Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Final Thoughts on Our South American Adventure

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If you have been following our adventures in South America, you might be interested in my thoughts on the holiday.

This was not a cheap holiday

Before I start summarising our adventure, I should point out that this was not a cheap holiday. The following link takes you to the HX website and the adventure that we joined. The current cost is just over £10,000, but that is excluding the cost of flights to and from South America. Currently, that would be about £2000 flying economy. I’m sure it could be done a bit cheaper, but not much.

We decided to include the pre-cruise trip to Machu Picchu, because if we were going all that way it would be silly to miss it. At the age of seventy, we might not get another chance. If we had left that side trip out, we would have saved £2000 on the overall cost of the package.

Map of our Adventure

The Mainland

The part of the trip (Peru and Ecuador) before joining the ship was quite hectic. There were a lot of early starts. It did feel a bit like the old joke “If it’s Wednesday, it must be Cuzco”. Probably my only real complaint about the holiday was that I would have liked an extra day in Cuzco. However, looking at the current itinerary for that part of the tour, there appear to be two nights in a resort closer to Machu Picchu and only one in Cuzco, so possibly HX thought the schedule was a bit busy as well.

Apart from the fact that it all felt slightly manic at times, there was nothing to fault about the mainland part of our adventure.

All of the hotels we stayed in were very good, and in particular the Palacio del Inca, in Cuzco was exceptional. They were all comfortable and the food was good. The connections and luggage transfers were smooth. We were kept well informed about what was happening.

The Cruise

I’ve called this part of the adventure “The Cruise,” but it wasn’t a cruise in the sense of a massive, multi-thousand-passenger ship. The MS Santa Cruz II carries a maximum of just ninety-two passengers. There was no evening entertainment, apart from a few short lectures on different aspects of the Galapagos Islands. There was only one restaurant. There were two lounges, one, whose main features were a library and the self-service coffee machines. It tended to serve as a chill out space. It was also the gathering point for most of the expeditions. The other incorporated the bar and was the venue for most of the briefings and short lectures. Aft of the bar was an open deck area with seating.

Our cabin was comfortable. It was not huge, but we found it to be large enough. There was enough storage for all our clothes and other bits and bobs. Our suitcases fitted nicely under the beds. It had an ensuite toilet and shower room, which again was compact but adequate. We didn’t do much in the cabin other than sleep, so we didn’t find the size an issue. No keys were supplied, which seemed to discombobulate some passengers. As the ship never docks, security isn’t as much of an issue as it could be.

Once on board, there was no need to spend anything. Everything was included. Only premium drinks were excluded. If you had to have Dom Perignon champagne or a 25 year-old Macallan whisky, you would have had to pay, but otherwise everything was included. There was a small shop on board where you could buy souvenirs, or any bits and pieces that you may have forgotten. Basically there was not much to spend your money on.

All the equipment required for the excursions was supplied. Masks, snorkels, fins and wetsuits were supplied for the snorkelling expeditions. Walking sticks were available if you needed or wanted them for the walking expeditions. The ship also supplied a backpack and a water bottle which were yours to keep.

It was also a very active holiday. There were up to four excursions per day. Generally two of them would involve water based activities, such as snorkelling or kayaking. The others would be walks to see the land based wild life.

The holiday was educational. There were lectures every day covering geology, natural history, evolution—including Charles Darwin’s contribution—the human history of the islands, among other topics. In addition to that, the ship employed some very knowledgeable and enthusiastic naturalist guides who accompanied us on the expeditions. They were very informative about what we were seeing, whether it be lava formations or Blue-footed Boobies.

Who would this holiday suit?

As I have already said, it was a very active holiday, and to make the most of it you had to be reasonably fit. There was quite a lot of walking involved, a fair bit of it over rough ground. You needed to be reasonably flexible to get in and out of the Pangas. The dry landings were sometimes harder than the wet landings. Getting out of the Panga when snorkelling was easy, but getting back afterwards involved climbing up a short ladder. So again a certain amount of fitness was required.

I am a slightly overweight seventy-year-old who is moderately fit. I go to the gym, cycle slowly, and swim two or three times a week. I managed everything comfortably. There were quite a few people on the trip who were older than me, and they did fine as well. The levels of fitness required are not those of an Olympian.

Having said that, my wife Diane hurt her knee, just before we left. HX adapted several of the excursions to suit her. She had her own personal guide at Machu Pichu, and went round a route that had considerably less climbing. On board the ship, they had easier walks that she could do. She tried snorkelling, but didn’t get on with it, however there was the option of a glass-bottomed boat. This was also a boon for non-swimmers. Kayaking was fine.

The main attraction is undoubtedly the unique wildlife of the Galapagos. A selection of them are known as “The Big Fifteen”. The link takes you to a page detailing them. We saw all of them bar the Albatross and the Santa Fe Land Iguana, because we didn’t visit the islands that they inhabit. Next time.

Besides “The Big Fifteen” there are lots of other fascinating and unique creatures to be seen. Apart from the penguins and the sealions, no marine creatures are listed.

