Galapagos Part I: The Sea

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay. We have had a ton of technical problems with pictures and internet usage. There are still no pictures for this blog because Ankor was the only one with an underwater camera and we can´t get the disk to work but the next one will have some. I promise!

We just finished up our 8-day cruise on the Merak, an 8-person sailboat, around the islands of the Galapagos. For those interested this was our boat and itinerary: http://www.galapagos-cruises.ca/yate/merak.htm. Our daily schedule consisted of waking up around 5:30am (willingly), breakfast, a morning activity (or two), lunch, and afternoon activity (or two), dinner and bed time around 9:00pm with some sailing here and there. We started as a group of five: Matt, Jason, Ankor (crazy Danish guy we picked up on the streets of Puerto Ayora), Hannah (cool British chick from Essex) and me. We met our guide, CheChe, who turned out to be a fabulous person and guide, along with the rest of the crew, Luis (the captain), Eduardo (the deckbhand), and Mauro (the excellent cook).

I had never been snorkeling before and am not a strong swimmer but with flippers and a bouyant wetsuit I was good to go:

Day 1 the group snorkeled from the beach but there wasn´t much to see and I had been ill for a week so I sat that one out. They didn´t see much but was really a way for everyone to get comfortable in the water with their gear.

Day 2, after our land trip, we headed to Santa Fe Island for some snorkeling. I should start by saying that while quite cold, the water was always a magnificent teal and was crystal clear most of the days. I will just start with a list of the fish we saw:

• 3 types of Parrotfish


• tons of Angelfish


• Damselfish


• giant Rays


• Leatherback Turtles


• Green Sea Turtles


• White-tipped Sharks and


• A Flounder, which is incredibly difficult to find because it blends in so well with the ocean floor

The part I found most fascinating this day was the Leatherback Turtles. There were two who were just hanging out on the ocean floor eating but were enormous! I would guess they were about 2 times my size and weighed a good deal more than I. It was here that we realized that the sea life was not at all intimidated by our presense and went about their day as if we weren´t there watching.

Day 3 we walked along Floreana island and then snorkeled from the beach. Here we were able to see more white tipped sharks and saw our first chocolate chip starfish.

This was our first interaction swimming with a sealions as well. While we didn´t get to play too much the 500ish lb. female sealion, she put on a good show swimming around us. This is also the place where we saw the most rays. While I can´t remember exactly which kind of rays they were (in the Galapagos there are Spotted Eagle Rays, Manta Rays, Golden Rays and Marble Rays), I do remember they were the biggest rays I have ever seen in my life and there were about 10 all on top of each other near the ocean floor. It´s amazing to be so close to such giant exotic creatures. They glide beautifully through the water gently flapping their "wings" and of course, took no notice of us.

Day 4 we went to Devil´s Crown which is near Floreana island. It was overcast that day and the current was pretty strong but we had the best interaction with a sealion that day. She was quite large and not shy at all-she would blow bubbles and swim right up to your face before quickly flipping back. It was quite intimidating to have a creature 5 times your weight swim so close but she was by far more graceful than any of us in the water and definitely looked less silly, after all she doesn´t need snorkel gear to see underwater. We again saw the fish from the previous days and were able to get a glipse of the Surgeon fish that CheChe found with his keen eye. He directed us all to a spot and told us to look down, he then swam down and touched what appeared to be a rock but was the fish that blended in seamlessly.

We moved around Devil´s Crown admiring the thousands of fish and the last place we wanted to see required us moving against the current. I made it about 3 minutes before I had to surrender and raise my hand to be picked up by the dingy. I thought I was going to be the only one but one by one every boat member raised their hand for pick up. Ankor said it perfectly, "I was swimming and swimming and I looked down and realized I hadn´t moved because I was looking at the same rock." Once we reached our destination, we really had no time to admire the fish as the current swept us away again and back to the dingy. We could really admire the power of the ocean this day.

Day 5 was spent on land so no snorkeling that day. We did however pick up two other Danes, a couple named Metta and Madspeter. Metta and Ankor knew each other from boarding school in Denmark. Small world, no?

Day 6 we headed to Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat), so named because the volcano on the island looks like a "Chinese hat." Here Hannah and I saw the biggest White-tipped Shark we saw the whole trip. CheChe called us over to a little rocky cave. At first we saw nothing but CheChe poked at something under the rock and out came a gigantic shark, who was probably a little annoyed, about 5 ft away from our faces. It was a little overcast this day so the iguanas we were meant to see were mainly on the land because it was generally too cold for them to get in the water to feed. We did however see one iguana eating the algae which is what gives Marine Iguanas their bright green or red or in some cases, like the Christmas Iguana, red and green skin color. CheChe also directed us to a cave where the penguins like to rest at night (so there were none there at the time). Many of the group members made their way through the underwater tunnel but I opted out and was glad for it because I found two penguins playing around the bend. I swam as fast as I could to keep up with them and they led me to about 10 of their closest friends. I was at one point surrounded by the little, amazingly fast creatures, diving and circling each other and me. Once they were too fast for me, I hopped in the dingy with everyone and we chased them to the next spot. Most everyone got out but I waited hoping CheChe would take me further so i could greedily have them all to myself again, which he did. We were able to play with them a bit longer before they sped off in another direction leaving us in their dust or bubbles, I guess, in this case. They weren´t very interested in us but as with every other animal on the Galapagos, they were not afraid either. The trip, I thought, for sure could not get better than this...

Later on in the evening when we had sailed to Santiago Island and had anchored, we all hung out on the deck waiting for the sun to set over the horizon. Jason then pointed out a dolphin approaching. Out of nowhere about 100 dolphins headed towards us and CheChe, being the amazing guide that he was, yelled for us all to get in the dingy and we began to chase them around. There were dolphins on all sides of the dingy jumping out of the water and playing together. It was hard to resist the urge to jump in with them with all of our clothes on. Another dingy approached us full of folks with snorkel equipment and somehow Ankor was able to get one of the women to give him her snorkel gear. Ankor could not resist the urge to jump in and chase the dolphins around and so fully clothed, clean boxers and all, jumped in after them. He wasn´t having much luck getting near them after 5 minutes and CheChe had the idea to pull him with a rope attached to the dingy as we motored around nearing the dophins. It was a hilarous sight, seeing his little snorkel pop out of the water. We started going faster and then the snorkel would not pop up as often but he continued to hold on and give us the sign for "okay." The dolphins continued on past us and we returned back to the boat all feeling a little euphoric after the incredible day in the ocean.

Day 7 was a bit of a bust for snorkeling but we still had a blast in the water. We were in the water near Bartolomé looking for a US defunct bomb and lobsters but the water was choppy and the ocean wasn´t as clear as before so we really didn´t see anything. But CheChe decided it was a good time for us to form a human chain behind the boat and he would pull us while we searched for fish underwater. Ankor was the one to hold on to the rope and we all held the ankle in front of us. We would never get more than a few meters before the chain broke, the drag being too much for us to handle. The best attempt was when only three of our mates attempted it; only then did their strength overcome the powerful drag of the water.

I must say that before this wonderful cruise I really didn´t like to swim (and I´m still not very good at it) but snorkeling has made swimming much more fun for me. The only problem which isn´t a bad problem to have, is that I don´t know if snorkeling could get much better than the Galapagos Islands.