THE GALAPAGOS

Finally it was time to begin our crossing of the Pacific. We checked the weather and were happy to see that the wind was starting to fill in, we would have to motor a little but that is to be expected crossing the ITCZ  (Doldrums). As we pulled away from the Panamanian coastline in flat seas enjoying our breakfast we were waved off by a school of jumping spotted dolphins, literally leaping several feet out of the water around us. The wildlife in the Pacific already much more diverse and lots more to experience along the way. Happy Days!

Now we had begun our crossing we both instantly felt more relaxed. We were fully fuelled, watered and provisioned. We had a good access to weather information with our new Iridium Go and everything was working on the boat, for now. We knew there would be failures along the way but we would just have to deal with them as they happened. The main thing was we were finally on our way! Neither of us were worried about the long sails ahead and we were happy it was just the two of us, no deadlines to meet just adventures to be had at our own pace.

Which is lucky as the wind was flukey and we spent our time putting the sails in and out trying to motor as little as possible to preserve our diesel supplies. We started posting on the cruiser net with the aid of our new Iridium Go and discovered that our friends on Zigzag were not far away. It was fun to be able to speak on the old VHF or email on the brand spanks new iridium to find out what weather conditions they had in their part of the Ocean. We stuck our rod in the water and were surprised to find a small quivering Bonito tuna on the end of it when we went to reel it in for the night. Goodness knows how long it had been on the line trailing behind us but it was still alive and just enough for a fish supper. Marvellous!

On day four we crossed the equator. Tradition has it that the first time you cross the line you must make a sacrifice to Neptune and anyone who has crossed it before dresses up as him to oversee the proceedings. It was a first for us both so we took it in turns to wear the crown and trident that the skipper had spent the morning making. I shaved off all of Andrew’s hair and he dyed mine red. Then we each poured a shot of our best rum into the sea, a huge sacrifice, before drinking some of it ourselves. All very silly but hopefully enough to ensure us fair winds and a safe crossing. Even if I was now married to a thug who looked like an extra from Coronation Street!

We arrived in the islands in the early hours and the skipper took the opportunity of heaving to for the first time. He was certainly very pleased with himself when I awoke from my off watch and we then motored into Wreck Bay on the island of Saint Cristobal. The Galápagos Islands are very careful of their eco system and therefore there are quite a few hoops one has to jump through in order to be allowed to stay, and quite a lot of expense involved. A couple of hours after our arrival we were boarded by eleven officials and a diver was sent down to check that the scrub we had had in Panama City had been effective and we were not bringing any foreign crustaceans into their waters. We had been told that if we did not pass the test we would be sent back to sea, luckily we did. We had had to obtain a dubious fumigation certificate in Panama and our agent in the islands had obtained our cruising permits. They checked our holding tanks, the food we had brought and made sure we had the necessary recycling bins onboard and notices pinned up to warn anyone not to throw rubbish etc into the sea.  Lots of money changed hands amongst much smiling and nodding and we were pronounced fit to stay. Again the cost of an agent was well worth it and I am sure greatly facilitated our entry.

Zigzag had arrived a couple of hours before us and had also successfully completed the checking in process so we all decided to go ashore and celebrate our arrival on these glorious islands with a local lunch. The town is pretty run down with lots of unfinished buildings and therefore a lot of bare concrete on show, but the locals are very friendly and lunch was cheap and tasty. We loved the hundreds of sea lions that seemed to be everywhere we looked, some were sleeping on the rocks, some in the middle of the street. The babies were playing with each other in the shallows whilst daddy looked on barking at any creature that got too near his little darlings. Returning to the boat for an early night we had to shoo one sea lion off the back of Hullabaloo, waking the next morning we discovered we had been sleeping with two onboard and they were very indignant when politely asked to leave. Time for Sea lion defences, all fenders tied on the aft platform in a variety of ways to ensure no further invasions, they are very cute but also very smelly and they bark a lot.

There isn’t anywhere to leave a dingy in town but the water taxis are frequent and only cost US$1 per person each way. On our second day we went ashore for an explore walking through the town and then along the sea front passing some newer and more attractive hotels and restaurants. We followed a path and eventually found ourselves on Punta Carola, a beautiful sandy beach covered in Sea lions many having a snooze whilst the locals played around them. They are very tactile creatures and love cuddling each other which is very sweet to watch. Continuing down the beach we came across black marine iguanas amongst the fray and the by now common pelican, these with brown feathers. 

We also found a circle of University students who had landed a turtle and were conducting experiments on its body temperature by sticking thermometers into any orifice they could find whilst covering its head with a towel. The poor thing did not look very happy. Reaching the end of the beach we came upon a small light house on the rocks. Andrew proceeded to climb the steps and on reaching the summit was very taken aback to find a large sea lion barking in his ear. So surprised that he fell back down the steps and even now is quite twitchy at the sound of a bark, I may use this to my advantage! Some local street food and a cocktail on the way back to the boat helped restore his equilibrium.

