Our Great Adventure: Galapagos / Isla Santa Cruz Day 288 03/07/2015

We were up early for our flight to the Galapagos, setting off from the hotel just after 0530. Too be honest, contrary to Lonely Planet's write up, there doesn't appear to be much to keep you in Guayaquil and we were glad to be on our way. It didn't take long to get to the airport as the taxi sped down the dual carriageway like a maniac. At the airport our bags were scanned and security tagged, an additional precaution for flights to the Galapagos in an attempt to help protect the fragile landscape. We also needed to pay a transit control fee to travel between the mainland and islands but had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the ticket counter to open! Our flight left on time and we landed on Isla Baltra, north of Isla Santa Cruz. At the airport we paid our park fees of 100USD each, had our passports stamped with Galapagos sign, waited whilst our bags were checked by a sniffer dog and headed out to meet our fellow passengers (14 in total) and guide for the trip, Billy. The Galapagos Islands are 1000km off the coast of Ecuador straddling the equator. There are over 50 islands in the archipelago spread over an area of c4500 sq kms. Life forms here have evolved into species found only in Galapagos. There were observed by Charles Darwin in 1835, became a National Park in 1959 to protect the unique flora and fauna and World Heritage status. Since 2007 Unesco has treated them as being 'in danger'. To help protect the islands the park authorities allow access to c 50 visitor sites, all other areas are off limits. We travelled the short distance to the dock by bus where our boats dingies were waiting to take us to our boat, the Beluga. The Beluga is a 110ft length, 23ft beam motor vessel with steel hull. It cruises at 12 knots and has 7 crew members who we met shortly after boarding including Jose the captain, Segundo the cook and Abel the waiter/barman. The boat carries 4 kayaks which we were looking forward to going out in. We were in cabin 1 on the lower deck at the back of the boat. It was the least desirable of the cabins on board and we soon found out by far the noisiest but then we did get a great deal on the trip! We set off heading towards Cerro Dragon on Isla Santa Cruz, with frigate birds following the boat and resting on the masts, where we anchored and had lunch before setting off in the dingies for our afternoon trip. The landing was wet and we waded ashore in knee deep crystal clear water and set off on a short walk, plagued by mosquitos initially. The first thing we noticed was how fearless the islands inhabitants were. We spotted numerous Galapagos land iguanas, up to 1 meter in length and yellow and brown in colour. Despite their fearsome appearance they are harmless vegetarians. The island was quite lush considering it's volcanic nature with cactus and incense trees in abundance. Finches (there are 13 species in the archipelago) and mockingbirds were in abundance in the surrounding vegetation. Further along the path we reached a brackish laguna where 3 flamingos were feeding. They are the world's largest species and are endangered due to the lack of food. Near the shore a blue heron was resting and land iguana's, the only seagoing lizard, were basking in the sunshine along with lava lizards. As we reached the beach we had our first sighting of Sally lightfoot crabs, amazingly agile and bright orange in colour. It was a lovely setting with sea lions playing in the shallow waters, land iguanas coming out of the water after feeding and Orca Hill as the back drop. Getting into the dingies was a bit tricky due to the tide and slippy lava rock. Back on board the Beluga we reflected on what a great first day we'd had whilst enjoying a beer on deck and watching the sun set. Dinner was an enjoyable affair and we soon set sail heading for Isla Sante Fe. We sat star gazing before retiring, pleased we'd got ear plugs with us!