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.