The Galápagos - boobies, boobies, boobies.

 

Sunday April 16^th, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Isla San Cristóbal, Galápagos, Ecuador.

We're in the Galápagos! We've had a couple of weeks here now being all touristy and doing lots of tourism and touring and going on tours. So the big question: was it worth all the paperwork and the hassle and the money and the stress? Well it really is very good. Very, very good. Just don't tell all the sailors who opted to go straight to French Polynesia (Silver Chief – you haven't missed anything at all, just stop reading now).

So back in the middle of March, after soaking up some big city life, morning runs along the causeway and evening cycles to the microbrewery (and a Paddy's Day green beer) we finally got our window to leave Panamá. We joined all the other boats in the anchorage in the most popular activity of the moment: frantic hull-cleaning efforts to make sure we were as clean as possible for arrival in the very, very fussy Galápagos. The Aussie fleet all grabbed the same weather window with Mac and Silver Chief a couple of days ahead of us and Matilda a couple of days behind. Our canal buddy, Salty Ginger, was coincidentally leaving the anchorage at the same time as us and we were just able to make out her sails by day and lights by night for the first couple of days as we sailed out of the Bay of Panamá.

Dicing with traffic as we left the Bay of Panamá.

It was a fantastic start to our first proper ocean passage since arriving in Grenada in 2020 – a group of dolphins escorted us out of the harbour at sunset and returned overnight zooming around in the bioluminescence making me think for a moment we were being torpedoed. We had 15kn of wind, flat seas, a full headsail and were making 6kn. Beautiful. A new excitement for Karl on this passage was the HF (High Frequency marine radio) net each evening with some of the boats we'd met along the way. Ooooh the thrill of being able to speak to Zen Again as they made their way from Jamaica to the Bahamas! You really don't have to scratch far below his surface to find the nerd in Karl. The wind gradually died as we approached the doldrums, first we slowed, then we changed from the headsail to the spinnaker, then the wind died some more, then we drifted for a bit until Karl finally gave up and started his precious engine. 

A good sunset to kickstart the trip.

The spinnaker's brief but glorious appearance.

And then the wind died completely leaving a glassy ocean.

As we got closer to land the boobies started coming to visit which was fun until we realised they were intent on staying and on fertilising Gráinne's decks. When Karl started trying to scare them off they just looked really puzzled as to why this human was being so annoying in an otherwise very pleasant perch they'd found themselves. Karl did finally win the battle. Before arriving in the Galapagos we stopped in the middle of no-where to give Gráinne's bum a final scrub (having a spotless hull had become Karl's major stress and obsession). Four hours (four hours!!!!!) later he declared he had done everything humanly possible and we just had to cross our fingers they'd let us in (if you have a dirty bum they turn you away and the next island is 3000 miles further on....). Meanwhile I scrubbed booby poo off the decks. We also had our second equator crossing on this passage. Excitement. As we were all equator-crossing veterans aboard we didn't need to do a ceremony this time around but I did get Karl out of bed in the dark to share a 04.46am quarter bottle of champagne with Neptune and Gráinne.

The boobies have claimed their spot.

The boobies have left their mark.

Nothing below for over 2000m or around for as far as the eye can see. Perfect for a bottom scrub.

Our second equator crossing, no bump this time either.

And then Land Ho! After seeing pretty much no traffic at all since losing sight of Salty Ginger we spent the last night sailing down the northern coast of San Cristóbal being pursued by half the bloody ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, but the round the world version, it's like a package tour for sailors) fleet. I was nervous loads of them would overtake us and get the best anchoring spots but we held our ground well. Arriving at dawn the anchorage was pretty crowded already (by ARC boats) but then we spotted Mac and figured that even if we squeezed in a little too close to them they'd forgive us. So that's what we did. 

Gráinne being pursued by the ARC fleet.

Early morning arrival at San Cristóbal.

