The archipelago is a little world within itself, or rather a satellite attached to America, whence it has derived a few stray colonists, and has received the general character of its indigenous population.
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle
At first glance, the Galapagos appears to be a barren, desolate set of islands. Many of the original visitors described it as a Hell on earth.
Yet, for those who take time to appreciate this unique environment, a whole new world emerges with immense biodiversity and unique species seen nowhere else on earth.
The Galapagos Islands straddle the equator 1000 km off the coast of Ecuador. They were formed by a hot spot of volcanic activity where 3 tectonic plates meet. As the tectonic plates move, a new island is formed at the hot spot as the older islands slowly inch towards the mainland. The islands in the east were thus created around 3.5 million years ago and are nearing the end of their life cycle and will soon be under the ocean waves again. The middle islands, such as Santa Cruz, are in mid-life and have lush forests in their highlands. The western islands of Fernandina and Isabella are the youngest and only a million years old. They still have active volcanoes forming their landscape.
The Galapagos are made up of 13 main islands and 6 minor islands. Just like the unique animals that the Galapagos has become famous for, the islands themselves all offer incredible variety and interesting landscapes from harsh volcanic rocks to stunning white sand beaches to lush highlands. One of the most noticeable features is the varying color of the sand beaches. Rabida Island has a striking red sand beach due to the high iron content of the volcanic material.
Puerto Egas on Santiago Island has one of the best examples of a black sand beach in the world.
Lastly, Galapagos has the sparkling white sand beaches that you would expect from a tropical island. We had a relaxing stop at Playa Las Bachas on Santa Cruz Island.
When animals first arrived on these islands, they had to adapt to the harsh conditions. Each island offered a unique environment where natural selection created the variation we see in the species today. This is most evident in the evolution of the various size and shape of beaks in the finch populations, which has evolved into 13 unique species. Depending on the resources and food availability on each island, the beaks were shaped into the most effective tool for that area whether it be for scavenging insects, sucking blood (yes, there is a vampire finch), eating nuts or berries, or getting water from cacti.
And where did this odd assortment of animals come from? Reptiles from South America likely floated here on fallen tree logs or vegetation rafts. Reptiles can go long periods of time without food or water, which is why animals such as amphibians are not seen on these islands. There are 23 species of reptiles on the Galapagos and all but two are endemic to the archipelago. The large land iguanas will make you think you landed in Jurassic Park or perhaps found one of the baby dragons from Game of Thrones. Galapagos is a rare ecosystem in which herbavores, the reptiles, are at the top of the food chain.
Back to where the animals came from…birds and bats could fly here. Aside from the bats, the only other land mammal is the invasive rat that showed up in the late 1900s on cargo ships and is wreaking havoc to the natural ecosystem. The only sea mammal, the sea lion, was able to make it from swimming in the Panama current from North America. This current creates an ideal situation for the development of tropical marine ecosystems. Penguins came from the opposite side of the globe being caught in the Humbolt current possibly from Chile. The Cromwell current comes from the west creating an extremely unique environment in the Galapagos at the meeting of these three currents. The Cromwell brings rich, deep marine life and colder waters to the
The Galapagos penguin is the only penguin in the Northern hemisphere and the only penguin breeding in the tropics. Nowhere else in the world can you see penguins swimming amongst mangroves.
We even saw a sea lion perched in a mangrove!
Although I love penguins, the Galapagos animal that fascinates me the most is the flightless cormorant, which can only be found on Fernandina Island and the west coast of Isabella Island and nowhere else on earth. They are the largest cormorant and the only one that can’t fly. They are the relatives of North American cormorants that can fly great distances to find their food. When their distant relatives first arrived on the Galapagos, they found a harsh environment with little food but no predators. They no longer needed to be able to fly to escape being prey or to find safe breeding grounds but instead had to become strong swimmers to find food on the ocean floor. Their wings have evolved to be just tiny appendages with a few scraggly feathers. They still spread them out like their flying relatives as if they had something to be proud of.
The advantage of these tiny wings is that they can tuck them tight to their side and swim like arrows through the water to catch their prey. We enjoyed watching them dive down into the depths to find food while we were snorkeling. They are crazy fast which made keeping up with them a fun challenge.
As scientists, we were drawn to this unique place that shaped the thoughts of Darwin and our understanding of natural selection. On our catamaran cruise ship called the Alya, we were pleased to find like-minded individuals. I was pumped to even find another genetics PhD on-board! Of course, even better, our friends Jeff and Dhruv joined us on the adventure.