This holiday will suit you if:

  1. You like wildlife. The Flora and Fauna of the Galápagos are unique and fascinating. The animals have never learned to fear humans, so encounters are extraordinarily close.
  2. You like a structure to your day and don’t mind some early starts. You also value educational travel — Every landing requires a licensed naturalist guide. You’re learning constantly: geology, evolution, conservation, species behaviour.
  3. You are a photographer. Close wildlife access, dramatic volcanic landscapes, and golden equatorial light make the islands a dream for both casual and serious photographers. I took my ten year-old Panasonic Lumix pocket camera and took some great shots. The ship had a resident photographer/videographer, who shared his shots with us. So you didn’t have to have the ultimate camera set up to go home with good photos.
  4. You are an active traveller — Daily landings, Zodiac rides, nature walks, and snorkelling are core to the experience.

This holiday might not suit you if:

  1. You dislike early starts, structured days, or mandatory briefings — Many aspects of the holiday are regimented because of the National Park rules.
  2. You prefer resort‑style cruise — There’s no nightlife, shopping, or “sea days by the pool.”
  3. You are prone to seasickness — I didn’t suffer from seasickness (I am fortunate in that regard) but during the time we were on the ship (February), the seas were smooth. I don’t think that anyone else suffered either. That said, the cool season (Jun–Nov) can bring rougher seas.
  4. You want full control of your itinerary — Itineraries are fixed by the National Park; ships cannot improvise or swap landing sites.

Summary

This was a holiday of a lifetime. I enjoyed every minute of it, including the early starts. All the accommodation was excellent, the transfers and luggage handling was smooth, the excursions were interesting and well organised and all out guides were helpful, informative and knowledgeable. As I have already said, it was not a budget holiday, but I thought it was value for money.

Is there anything that I would have changed? Well, ideally my friend Helen wouldn’t have fallen and badly cut herself on a lava outcrop. The treatment she received from the on-board doctor was first-class, but we would rather not have had to find that out. And Diane would not have damaged her knee doing Pilates, the Sunday before we were due to leave. Again, HX did a very good job of accommodating her. But similarly, we would rather not have had to find that out.

Footnote

I have not included our enforced layover in Guayaquil in this summary as I do not feel it was part of our holiday. What happened was beyond the control of HX, although they did try to help where they could.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

The Galapagos Islands – Part VIII

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Friday 13th February
We thought the adventure was over.

We had enjoyed fifteen amazing days journeying through Peru, Ecuador, and round the Galapagos Islands. We had seen the Inca ruins at Sacsayhuaman and Machu Pichu. We had kissed each other across the Equator. We had survived early morning starts. And we had survived oxygen deprivation at three thousand five hundred metres.

We had spent eight days exploring the Galapagos Islands on M.S. Santa Cruz II. We had some unforgettable experiences on land, on the sea and under the sea. We had seen some incredible and unique wild life and scenery. It was now unfortunately time to go home.

We did have the option of a trip to see Giant Tortoises before we caught the plane. Diane decided against it, on the grounds that she found them “creepy”. It would also have meant an early start, so I wasn’t so keen either. We opted for a more relaxed start to our final day.

After breakfast our bags were collected for transport to the airport. As there was going to be a complete change of passengers, we were politely kicked out of our cabins at 09:00hrs, to give the crew time to get them ready for the next bunch of lucky adventurers. We had about an hour and a half to kill before we left the ship. We spent the time in the lounge, drinking coffee, comparing notes and swapping email addresses.

Then it was time for one last panga ride back to Baltra and the first of the planes home. We spent some time checking out the airport shops for last minute souvenirs. There was surprisingly little tat, most of what was on offer was decent quality.

Our plane to Guayaquil.

The flight took about an hour and fifty minutes. It was smooth and uneventful. I gave us one last chance to experience Latam’s favoured in-flight snack, quinoa bars.

With a fair bit of time to kill before we caught our KLM flight to Amsterdam, most of us decided to have lunch. HX had also arranged a lounge for us, which was better than hanging around on the concourse.

And then things started to unravel…

Our bags had been checked all the way through to Heathrow, so all we had was our hand baggage. Check-in and boarding was smooth. We were settled into our seats, Premium Economy this time as we couldn’t wangle an upgrade, waiting for take off.

Except… nothing happened. After a long wait, the captain finally explained that a ground engineer had spotted a leak from the port engine. Probably nothing, but it needed checking. Three hours later, after a bottle of water and a packet of pretzels, we were told they couldn’t fix it. The flight was cancelled.
That’s when I remembered the date: Friday the 13th.

We all had to get off, of course. Then came the joy of retrieving our bags and going back through immigration with three hundred equally fed‑up passengers. And the bigger question: where were we going to stay?

Guayaquil has never had the reputation of a gentle seaside town — even forty or fifty years ago when I was in the Merchant Navy, it wasn’t exactly a carefree run ashore. These days the coastal provinces are caught up in a nasty war between drug gangs, and they’ve even managed to annoy the local fishermen. A few days before we arrived, half a dozen severed heads turned up on a beach.

The British Foreign Office advice didn’t exactly soothe the nerves:

Avoid all but essential travel to the coastal provinces — Esmeraldas, Manabí, Santa Elena, Guayas, El Oro, Los Ríos, Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas.

The only exception? Airside transit at Guayaquil Airport.

In other words: you’re fine as long as you don’t leave the airport. Step outside and… well, good luck.

To be continued…

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

Part IX – Not The Galapagos Islands

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Stranded in Guayaquil: Saturday 14th to Tuesday 17th February.

Saturday 14th (Valentine’s Day)

So there we were, after our wonderful fifteen-day South American adventure, stranded. The fuel leak on the port engine of our plane couldn’t be fixed, so we weren’t going anywhere soon.

