Galapagos

 Santa Cruz is one of the populated islands in the Galapagos.  We woke up to a bay full of different kinds of boats, from two NatGeo ships, to a tall master sail boat, to individual sail boats.  We had an early breakfast so we could go on the 7:30 farm tour.  Once in port we took a small bus to a farm in the highlands.  This farm grows sugar cane, limes, avocados, and pineapples.  They also give a demonstration of the products they make including sugar cane moonshine and candy.  They gave out samples so we were zoomed up on sugar by the time we went on our walking tour. The fields surrounding the farm were  our next destination.  This is where we would find the Galapagos tortoises sleeping, eating, walking, and yes, having sex.  Nature is wonderful, giving the male tortoise a concave under shell that fits well with the female’s top shell.  This is not a noiseless activity with them making a sound very similar to a mooing cow.  ...

 This morning was much more relaxed.  If you wanted adventure you could kayak on one of the two offered excursions, otherwise zodiacs would take you to the beach for a relaxing morning.  The unusual feature on the beach was a post office of sorts.  A barrel collects mail (post cards in our case).  As others come and deposit their mail they are supposed to sort through the deposits and take with them mail going near their home to post upon their return.  While we decided to read in our suite, we did send a couple of cards to be deposited in the barrel.  We’ll see if we receive them someday. After lunch was the snorkeling opportunity for the day.  This site had a stronger current but the water was slightly warmer.  The group we were with struggled a little more which made it a little less pleasant.  The highlight for me was swimming with the sea lions.  I think if I would have been closer to the shore I would have seen the babies but ...

 This morning we awoke to the tree covered bay of Tagus.  An adventure walk and a zodiac tour were both offered for the early morning.  We chose to stay and sleep a little longer but I’m sure both were excellent. Midmorning was the snorkeling for the day.  The water was a little colder than yesterday but still quite tolerable.  There was also a lot more debris in the water which is what I believe was responsible for for more schools of fish.  The first thing I noticed when I jumped in was all the small silver fish swimming in schools, changing directions along with the tide and sometimes flashing silver from the light.  These are the fish the penguins love.  There was a group of 5 or 6 of them torpedoing through the water right beside us.  There was also flightless cormorants doing the same.  A little later in the swim I saw several sea turtles with fish cleaning their shells.  On the cliffs was a nest of baby pelicans.  Every ...

 This morning I awoke to the most beautiful sunrise.  We had positioned overnight to the seahorse shaped island of Isabela .  This morning’s activities started with a zodiac tour of the coastline.  We were able to see blue footed boobies, swimming and lounging iguanas, sea lions (there are no seals in Galapagos ), flightless cormorants, and various other birds.  This was my favorite zodiac tour so far. We had a few minutes to get changed before the snorkeling tour for the day.  All of the snorkeling going forward is from the boat but this really is an easy option. The wet suits keep you afloat as you drift along the coastline.  Immediately upon jumping into the water we saw our first sea turtle of the excursion. This would the first of many turtles was would see both swimming and relaxing.  The water was a little more brisk this morning but still nice enough to enjoy the water.  We again saw an ocean teaming with life.  There was a littl...

 The Galapagos are oceanic islands because they were never connected to the mainland.  They were/are made by by hotspots in the crust under the ocean.  The volcano’s are shield volcanoes which means when they erupt it’s not violent like what we think of but are more of a gentle lava flow.  This morning’s hike allowed us to see how the islands are made up of these lava flows.  We took zodiacs to Bartolome Island.   A man made boardwalk of 388 steps leads up to the top for an amazing viewpoint.  This hike is about seeing how the islands are formed.  The main animal life on the island is lizards although we also saw pelicans, crabs, blue footed boobies, and the little Galapagos penguins.  While slightly challenging , the guides were very good to make frequent stops to recover.  At the top we were able to take pictures of vista of several of the islands and the ocean.   Two different snorkeling  trips were offered.  For those ...