And then the nervous wait for the officialdom and the dreaded hull inspection. Karl was a mess. Peering over the side he spotted a tiny speck of green growth and started trying to subtly get rid of it while pretending to nonchalantly scrub the deck. The hull-inspecting divers arrived mid-morning. Tension peaked. And then just as the divers entered the water the Universe gave us the gift of a massive downpour of rain and we thought “Yes! That'll have ruined the visibility.”. And a quick five minutes later they surfaced and gave us the thumbs up. Phew. After that Karl was all happy-happy-job-done while I was still fretting about my upcoming grillings by Port Authority, Health, Biosecurity and National Park officials. In the end it all went reasonably well except they decided we needing to be re-fumigated (at a cost...) so we had a Ghostbuster come aboard at the end of the day to wave his magic wand around and make a lot of noise. And then we were in. There may have been a celebratory rum.

Mandatory sign in the "engine room".

Mandatory sign on inside and outside areas (I decided this was a little bit inside and a little bit outside and would do just fine).

Mandatory rubbish labelling.

My "organic waste" tupperware.

What to say about the Galápagos? They're really just fantastic. Because the islands are so far from the mainland and also relatively isolated from each other the living things that found their way here from the continent then went on to evolve in their separate silos which is what gets biologists so excited. The big tortoises and turtles that could live as a store of food for up to a year on board a ship was what got the old sailors so excited. The fact that the islands have been pretty much uninhabited until relatively recently, and have been a national park since the mid 20^th century (despite a few attempts at settlements since Ecuador claimed the islands in 1832 the first person to be born here was in the 1930s) means the animals ruled, and still do, which is what gets tourists so excited. In Puerto Baquerizo Moreno the sealions rule – they're everywhere, sometimes cute, sometimes smelly, sometimes threatening, always in charge. On the beaches there are the very prehistoric-looking marine iguanas (apparently the world's only amphibious iguana). Inland there are the massive tortoises. In the water there are sealions (so much cuter and more playful and graceful in the water), huge turtles, plenty of sharks (the world's most dense shark population) and a million beautiful fish. And don't even get me started on the blue-footed boobies (pata azules), ah the glorious blue-footed boobies with their cute little booby dance mating ritual. Karl has a “I love boobies” T-shirt, we have a little booby statue and we have a little booby painting. We've gone full tourist.

So we won't be using these steps up to the dock.

This guy just seems to have passed out after a big night.

A pretty prehistoric looking marine iguana.

Blue footed boobies! The male on the left (with his paler feet) is doing the booby dance in an attempt to impress the female.

A Galápagos tortoise dwarfing the crew of Matilda.

Is there anything cuter than the little suck-suck-suck of a baby sealion feeding?

Isla San Cristóbal

San Cristóbal, population about 5,500, is the Capital of the Galapagos and is where we based ourselves. It strikes a lovely balance between tourism and still retaining the feel of a real, functioning (albeit extremely laid back) town. Sealions rule, as I said, and just watching them provides hours of entertainment. And the crabs and iguanas and pretty birds. The first week we were here there was also a big WSL surf competition on so we checked that out (not a lot else going on!). There's actually really good surf here – our first few days we could see surfers on fantastic breaks one each side of the anchorage, which was a bit freaky. Then the swell died.

Karl flirts with pro surf comp photography as a potential future career.

Hmmm....what do we think?

Not a lot of hustle and bustle in downtown Puerto Baquerizo Moreno.

Matilda arrived a few days after us and anchored right on top of us and Mac. We explored the island a bit beyond the port and went for a day's diving to Isla León Dormido (Kicker Rock) which was a really really good dive on the vertical wall of the island - fish, starfish, turtles, sharks (hammerheads!) - fabulous.

Karl claims a lake in an old volcano crater.

The crew of Matilda preparing to dive Leon Dormido in the background.

Diving with the vertical kicker rock wall on the left and a giant ball of fish on the right blocking out the sunlight. I'm in the orange fins.

Snorkeling with loads of fishies.

Birdwatching with Matilda.

Karl joins the marine iguana race up the beach.

Of course there was some drama along the way. Karl managed to upstage the Matilda birthday girl during her birthday picnic ashore by getting bitten by a fire ant (again!), having an anaphylactic reaction (again!) and being rushed off to hospital in an ambulance. Sigh. Spending a night in ICU. Sigh. He's fine now. Sigh. The Ecuador health service does score higher than Grenada: prompt arrival of ambulance, functioning public hospital, administration of adrenaline. Points deducted for only speaking Spanish though (ever tried to speak a foreign language when you're panicked? My brain started throwing bloody Irish words at me!).