The confusion soon clarified. We were given vouchers for a hotel and ushered onto a coach to take us there. Foreign Office advice said we should not leave the airport, but we had little choice but to accept what was on offer. By this time it was midnight and I didn’t feel like arguing.

About an hour later we arrived at the Hotel Oro Verde. We were met by an armed security guard, which did nothing to put me at ease.

I am diabetic, and had eaten nothing since two in the afternoon except a packet of pretzels. My blood sugar was getting low. We checked in, and asked if I could get something to eat. After some fuss, they brought a couple of stale bread rolls and some fruit. We ate and went to bed.

Hotel Oro Verde

We woke up fairly late on Saturday morning but early enough for breakfast. While we were having breakfast and trying to work out what to do with this unwanted extension to our holiday we met an American man who offered to be our guide to Guayaquil. Initially I wasn’t too keen.

For me, there is a point in every holiday, when the holiday is over. At that point all that is left is to get home. That point was the Panga ride from the ship back to the airport the day before. I didn’t see this as an extension to the holiday; I saw it as an inconvenience. Also, given the nature of the city we were stranded in, I wasn’t planning on doing too much touristy stuff.

Diane, however, was keen to do something. So we took him up on his offer. We never actually found out what a young single man from Miami was doing in Guayaquil in the first place.

Guayaquil has a cable car system called the AeroVia, which runs around the city. There are a lot of wide rivers in Guayaquil, so it is quite an efficient way of transporting people around. It is not really a tourist attraction, but it could be. It gives amazing views of the city, is cheap to European eyes and safe. It ran from just outside our hotel to the suburb of Durán.

Hospital
River Guayas
Cemetery
Crossing the Guayas River
Large white three-dimensional DURÁN sign on a paved waterfront plaza, with the Guayas River, palm trees, and a white building visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
Welcome to Durán
Views from the AeroVia

We got off the cable car in Durán to stretch our legs. The first thing I noticed were three cops, or possibly soldiers, in full combat gear, faces masked and carrying M16 rifles. Like the armed security guard at the hotel, I did not find this to be a reassuring sight. I didn’t take photos, because they didn’t look as if they wanted their photos taken.

Things perked up after that. We hadn’t realised, but Carnival was about to happen, in a couple of days time. In a small park by the terminal, we found various groups practicing for a Carnival Parade.

Practicing for Carnival
Not just the kids.

We spent about half an hour watching the dancers, before deciding to head back to the hotel. Opposite the hotel was a coffee shop. So we decided to have coffee. It was part of a chain, sort of the Ecuadorian equivalent of Starbucks or Café Nero. There was a security guard (unarmed) on the door. The coffee and cakes were good though.

We had lunch at the hotel, then had a discussion with our friends Helen and Tony and a few others who had been on the ship with us. We set up a WhatsApp group to share the information we had been given. By this time we had been given details of our flights home. We were going to be among the last to leave. Our first flight left Guayaquil for Quito at four in the afternoon on Monday 16th, getting us back to Heathrow, hopefully about two thirty in the afternoon on Tuesday, going via Madrid.

With everyone’s travel arrangements sorted, we just had to decide what to do with our remaining forty-eight hours. I didn’t feel like venturing out again. The hotel had a swimming pool, so I decided to go for a swim.

Small whale spotted in Guayaquil

There was a Valentine’s Day celebration at the hotel in the evening. This meant we had to have dinner earlier than we would have liked. After dinner we went to Helen and Tony’s suite and chatted and played games until it was time for bed.

Sunday 15th

We woke up reasonably early, showered and went down for breakfast. The breakfast buffet at the hotel was very good. It had a mixture of Ecuadorian and Western dishes, a good variety, well prepared and presented.

After breakfast, there was no way Diane was going to sit around the hotel all day. She had been Googling and found this place; the Museo Antropologico y de Arte Contemporaneo

We took a taxi from the hotel. We found the museum eventually. It seemed that every road the driver wanted to take was closed for some reason. We learned a few Spanish swear words on the journey. At the museum we were met by yet another armed security guard. By this time I was beginning to get used to them.

Entry to the museum was either free or very cheap; I can’t remember if we paid something like five dollars or whether it was free. The museum itself is split into two parts: the Anthropological part has artefacts covering about ten thousand years of pre-Colombian Ecuadorian history. The Modern Art section has a selection of very contemporary art.

The pre-Colombian section was interesting, the artifacts on show were not that different from what we had seen in museums in Peru. That was not that surprising as the Inca culture was very widespread. There were also many artifacts from the pre-Inca period.

As a complete contrast, contemporary Ecuadorian art:

It was an interesting and quite different gallery/museum to visit. I don’t know of anywhere quite like it in the UK. If someone decided to amalgamate the British Museum and the Tate Modern, that might get close. It is worth a visit if you are ever stuck in Guayaquil for a few days.

Coming back to the hotel, we weren’t sure how to find a taxi, but it didn’t matter. We found that the museum was just across the street from an AeroVia stop, so we caught the cable car back to the hotel.

While we are on the subject of modern art, we found this sculpture/relief on a building next to the hotel.

I can’t find out all that much about it, except that the style is described as mid‑20th‑century Latin American modernism. I liked it though.

After lunch, I decided to go for another swim. This time the pool had been taken over by a large number of very noisy kids. I settled for having a beer and reading my book by the pool instead.

