Galapagos - Aboard the yacht Letty (2 of 5)

Frigate bird hitching a ride

      My last post ended with our arrival at the aeroporto  on the island of San Cristobal in the Galapagos. Here we were escorted by our naturalist guides Jose and Gaby through the little town of Puerto Baquero Morenoto the harbor. There we were loaded for the first of many rides aboard one of the two rubber Zodiac dinghies carried by the Letty for the short ride out to our yacht, anchored peacefully in the harbor. The Letty was to be our home, our transport, and our entertainment for the next week. We traveled during the nights to different islands, then awoke early each morning to new and different island experience.

Harbor at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

Lots of boats!

View to P.B.M.; the Flamingo, Letty's sister ship.

    The Galapagos are a group of volcanic islands well out in the Pacific Ocean from Ecuador. Just as with other island groups they were formed by volcanic activity over a "hot spot" in the earth's crust. As the tectonic plates shifted slowly over time, the spot remained and different islands eventually formed. In the Galapagos the newer islands are to the north and west, with the older ones to the south and east. There are about a dozen major islands and many smaller, even tiny ones. Active volcanoes remain on two big islands, Fernandina and Isabella, on the western side. The other islands have been passed over and most are not active now, but you can easily see the old lava flows and cones.

     The group spreads out over a vast expanse of ocean, too distant and too far apart to see everything even in a couple of weeks. From most islands you cannot see any others, and when they are closer, usually only one other. They are all part of an Ecuadoran national park to which access is strictly limited. We paid a park entry fee on landing - all passengers do. Only a few scientists can visit most places; in fact, 99% of the island land area is off-limits to anybody without a special permit. The powers that be have finally figured out that there is far more economic stability by preserving these islands as a nature refuge than by trying to exploit them with farming, or even tourist hotels and such - though we saw many beaches that would be the envy of vacationers anywhere. Tourists can land on just a few designated places, and with very limited numbers allowed. These are assigned out in such a manner that the tourist boats have routes to which they must strictly adhere.

     Our yacht, the Letty, is one of three very similar boats operated by the same owners. It carried a crew of about eight people, and 18 tourists. Each boat must have park naturalists aboard; you cannot go on land without a naturalist with you. Ours were Gaby and Jose, who calls himself Pepe. They were lively, informative and very friendly. We also had our captain, Ronaldo our server, and others to man the boats, cook, and perform all the tasks of operating a ship at sea.

     We were very fortunate to have been placed with a group of wonderful people aboard the Letty. There were two couples, and two other families with older (adult) children, 18 souls in all. Everyone was so pleasant and interesting. The conversation was always stimulating. The yacht's crew hosted an on-board party the final night, with music and dancing. Thanks to everyone for such an enjoyable cruise!

Dining room on Letty

Inside lounge/social area on letty

     On the first day we took the Zodiacs (there were two) for a snorkeling expedition before dinner was served. Then we weighed anchor to make our nighttime run to our first destination.

     Here is the daily plan: we were awakened early in the morning, served a hearty and fine breakfast, then loaded in the Zodiacs for a hike on shore. Each day's hike had two options: a longer one, and a shorter, easier hike for anyone who was not up to the longer. On both hikes you could see almost everything there was to see. We had "dry" landings on a rock or small pier occasionally, but most were "wet" landings where we simply hopped out of the Zodiac into the surf and walked onto a beach. After the morning hike we went back to the Letty. Ronaldo was always there to greet us with a tray of fresh fruit juices and a snack. Then we changed, went back to the Zodiacs, and were taken for a snorkeling ride. Back at the Letty we were served a lunch and had a siesta up on the top deck in the afternoon heat. Then back to the Zodiacs for another hike (sometimes after a short cruise), back to the Letty for another round of juices and snacks, then another snorkeling expedition before finally returning for dinner. Ronaldo and his crew went all out for dinner - several courses, white linen, desserts, wine. By then the sun was setting, a perfect time to lounge on the top deck, see the sunset and stars, and discuss the day. Each evening Gaby and Pepe held a talk, discussing what we had seen that day, and telling us what we will see tomorrow. Overnight, our caption steered us to the next island on the itinerary while we slept, so we could wake up at a new island and do it all again there.

     Here's a frigate bird hitching a ride as we motored to another snorkeling site:

   The Galapagos are so widespread and so different that a week was far too little time to see everything. We were on the "southern" route, the older islands; there is also a "northern" route covering islands we never even saw.

     Words are simply insufficient to describe the beauty and the unique fascination of the Galapagos. Everyone knows of the connection to Charles Darwin, and you can see what he saw each day. Every island had different animals and a different habitat. None of the animals have any fear of man. You can walk right up to them and touch them - though getting too close, and especially touching or interfering in any way is strictly forbidden. But we stood so close to sea lions, nesting frigate birds, courting blue-footed boobies, and iguanas! The most fascinating experience was watching a mother frigate bird feed her young from her own gullet - which we saw maybe ten feet away! Such extraordinary experiences became almost routine, but never boring!

Frigate bird on the radio mast!

     One island is different - Santa Cruz. While most are barren or covered in scrub, Santa Cruz is a tropical jungle. Here we were taken to a "tortoise farm" where the huge tortoises roam at will. Also here is the Charles Darwin Station, essentially a hatchery for tortoises. each island has its own variation of tortoise adapted to its environment there. The station grows tortoises of all remaining varieties (a few have died out, or more accurately been hunted to extinction in the past) to preserve each sub-species. At a certain size they are returned to their island, while new babies grow. Santa Cruz has the only town of any size in the Galapagos, Puerto Ayora, perhaps 30,000 people live there. There are maybe two other much smaller towns, and a couple remaining outlying settlements with very few people. Puerto Ayora is where you stock up on batteries, postcards, tourist junk, and the like. I bought an Abbey Road/Galapagos T-shirt (you have to see it) and of course a small stuffed blue-footed booby which now is sitting on this computer.







OK, here's the shirt, though of a different color: actually, Tom made me buy it, or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I am, after all, an incorrigible Beatles fan.

Harbor scene in Puerto Ayora.

     There is way too much to describe all at once, so simply proceed to the next couple posts for some photos of the islands taken during the trip. These next posts will have far less talk, but more  photos taken on the islands and underwater, and several videos as well.