Our cruise was an 8-day affair focused on the islands of Santa Cruz, Isabella, and Fernandina. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful boat and friendly, attentive staff.
The meals were delicious and a great mix of international cuisine focused on local fresh fish as well as Ecuadorian specialties. One lunch included an appetizer of shrimp ceviche with tostones and popcorn, and the main was surf and turf: tuna with coconut sauce and stewed beef in tomato and onion sauce with a side of yucca.
Another lunch was Highland-style Ecuadorian including Frittata (fried pork pieces), mote with eggs, fried plantains, fava beans, chicken, and a potato tortilla. We all loved the mote with eggs! And then of course we had tropical desserts like passion fruit flan and naranjilla sorbet.
Our final dinner was a special treat outside on the middle deck with our whole group. Our chef grilled up all kinds of meats – sausage, chicken, shrimp kabobs, and fish along with baked potatoes and corn on the cob.
After excursions, the staff even had amazing treats ready for us when we got back to the ship. After a chilly snorkel, we would get a hot chocolate or flavored tea and a cinnamon roll. After a warm hike, we would get tropical fruit juices and an Ecuadorian snack. These were one of my favorites – plantain empanadas with cheese inside.
Jeff and Dhruv fell in love with naranjilla juice, which is an exotic citrus fruit sort of like lemon-lime with pineapple. I fell in love with the canelazos, a popular warm, Ecuadorian alcoholic beverage made with naranjilla juice. Dhruv was actually the one that had read up about it and added it to our list of foods to try while in Ecuador. Unfortunately, we struck out at both bars that we visited during our one day in Quito and were told they didn’t have all the ingredients. On our first day of the cruise, we were given time to explore the port town. Again we asked three bars and struck out with the canelazos. If it is so popular, why is it so hard to find? Or is it just hard to make? We mentioned to our cruise bartender Jaime, and he said that of course he could make us canelazos. He first surprised us by making canelazos as the welcome drink when we had our first toast and official introductions with the whole crew. We thought they were quite tasty and hoped more were in our future. A few nights later, I checked with Jaime if our group could have canelazos again. This time, I followed him through the intricate process. First, you heat up the juice and spices (cinnamon, cloves).
Then, you add cane sugar alcohol and triple sec
Finally, you rim the glasses with brown sugar and serve.
Thanks, Jaime… ¡Salud!
The outstanding food and drink on the Alya helped fuel our eight-day adventure. A typical day included a stop at two different sites with both a nature walk and a snorkel. I had no idea we would be snorkeling 2x per day! But, it was totally worth it. We’ve snorkeled in some of the top spots around the world, but none of them compare to some of the unbelievable moments here with the friendly wildlife.
We have so many amazing memories, but we thought a day-by-day replay might be a bit of an overkill. So, here are some of our favorite memories with Jeff and Dhruv sharing their highlights too:
ALYSIA:
1. My favorite memories are our encounters with sea lions. Yeah, I know that is a bit stereotypical. But, nowhere else on earth are sea lions so friendly that they WANT to swim with you and play with you. When we were snorkeling, they would twirl around us and zoom toward the underwater camera in a playful manner. And then spin around with their buddies right in front of us.
As we walked around the rocky beaches, the babies and mommas would just be hanging around and wouldn’t mind posing for us (or with us).
Babies would also be flipping around in the tide pools, just learning to swim.
As I was strolling along Rabida Beach, two sea lion pups were swimming near the shore. When I stopped to watch them play, they actually became curious of me too.
They came out of the water and cautiously approached me. We had been instructed to not touch any animals and to stay a few feet away, but they kept trying to get closer to me even as I backed away. Had I put my arms out, I am sure they would have jumped in my lap like a little puppy dog.
Our guide said that they were probably curious because I may have been the first human they have ever seen, and they have no reason to be fearful.
2. Octopus seem to be one of those elusive sea creatures that are impossible to find while snorkeling, and we had two unbelievable encounters on our trip. The first one, I saw while snorkeling and watched it swim from the bottom of the ocean floor to safety in a rocky crevice. Can you spot him? It took awhile for Jimmy to see the blob when I pointed to him on the ocean floor.
The second encounter was actually when we were walking along an inlet, and someone in our group spotted one near the edge.
We thought that was cool enough, but as we were all staring at it, all of a sudden, it leapt out of the water.