In the lift on my way down to the pool, I bumped into the Captain and First Officer of our KLM flight, wearing their uniforms. I asked them if that meant the plane had been fixed. They said that as yet it hadn’t, but that they were on their way home. People from our group were beginning to go home. We were all on different flights. Some people going via Panama, some via Bogota, and a couple via Rio. It can’t have been an easy job, finding flights for three hundred people at short notice.

We were going to be among the last to leave.

Our friends Helen and Tony were already on their way home via Bogota, so after dinner we had a drink in one of the bars, read our books and went to bed.

Monday 16th to Tuesday 17th: on our way home.

We didn’t get up particularly early this morning. After breakfast, we did our packing, and then Diane went shopping. She had found a shop in the hotel arcade selling “vegetarian ivory” jewellery, which was quite attractive and reasonably priced. She bought some for herself and some to bring home as presents. Later, we went across the road for a coffee, came back, had lunch, and then caught the hotel’s shuttle bus to the airport.

Check-in for the first of our three flights home was at 15:30. It took just under an hour to reach Quito, leaving us with about two hours to kill before we had to check in for the flight to Madrid. The flight left about ninety minutes late, possibly due to the rather long queue of people in wheelchairs waiting to board.

Gentlemen start your engines.
Bye Bye Guayaquil.

I did not enjoy the flight. I am not fond of overnight west to east flights at the best of times. I didn’t like the seats we had been given, they were immediately behind a bulkhead, there was enough legroom, but no footrest. The food was mediocre, and to cap it all, because of the late departure, the flight landed in Madrid leaving us less than forty minutes to make our connection.

Diane’s lack of mobility, saved the day. Without her wheelchair driver waiving us past queues and through checkpoints, I don’t think we would have caught our flight.

We made it by the skin of our teeth and two and a half hours later we were back in a grey and rainy London.

We made the flight, but our suitcases didn’t. They were still in Madrid. There were about ten people who had been on the Quito flight. None of our bags had arrived. One person had an air tag on her suitcase, which was telling her it was still in Madrid. We assumed that everyone’s was still there. Diane took the pragmatic approach, and decided that it saved us doing the laundry when we got home.

The bags arrived a day or so later

With that our South American adventure came to a close.

Thinking back on this part of the adventure, I could have made more of it. I know that Guayaquil is a dangerous city, but by taking sensible precautions it should have been safe enough, at least during daylight hours. However getting past my “the holiday is over” feeling would have been more difficult.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

The Galapagos Islands – Part VII

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Thursday 12th February –Bird Island

We were now eight days in to our expedition/cruise around the Galapagos Islands on the M.S. Santa Cruz II. Today would be our last full day. We had thoroughly enjoyed everything up to now, including the early starts. They were worth it. Every island had been different, different wild life, different scenery, and different adventures. We were determined to make the most of our last day on “Bird Island”

Or Isla Genovesa to give it its proper name.

“Bird Island”

But first a little geology. As can be seen from the above image, Genovesa is a volcanic Island, a shield volcano, to be precise, with a collapsed caldera, which forms Great Darwin Bay. In the middle of the island is a salt water crater lake called Lake Arcturus.

It is not the most northerly island in the archipelago, Pinta, Marchena and the isolated islets Darwin and Wolf, lie further north. However Genovesa was as far north as we went. The island is completely uninhabited (by Homo Sapiens) and quite remote.

Genovesa is known as “Bird Island” because of the large and varied bird population. I will introduce you to them as we go.

Prince Philip’s Steps.

Santa Cruz II anchored in the bay and after breakfast, but still early, we took the Pangas to the island.

We landed at Prince Philip’s Steps. A steep narrow staircase, cut into the volcanic rock. They take you from sea level to cliff top about twenty five metres above. From there a path takes you onto the plateau, filled with nesting birds.

The cynic in me thought they had been built for Prince Philip, when he visited in 1964, to save him getting his feet wet. Apparently they were just named after him, to honour his visit to the island. Prince Philip was already deeply involved in conservation work—he helped establish the World Wildlife Fund in 1961—and his interest in Galápagos wildlife made the visit notable.

As we climbed the steps it became obvious why it was known as “Bird Island”. We were greeted by birds of all descriptions, none of whom seemed to bother that we were there.

The first I encountered was a Nazca Booby chick, sitting in the middle of the path. Mum was alongside keeping an eye on things.

There are three types of Booby in the Galapagos. The Blue Footed, the Nazca and the Red Footed. The Blue Footed Booby is not found on Genovesa, although it is ubiquitous elsewhere in the archipelago. The Nazca Booby is also fairly widespread. The Red Footed Booby is more or less only found on Genovesa. It is also the most numerous of the three.

The Red Footed Boobies are fairly unique for a sea bird, in that they nest in trees.

Moving on past the booby chick, we encountered a huge variety of birds. The Frigate Birds were probably the most spectacular.

The males are distinguished by their red pouch under their chins. It is inflated as part of their mating display. They are very elegant and manoeverable in flight. Their method of feeding is harassing other birds into giving up their catch.

There is a colony of Wedge Rumped Storm Petrels, that nests on the cliff top.

Wedge Rumped Storm Petrels with a Short Eared Owl.

There is also a colony of Galapagos Short Eared Owls, which prey on the Storm Petrels.

Short Eared Owls

Just trying to remember the names of all the birds that I saw is a challenge.

