Fascinating corners of San Cristobal Island, Part Two

October 8, 2011

Just before starting our descent from the highlands back to Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Jose gives to Paulina and me a try of the deliciously sweet oranges of San Cristobal, just growing by the hundreds on colorful trees, along the road. Almost by the sunset hour we visit the southern shore behind the port city, to watch the high waves, great for surfers, and a few sea lions basking on the lava rocks. Galapagos sunsets are unique and what we watch from the Hotel’s terrace, at one end of the picturesque town, is a magnificent sight of a flaming red disc, plunging into the blue sea, painting the sky and land with a rainbow of bright colors.
As we leisurely stroll along the attractive Waterfront Promenade of Puerto Baquerizo, we are startled and then amused by watching how sea lions make their way from the sea onto the Promenade and select their preferred wooden bench on the Park, as their comfortable bed for the night, a scene not to be forgotten, showing us the convivial harmony between man and these wild yet totally unafraid, (not at all domesticated), marine mammals. And I think, this is exactly what Galapagos is all about… unique, magic, serene… a place where sea lions freely choose a city park’s bench for the night while the human inhabitants and visitors pass by, enjoying the fresh and beautifully moonlit night.
Jose and his wife join Paulina and me for dinner at a popular local eatery by the shore, with al fresco seating. While we enjoy superb fresh fish, catch of the day, rice with shrimps and cold beers, conversation flows around the myriad of stories, past and present, from the fascinating human history of the islands and particularly of San Cristobal.  As we walk back to the Hotel, the sea lions are already snoozing, respected, unbothered and in style, over the waterfront park’s benches. Meanwhile, a brightly yellow huge disc, a full moon, is positioned over Punta Carola and its lighthouse, at the eastern extreme of Wreck Bay, reflecting magic aces of light over the dark and totally calm waters of the beautiful Bay….
After a good night’s sleep, our breakfast, served on the terrace, overlooking the bay and a few feet away from the sea, is shared with dozens of Darwin’s finches who do not hesitate to hop over and across our table, picking up bread crumbs and an occasional bit of cheese.  I give an amazed Paulina an improvised lesson on why and how are the different shapes and sizes of the finches’ beaks, fitted for different kinds of feeding habits and food sources (other than bread crumbs when tourists or local residents pamper them with easy meals).
Jose arrives to take us on his jeep to the entrance of the National Park’s Interpretation Center, passing by the pretty coralline Playa Mann’s sandy beach. We get off the vehicle for a walk on a natural trail, hopping over some boulders, to reach the secluded and spectacularly sparkling white sandy beach at Punta Carola.  The beach is covered with sea lion families, large bulls noisily patrolling their territories; large female moms feeding their pups and young individuals frolicking on land and in the water…. The white beach is lined with a green frame of mangroves and lowland saline vegetation, the typical salt-bushes.  As it begins to get warm, some of the sea lions look for shade under large manzanillo trees and mangroves lining the beach.  Two sea turtles idly swim and seem to just placidly sway back and forth with the gentle waves that wash in and out of the beach.  At the opposite end of the beach, Jose shows us the way to the new trail, a comfortable and well hidden wooden trail, leading to Cerro Tijeretas (Frigate Birds Hill).  This is not the breeding season, so there are no males with brightly inflated red pouches, but an important colony of these large sea birds is found here, perched on the palo santo and other trees and bushes.  As we climb higher, the view becomes more splendid and we can see the picturesque town of Puerto Baquerizo, somewhat “squeezed” between the beautiful crescent-shaped bay and the green hills behind.  Chirping finches, mockingbirds and flycatchers capture our attention. A pair of Galapagos yellow warblers steal the show as they tree-hop courting, the male sporting a distinct rusty-red dot on its forehead. All of these pure nature episodes are taking place just minutes away from a human settlement… less than an hour later we are sitting at the airport ready to board a jetliner back to mainland Ecuador….. Such is the magic and uniqueness of the Enchanted Galapagos Islands….

Facinating Corners of San Cristobal Island, Galapagos, Part one

September 23, 2011

Our modern Airbus jetliner swiftly pierces the clouds and unveils the starling view of turquoise and blue coves, dotted with sparkling sandy beaches along the northern coast of San Cristobal, the easternmost island of the famous Galapagos Archipelago. Soon I can recognize, from the air, the small “Lobos” (sea lions) Islet and farther out, just anchored like a giant aircraft carrier in mid-ocean, the superb silhouette of the imposing Kicker Rock. We make our final landing approach directly over the placid and crescent-shaped Wreck Bay, packed with mostly small tourism and fishing boats. As the plane touches down on the runway, and turns towards the small terminal’s platform, a pleasant sensation of uniqueness invades me as every time I arrive in Galapagos….