Just to be clear - Karl asked me to take this photo (he was feeling better and starting to embrace his inner drama queen) and he asked me to include it here to prove his immortality. I can assure you "Oh, this'll be great content for the blog" was the last thing on my mind that evening!

Isla Isabela

Isabela, population about 2,000, is the largest island in the group. We took the ferry for a few days of tourism leaving Gráinne behind because the Isabela anchorage is small, dodgy and has a reputation for rolling. 

Wettest ferry ride ever - all the water that came over the bow as we bashed into the waves found its way in a special personal trickle right down onto my head. Karl decided to take photos instead of offering to swap seats.

The pace of life here makes San Cristóbal feel like New York City. Very, very, very chill. No sudden movements please. It has five volcanoes including one particularly active one with a huge caldera and some recent lava flows that make for a very nice (long, tiring) hike. We went snorkeling to a fabulous little spot that functions as a fish nursery so you could see all the mini baby versions of the fish you saw elsewhere. And there were loads of huge turtles and even seahorses. Seahorses! They're real. Saw them with my own eyes. And there were boobies in their nest-building mate-seeking booby-dancing stage of the year which is even more entertaining than watching sealions climb over each other. Mac had moved on to Isabela by the time we were there so we had no choice but to have some sunset cocktails at a beach bar. Tough life.

The main square in the main town on Isabela.

Flamingos in the lake across the road from out hotel.

The newest part of Isabela, still unvegetated after the most recent eruptions.

The very impressive main caldera on Isabela.

The price you pay to access the lovely view - we got very good at hanging out well off the back of the group.

Zooming out to a snorkeling spot at dizzying speeds never seen on Gráinne.

Now if I can just make it off the boat.....to explore the lava arches and tunnels.

Snorkeling under some lava arches.

Spot the seahorse. They exist!

Snorkeling with loads of enormous turtles. Very, very cool experience.

A day's cycling on Isabela.

Sundowners with Mac (and Karl doing his middle aged man trying to take a selfie trick). New drink - a Coco Loco: lop the top off a coconut, add some rum to the coconut water inside, pop in a straw, Coco Loco!

Isla Santa Cruz

Population about 18,000, Santa Cruz is the big smoke. The main airport is here and it was the centre of the original tourism business back in the 50s and 60s so it's become quite developed. We stayed in Puerto Ayora - very different vibe here, lots of shops selling just about anything a tourist's heart could desire, much more evidence of tour groups but still a pleasant atmosphere. There was some interesting captive audience economics going on too. We arrived on a ferry which takes a mooring and then you are transported to the dock in a water taxi but, surprise!, you have to pay additionally for the taxi (I was so tempted to see what would happen if you refused). As you're walking down the dock recovering from that fleecing you get stopped by a person charging you for the use of the dock! I kid you not. Genius.

We managed to while away of couple of days just wandering about town, not doing any tours, not getting up early to catch a tour/ferry and not succeeding in avoiding buying souvenirs. We found two microbreweries, one was the official gathering place for the ARC which distorted the atmosphere a bit, the other had a lovely view of the bay and great people watching. We spent some time there.

Microbrewery! 

The fishmarket at Puerto Ayora, there is as much wildlife lounging around the stall as there are fish for sale.

Shadows get pretty short around midday at this latitude.

Kara conducts some research at the Charles Darwin Research Station

Lava Tunnels - walking where lava once flowed

And now we're back in San Cristóbal. We didn't bother visiting any of the smaller, unpopulated islands – that would involve doing tours or cruises and we're a bit toured-out. I'm sure they're lovely. We'd been waiting on a part for Rover (that broke literally just after we'd dropped anchor here) that has just arrived today so all we're waiting for now is a weather window and that looks like it might be happening next Friday. So, fingers crossed, French Polynesia here we come.

Karl and his new friends distract each other from the very serious business of a pre-departure hull-scrub.

Bonus for cat fans: Karl got to babysit an adorable little kitten on a couple of occasions on Gráinne. He was happy as a pig in muck.