Bird Species Seen by me on Genovesa

Below is a reference table of the bird species I encountered on Genovesa, It includes common and scientific names, families, and links for anyone who wants to dive deeper.

Common Name Scientific Name Family Wikipedia Link Notes
Red-footed Booby Sula sula Sulidae Red-footed Booby Genovesa; tree-nesting booby
Nazca Booby Sula granti Sulidae Nazca Booby Genovesa cliffs
Red-billed Tropicbird Phaethon aethereus Phaethontidae Red-billed Tropicbird Nesting on Genovesa
Galápagos Shearwater Puffinus subalaris Procellariidae Galápagos Shearwater Endemic; often in feeding flocks
Elliot’s Storm-Petrel Oceanites gracilis Oceanitidae Elliot’s Storm-Petrel Seen around Genovesa
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel Hydrobates castro Hydrobatidae Band-rumped Storm-Petrel Pelagic; breeds in Galápagos
Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel Hydrobates tethys Hydrobatidae Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel Abundant around Genovesa
Great Frigatebird Fregata minor Fregatidae Great Frigatebird Seen across islands
Swallow-tailed Gull Creagrus furcatus Laridae Swallow-tailed Gull Endemic; nocturnal gull
Brown Noddy Anous stolidus Laridae Brown Noddy Common coastal species
American Oystercatcher Haematopus palliatus Haematopodidae American Oystercatcher Seen on beaches and rocky shores
Yellow-crowned Night Heron Nyctanassa violacea Ardeidae Yellow-crowned Night Heron Rábida; hunts crabs
Striated Heron Butorides striata Ardeidae Striated Heron Small shoreline heron
Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias Ardeidae Great Blue Heron Large solitary wader
Galápagos Mockingbird Mimus parvulus Mimidae Galápagos Mockingbird Endemic; very curious
Galápagos Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia aureola Parulidae Yellow Warbler Endemic subspecies
Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus Strigidae Short-eared Owl Genovesa; hunts storm-petrels
Darwin’s Finches Geospiza, Camarhynchus, Certhidea, etc. Thraupidae Darwin’s Finches Endemic radiation; varies by island

The Red -billed (in fact all Tropic Birds) are known to seamen as Bosun Birds. This is because their tail feathers stick out like a Bosun’s (Boatswain’s ) marlin spike from his belt.

Red-billed Tropicbird (Phaethon aethereus)

Distinguishing between the various Storm-Petrels was quite difficult. I relied on the Cornell Bird Identification app Merlin to help me.

The variations between the finches on the different islands is one of the cornerstones of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, I really should have done better at identifying them, but I failed miserably.

The sheer volume of birds was almost overwhelming. The fact that you could walk more or less right up to them, made it even more so.

That was our morning expedition. It was one of the highlights of the trip.

After Lunch

After we went kayaking around the cliffs of Darwin Bay. This was actually where I saw the Tropic Bird. I didn’t manage to get a photo. The photo above is a stock photo I found. They are beautiful birds, and I thought you deserved to see what they look like.

Kayaking was fun, but we decided against paddle boarding.

Diane and me Kayaking
Not Diane and me Paddle Boarding

We didn’t sink, we didn’t capsize and we didn’t scare the Sealions, so I think it was success

Just before sunset we landed on the beach at the opposite end of Darwin Bay to The Prince Philip Steps. We had a gentle stroll along the beach, encountering, Sealions, a nesting colony of Red-footed Boobies, Swallow tailed Gulls, juvenile Frigate Birds, various herons and a Galapagos Yellow Warbler.

The Red-Footed Boobies have two variants, a white one and a brown one. They are the same species. They can and do inter breed.

After that it was back to the Santa Cruz II for our last night.

Sunset

It was then time to pack our bags ready to go home tomorrow. But not before a farewell cocktails and dinner.

The expedition crew

The adventure wasn’t quite over, but tomorrow morning we would be on our way home, with a lot of photographs and even more memories.

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Swimming the Channel at Seventy

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My Channel swim is over. Monday the 22nd of June was the final day of the challenge. I met the target that I set myself of swimming eleven miles, or half way across. I carried on but didn’t make it all the way across. I managed sixteen and a bit miles, including about four hundred meters actually in the Channel. I am quite pleased with my effort, especially considering that at this time last year I struggled to swim five meters.

This is a link to my page if any one would like to sponsor me, if you haven’t done so already.

A big thank you to everyone who has supported me, with sponsorship or encouragement. And thank you to my swimming teachers, without whom I would have drowned

My medal
Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

The Galapagos Islands – Part VI

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Wednesday 11th February – Red Beach in the Morning, Lighthouse in the Afternoon.

I had thought that we were finished with very early starts when we left the mainland. I was wrong. We were up at five in order to visit the Red Beach on Rabida Island before breakfast. The ship laid on coffee and pastries in the Expedition Lounge to help us wake up. We were more or less all awake by the time we piled into the Pangas for our trip to the island.

Rabida Sunrise

The beach is an incredible bright red colour, due to the very high iron content in the sand.

Beach, Sealion and MV Santa Cruz II
Flamingos at dawn

As we walked along the beach the first thing we encountered, apart from Sealions, was a brackish lake. It was home to a flock of flamingos.

The young flamingos are grey. This is because flamingos develop their pink colour because of the food that they eat.