After complying with the National Park’s arrival procedures, Paulina and I exit the arrivals hall to meet a smiling Jose, our host and guide for this two day exploration of his island, San Cristobal.  We will base ourselves on the still quaint and attractive town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, less bustling than the highly touristic Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island. As we ride across town, five minutes away from the airport, we admire the pretty and picturesque Waterfront, nicely designed to frame the coastline which harbors the pretty azure bay.
After settling at the small but attractive and comfortable Hotel, with nice views of the bay and also of the green hills behind the city; Jose invites us to have a “galapagueño” lunch on a small and rustic restaurant, where a delicious warm “sancocho” soup, with an unbeatably tasty fish base and pieces of green plantain and corn greets us.  For main course I choose a simple yet fabulously fresh grilled “albacore” fish, just seasoned with some herbs and accompanied by vegetables and the always present bowl of white rice.  A freshly squeezed tangerine juice quenches our thirst, while we enjoy lively conversation.
Now we are headed to the highlands of San Cristobal, along a paved road.  First we go past a rock quarry and then it is the lower vegetation zone with its “palo santo” trees and thorny scrubs vegetation. Less than thirty minutes from the main port city, we reach El Progreso, a historic town which, over a century ago, in the early 1900’s, was an emporium of large scale sugar cane production and the source of many legends and stories.  The town nowadays is semi-abandoned but shows the remnants of the old constructions which, with some restoration investment, could become a great tourism attraction.  We continue on, diverting from the main road, towards the western part of the highlands, where the vegetation becomes lush and green, just dotted with occasional pastures where some domestic cattle graze.  We arrive at “La Soledad”, a quaint plateau with a small school, an ample courtyard and plenty of nature. Jose leads us across a nature trail, teeming with native flora as well as some introduced plants like the devastating “mora” (a variety of raspberry).  Hundreds of Darwin’s finches ply the area and let us admire the astonishingly varied shapes and sizes of their beaks, a fact that also startled Charles Darwin on his 1835 visit.  A curious Galapagos flycatcher perches on a tree branch and watches us as unusual creatures in his realm…. The trail leads to a natural observatory from where we can admire all the splendor of San Cristobal’s northern coast.

Now we climb the stone stairway leading to an abandoned church-shrine, fully made of lava rocks with a large rock cross carved on its façade.  Peeking inside we discover a Holy Child image presiding from the rocks a solitary temple, while the wind blows with a howling sound. The stairway leads further to a smaller (and higher) shrine, surrounded by a terrace, which evidently was built as an observatory.  The view from there is stunning: to the north, the coastline of San Cristobal with its white beaches and coves, Lobos Islet and the famous Kicker Rock with the blue Pacific Ocean as a magnificent background.  To the south and west, we can see the rolling hills of San Cristobal’s highlands.  It is a sunny (yet a bit windy) afternoon and the place is perfect for inspirational conversation, interrupted only by the singing of the finches and mockingbirds. Sadly we have to leave this placid and paradisiacal place and begin our descent back to Puerto Baquerizo.  The story will continue on the next issue….

Magic Galapagos: Exploring Unique Locations on James Island, Part Two

July 16, 2011

We leave the salty lagoon, housed on an old crater and flanked on its northern side by a long and wide, amazingly black lava flow, fresh from an eruption occurred less than a century ago. But we are now headed in the opposite direction…. With Maricarmen on the lead, as the expedition’s guide, Jose, Lolita and I follow now another donkey trail, framed by typical Galapagos lowland vegetation. As the day is becoming hotter and the sun is stronger on our heads, we start making more frequent yet careful use of our water bottles.  The palo santo trees provide partial shade to our walk as we observe more Darwin’s finches, mostly of the ground varieties, those with sturdier beaks, especially adapted to crush harder seeds… Now we can recognize the distinct bills of each particular species and also the dark black males and the brownish females, providing a good test to identify the sex dimorphism of these birds.

As the trail starts climbing the lower slopes of the spectacular “”Sugar Loaf” Volcano, Jose points out at the bizarre territorial behavior of several endemic Galapagos lava lizards… Maricarmen starts turning some smallish blocks of compacted ash, the material known as “tuff-stone” and soon she finds what she was looking for: a small to fair-sized Galapagos scorpion, hiding on an ashy crevice… It doesn’t take long before one of the lizards arrives and starts threatening the scorpion.  Once again, there we are, the four of us, privileged spectators of a “live” natural show: a deadly encounter between a male lava lizard and the scorpion, a warriors ballet of strategic movements which ends when the more agile lizard manages to immobilize the aggressive scorpion and finalizes by eating it as a mid-morning snack….

