Galápagos Islands!

Galapagos
Imagine waking up each day and finding yourself on a different planet...seeing Genesis 1 happening before your very eyes...God creating the sea, the land and animals. That's the only way I can even begin to describe the Galapagos. Landscapes...each island boasting its uniqueness both on land and in the sea...only here....only here.

Day 1- Santa Cruz Island
We flew from Guayaquil to Santa Cruz island...about 600 miles off shore and our guide, Johan met us at the airport and quickly we were on our ship, The Guantanamera, home for the next week. The ship with a crew of 8 and 15 passengers sailed to a nearby sparking white beach where we saw the first of hundreds of scarlet red crabs, black lizards, flamingoes and frigate birds with their flaming red throat blown up like balloons. We put on our fins & mask to see what was in the gorgeous turquoise sea...fish in all sizes and colors instantly appeared! A bountiful buffet...which was set 3 days a day every day...was ready when we got back on board. Johan recapped the day and gave us the plan for the next day...as he would each evening. We went to bed in our cozy little cabin, rocked to sleep by the waves and completely in awe.

Day 2 -Genovesa Island
Day began at 6:30 with our first view of Genovesa Island, breakfast at 7 and snorkeling by 8...again at 11...and again at 3...all in different bays and each like a peep hole into a uniquely secret world. We swam with small damsel fish who seem to have a tiny LED light attached to their fins, parrot fish chomping on coral, brightly colored puffer fish, clown fish, and countless others I can't name but enjoyed company with. But it was the 4' hammerhead sharks that circled below me and the rays that waved as it flew past me...that made my heart stop. Between snorkeling, we hiked the beaches where a mom sea lion slept with her 2 day old cub...later we passed frigate birds munching on the placenta. Nazca and red footed boobies (bird) watched as we snapped photos of their fluffy white chicks. Coal black marine iguanas rested on the lava rocks...almost invisible...blue & yellow crown heron fished in small pools where sea lions played and the Galapagos doves called to the passing swallow tailed gulls. Sound surreal??? It was.

Day 3 - Bartolome Island & Santiago Island
When I looked out our cabin window, I was amazed again...during the night we'd sailed to Bartolome Island...truly another world! The blues of the water & sky contrasted with the deepest black lava shoreline with a massive pinnacle shooting up! The water around us was crystal clear so we could easily spot the black tip sharks circling our boat. By 8, we were snorkeling in a large crater surrounded by a rainbow of fish and below me were glowing red & blue starfish...like looking at the night sky in living color...reef sharks peeked out from the caves and spotted rays floated by. It was the playful penguins...only about 1 ft tall...spinning around and hopping up on the rocks and the sea lions about 5 ft mimicking the moves of Jordan (another passenger) right in front of me that made me laugh (and that is hard to do with a snorkel in your mouth!) What a joyful time! After lunch we climbed to the top of a volcanic mountain for an extraordinary view of the area ...surrounded by 66 craters...all which had exploded years ago at the same time. Unimaginable! Here we took a mass of photos including one with the Foggy Bottom Coffee Ship flag and a group shot of all our traveling buddies. Before we left the island, we saw the first of many Darwin land lizards and the blue footed boobies perched on a small island of lava rocks. Later we cruised to Santiago Island ...a mass of lave that from a distance looked flat but once ashore we could see the diverse designs left by the 1910 eruptions that created them... marvelously minute and massive swirls...chunks, some smooth as glass and others ragged as broken glass...ridges that looked just like long lengths of ropes...frozen bubbles. Overall, it was like the mountain took a huge dump. And then it dried & cracked, heaving up section and leaving craters and holes. The heat from the hot sun was absorbed in the lava so we felt like we were in a 350 degree oven! And yet, we saw a few tiny green plants bravely taking root...beginning the huge job of creating sand so that someday...in the far distant future...this island would flourish! No way could I remember let alone write all the info that Johan shares with us. He seems to know not only the names, numbers & dates, but habits, causes and problems of the plants and animals we encounter. He knows the history and has hope for the future. He is not just a guide. He is not just a native of Galapagos. He is a part of Galapagos. You could hear it in his voice as he pointed out the different islands from the top of the volcano...saying each island's name...then saying...my islands...the enchanted islands.

Galapagos History Lesson
Learning bits and pieces about the Galapagos history each day has truly enriched our experience. Darwin visited the island for 5 weeks in 1835 and then fisherman & pirates came ashore for a bit. In 1929, the first inhabitants...from Germany...settled here and the very first native was born in 1931...in a cave. He only recently died. In the early 40's, the German Angermeyer brothers came here to escape Nazi Germany. Their story is in My Father's Island, the book Rog & I are reading aloud....also friends of a woman we met earlier in Canoa. A few islands served as a USA military base in WWII and the famous pinnacle is the results of the bombs dropped during military practice here. Galapagos became a National Park in 1959 but strict rules were not enforced until 1997. In 1998, the Ecuadorian army had to come and stop the Isabellion islanders from attacking the National Park headquarters. Many islands are now closed to visitors...only a few scientists are allowed to visit...to allow them to evolve naturally. All tours must be led by a licensed, Galapagos born guide and the tours & cruise routes are set up and strictly enforced by the National Park. Scientist & volunteers are working furiously to eradicate non-native plants and animals. Let nature take its course was the theme loudly and adamantly proclaimed. But ironically, the scientist have discovered similar islands below the ocean surface just 200 mi. from the mainland and they know that the Galapagos islands are moving 5 to 7 cm a year so will probably one day also sink into the vast ocean only to be replace by new volcanic action over the hot spot where the current Galapagos islands sit. Amazing!!!
Imagine waking up each day and finding yourself on a different planet...seeing Genesis 1 happening before your very eyes...God creating the sea, the land and animals. That's the only way I can even begin to describe the Galapagos.