Flamingos are not born pink; they hatch with gray or white down feathers and gradually develop their signature pink, orange, or reddish hues over time as they consume carotenoid-rich foods such as algae, brine shrimp, and other small aquatic organisms 

These pigments, including beta-carotene, canthaxanthin, and astaxanthin, are broken down in the liver and transported via the bloodstream to the feathers and skin, giving flamingos their vibrant coloration.
The intensity of a flamingo’s color depends on diet quality, species, and habitat. Birds that consume more carotenoid-rich shrimp and algae develop deeper pink or reddish tones, while those with less access to these foods may appear paler or even nearly white 
Colour can also fade if a flamingo’s diet changes or if the bird becomes stressed or ill, because feathers are only replaced during moulting, which occurs twice a year 
It typically takes 1 to 3 years for a young flamingo to achieve full pink coloration, reflecting years of consistent carotenoid intake .This process highlights the principle of “you are what you eat,” as flamingos’ iconic color is a direct result of their specialized feeding habits and the pigments present in their natural diet 

Encyclopedia Britannica

Galapagos Dove
Flower!!
Dead Starfish
Red Sealion

I suppose we spent about an hour exploring the area around the lake. We found a few other wildlife specimens, such as Galapagos Doves and Lava Lizards. We also found a flower, I’m not sure what it is, to be honest, it looks a bit like bindweed to me. It was probably the only flower that I saw in the wild. Our naturalist/guide assured us that if we came in a months time, there would be flowers everywhere.

We returned to the boat for a well earned breakfast

Snorkelling off Rabida

Next up, more snorkelling. But this time I caught something reasonably exciting with my video camera. (Excuse the Finger Fish that pops up occasionaly

The water was again very clear.

My best video

I tried to convince my six year old twin grandsons that the small (about 1m 20) White Tipped Reef Shark, was the biggest and baddest shark in the whole of the Galapagos. They didn’t buy my story, but they were impressed by the fact that I had managed to film a shark. I would love to take them there, in three or four years time, when they could cope physically with snorkelling. They would love it.

That was our excitement for the morning. Diane didn’t go snorkelling, as her knee was causing her a few problems, so she went for a trip in the glass bottomed boat.

Photos from the glass bottomed boat
Bartolomé snorkelling

While we were eating our lunch the ship moved on to another island in the Santiago group, Isla Bartolomé. We landed on the beach by Pinnacle Rock, I went snorkelling again, this time from the beach. Getting into the water from the beach with your fins on is tricky. Walking backwards is the best way.

My videos from this expedition were less successful, but our videographer obtained some excellent footage, which I share below.

He captured things that I had seen, but didn’t get decent footage of, like Rays and Turtles. He also managed to get footage of Hammerhead Sharks, which I didn’t see, as they were the far side of Pinnacle Rock (the large rock formation seen at the end of the video).

The current on the far side of the rock was quite strong. I was, still am, an inexperienced snorkeller. I decided discretion was the better part of valour and stayed on the sheltered side. I think that you will agree that some of Andres’ shots are spectacular.

After we had finished our snorkel, we returned to the Santa Cruz II, to change and get ready for our climb to the top of Bartolomé.

Climbing Bartolomé

We had a dry landing for a change. There is a set of concrete steps that leads to a boardwalk which takes you to the summit of the island. After negotiating the inevitable Sealions, who had decided that the steps were a good place for a nap, we were off. There are about three hundred and eighty steps (I didn’t count them) to the summit of the island. The climb isn’t too hard physically, but the heat does get to you. Take water.

To the Lighthouse

Bartolomé, on this side is very barren. I looks a bit like I think Mars would be. Red, rocky and barren.

Lava Cactus (brachycereus nesioticus)

This was the only vegetation that I saw on the climb up. There are places to stop, rest and take photos on the way up.

The Galapagos Gulls on the way up.

Contrary to the impression I may have given in my title, it is more of a navigation beacon, rather than a lighthouse on the summit. When you get to the top you are rewarded with some magnificent views of the island.

As you can see the other side of the island is less barren.

Penguins

As we were heading back to the Panga, a bird that I had hoped to see made an appearance. The Galapagos Penguin showed up. (Click on the link for more information). Diane, because of her knee, elected to take a Panga tour instead of the climb, told me they had seen loads of them.

It was nearly six p.m. by this time, so the park was closing. We headed back to the Santa Cruz II for a shower and a cold beer.

After dinner there was a charity auction, in aid of the HX foundation, which supports various conservation projects in the islands.

Some of the winners with their purchases.

We had a very good, very full day. There was not much chance of getting bored on this trip.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

The Galapagos Islands – Part V

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Tuesday 10th February Heading North

Northern Route

We were starting on the second part of our cruise. Taking in the northern islands of Santiago, Rabida, Bartolome and Genovesa.

Our first stop was off Buccaneer Cove on Santiago. We were in our wet suits. There was a panga tour of the base of the cliffs, but we were scheduled to go snorkeling after the tour.

The cliffs, especially a rock formation known as The Bishop, and a sea cave were worth seeing.

The Bishop (at prayer)

The snorkelling around here was the best so far. The water was clear, with vision for at least twenty metres. Unfortunately, my video clips are mainly of my fins.

My fins (and a few fish)

So you will have to make do with pictures of Blue-Footed Boobies instead.