Now we are definitely on a 50 degree inclination, climbing slowly over the slippery ash fields leading to the summit of Sugar Loaf.  Half way up, we make a stop at a small fresh water spring, possibly a remnant of an ancient river bed, recently fed by the previous weeks’ rains… A small, man-made cement dam directs the thin water stream to a sort of reservoir where we find a group of the pretty and somewhat shy Galapagos doves, with their rosy feet, nice blue eyes and bright yellow to violet sheen on their back’s feathers, having a fresh water shower fiesta on the quiet solitude of a remote corner of this remarkable island. A bit weary of our presence, the doves continue with their lively bath, as we continue on towards the summit. The last stretch is over a 90 degrees’ inclined terrain of loose ash, scattered over a base of basaltic lava stones and lighter tuff-stone.  We have to stop frequently to catch a breath and while we do so, two infinitely curious juvenile Galapagos Hawks start following us, hopping across the scattered trees and watching us from closer range each time we stop. We make a small test and lie flat on our backs for a few minutes.  The juvenile hawks, with their pretty gold and brown dotted plumage do not hesitate to approach even more (just their discovery game of the day, we take it), to observe us closer and closer, now from the bare volcanic ground, near the summit of Sugar Loaf… A fantastic experience which we enjoy in full thrill….

As fascinated as we are with the hawks, we must move on, and still with their vigilance, we make the final and strenuous assault to the rim of Sugar Loaf, the highest peak on western James Island.  The view is just stunning: the crater is deep, somewhat bowl-shaped and slightly narrow.  Thick vegetation covers the interior, just leaving exposed some “islands” of pitch dark bare lava fields.  One more surprise: inside the crater we observe several herds of wild goats and feral donkeys roaming about….. These are the effects of human intervention, decades or even centuries ago….. The scenery is truly spectacular: we can see all of the west coast of James, with its many turquoise water coves and small sandy beaches; smaller volcanic cones and some islets on the James Channel… Across the channel sits in perfect majesty the giant, sea-horse silhouette of the largest of all the Islands, Isabella, with its five massive volcanoes, all clearly visible on this brilliant blue-skied midday…. To the north we can observe Albany islet and the historic Buccaneer’s Cove, the north westernmost tip of James… In the background, the scene shows us the green and lush highlands of James, fourth largest of the islands…… We spend a good hour in the area, photographing, learning, watching and enjoying one more magic corner of the Enchanted Galapagos Islands, before returning to the coast and back to our boat for a late lunch after one of those memorable experiences that only Galapagos can provide…..

Magic Galapagos: Exploring Unique Locations on James Island, Part One

July 9, 2011

Today we are off for a unique exploration of two rarely visited locations on the western coast of James Island, the fourth largest in surface, of the Galapagos Archipelago. It is before seven in the morning when Jose, Maricarmen, Lolita and I jump onto the dinghy, skillfully driven by Junior, and ride the calm waters of the Puerto Egas Bay. A few scattered clouds dot the otherwise blue sky and the scenic frame in front of us is the hilly profile of James Island, looking very green as the islands are just about ending their annual rainy season. In the background stands, as a geographic beacon on the western side of the island, the tall and “bread-loaf” shaped “Sugar Loaf” Hill, an ancient volcano rising to some 700 meters (2100 feet), above sea level…

We divert from the usual landing spot for the regular visits to Puerto Egas and land, instead, on a small, dark brown and clearly volcanic sandy beach, slightly to the north of the Puerto Egas anchorage. We jump from the dinghies onto the pleasantly refreshing waters and wade ashore, with ankle to knee-deep water, bringing along our day packs, loaded with camera equipment, sunscreen and water flasks. Maricarmen is the official Guide for the expedition and she gives us a short briefing of our program and a reminder of the National Park and safety rules…. We clean our feet with beach towels (which we return to the ship on the same dinghy) before wearing our hiking shoes and field-trip socks.  A short distance away from the beach we hike over a narrow donkey-trail, surrounded by typical lowland vegetation, mainly green shrubbery, predominantly made of thorny and salt-water tolerant plants.