I had a brief moment of panic thinking that an alien was attacking us. But instead, the octopus landed on the water’s edge and then just as quickly dove deep back into the water. Our guide said that it had been stalking a small crab and after snagging his dinner swam away to eat it in safety. Whoa! I had no idea that an octopus had jet propulsion in its tentacles to fly out of the water!
3. Along with swimming with sea lions, swimming with penguins was on my bucket-list. Mission accomplished!
One of them was being super lazy and just floating on the surface, so I was pumped when I got this shot with Jeff and the penguin.
But, normally, they were diving for food and hard to keep up
with. As the most experienced swimmer, I
was normally in charge of taking pics with the underwater camera. However, on
our last snorkel, I gave the camera to Jimmy, so I wasn’t able to get any
pictures. But, without the camera, I could keep up with penguins better. So, my favorite penguin moment, I was able to
dive around with one of them and follow as he/she darted back and forth
gobbling up little fishies. We swam
between rocks, around fallen logs, and into schools of fish. I kept up with him
for about 5 min and had so much fun! I was in heaven.
Dhruv:
1. One of the coolest (is saying ‘cool’ still a thing?) things I encountered was a Sally Lightfoot crab nibbling off a marine iguana’s tail. So Sallyfoot crabs are these colorful coastal scavengers found on the western shores of Central and South America, and the Galapagos. Rumor has it they are named after a Caribbean dancer due to their ability to jump from one rock to another, to run in all directions, and to climb vertical slopes. These Caribbean dancers seem to have one helluva life.
The coloring of these crabs, bright reds and blues on top with a blue or white underbelly, is characteristic of the adult crabs. The younger ones are typically darker with only red spots, which helps with camouflage. As they grow molt their shells over the years, they develop the lighter coloring and the blue spots as well.
Impressively, Sally Lightfoots coexist peacefully with the other Galapagean natives.
What was neat about this sighting was that Sally Lightfoots will eat really anything, from seaweed to other crabs. Turns out part of this voracious diet includes dead skin from iguana tails, which in turn helps the iguana as well. So, there you have it.
2. Speaking of marine iguanas, you’d be surprised how hard it is to actually find one in the water. Also why actually seeing one not just swimming, but then feeding on the ocean floor, literally made me choke on my snorkel!
The marine iguana, found only in the Galapagos, is unique in its ability to forage for food underwater, and feeds exclusively on marine algae. To be specific, it is the larger males that dive, while females and smaller males feed during low tide. These iguanas can dive up to 30 meters deep, and stay underwater for up to an hour. This is even more incredible when one considers that the marine iguana is cold-blooded and the water in the Galapagos, between 11-23 degree Celcius, is relatively cold for an equatorial locale. The net result is that during a dive, their body temperature can drop by as much as 10 degree Celsius, and their heart rate plummets to prevent loss of heat due to circulation. Essentially, the colder the water, the shorter the dive. Once back on land, their dark color (and lying on dark volcanic rocks) aids heat reabsorption, and the heart rate spikes up to promote heat distribution.
All this means that marine iguanas ingest a fair bit of
3. Speaking of swimming, guess what has two left fins and sinks like a rock? This guy! So when we learned that we had a snorkel scheduled for our second day, I was all about giving it a hard pass, but Alysia et al. cajoled me into giving it a shot, and with promises of staying nearby. Armed with that comfort, a wetsuit, and an inflatable vest, I took my first plunge. Then I quickly learned (the ‘drinking in gobs of salt water’ way) that you don’t really ‘plunge’ when you snorkel, and somehow made it to the point of having an enjoyable snorkel accompanied by…..sea turtles and sea lions!!! In my first snorkel!!!!
That first snorkel, it turns out, was really the first of TEN snorkels (my first ten snorkels!) we would do on our trip, so deciding to give it a shot was definitely worth it. Sea turtles, sea lions, marine iguanas, penguins, diving blue-footed boobies, sharks….we saw it all, and in our faces sometimes. And it was impossible to keep track of the incredible diversity of other aquatic life – scorpionfish, pufferfish, chocolate chip cookie
Turns out there are more than 400
species of fish in the waters around the Galapagos, with about 41 that are not
found elsewhere. I have been informed that
I have been thoroughly spoilt for someone new to snorkeling. Totally okay with
it.
Jeff:
1. My absolute favorite event of the trip occurred on one of our first days on the catamaran. The boat was
While heading off towards one of our first island adventures, we came across a feeding frenzy comprised on pelicans, gulls, and blue-footed boobies – all circling over the water and nose diving erratically after a school of fish that was unlucky enough to be discovered by this hoard of well over a hundred birds.