After lunch we moved on round Santiago to Puerto Agas, where we had a beach landing, before going for a walk, to see the wild life. Sealions and their pups were everywhere. Marine Iguanas and Sally Lightfoot Crabs were there in abundance. There were also Land Iguanas. The scenery, like most places on the Galapagos, was quite barren. It was mainly volcanic rocks and most of the vegetation was cacti of one kind or another.

Some of the wildlife we saw on our walk.

Land Iguana
  • Sea Lion and Pup
  • Lava Lizard
  • Marine Iguana and Sally Lightfoot Crab
  • Cacti
  • Heron, with MV Santa Cruz II
  • Galapagos Mockingbird
  • Erosion

By the time we had finished our walk it was heading for 18:00, which is the time that The Galapagos National Park closes. It was also beginning to get dark. So we headed back to the ship.

Evenings on board were fairly quiet. There is no entertainment as such. We would normally have a pre-dinner drink, at which time there would be a briefing about the next day’s activities. Then we would go down for dinner, which was never worse than very good. I would usually have a whisky as a nightcap and be tucked into bed by ten. The days were fairly full on, generally with reasonably early starts, so by ten I was ready for bed.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

The Galapagos Islands – Part IV

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Sunday 8th – Not your normal Post Office

We had an early breakfast this morning. We were off to the Post Office to send our post cards home.

Overnight we had crossed from Puerto Ayora to Floreana Island. We anchored off Post Office Bay, the site of the world’s most unusual Post Office.

The Post Office

It is a barrel mounted on a pole. It works like this. You put your postcard or letter into the barrel. The next ship that comes along sorts through the mail in the barrel. If anyone finds something that they can deliver they take it with them. When they get back home they take the letter or postcard along to the address and pop it through the door. We didn’t find anything that we could deliver, but our friends Helen and Tony found a card addressed to some one in the town that they live in, so they took it home with them.

The origins of the system go back to the whaling days of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Outward bound whalers would stop at the island to top up their water supplies and, unfortunately, grab a few tortoises for fresh meat. They left mail for home in the barrel, where it would, hopefully, be picked up by a homeward bound ship. Once they got home the mail would be delivered. There probably were other barrels scattered around various islands in the Pacific, but to the best of my knowledge this is the only one that survives.

We sent three postcards, to Diane’s kids, they all arrived within a month of us posting them. Unfortunately none of them managed to talk to the people who delivered them.

After posting the cards we went for a walk around the area. The wild life, as always, was abundant. Although we saw nothing that we hadn’t seen before. Sealions were everywhere, as were Marine Iguanas, I did manage to get photos of a Blue Footed Booby, a Galápagos Yellow Warbler and a Wedge Rumped Storm Petrel.

It was then back to the boat to get ready to go snorkelling. In many ways snorkelling has been the highlight of the trip. Considering all the other things we have seen, that takes a bit of doing. This morning’s snorkel was no exception. The range of underwater life on show has been amazing. I just wish I had decent videos or photographs to show you.

Snorkelling

After our snorkel, it was back on board for another excellent lunch. The food on board has been excellent. It is very locally based, ingredients wise, and Ecuadorian with an international twist.

Dolphins

Just after lunch, we were met by a school of, I guess two hundred Bottlenose Dolphins. Very Impressive.

In the afternoon Diane and Tony decided that they would like to go kayaking. I decided to snorkel from the beach. This was possibly a mistake. The visibility was not very good and there was not as much in the way of fauna as on the other outings. It was still enjoyable though. Wandering along the beach afterwards I bumped into a Sealion or two (obviously), Sally Lightfoot Crabs, which have amazing colours, and a Lava Lizard.

Sharks

After dinner we were treated to an amazing display of sharks. I think they may have been attracted to our lights. They seemed to be busy hunting flying fish. Or possibly sealions, as there were a few Sealions there as well.

The Galapagos Affair

Floreana Island was also the location of one of the Galapagos Islands strangest stories. In the early 1930’s Floreana was settled by various European settlers looking for utopia. Led initially by Friedrich Ritter and his partner Dore Strauch, they were followed by the Wittmer family. The hoped for paradise never materialised and quickly descended into a struggle for survival. This was not helped by disagreements between the Ritters and the Wittmers. Later, in 1932, an Austrian self-proclaimed “Baroness” Eloise Wehrborn de Wagner-Bosquet arrived, with a pair of lovers in tow. By 1934 four of the seven settlers had either died or vanished in mysterious circumstances. It was the basis for the 2025 film by Ron Howard, “Eden”

A fuller account of the mystery can be found here: The Galapagos Affair

The Wittmer family survived the chaos and run a small hotel on the island.

Monday 9th – A day off

This marked the end of the Western Loop round Isabela, Fernandina, Santa Cruz and Floreana Islands. We headed back to Baltra as some passengers were leaving us and others were joining. The ship also needed resupplying.

Supplies

It also gave us a chance to catch up with laundry and other things. I was going to say blogging, but as you can see I am still quite a way behind.

In the afternoon we did head off to a beach called Las Bachas on Santa Cruz for snorkelling, swimming or just wandering around.

Las Bachas

Then back to the ship for a beer, dinner, more sharks then bed. Tomorrow we were heading North.

learning to swim

Learning to Swim at Seventy (part 3)

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Progress and Swimming the English Channel

I was moved up to the next class a couple of months ago. I get to learn in the big pool now. I have a different teacher, and am learning different things. He is trying to teach me to become a swimmer, not just helping me not to drown.