Soon we emerge into the main trail, made of compacted volcanic ash and some loose sand and fresher ash materials.  The place used to be, in the 1950’s, a salt mine from where salt was extracted and exported by ships to mainland Ecuador and several sand and ash roads were built to move the machinery and materials across the place.  All around us we can see the vestiges of the old salt plant, now four decades abandoned…. Rusting water tanks and remains of wooden storage buildings are seen everywhere.  We are headed precisely to the fair-sized salty lagoon that used to be the main source of the failed salt mining venture. Along the way, we are marveled by a chorus of Darwin’s finches, dozens of which roam the ground and the bushes all around.  A few “palo santo” trees, still fragrant and leafy, are the home or stopping place for finches, noisy mockingbirds, a few Galapagos flycatchers and yellow warblers…. In spite of the impact of the human intervention, sixty years ago, the pristine nature of the islands shows a recovery, once protected and uninhabited again.

We hike at a moderate pace, it is still early in the morning, though the sun is shining intensely and the air temperature is on the rise… After a thirty minutes’ walk over flat terrain, we arrive to our first stop: the old volcanic crater which housed (and still does) the highly saline lagoon which provided the salt for the old mining venture… Now, it is natural again… We can distinguish the ancient and rather low-lying crater’s rim, broken at certain parts, with the lagoon in the center. The lagoon is now the home of a small colony of the Galapagos pink flamingos and, in fact, there they are: the adult males with their intense rose-red colors and black wing tips and the slightly paler rose females… A few young flamingos can be distinguished due, not only to size, but also for their paler coloration.  The plumage of these birds is given by the carotene pigment obtained from their main food source: small crustaceans which thrive in the salty shallow waters of the lake.  We click away our cameras and watch the occasional attempts of engaging in full courtship when a small group of male flamingos congregate and display their colorful wings in a sort of magic ballet which must certainly impress the females, observing from another corner of the lagoon. Colorful white-cheeked pintail ducks swiftly sail the lake’s waters while several long-legged black-necked stilts and long-beaked whimbrels also roam the lagoon.  And there we are, just the four us, quietly enjoying a marvelous natural show, feeling privileged to be at such an “otherworldly” and special place…. The continuation of our day’s adventure will continue on the next issue….

Exploring the Magic Galapagos North Eastern waters, Part Two

March 12, 2011

Our sailing schooner is right in between the northern islands of Genovesa and Marchena, at the very middle of the Marchena Channel. Guillermo, the Captain reduces the yacht’s speed a bit as we all congregate on deck, under the sails, at the bow and some half-way up the masts, watching the unexpected company of a large school of bottle-nosed dolphins coming from the north at fast speed, just to catch up with our boat and then stay around, as if playing with this mechanic creature invading their realms…..

The dolphins put on an amazing show: some jump several feet up in the air, making some incredibly acrobatic maneuvers, and crashing back into the water with foamy splashes that reach us with sea spray as we busily film and photograph the show.  We can see mothers racing alongside our yacht with their young calves swimming skillfully right besides them, keeping up with the adults’ speed and pace….

As the dolphin school seems to be there to stay for a while, our guide David, a couple our expedition’s group members and myself ask the Captain for permission and in split seconds the crew members and us are rapidly deploying our small landing dinghy into the water as we jump on board it and have our fins, masks and snorkels literally tossed overboard for us to catch them in the air and secure them for the maneuver we are about to engage on…. Effectively, once we are all aboard the dinghy, George, the boatman, quickly yet carefully moves away from the boat and positions the craft at a short distance from where the main part of the dolphin school is still playing around.  Our intention is to actually swim with them…..

And we do…. With our fins, masks and snorkels in place, the three of us jump in the water to meet these amazingly friendly marine mammals, the dolphins…. They perform stunning antics, making sharp turns, passing alongside or under our bodies, looking at us with amiable curiosity and, yes, we do make direct eye contact with them…. we tend to relate those big and somewhat bulbous eyes with their seemingly smiling faces, an altogether rare yet extremely pleasant feeling of mutual happiness…. We try to keep up, not very successfully, with their agility and literally engage in a memorable fifteen minute (which seemed like an hour) play time with a school of bottle-nosed dolphins; while our expedition companions recorded on film and photos, from the yacht, our unique adventure and experience, a magic moment lived in the far isolation of the Galapagos northern waters…..

