Galapagos: Journey to the Center of the Earth (By Phil)

Several months ago I received a phone call from a friend who was helping organize a Latin American educational conference in Quito Ecuador.  They needed additional speakers and she offered to find me a corporate sponsor to cover my expenses if I'd come down and conduct a workshop and give some additional talks.

 

Well, I figured if I was going all the way to Quito, I might as well catch another 3 hour flight to the Galapagos Islands.  After all, when would I ever be that close?

 

So my colleague Steve and I, after multiple unsuccessful attempts to talk our wives into joining us for the trip, planned a 6 day trip prior to the conference.

 

The archipelago is made up of numerous islands, four of which we got to spend some time on, generally following the path that Darwin took on the Beagle all those years ago, beginning at San Cristobal, continuing onto to Floreana, and then to Isabella and finishing in Santa Cruz (see the map below).

 

 

San Cristobal is a land of Sea Lions.  They're everywhere!

 

 

One of our stops was Puerto Grande, a beautiful little secluded bay where the Beagle spent its first night on the islands.  The water line was a mixture of lava rock, sand and mangrove trees. 

 

 It also offered some great views of "Kicker Rock" where Charles Darwin collected barnacles on his first day in the archipelago.

This is where I took my first shot at snorkeling:



(I'm told such shots are never flattering ... this one certainly wasn't)

 

However, this shot was perhaps my favorite 

 

The next morning took a rather rough 2 hour speed boat ride to Floreana where we went into the highlands, where the scenery was a little greener.

 

On our way back down, I got my first view of the infamous Galapagos Tortoise: 

 

I promised my boys I'd ride a giant tortoise.  I did the best I could within the confines of the Islands' protective laws.

 

From here, there was more snorkeling.   

 

After another speed boat ride, we reached our third island, Isabella.  The next morning we hiked to the caldera of Sierra Negri (The Black Saw).  It's an active volcano, 2 km across!!!

 

After the ten mile hike we returned to the water, sand, lava rock and mandrake trees. 

 

More of these guys (I think this might be what inspired Peter Jackson's artistic concept of the Middle Earth Orcs in the Lord of the Rings movies)

 

 Technically, you can't get within 2 meters of the wildlife...but you also can't walk off of the trial, and these guys don't move for you.  So, you step over them and hope for the best.

 

Sharks!!! 

 

and more snorkeling with fish, sea turtles, penguins and sting rays

 

 

We had so much fun, we came back the next morning, where we hung out with these guys: 

 

Then it was back onto a speed boat to the island of Santa Cruz where we went to the Charles Darwin Research Center to check out the baby tortoises.

(Yep, they were that cute!)

 

This is also where you can see land iguanas: 

 

The next morning we walked through a giant lava tunnel...

 

...and spent more time with tortoises

 

 Here you see the extremely rare "Middle-Aged Mutant Ninja Turtle"

 

And then, all too soon, it was time to board a plane back to Quito Ecuador.

 

The narrative doesn't do it justice. 

There was one morning where I walked down to the beach by myself and walked out unto a little pier.  The Blue-footed Bobo Birds where diving out of the sky into the ocean for their morning meals while the crabs clamored along the exterior rocks of the pier and a family of sea lions circles playfully in the bay below.  It really captured the essence of this amazing, inspiring trip!