multiple panorama, but sadly the camera’s acting up so you only get two Phil’s.
At the edge of the point we find Sea Lions in the water, two flightless cormorants, and, you guessed it, more marine Iguanas.
We return from the point and I’m unable to help myself, pulling off my masterwork, a panorama with four of me, and a huge male seal through sheer coincidence. (Though I certainly hope to break the record of four one day.)
We’re about to head back when we find two Seal pups playing in a narrow channel of shielded water. They climb in and out with great difficulty, jawing at each other and climbing all over one another. They are on a short list for the cutest thing I have ever seen. (Though they will be eclipsed in a few days)
I head back reluctantly, though I’ve got a smile on my face as next come’s another snorkel.
After a short snack on board we’re back in the dingy’s and before too long in the water. It rivals the morning’s session for the best yet. The waters are calm and clear and as I snorkel along doing my best to separate from the group without getting yelled at countless wonders swim by me. There are plenty of turtles at first, swimming all around me, but there is so much more in store.
First I swim through a veritable forest of sea urchins, strongly reminded of Nova Scotia.
Countless fish dart in and out of the protective shadows of algae covered rocks and I stumble upon a new species of shark, much smaller than the white tip, but also very beautiful. Johan finds me towards the end of my time with the wondrous Cat shark and he is thrilled by it. Apparently it’s been four months since he’s seen one.
As I continue one of our group manages to help me find another feeding marine Iguana. The strangeness of watching this hasn’t faded and it’s still incredibly cool.
From there I continue for a while swimming through schools of fish and more greenback sea turtles, until suddenly I stumble upon two true giants. I must say I thought the greenbacks were huge, but these two turtles lounging on the bottom are unbelievably big, almost as long as I am and somehow, though it may be hard to believe, much rounder. I start a video but curse my own stupidity as the go pro stops working, the SD card of 32 GB already full.
In some ways though it’s nice to be liberated of the need to film and as I snorkel along with these two giants a third joins them. They are truly awe inspiring creatures in the water and again I feel as if I’m a lone human in prehistoric times as I glide along beside them for a good while. Johan tells me they are a different species of turtles, one of four in the galapagos, but frustratingly I cannot remember the name of the species anymore.
Almost as soon as I leave the turtles behind I am joined by a friendly sea lion spinning all around me and blowing bubbles towards my face. After frolicking with me for a few minutes she loses interest and heads on her way.
As I continue along the shallow reefs of Fernandina I see a penguin swimming off to my right. Before I can get too close we’re called back to the dinghy’s but it’s another snorkelling target off the list.
We return to the boat and set sail for one of our longest sails of the day. As the sun sets we are told to watch for whales and though I’m doubtful of finding any we miraculously get the call and sea too humpbacks making their way though the water some distance away. Not a highlight of the trip, but still pretty awesome.
We eat another delicious dinner and I’m chosen to be one of three to take a photo of the GPS as we cross the equator shortly after dinner. I’m going to boast now, but I’m the only one who timed the photo right, so here it is everyone, crossing the equator.
I reluctantly make the chose to sleep in my cabin because of a significant knee problem that’s just been growing and growing over the past few days, It’s at the point where I can’t straighten my legs without immense crippling pain and the only cause I can think of is my legs dangling off the edge of the lounging chairs as I sleep. It’s a cloudy night anyway, so I’m not missing too many stars.
I go to sleep with a grin on my face, Fernandina in direct competition with Genovese for my favourite island in the galapagos, and If I’m honest, it wins by a hair. (But don’t tell Genovese I said that!)
And now! More Marine Iguanas.
