Dive into the Galapagos

Ever since I took a course on Evolution in 1993, I dreamed of going to the Galapagos Islands. When I decided to go travel in South America in 2008, the Galapagos became my one and only MUST SEE site. I had no idea what I was getting into when I signed up for this 8-day cruise onboard a power catamaran. In fact, I did not even know what a catamaran was. When I arrive at Puerto Ayora and saw the boat named “Queen of Galapagos” I realized the travel agent was not lying when he sold me the luxury-class cruise. Adrift the turquoise blue sea, each day the 16 passengers woke up to the view of a different volcanic island black with lava rocks covered with brilliantly colored sally light foot crabs, or fine white sand littered with marine iguanas, and the windows were like the HDTV section in Best Buy, all featuring the “frigate bird air show”. In the mornings we had a leisurely hike, and in the afternoon we snorkeled for as long as we could stay in the cold water. Snacks and cold drinks awaited onboard before we jumped into a hot shower. After watching sunset, a 5-course meal would be elegantly presented and served by a friendly staff. Until that day, I could not truly say I had treated myself right.

Only 1000 kilometers (600 miles) west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, the Galapagos feels like a different planet. The first afternoon we went to the highland of Santa Cruz Island to see the giant tortoises. We all know turtles are slow in general, but it takes extra long for these giants to do anything: one hour to walk 300 meters (1000 feet); 30 years to mature (still faster than men); and 250 years to die. However, when they did decide to move, their stubby elephant-like feet carried that boulder-sized shell like a soldier on steroid racing a tank down the tank trail. Over locally grown organic coffee, our nature guide told us many interesting but sad facts about the 14 subspecies of giant tortoises, three of which were already extinct due to human exploitation. Ironically, when Charles Darwin came to the Galapagos in 1835 on the HMS Beagle, sailors loaded up hundreds of giant tortoises as supply of fresh meat on their voyage, as many pirates or whaling ships that visited the islands had done for centuries.

Also known as Las Islas Encantadas, these enchanted islands are famous for the abundance, diversity, and tameness of their wildlife. Among all the iconic animals, the Galapagos sea lions are definitely the most interactive and captivating of all. Properly labeled “the welcoming committee of the Galapagos”, the bulbous-headed bulls busily declared territory of their harems by calling “Oha! Oha! Oha!", while the cows lazily nursed their pups on the lava field, creating a relaxing ambience for this paradise. The youngsters chased each other or played with driftwood or a seashell, much like kids who were stuck at home and desperately looking for something to mess with. I was taking pictures of the sea lions, not knowing a pup had come to investigate my sandals. Snorkeling with young sea lions usually involved shrimp kicks and staring contests. When I dove down, the playful young sea lions would follow and spin with me underwater. Then one of them swam away in a big circle, gained speed, charged straight at me, stopped right in front of my face, and looked me dead in the eye as if saying, “You are the ugliest sea lion I have ever seen.”

Another charismatic character on the Galapagos that no one should miss is the blue-footed bobbies. Their clown-like over-sized bright blue webbed-feet make a good focal point on any photograph, but it is their slow and clumsy movements that burn a permanent mental image in everyone who has observed these seriously dutiful parents and yet hopelessly comical seabirds. Sitting patiently on their nests right next to the designated trails, they ignored the stream of tourists’ feet that must have seemed hilarious to them. To them it was business as usual, whether it was sitting quietly on their eggs, feeding their fuzzy cotton-candy-looking chicks, or performing their mating dance. In this ritual that qualified to appear on the “World’s Funniest Animal Video” show, the male bird, with all his strength, erected his tail feathers, made a series of short whistles that sounded like a 3-year-old child playing a cracked plastic flute. After that he passionately raised one of his sexually-suggestive turquoise blue webbed-feet, held it in the air for a second to contemplate on his next move; then he slowly put it back down, and repeated several times with alternate feet. The grand finale was pointing his beak, wings, and tail to the sky in a most phallic display, asking for her approval. Which female booby could reject such charming love?

There was not a time when I turned around and not saw a marine iguana on the shore of these islands. These real-life miniature Godzillas in slow-motion put us in the set of “Jurassic Park”. They basked in the sun to raise their body temperature, sprayed a salty snot to remove excess salt from their diet, munched on seaweeds when they found a delicious little patch of green, then take a dip in the water when the sun gets too hot. I swam after a big boy to collect data on its ability to adapt to the marine lifestyle. I came to the conclusion that iguanas arrived on these islands long before humans did for a very logical reason.

It was early summer in the Galapagos and love was in the air. Male marine iguanas put on the brightest red and blue shirt. Male manta rays flipped into the air to broadcast their sperms. Male frigate birds proudly showed off their fire-alarm-red balloons. Blue-footed boobies whistled and danced. Turtle sex was everywhere on land with the giant tortoises and at sea with the Pacific green sea turtles. “Go get a room” became our way of greeting a turtle. In the end, it is the more subtle encounters that inspire the greatest awe: Flamingos leisurely left a cloudy trail behind as they skimmed the shallows of a lagoon for brine shrimps, red-billed tropicbirds gracefully glided over the jagged lava cliff with their long tail feathers trailing behind, or the rarely-spotted Galapagos hawk scouted atop a pinnacle rock with grand dignity. And then there were those endearing moments such as a Hood mocking bird seeking refuge from the scorching Equatorial sun in my shadow, and two baby sea lions kissing to make peace after a hearty play-fight.

