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| Mum and Me |
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| Sealion tumbling anyone? |
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| Just playing |
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| Mother getting to grips with snorkling |
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| The pressure isnt good down there! |
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| SHARK alert |
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| ITS SO CUTE! |
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| Very Tiny Sea Lion Pup |
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| Its a Penguin! |
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| Marine Iguana |
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| Just having a bite to eat |
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| Turtle Close up! |
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| Me and a Sea Lion |
Sante Fa and South Plaza
Sleeping on a boat for the first time was certainly an experience and definitely hard to sleep as when we started moving i woke up. After an early breakfast and a wet landing on the beach at Sante Fa we started walking around the island. We saw a large group of Galapagos Hawks waiting to feed on a dead sealion baby which was sad but nature is nature after all. A sealion then came right up to sniff me which was crazy how small and close it was. On the walk we saw our first type of land iguanas.
Once back on the boat we went for our first snorkel! I got to see a very young sealion which i go really close to and a shark along with the huge array of fish. As we swam towards the shore we found our selves playing with a group of sealions which was so cool. We then got taken to snorkel at aonther part of the bay where we got to see a pacific green turtle sleeping at the bottom of the ocean. After topping up my tan whilst the boat moved we then arrived at South Plazas where we got to see a different type of land iguana which are remarkably different. We also got to see a tropic bird, swallow tail gull, more great frigate birds and sheerwaters. We even got to see blue footed boobies. Boobies are named from the spanish word meanig clown (another interesting fact). Plazas was definitely the most beautiful island I got to experience. It really is like a place from a movie. Once back on the boat we saw another shark and a turtle. After dinner we got to look at the stars which you have no concept of just how many there really are.
Genovesa is so very different to the Islands we saw yesterday. Our wet landing took us straight onto the beach where we saw a great frigate bird feeding its chick. The chicks were so fluffy. We also saw lots of red footed booby chicks. As we were sat having a talk about the wildlife nature came very close. An adult frigate bird picked a chick that wasnt its own from its nest, flew really high and just dropped the baby. The baby chick was screaming and even when it landed it was still alive as it had landed on sand. The hardest thing was that we were not aloud to put the chick back near the nest. Its such a clear example of the selfish gene though as what the evil bird did wasn't for the best of the species, just for the own individual bird to pass on its genes. As we kept walking we then witnessed another horrible act of the smaller chick being pushed out of the nest because the parents lay 2 eggs, each a week apart and the second is just an insurance baby so the younger chick just starves to death. It's a horrible idea but as I came to realise during my trip, nature isn't actually that nice when it comes down to the nitty gritty!
We then returned to the boat for some snorkeling and got to see another turtle. Sadly the water wasn't very clear the first time we went snorkeling. Our second snorkel was a lot better as got to see fur sealions and I got to see a angel fish like the one from the book you read when your a kid!We then got to see lots of masked boobies which look brilliant and the very allusive short eared owl. It was a very mixed day as there was alot of sadness but also alot of happiness as there were so many new born chicks!
The travel to the island was incredibly choppy, alot of people seemed to be sick, somehow though I managed to sleep through some of it which I felt was a minor miracle. After breakfast we headed over to Santiago to the larva platforms which are only 130 years old. They were incredible, how the pattern of larva formed called rope into so many amazing patterns. The colours through the rock showed all the different minerals which was so beautiful. After coming back to the boat we then went snorkeling and managed to get so close to a pacific green sea turtle which was incredible, I also got to see marine iguanas when they were in the water. When we got back into the zodiac we found the penguins bobbing around, it was amazing to see real penguins in their natural habitat!
We then traveled to Rubida which had a read beach and a black lagoon but sadly there were no flamingos. The galapagos humming birds were very interesting, they like drink water out of the lid as they have learnt that people have water, not only are they cute, but also very clever! After a nice walk and some incredible views we came back to the beach and went snorkeling with sea lions. They are such gentle and playful animals to get to share the water with.
Travelling
Ecuador was nothing like I expected it to be, Its such a contrasting city of modern and old. The first night we spent in and I ordered room service as mum was unfortunately ill. I got to eat the best steak I have ever experienced though so maybe room service was a on the plus side!
The altitude seemed to effect me in some very weird ways. I experienced very weird dreams that were so unbelievably vivid . After breakfast we headed to the Old Town. First we visited Plaza de la Independencia where we saw the Cathedral which was relatively small and then Iglesia de la compania de Jesus. The huge amount of gold leaf was ridiculous. Apparently there was about 7 tons worth of gold present that covered all the walls in the building. Afterwards we wandered to two small squares which had hardly anything surrounding them called Plaza San Francisco and Plaza Santo Demingo.
Next we took a taxi to the cable car. The cable car has a 2.5 km ride and climbs from 3050m to 4050m! The views from the top were really good but it was unfortunately cloudy and so they weren't as clear as they can be and it make the top very cold! The cable car was definitely worth the travel though as you have no idea just how far the city spans until you are stood above it and I was in awe of just how huge it really was.
Awaking at 4am wasnt the easiest thing to do once your body clock is already as messed up from the travel as mine seemed to be but by 5am we were on a old mini bus that loved to rattle on the way to the airport. After two hours of waiting our plane finally took of at 8.15. First we had to stop at Guayaquil airport and then we went onto the Island of San Christobal which was the capital of the Galapagos due to it being the only island with fresh water (interesting fact for you there). Once we had arrived and our luggage had been checked we were able to enter the park and climb on the small minibus for a 10 minute drive down to the harbour where our boat was waiting for our arrival.
Firstly we went to the Interpretation centre where we got to learn about the first people on the island (most were criminals and that's why the collonies never survived as crime was so strife, like murder). We then got to see a giant tortoise called Pepe who is a member of a breeding program and was originally a pet.
Next we went to the beach where there were hundreds of sealions just splayed out on the sand and didnt seem to have a care in the world that you were there. After walking along the pier we got our first look at marine ignuanas which I was most excited about seeing. We then had to come back on board and after food and a briefing we went to bed in our very small cabin.
I woke up early and after sitting around for a few hours we left for the lodge. It was so pretty there but not as big as I was expecting and there was wifi.
The buffet was so nice and they had the most amazing apple cake with fudge topping! I wish I could have asked for the recipe. After a few drinks and food we went to the pool and I got to sunbathe even though it wasn't exactly hot.
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