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Galápagos Archipelago
The Galápagos
Archipelago of 19 islands and 42 islets ( land mass between 1 and 5 square
miles ) straddles the equator about 600 miles off the coast of the mother
country Ecuador. Volcanic in origin, the largest island Isabella is made of
five volcanoes.
Tourism is strictly regulated. Typical trips start with
a flight from the mainland to the airport at Baltra * a small island just north of Santa Cruz. We
boarded the first of two boats for our trip around the islands. The red line on
the map approximates our route. Each boat is required to carry an Ecudoran
guide and landing sites must be arranged in advanced. Landing schedules are not
flexible. A missed landing cannot be made up the next day. |
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Life On The Boat
We used two boats on our trip
around the islands the first boat the "Angelique" was the smaller of the two
and the dining room was on the open deck. It did have a nice front area for
bird watching. The second boat called the "Free Enterprise" had the dining room
enclosed but little seating on the front deck.
Two people shared a small
room on both boats. Each room had a private bath. Showers were limited to one
per day per person, but most of the time there was hot water.
Meals were
good on both boats although it was a little cold at times eating outside on the
windy deck. Both boats were clean and as comfortable as can be expected of
boats in general. I felt more welcome on the first boat. |
The Angelique was our first home in the
Galápagos. |
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Shore landing were made using a smaller boat. One or two
landings a day is the usual rule.
Beach landing usually require some
wading in the water. Best thing to do is to just take your shoes off and carry
them in your pack. Some landings are made at docks or stairs and are dry
landings. The Ecuadorian guide should announce which type of landing to expect
as well as the strict landing rules.
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From the airport we took a bus to the dock to board the first
boat. The birding began in the harbor where we saw the first of the many
Audubon's Shearwaters that would dominate our time at sea. Also
White-vented Storm-petrels ( also called Elliot's Storm-petrel). With
the anchor up serious sailing began with: Lava Gull, Red-billed Tropicbird,
Nasca (formerly lumped with Masked)Booby, Swallow-tailed Gull,
Red-necked Phlalaropes. There were also dolphin and a breaching Manta Ray.
| Once at sea some immature Magnificent Frigatebirds
joined us for a free ride in the rigging. The frigatebirds are a most unusual
seabirds being unable to land and take off from the water or to drink seawater.
On one of our walks we visited a fresh water lake and watched several
frigatebirds coming in for a drink. They swoop low to the lake and scoop up
water with their long bills. Occasionally one of them accidentally landed on
the water and then struggled to take off before their wings got soaked. |
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Late in the trip we visited North Seymour Island where I got
this close picture of displaying male Magnificent Frigatebird. We also saw
immature Great Frigatebirds. We probably saw mature birds as well but
they are difficult to distinguish in the field from the more common
Magnificents. |
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