On day three we had arranged to go on a tour of the island with Francois and Rosemary. Our taxi driver, Alberto,  picked us up and drove us into the Highlands stopping first at El Junco Lagoon at the summit of the now extinct volcano. Here there is a huge fresh water lake with lots of frigate birds and spectacular views of the island. It reminded me of a sunny Sussex downs.

We then visited a sanctuary for Giant Tortoises, what beautiful grand creatures. From the eighteenth  century their numbers on the islands have been greatly depleted as they had been thrown into the hold of naval and Pirate vessels alike as a good source of living protein that could be killed to order. Our guide told us how they incubated their eggs and could determine the sex of the young tortoise by the temperature applied, 27 degrees for a boy and 29 degrees for a girl. The youngsters then live in cages for the first couple of years of their lives, then in an enclosure until being set free onto the island between the ages of three and five. They live to one hundred and fifty, not a bad innings and an awful lot of leaves to consume in that time.

Next we went to a beach for a well earned swim and whilst walking down through the trees Alberto pointed out the local flora as well as some Mocking birds and Darwin’s eponymous finches. A nice lunch in town and back to the boat for some R&R. The next morning Rosemary and I went to the vegetable market to replenish supplies and were pleasantly surprised with the variety and quality of the produce. Most items cost one dollar and our shopping bags were soon full. 

In the afternoon Andrew and I went to visit the Interpretation Centre, a free museum which was surprisingly informative about the history of the Islands. Over the years there have been many settlers and it is in fact only over the last few decades that Ecuador has been trying to preserve the ecological integrity of the natural habit and its wildlife.

We got  back to the boat to find a steady breeze and decided to up anchor and over night it down to Isabella as there were no winds forecast for the next few days and we did not want to use up seventy miles worth of diesel. Arriving early in the morning we were thrilled to find that the anchorage was much more scenic than Wreck bay, which was full of commercial boats and where the water was actually rather dirty. Here we found blue waters and only two other yachts, one Into the Blue we had met in Shelter Bay and we were drinking coffee onboard within the hour and hearing all about the tours we should take.

There were the usual sea lions but also some very curious Puffer fish, the most adorable tiny penguins swimming around the boat resembling incoming missiles and the odd baby black tip shark swimming by to add a little frisson to the proceedings. Our agent Stephen arrived in the afternoon with the necessary Zarpe and we were now checked into Isabella the second of the three anchorages we were allowed to stay in. We had the crew of Into the Blue onboard for drinks which became a very jolly affair and then retired to bed ready for a full nights sleep.

Venturing ashore the next day by water taxi, US$2 per person here, we wandered into town where the roads are covered in sand, a much sleepier place than St. Cristobal. I had read that there was a Flamingo pond by the main Square so was a little disappointed to find it inhabited by a solitary Flamingo and an Oyster catcher. Returning to the boat we discovered a supply ship had arrived which remained in the bay for several days whilst it unloaded its cargo with the use of a small barge. With no dock to tie up to at any of the islands the unloading of freight is a lengthy business.

We had booked a tour to see the Lava tunnels for the next morning and duly boarded MY Cactus with about ten other passengers and our guide for the day. We set off at speed down the coast, stopping at a solitary rock in the middle of the Ocean to see some Boobies. Approaching our destination there was a big sea running and our driver had to pick his moment to pass through the reefs, it was quite a ride and very lucky that he knew just what he was doing! We were then served an excellent rice and chicken salad before motoring through the lava tunnels. They were formed about five thousand years ago from a volcanic eruption as the hot lava met the cooler sea and are extraordinarily beautiful. Some of them formed bridges and they are set among crystal blue waters and interspersed with the mandatory wild life. We saw a fur seal, a fluffy version of our new shipmates, some Penguins and a very magnificent Great Hawk, and of course there were lots of Pelicans and Frigates, but we are getting a bit blasé about them. 

We ventured over the lava on foot to find some blue footed Boobies and very quickly came upon a courting couple. They have the most wonderful blue feet which are a product of the herrings and sardines that they eat and the darker the blue in the males the more likely they are to score, as this shows that they are excellent fishermen. Once they have pulled their bird they prance around lifting there feet in a bizarre manner and flapping their wings behind them whilst cooing, quite a sight to behold. I have it all on video complete with the guides commentary and as he is telling us that the females make nests out of guano up pops her tail, David Attenborough eat your heart out! 

