Lizards and turtles and penguins … oh my! Galapagos Islands (Nov./Dec. 2000)

by BRENDA COTTER

Decked out in swimsuits, fins, snorkels and masks, we waddle to the ocean's edge and gingerly back our way into the water off Bartolome Island. Dora, oar naturalist guide, snugly ensconced in the protective fibers of her wet suit, offers a thoroughly enlightening explanation of the Humboldt Current and its chilling effects on the water. Blue-lipped and goose-bumped, we dutifully listen. And we thought the Galapagos Islands were supposed to be tropical!
In reality, they are tropical, sitting smack dab on the equator. But despite their balmy zip code, the waters can be a bit nippy, depending on the season. The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago made up of 13 major islands, six small islands and many smaller islets situated 600 miles off the western coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean.
Snorkeling rapidly becomes the favorite activity of our family. Within minutes of our first immersion, we're rewarded with a game of tag initiated by a couple of playful sea lions. We frolic face-to-face with these graceful creatures as they barrel toward us at torpedo-like speed and bank away just inches from our masks. Occasionally one pauses to blow bubbles in my face.
On yet another snorkeling sojourn, Dora leads our intrepid group in search of white-tipped reef sharks. Dora briefs us before we set out with a highly scientific account of the feeding habits of the white-tipped shark. We naturally believe her when she says that the sharks' food source is sea lions, not humans. On that note, my son and I buddy up, strategically distancing ourselves from our fellow snorkeler in the all-black "Hey, don't I look like a sea lion?" swim-suit, and set out. We follow our fearless leader out to a reef, admiring the colorful schools offish, camouflaged sting rays and prickly sea urchins that fill the water along the way. Once at the reef, we peer into the rock crevices below. Lurking on the ocean floor not 10 feet beneath us, a pair of 5-foot-long sharks gets my undivided attention.
While the snorkeling is great, it turns out to be but a small part of the overall adventure. Our eight-day stay aboard the Galapagos Explorer II is a carefully choreographed mix of exciting shore excursions in search of unique plant and animal life, thrilling snorkeling expeditions and relaxing downtime aboard ship. The sleek vessel's small size means its 100 passengers are guaranteed personal attention, and its all-suite accommodations give us plenty of room in which to make ourselves comfortable in between shore outings. Delicious meals fortify us for our activities and a variety of evening entertainment offers a fun and relaxing respite at day's end. The ship's fun-loving crew even marks our fourth crossing of the equator by throwing a festive King Neptune Party.
We make our shore excursions via small rubber rafts called pangas, and quickly master the fine art of panga landings—both wet ones, where we disembark into shallow water, and dry ones, where we exit onto rocks or beaches of white, red or black sand. We enjoy frequent run-ins with Pacific green sea turtles, penguins, boobies, frigate birds and flightless cormorants among others. The checklist of Galapagos wildlife we carry with us to record our sightings is rapidly filling up.
With such diversity of wildlife, the ecological significance of the Galapagos Islands was recognized early on. In 1935 the archipelago was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary. The Charles Darwin Research Station was officially opened in 1964, and the islands are now a protected National Park. The opportunity to see such an incredible variety of species—many found nowhere else on earth—is a priceless experience.
Access to the Galapagos is strictly controlled so we make landfall on the various islands in small groups in the company of trained naturalist guides. Over the course of our slay, Dora impresses us with her encyclopedic knowledge of the islands and their inhabitants. By journey's end we're bandying about words like "carapace," "endemic" and "kleptoparasitic" as if we're budding naturalists ourselves.
Time ashore is spent following Dora along well-marked paths. Because the wildlife of the Galapagos has no reason to fear man, they go about their business pretty much oblivious to our presence. Mother sea lions nurse newborn pups, and young males wrestle one another. We learn to keep a watchful eye to avoid stepping on the lounging marine iguanas, lava lizards and sea lions that are literally everywhere.
Our shore excursions are filled with treks across the primeval landscape of the islands characterized by dramatic volcanic lava fields, spatter cones, pit craters and other distinctive geologic features. Views of formations like Kicker Rock and Pinnacle Rock are striking. Hikes range in difficulty from casual strolls along sandy beaches to an invigorating climb 114 meters to the peak of Bartolome Island. But don't be intimidated—all age ranges, from preteens to retirees, and all abilities, from fitness buffs to a man on crutches, handle the excursions with relative ease.
On Fernandina Island, I tiptoe gingerly around the rocks littered with the leathery bodies of marine iguanas piled three-deep lying listlessly in the setting equatorial sun.
Our afternoon on Espanola includes a stop at the "albatross airport" where we witness these beautiful birds put on an impressive display of aeronautical acrobatics. Our visit here also yields sightings of boobies galore. Both masked and blue-footed boobies make their homes here and we wander along the path peering into nests in search of eggs and newly hatched chicks.
Our journey to the lush highlands of Santa Cruz, finds us traipsing through the brush in pursuit of perhaps the islands' most famed resident—the Galapagos tortoise. These behemoths defy logic with their sheer size—able to achieve weights of as much as 550 pounds, and age—boasting a potential lifespan of upwards of 125 years. A trip to the Charles Darwin Station, also on Santa Cruz, gives us a chance to see even more tortoises and learn about research and preservation efforts.
Each island we visit boasts its own unique population of animals. Storm petrels, semi-palmated plovers, Sally light foot crabs, land iguanas, whales... our tally of sightings grows daily, as does our appreciation for these miracles of nature. The Galapagos Islands may have gained fame for serving as the inspiration for Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution, but the sheer beauty and unique diversity of this place leave no doubt that a higher power had an active hand in the creation of this paradise.