What a splash! Dive into the Galapagos and have a fullly submerged experience with me in my Galapagos Album.

Eva in Monkeyland

Eva is a little girl in Georgia who never allows herself to be bored. One early spring morning she is sitting on the river bank, enjoying the sunshine and playing Sudoku. Suddenly a monkey jumps in front of her and then disappears into the river. She gets into her little kayak and follows the monkey into the narrow tidal creek that has tall marsh grass standing on both sides and feels like going down a rabbit hole. At the end of the creek, the water empties into a broad river as wide as the sea. Across the choppy river with swells twice as high as her little kayak lies an island of lush forest, and beyond that, the big open Atlantic Ocean. She hesitates for a second and when the call of the mysterious wilderness comes from the island, little Eva has no intention to turn back. She digs her paddle deep into the crests of the waves as her kayak cuts through them like a knife slicing a birthday cake. When she finally lands on the beach of the island, she climbs up to the top of the high bluff consisting of tiny pieces of broken oyster shells. Her eyes are met by a golden sea of waving marsh grass, to the end of which, a cozy little tidal pool flanked by a few palm trees. It looks like a perfect tropical paradise; little does Eva know she will soon find herself knee-deep in monkey poop.

Eva, who is always looking for an adventure or otherwise trouble of some sort, is hypnotized by the exotic beauty of the lush forest in front of her. She carries her Sudoku book in a bag and enters the forest. Several times she thinks she sees something glowing in the trees. Before her eyes can focus on anything, everything moves. Gigantic oaks are draped with Spanish moss that filters the sunlight and hangs like the long silver beard of some creepy old man. Although the occasional sounds of chattering leaves spook her, the soothing scents of cedar and pine lure her to walk deeper into the forest. The undergrowth of the woods gets thicker and thicker. Soon she has to negotiate her steps through the entanglement of small twigs and low branches. There is no time or space to look up or around her and she is about to face her greatest fear: getting lost in the jungle, with no internet access or cappuccino machine.

As abruptly as the forest closes in on little Eva, it opens up. Once she is able to stand upright again, she finds herself on the edge of a pond the size of a football field. The sight is bewildering. She has been to Disney Worlds of three different countries but has never seen any place as magical as this. On the bank of the pond, a neat line of palm trees lend their reflections to the mirror-like surface of the jade-colored pond. Behind the palms stands a tall oak tree on which roost a few dozen snow white great egrets. She sits down by the pond and enjoys this heavenly view for a few minutes. Then she takes her Sudoku book out of the bag and tries to solve the puzzle she was working on before she was interrupted by the monkey. Despite the serene surroundings, she feels an inexplicable uneasiness; kind of like the eerie feeling that someone is secretly watching you. Amid the dead silence, the leaves rattle. Eva looks up the trees and she can't believe what she sees! There must be a hundred anxious eyes looking back at her. There are monkeys everywhere, in the trees, on the ground, and across the pond. An opening among the palm trees that fringes the pond catches her eyes. "That is either the way to get into trouble or the way to get out of it." She thinks, and naturally she walks over there along the edge of the pond. Scattered under the bushes are monkey skulls, tortoise shells, and bones of various animals. The scene at the clearing is even more terrifying: a full skeleton of a big bird, perhaps a heron or great egret, wings and neck all folded up like a pretzel. A few steps away, the full skeleton of a small child, as if he has just collapsed and dropped dead. "Wow, this is cool!" She rushes over, only to find a long tail extending from the end of the vertebral column. There are other pieces of carcasses of unidentified victims in the vicinity. "Is this a witchcraft boot camp?" She looks up into the trees and there roost the answer: a flock of vultures contemplating when she may drop dead and become their first Chinese dinner.

The monkey carcass stinks a little too much to be added to her collection, so Eva says her fond goodbye, and sets off to find her way out of this jungle. Technically she is not lost - as long as she does set a fixed route or destination, she is merely taking a walk and enjoying the scenery. From time to time she sits down to do her Sudoku, while the monkeys settle down and resume their natural behaviors. Most are sitting around or walking about, doing their thing. Every once in a while, there will be a little curious monkey who comes near and wants to check out what is in her bag.

We all know monkeys are our close relatives. When you spend some time observing them, you will be surprised how much of our human society is reflected in the monkeys' behaviors. There are monkeys who sit around and scratch their heads. There are monkeys who jump up and down a tree and yell and scream at every little thing. There are monkeys that flip over every single leaf or stone looking for something they don't even know what it is. There is always that one little monkey who can't resist the simple joy of finding new trouble. I am that little monkey.

To view more pictures of this trip, go to my Morgan Island Album.
To view pictures of all my recent travels, go to All My Albums.