I still can't believe that we are in
the Galapagos! I have dreamed about coming to these islands for so
many years, although I actually had no idea what to expect. We
spotted land ahoy of San Cristobal just after day break and followed
the coastline to Puerto Moreno Baquerizo in the light of the
early morning sunshine, it was just spectacular. I can't explain the
feeling of having been on the boat for almost a week with no land in
sight, and then to be following the drastic coastline of beautiful
green land with dramatic rock formations, all while being welcomed by
manta rays summersaulting into the air in front of the boat and sea
turtles older than myself waving us in . . . it felt unreal.
Our first touch down onto land was San
Cristobal island. It is the most
eastern of the Galapagos Islands and holds the capital of the
Galapagos Island. From the second our anchor was dropped and I jumped
into the bright aqua water I was awe struck. The marine life there is
just amazing! San Cristobal is known for many species, of which sea
lions are one of the most predominant. It is truly incredible, every
where you look there are sea lions! Sleeping on boats, covering the
beaches, playing in the water, waddling around, sleeping on park
benches, it is unbelievable!
We saw so much wildlife on San
Cristobal from the sea lions, to marine iguanas, to Blue footed
boobies perched on rocks and frigget birds dancing over head with
their scissor legs. We snorkled Kicker Rock with sea turtles and
white tip SHARKS! Swam with manta rays. Hiked with finches. The
wildlife is more abundant than anywhere I have ever been, but the
aspect that will truly fascinate you, is how you are interacting and
observing these animals in their own natural habitats and completely
unaffected by humans. They are so protected that they are not afraid
of humans in the least, it is really beautiful! You will snorkel with
baby sea lions playing with you and walk down the street with iguanas
walking side by side with you, hardly noticing that you are there. It
is the only place that I have ever felt humans and animals are
co-habitating in a truly respectful and beautiful way.
We had a few really special adventures
on San Cristobal which had me feeling like I was really traveling
again, SUCH a great feeling! One of the highlights was a tour we did
with some local taxi drivers around the island. We trekked the
volcanoe with these guys in pouring rain, laughing so hard as we
slipped all over the mud looking out to amazing vistas of the island.
They then took us to a lunch spot that is only open on Sundays and in
the home of a local family that has been cooking for the local
families on Sundays for almost 30 years. There were 14 of us gringos
all crowded around tables of locals with Dora cooking us up her
traditional dishes and so proud that we were there. By the end of the
meal, Dora was hugging us and asking us to come back and see the
garden. At that point I really felt like I was connecting with these
people of the beautiful islands and that travel bug zinged me like it
has so many times ;)
One of my most beautiful days on San
Cristobal was when I took a day for myself and trekked around the
Darwin Interpretation Center. It is a beautiful center perched on top
of one of the sea side hills overlooking town and the coastline.
Donated by the Spanish government, it is has pathes lined by
beautiful spanish tiles, complemented by the bright green jungle
overlaying and clear turqouise waters of the bay, it is truly
beautiful. The center is really well done, with a 2 main buildings
filled with exibits and history of the Galapagos and Darwin. Although
these achilpelago islands maybe small, they have some large history
they are carrying, pretty fascinating! Some top facts about the
Galapagos: the islands are 97% National Park land, one of the islands (Isabella) is home to the 2nd largest active volcano in the world, total population of all the islands is about 25,000 inhabitants.
From the main buildings, there are
paths that meander and criss cross up the hill and along coast,
leading to different vistas and points of the National Park there. I
took some time to snorkel in a small little reef inlet. With the
turquoise water and sea lions swimming around, I could resist. The
highest point of the Darwin Interpretation Center is frigget hill. I
trekked up to this point, and you truly feel like you are on top of
the world, with friggets scissoring their legs right above your head
and finches singing to you. I was beyond grateful to be there.
We were also able to catch the
Galapagos Independence celebration and Carnival on San Cristobal.
Although it didn't quite compare to Nina's spectacle, it was quite
the show! These islanders love their fireworks, and there doesn't
seem to be much regulations on them. Ha. The main stage in town was
filled with music performers until 6am, with everyone in town crowded
around with beers and salsa dancing until early in the morning. They
are also huge fans of this soap-in-a-can spray. I haven't seen
anything like it, but was anilliated with it a few times throughout
the night, we well as face paint smeared across my face by local
kids. Their humor is light hearted and it was so refreshing to be
surrounded by again. I think I may have to bring this soap-in-a-can
back to the states . . . although I have a feeling that random
strangers on the street in the US would not have the same
appreciation as these easy going islanders.
All in all we spent about a week in San
Cristobal making friends with the sea lions and feeling like it was
home after those 6 days! It is just one of those towns. Our departure
to Isla Floreans was coupled with Friz's departure back to the
States. Fritz was such a wonderful help to get SV Zoe going again and
from this point on, the adventure continues!
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