Leaving the tunnels on the same fairground ride to get back out to sea we then motored back down the shore until we reached our snorkelling destination. We followed our guide and he took us to several lava tunnels under which we could see lots of white tipped sharks of various sizes. I was a little hesitant about this to begin with but they were all too busy snoozing in the shade to be bothered about us. One of our party found two fully grown sharks the largest about six feet long which were a sight to behold, for the few seconds I dared look at them! Andrew was slightly taken aback when the smaller of the two swam past him within a couple of feet. He looked even less sure when he cut his head on one of the tunnels while looking at some other sharks and was then bleeding into the water. But it didn’t stop us enjoying the awesome experience of swimming with several giant turtles on the way back to the boat. They didn’t seem at all fazed by our presence and we could dive down and swim alongside them, a truly memorable experience.

The next evening there was a fiesta in the main square. We had dinner with Martin, Lydia and Nico off Cheglia whist we waited for the festivities to begin. The whole town seemed to be out for the evening and in true Spanish style the whole family were there from the oldest members to the youngest. The first band on stage were five girls who were more suitably dressed for a seedy night club but the main attraction, a thirty piece Salsa band, were phenomenal! The town danced their socks off and we gave the Salsa a good go but I fear looked somewhat amateur. We called it a night at one am when a dreadful Sasha Distelle copy took to the stage but the party went on until six am.

Our next tour was to see the Super volcano Sierra Niegra with our charming and informative guide the pirate. We drove to the bottom of the volcano and then set off on foot to the rim of the crater which took us about fifty minutes to reach the first view point. The crater is the second largest in the world with a circumference of 45 km. The view was spectacular and the landscape in the centre a mixture of different lava from different eruptions over the years. These happen every ten to fifteen years. We set off to view the latest eruption from June last year which had flowed down the back of the crater and added an additional 1.5 km of land to the Island.The landscape is extremely bleak and I felt like I was on the moon as we crunched through the ash and fine pumice, the minerals sparkling in the sunlight. We were very lucky to be allowed to visit the new Lava field but not allowed to damage in anyway nature’s latest work of art. It was definitely worth the round trip of sixteen kilometres and my only complaint was that our guide may have addressed us all as his beautiful friends one too many times by the end of the day, or maybe I was just tired!

Our final stop in the Islands was in Santa Cruz which we duly set sail for. A pleasant sail but a poor wild life day as I only saw two large Manta rays performing a synchronised double back flip.  Arriving in the bay we snuck into the corner with the commercial boats as advised and put out a stern anchor and were happy as Larry in what is otherwise a very rolly anchorage. We went ashore for dinner finding a very nice fish restaurant having had a stroll around what is by far the busiest of the three towns we visited in the islands.

We found several old friends in the bay and had a very sociable few days. Zigzag invited us to visit the underground lava tunnels with them and Rosemary’s niece Alison who was visiting.  We hired motorised electric scooters setting off rather precariously to begin with balanced on the tiny saddles. However I soon got the hang of it and quickly worked out you could go downhill much quicker if you just freewheeled. Unfortunately Rosemary’s scooter was faulty and quickly ran out of power, we eventually managed to raise the owner on the phone who suggested we plug it into a power socket. I had to point out there weren’t very many of those on our country road and he agreed to bring us another bike. It took him awhile to find us as we had got rather carried away on our speed machines and overshot the tunnels by quite a distance. New bike delivered we retraced our steps and found the entrance with the help of our rescuer who was waiting for us outside. 

The tunnels were made by boiling lava forcing its way through the rock. This then cooled and the lava eventually crumbled away leaving huge underground tunnels. This one was 3.5km long and about 10m in circumference. It was lovely and cool below ground and very dark with he odd light bulb to light the way. Reunited with our steads we returned to town and were then royally entertained on Zigzag for dinner.

A weather window was opening up for our Pacific crossing so we readied ourselves for sea. Laundry dropped of and the hull cleaned for the third time since our arrival, Andrew particularly proud of his underwater antics, The water is so rich in algae and a brown sludge quickly builds up which is unattractive and not good for boat speed and we had three thousand miles to go to our next landfall. We took on fuel which was delivered to the boat by one of the local taxis in canisters. We lucked out as he had a fuel pump and we didn’t have to decant it ourselves which everyone who had ordered it in advance in St Cristobal had had to do. We had a final provision in the Saturday morning farmer’s vegetable market which was quite an experience and himself actually enjoyed the shopping experience for once. A last minute beer hunt proved unfruitful as it was election weekend and the shops were not licensed to sell beer for the duration. Perhaps we should ban the sale of alcohol in Westminster until they sort out Brexit!

Drinks on Cheglier then drinks on Hullabaloo we made the most of our last nights attached to the land.

Sunday morning dawned and we waited for our agent to arrive with our final papers. Apparently delayed by the election, perhaps the custom officials had the dt’s, he finally arrived with the necessary official and we were free to go. We loved our time in the Galapagos and were glad to have been despite the expense. However we all decided that the best way to see them would be on one of the local cruise ships which are allowed to visit many more place than us yachties. 

As we motored out of the harbour a shark jumped out of the water on our starboard bow which seemed a very fitting finale to our time in the Galápagos Islands. Now just three thousand miles to the Marquesas.....