The Continuing Voyages of Spirit

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Galapagos Islands Day 4 - October 23

Floreana, Flamingoes, Boobies Galore and Sally Lightfoot Crabs

Departing Espanola about 0100, the roll motion was pretty severe coming across to Floreana Island, Punta Cormorant. After breakfast we had a wet landing on a Olivine sand beach and walked to a brine lagoon with a few Flamingos and then to a sugar sand beach where we waded in the surf with Sting Rays. Returning to Letty, we then went deep water snorkeling at Devils Crown. Snorkeling at Devils Crown was a deep water snorkel with a fair chop, but the new snorkel helped a lot. We circled the entire Devils Crown and saw an amazing variety of fish, including Heiroglyphic Hawkfish and White Tipped Sharks, as well as several varieties of Parrot Fish.

Greater Flamingoes at Punta Cormorant

Walking the sugar sand beach

The brine lagoon

Olivine Sand at Punta Cormorant

Returning to “Letty” we headed to Post Office Bay while we had lunch. Post Office Bay has an informal Post Office Box where people leave notes and cards to be delivered by future guests. The “post office” has been in operation for more than 150 years. We left our postcards and then took several from Seattle and Bellevue to deliver when we return. I was the only person who snorkeled from the beach, looking for sea turtles, but instead was in the center of a blue footed Booby attack from the air. While swimming, I had a Galapagos Penguin swim by.

"New" Post Office at Post Office Bay

Sorting through the mail for cards close to home

Old post office remains

Galapagos Penguin

Pelican at Punta Cormorant

After departing Post Office Bay in late afternoon, we headed for Santa Cruz Island and looked for marine life along the way, but no luck. The skies cleared and I could see the green flash (finally) as the tropical sun set over the horizon during our briefing for the next day’s activities.

Departing Floreana Island

Following are the Blue Footed Booby fishing pictures when Patrick was in the water.

Galapagos Islands Day 3 - Oct 22

Espanola, Punta Suarez and Gardner Bay

After the generator was repaired and all the passengers were back on board we left Wreck Bay at 0100 for Punta Suarez on Espanola Island. The wind and seas made for a moderately rough crossing until we got into the lee of Espanola. Espanola is one of the oldest and most southern islands in the Galapagos and as such does not have the obvious volcanic features of islands such as Isabela and Santa Cruz. Letty tied to a mooring buoy at 0615, just as the sun was rising. We had our first dry landing and set off in search of the Waved Albatross. However, our first sightings were of more sea lions and then a large mass of marine iguanas huddled together for warmth before the sun climbed higher in the sky. Our naturalist guide called them a "congress", since they just sit around and do nothing. Heading off over a rough trail, Blue footed Boobies, Nazca Boobies, more Marine Iguanas, as well as Swallow Tailed Gulls dominated the walking tour.

Sea Lion and pup

Sea Lion Pups playing in shallows

Marine Iguana "Congress"

Male Marine Iguana

We were even treated to a sighting of the Galapagos Hawk and some Doves.

Galapagos Dove

Typical Espanola View with Hawk

Passing by a blowhole along the steep southern shore, soon we were at the nesting place of the Waved Albatross, where several were performing the mating dance for us. Along the trail were several more young Albatross chicks, as well as Boobie chicks. The chicks were right in the middle of the trail and we had to step off to avoid them, since they have no fear of humans.

Blowhole

Swallowtail Gull

Lava Heron

Nazca Booby

Blue Footed Booby

Another Blue Footed Booby

Nazca Booby

Nazca Booby Pair

Waved Albatross

Mating Dance

Two females vying for attention

Lava Lizard

After returning to “Letty” for lunch we left Punta Suarez and motored a short distance to Gardner Bay for our first deep water snorkel, which only means that we jump off the pangas rather than enter the water from the beach. The visibility was better than the first day, but still a little murky. Returning to the “Letty” we had the opportunity to either walk on the beach or kayak. Patrick chose to kayak, the only one, while Miriam stayed on board and rested.

After the Kayaking and beach expeditions we returned to the ship for the evening briefing and then dinner, which was the delayed dinner from the night before with the generator failure.

Again, with the exercise and long days, after dinner we retired to our cabins for sleep before the 0700 wakeup tomorrow morning on the island of Floreana.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Galapagos Islands Day 2 - October 21

Punta Pitt, Cerro Brujo and Kicker Rock

The “Letty” rolled all night at anchor in Wreck Bay, even when we got underway at 0200. The cruise ships in the Galapagos are not fast, our ship cruised most of the time at 7 knots. By dawn we were approaching Punta Pitt, at the northeast tip of San Cristobal Island, where we anchored at 0730 next to “Eclipse” another ship with 48 passengers. The landing was our first “wet” landing, and after drying our feet, we hiked up a steep trail to a plateau where we saw our only Red Footed Boobie and our first Lava Lizard. The Galapagos Islands are all volcanic with the easternmost islands, like San Cristobal, the furthest away from the hot spot in the earth’s crust. During the dry season, most of the green disappears and only the red in the ice plants bring color to the landscape. The westernmost islands still have active volcanoes like in Hawaii. Returning to the beach we donned the wetsuits and had a snorkel from the beach. Even though the visibility in the water was only fair we saw lots of fish and the sea lion pups played with us as we swam near the beach. We also had our first views of the Sally Lightfoot Crab, which cover almost every rocky beach in the Galapagos Islands.

Approaching Punta Pitt

Our First Wet Landing

Climbing up Punta Pitt

Steep Trail at Punta Pitt

Dry Season Vegetation

Punta Pitt

Returning to the ship we showered off and had lunch while motoring southwest to Cerro Brujo where we had another wet landing and a long walk on the sandy beach, seeing Ghost Crabs for the first and only time, along with plenty of Sea Lions. After the beach walk we motored to Kicker Rock, seeing Manta Rays jumping out of the water along the way. Kicker Rock was impressive as we did a circuit to see all sides as the sun began to set. Our scheduled anchorage was back in Wreck Bay, but at 1820 the generator failed and we went on emergency battery power. The backup generator was in overhaul, so the galley and heads were inoperative. After anchoring in the dark, the Captain offered dinner ashore, which most of the passengers accepted. Miriam and I elected to stay aboard and about 2210 the generator was repaired, the lights came back on and later, after midnight, the rest of the passengers returned to the ship. Shortly after the passengers returned, the anchor was raised and the Letty set sail for the island of Espanola.