Swimming the English Channel for Diabetes U.K

I was diagnosed as a diabetic about forty years ago. Living with it can be a challenge at times. But, as my wee sister, who is a nurse, once told me, “Diabetes doesn’t have to be a pain in the arse, John. There are lots of other sites you can use to inject your insulin.”

Diabetes UK has an annual fundraiser, which involves swimming across the English Channel. Not actually swimming the channel, though I suppose you could do that if you wanted to. The idea is that you swim the distance over a period of three months. You can swim all the way across, back and forth, or halfway. So I have also signed up to swim half way across the English Channel.

I’m not exactly a strong or a fast swimmer, but I thought that over the three months of the challenge, that I should be able to manage the eleven miles in bursts of twenty-five or fifty metres. So far I have swum just over nine miles in a bit over a month, so I might see if I can make it all the way across.

My information and donations page can be found here.

You can use it to see how I am doing.

Peru, Ecuador and The Galapagos, Travel

The Galapagos Islands – Part III

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Saturday 7th Tortoises and other creatures

Today we woke up anchored in the bay off Puerto Ayora. Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island is the largest town in the Galapagos Islands. It is the M.V Santa Cruz II’s home port. It is also, and more relevant to today’s excursions, home to the Charles Darwin Research Station. This was our first port of call on Santa Cruz.

After landing and negotiating past the sea lions and marine iguanas littering the wharf (the National Park really should have a word with them), we took a gentle walk to the entrance of the research station.

We saw a lot of birds on the way there. None of which I could identify.

The Charles Darwin Foundation, which the research centre is part of, is dedicated to the conservation of the Galapagos Islands’ environment.

” As one of the most renowned planetary treasures, the Galapagos Islands have played an unrivalled role in the history of science. For more than 60 years, the research undertaken at the Charles Darwin Foundation has focused on furthering our understanding of the natural systems, their relationship with those living in the archipelago, and the intricate and delicate balance between climate, mankind, and nature.

Major research efforts have also focused on the prevention, control, and eradication of invasive species to maintain Galapagos as one of the best-conserved archipelagos in the world.”

The man himself.

The most visible research and conservation programme at the centre is concerned with the preservation of, probably, the Galapagos’ most notable animal, The Giant Tortoise.

The Giant Tortoise (Chelonoidis niger), which has or had several subspecies. Some of the subspecies are now extinct, others are critically endangered. In the 18th and 19th centuries the tortoises were hunted for food and oil. Because a tortoise can live for a long time without either food or water, they were seen as a source of fresh meat by the crews of passing ships. The Floreana Giant Tortoise became extinct in exactly this manner. Other sub-species were badly depleted by this practice. Introduced animals, mainly but not limited to rats, cats and dogs also wreaked havoc on the tortoise population.

This link takes you to a list of all the sub-species of Galapagos Tortoises, showing their current conservation status.

We were shown round the various breeding enclosures where tortoises are reared before they are returned to the wild.

As you can see, giant tortoises are not always giants at least to start with.

Eggs are harvested and incubated in temperature-controlled conditions. This is necessary as the incubation temperature influences the sex of the hatchling. Warmer temperatures produce more females and cooler temperatures more males. With global warming more females than males were being born.

After having looked round the enclosures we went to meet “Lonesome George.” His stuffed remains are, to be, more exact.

Lonesome George (Spanish: Solitario George or Jorge, c. 1910 June 24, 2012) was a male Pinta Island tortoise (Chelonoidis niger abingdonii) and the last known individual of the subspecies. In his last years, he was known as the rarest creature in the world. George serves as an important symbol for conservation efforts in the Galápagos Islands and throughout the world.

After having had a look around the museum attached to the centre, it was time to go and meet the Giant Tortoises in the wild.

But first we had to get there. We had two options, be lazy and get the coach, or cycle there. Diane, because of her knee took the coach. I decided to cycle. This was possibly a mistake, because it started to rain as soon as we got on the bikes.

Cycling through the rain

Also the bike was probably the worst bike I had ridden in years. It also did not have electric assist. I have probably become too used to my e-bike over the past few years.

Wet but unbowed, the gallant cyclists at our destination.

We visited a sugar cane plantation for lunch. Before lunch they showed us their production process, or to be more exact, the way they used to produce sugar.

Crushing the cane
Fermentation
Distillation

They also produce a type of rum, my feeling is that the process is slightly more sophisticated than that shown above. The end product is still a bit rough though. I bought a bottle for my friend Toby.

After seeing and sampling their various products, as well as sugar and alcohol, they also grow coffee and cocoa, we had a rather good lunch.

The sugar cane plantation is on one of the migration routes of the Giant Tortoises. So after lunch we got to see them in the wild. Actually, we had seen quite a few on the way into the plantation. If they are on the road they have right of way.

An intrepid wildlife photographer

It is quite surprising exactly how large they are. The biggest of them are around a metre, maybe a bit more, in length. They like to bask in ponds in order to cool off.

After our tortoise encounter we went back to Puerto Ayora to catch the Panga back to the ship. We stayed behind for an hour or so, to do some souvenir shopping and have a beer, which came with fresh plantain chips on the side.

As we sat on the pier waiting for the Panga we were fascinated by the marine life that we saw. There were Sealions and Marine Iguanas of course. In the water there were sharks, rays and turtles. On the rocks there were herons and crabs.

After that it was back to the ship for a briefing on the next days activities, then dinner and bed.

Random thoughts, ramblings and rants