As the panga got closer, we saw that penguins and flightless cormorants were also coming in for the fish, but from under the water – and they would pop up above the surface periodically for air.
As we saw all the frenetic activity taking place from the distance, it was surreal. But then when the pangas slid right into the middle of the frenzy and none of the birds even batted an eye to move away from us, things got really awesome. Penguins were popping up just a few feet away from us, and blue-footed boobies were diving into the water at crazy fast speeds just beyond the bow of our little boat. It felt like being in the middle of a National Geographic film.
2. One of my other ‘top picks’ has to be the giant land tortoises. The islands are named for them, after all. ‘Galapago’ means ‘tortoise’ in Spanish, and it was named after these giant land animals that have evolved in this unique place to grow up to 500 pounds! Pirates would shelter at the islands for fresh water and
Today, the tortoises roam free on the islands they inhabit, and it’s illegal to harm them. When we all arrived on the island of Santa Cruz, we had to take a bus across the island to where the catamaran was waiting for us. Along the way, we passed farms and hillsides covered with tortoises just hanging out munching on grass. It reminded me of cows on the roadside when you drive through the middle of the U.S. But it’s actually illegal to fence the tortoises in, so we visited a farm that grows a lot of the tortoises’ favorite
3. One of my other favorite things also involved turtles, but this time – the sea turtles! The Galapagos has a lot of them – mostly Green, but also Leatherbacks and Hawksbills, among others – given the temperate water and the copious amounts of wildlife under the sea. We saw them on almost every snorkeling trip, and just like the other animals – they had no fear of humans. In fact, there were more than a
There were two especially memorable moments we shared with sea turtles. Once was on Espumilla Beach on Santiago Island, where our group trekked across the beach and came across a female laying her eggs at the edge of the mangrove.
It was surprising how adept those flippers can scoop sand as well as navigate currents. But an even more awesome experience was under the water. At multiple locations where we swam, the tide would pick up and shift everything that wasn’t rooted down to the floor of the ocean a solid 3-4 feet to the right, and then 3-4 feet to the left, and then back again. While I floated along enjoying mother earth’s natural ‘rockabye’, I noticed a sea turtle move in about 6 feet below me under the water. For several minutes we both rocked back and forth in quiet, peaceful solitude, seemingly both enjoying a lazy day and the lull of the sea. In that moment, I thought I could spend the rest of eternity in camaraderie with my animal brethren just chillin under the sea.
Jimmy:
1.“I love boobies!” You see this phrase on t-shirts, mugs, hats, and anything else you can think of in Galapagos gift shops. And how can you not love
They shortly took to the air and started circling around, similar to what we had seen earlier at a feeding frenzy. All of sudden, I see a booby coming straight for me. I went underwater just in time to see the bird graceful dive through the water to catch a fish.
I must have picked a good feeding
2. Speaking of elegance, let’s talk birds in tuxedos…penguins. I have always been a fan of penguins and have been fortunate enough to see them in multiple countries around the world, but swimming alongside one in the water was truly unique. The first penguin we saw just floated around and really didn’t pay much attention to any of us.
However, the ones we saw after that were like darts in the water. Since my swimming skills are a bit lacking compared to Alysia, it was quite a challenge for me to keep up with them, but that only added to the thrill and enjoyment of the experience.
3. I’m going to have to copy Jeff on my final pick. There is simply something magical about floating in the water with sea turtles. I have seen turtles in the water before, but never this many and certainly never this up close. The hypnotic rhythm of the waves, the beautiful sun, the gentle turtles going along their carefree day, and me, lucky enough to float along for the ride.
Thanks, Jeff and Dhruv, for your favorite memories!! This was our 3rd Thanksgiving trip together in a row, and we kept a lot of traditions alive. Similar to Thailand, we got to kayak on Thanksgiving.
Similar to Easter Island, we got to hike to the top of a volcanic crater on Thanksgiving.
And just like every Thanksgiving dinner, we find a way to make it special while abroad and still “dress up” for the occasion. This year, the crew stopped the boat and had a toast on the equator at sunset.
Although our Thanksgivings have been evolving, I love that some things never change. Shoot, we even had one lazy day with lots of mimosas on the top deck, just like our Sunday brunch days in DC.
And the first thing we did together
Thanks for another great adventure, Jeff and Dhruv! And thanks to all of you who read our blogs and follow our adventures. We took a wee travel break, but we are back!!
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