I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Galapagos in the summer of 2007 while my sister, Adair, was living in the Galapagos for a year doing research at the Darwin Research Center. My brother, Alex, accompanied me on this once in a lifetime journey. A journey that I will never forget. A journey that has made me far richer than money ever could.
The following in an excerpt from a journal entry I wrote while on a 5 day boat tour of the Galapagos:
3 July 2007
Today was another fabulous and luxurious day with the animals, birds and sea life of the Galapagos. We started the day with a hike on Española Island, a hot bed of wildlife activity despite the fact that the 4 million year old island is dying. The island itself has huge rocky cliffs with giant waves crashing against them and is covered with black lava rocks.
The coastline of Espanola Island of the Galapagos
We saw a plethora of big beautiful red and gray Marine Iguanas, found only in the Galapagos, sunning themselves on the rocks. These reptiles have the unique ability to forage in the sea and can dive over 30 feet in the water. As usual, the Galapagos inhabitant was not shy and I was able to get some close photos.
The beautiful Marine Iguana's sunning themselves.
After hiking for a short while and carefully navigating the slippery lava rocks, we came upon the majestic Waved Albatross. There was a male and female near the walking path in the middle of their interesting mating ritual. It was a spectacular sight to see as they tapped beaks back and forth, as if in a sword fight, and then raised their heads up and down. You can watch a snippet of the elusive courtship dance that I had the pleasure of witnessing in the 34 second video below, taken by Adair.
Incredibly, the entire world's population of adult Waved Albatrosses return to Española every year during the nesting season, from April to December.
A mama albatross with her baby
We also got to see the albatross land clumsily upon the lava rocks (and I saw Disney's inspiration for Orville, the albatross in The Rescuers). We then saw another one of these great birds of the sea, they are the largest birds in the Galapagos, jump right off the cliff in order to take flight more easily with his massive wings. What wonderful displays of nature these islands hold!
We also saw more Blue-Footed Boobies.
Once back on the dingy on the way to our Eden yacht, we saw the marine iguanas in action as they swam out to the rocks where they feed on algae. Back aboard the boat I took a short nap and then it was time to go snorkeling in the glorious Galapagos waters teeming with life. The water was cold but it was well worth it to see the hundreds of beautiful tropical fish along with a graceful sea turtle.
The snorkeling in the Galapagos was great!
After lunch I took another nap which confirmed that life aboard the Eden is good (as if there was ever any doubt). We then had the opportunity to spend two hours on a gorgeous white sand beach on Española where the sea lions were numerous as usual.
Sea lions on the beach.
Adair and I took a walk up the beach and found a spot among the rocks where we could watch the sea turtles from a bluff on the beach. It was so peaceful to sit there on the warm sand looking out at the aqua blue water and seeing the turtle's head pop out of the water to get air.
We also saw lots of the lovely Red Rock Crabs.
Watching the wildlife this way, I felt like I had gone back in time to witness how the earth was before mankind took over. I am so thankful there is still a place in this world where the animals can thrive and so blessed to have experienced it. Once back aboard the Eden, we were greeted with a wonderful snack and witnessed a lovely sunset over the Pacific. Life does not get any better than this!
Sunset in the Galapagos
For more pictures of the wildlife on Española, Click Here.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels. I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people discover our big beautiful world! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities. If you would like to receive weekly travel specials from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for ourExclusive Travel Specials.
I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Galapagos in the summer of 2007 while my sister, Adair, was living in the Galapagos for a year doing research at the Darwin Research Center. My brother, Alex, accompanied me on this once in a lifetime journey. A journey that I will never forget. A journey that has made me richer than money ever could.
My brother, Alex, and sister, Adair in the Galapagos
On our first full day, we went to the Darwin Research Center and I was extremely fortunate to meet Lonesome George. This giant tortoise was the last remaining Pinta Island tortoise, and sadly passed away in 2012 along with any remaining hope that his subspecies would live on after him.
Lonesome George
The following in an excerpt from a journal entry I wrote while visiting the Galapagos: 2 July 2007 Today I am on the 2nd day of a 5 day boat tour of the Galapagos Islands.This morning our boat took us to the North Seymour island where the majestic Blue-Footed Booby are mating and nesting.
The Blue-Footed Booby
This was an incredible display of nature only steps off the path we walked. You couldn't walk more than 5 paces before seeing another Blue-Footed Booby nest.
Blue-Footed Booby Nest
We saw several babies from every age from as young as a couple days old to a young adult.
A mama Blue-Footed Booby with babies only days old
A mama is still feeding her young adult
We also got to see the beautiful mating dance where the male Booby lifts his magnificent blue feet, spreads his wings, and whistles, all trying to impress his impressive mate.
The Blue-Footed Booby mating dance
We then saw male Frigatebirds, who were also trying to attract a prospective mate. They have a red pouch under their beak that they inflate so it looks like a big red balloon attached to their neck. It was absolutely awesome.
The male Frigatebird
The male Frigatebird's impressive wings
Along the path we also saw evidence that life and death go hand in hand. There were a couple dead baby Boobies who where kicked out of the nest by their stronger sibling. We also saw a dead baby sea lion whose mother could not feed it, so she saved herself. Isn't life a wonderful yet sad and vast mystery?
There were a LOT of sea lions on North Seymour
I found it so interesting to walk among animals and birds that had no fear of us and no natural predators. I imagined that walking that trail would have been almost identical 100 years ago. It was such a treat for me to spend a half a day feeling as if I was at one with God's natural environment.
We also saw the beautiful Galapagos land iguana.
Once back on our boat, a tasty lunch was followed a Bridas Whale sighting. It was a pair of whales who would swim a few minutes under water where we couldn't see them. As soon as we heard them blowing through their blow hole, we could follow the sound and spot their massive backs again in the water. I also saw the mighty whale tail as a whale went back under the water. This was my first ever whale sighting only one day after I had my first dolphin sighting of over a hundred dolphins frolicking near our boat. As I stood there staring at the Pacific Ocean I marveled at this beautifully diverse world and realized how very lucky and blessed I am to see these wonders of nature.
Our boat, the Eden
After a glorious 2 hour nap, I woke up to the bell on the boat signaling it was time to snorkel. I threw on my swimsuit & wetsuit, gulped down some instant coffee to wake up and was ready to go. Once in the chilly water, I was ready to see some marine life. It wasn't long before I was swimming with the baby sea lions. They were incredible! They love to play so I would dive down to the bottom and flip around and they would follow me down and do flips of their own. It was amazing, tons of fun and a travel moment I will never forget! Other than sea lions, we saw some tropical fish and a couple of majestic spotted eagle rays.
The friendly and playful sea lions
My sea lion impression
After snorkeling, we went in the dingy to see more rays, white tipped sharks and sea turtles. The sea life show concluded with a spectacular show of Golden Rays that Adair and I saw form aboard our boat, the Eden. What a wonderful place this is and how incredibly lucky I am to experience it!
For more pictures of the Galapagos wildlife on North Seymour, click here.
I hope that you have enjoyed reading my entry from this Traveling Travel Agent's travels. I am a travel agent because I love to travel and I love helping other people discover our big beautiful world! Through strategic partnerships, I offer my clients preferred rates, complimentary upgrades and extra amenities. If you would like to receive weekly travel specials from my agency, Purple Palm Vacations, please sign up for ourExclusive Travel Specials.