The magnificent creatures seemed to wave a kind of sad good-bye and slowly continued moving with a southern direction, most likely in search of food, as we returned to our yacht, filled with joy and adrenaline…… Our wet bodies and gear added a touch of chaos to the deck where crew and expedition members mingled while we told in excitement the stories and moments we had just lived, swimming, almost buddy-style, arm next to arm, with these large and gentle marine mammals; one more magic occasion lived in the precious natural world of the Galapagos Islands and their Marine Reserve……

Just like the dolphins, it was also time for our lunch, which we enjoyed (great sea-bass, grilled with herbs, Ecuadorian style white rice; a host of salads, fruit and cake), all nicely prepared by Benito, our Chef. As our yacht headed to the rarely seen east coast of the mysterious and largely barren Marchena Island, near Punta Espejo, we savored lunch with the added joy of having just had a life-time experience… Through our agitated conversation, we couldn’t stop hailing the natural wonderland (and sea) which the Enchanted Galapagos Islands offer to those privileged to visit its magic world…….

Exploring Galapagos’ magic Northern waters, Part One

March 04, 2011

Having already explored for full two days the fascinating world of Tower or Genovesa Island, a small island tucked all by itself on the north eastern extreme of the Galapagos Archipelago, this morning we decide to circumnavigate the near perfectly circular periphery of the “Birds Island”.  Even as we prudently sail, slow motion, on our charming ten-passenger, double mast schooner around the coast of Genovesa, we continue admiring the thousands of sea-birds which fill the sky over and around the island…. To the east, there is just the Pacific Ocean, more than six hundred miles of sea, separating us from the nearest land: the northern coast of mainland Ecuador, almost as it reaches the southern coast of Colombia.

The sea is relatively calm, just a mild swell rolls the yacht on a pleasant swaying motion… to the east, the sun rays deploy their usual dosage of luminosity and brightness through the crisp blue skies, just dotted with busily flying frigate birds and red-footed boobies.  To the west, the pitch black lava cliffs of eastern Genovesa Island show us, just like humongous swarms of mosquitoes, the busy activity of hundreds of thousands of the storm petrels which nest on that part of the island. In and out of lava ledges and caves, noisy and spectacularly beautiful red-billed tropic birds fly in circles as they return to their nests with the catch of the day for their offspring. The waves, pushed by an eastern breeze, pound against the lava rocks, splashing the cliffs with white foam, acting as a magic curtain to the fabulous island behind…..

Now we head on to the rarely seen northern shore of Genovesa Island.  Here, the cliffs are more deeply black, higher and steeper… The scenery is stunning: you can smell, feel, sense, see and hear the powerful aura of pure isolation…. A feeling that puts us in the borderline of privileged spectators of the beginning of times….  A large and well sheltered cove serves as an occasional secure anchorage for fishing vessels (and sometimes, nowadays, to tourist boats), when there are strong swells on the southern part of the island. To the north, again, the immense Pacific Ocean, dark blue here, makes us think that if we were to continue navigating with a straight, non-diverting north course, we might eventually reach the coast of Mexico, thousands of miles away….. But our geographical and philosophical thoughts are suddenly interrupted by a powerful and chilling sound coming from the sea, quite near our boat; a huge humpback whale has surfaced and noisily spouts a thick shower of foamy water from its blowhole. The hoarse, loud roars, our Naturalist guide David says, are telling us it is a male…

The Captain decides to stop the engines and just drift for some minutes while we enjoy, watch, photograph and film our encounter with this unexpected and rather friendly leviathan of the seas, one of the largest cetaceans on earth, who decided to spend a while checking out this peaceful red-hulled strange monster, whose human occupants are as fascinated with him as he seems to be with us… We combine moments of reverent silence with others of noisy cheer, until the whale does one of its amazingly agile acrobatic leaps and disappears again, the beautiful black and white tail flukes last seen upwards before heading down to unimaginable depths in the ocean….

Now we leave the coast of Genovesa and head west, towards the hardly ever visited Island of Marchena (not a tourist visitor’s site for the National Park), crossing the Marchena Chanel which separates the two northern islands.  Some in our group decide to take a short pre-lunch nap in their cabins, while others sunbathe on deck and others, like me, just keep open eyes in the horizon and enjoy the magic of the marine Galapagos world…  Shortly before noon, another surprise was waiting for us: slightly north of our vessel I could see some agitation in the otherwise calm waters of the deep channel.  I rapidly reach for the binoculars, to confirm my suspicion: it is a very large school of bottle-nosed dolphins, moving in our direction, some individuals making spectacular leaps far into the air and then playfully splashing as they crash back in the water surface….. The Captain and I rapidly call on everyone shouting “dolphins, dolphins….!” And a new adventure is about to start.  But, we will tell you about this one on the next issue…….

Galapagos Volcanoes: Story Of An Eruption (Part 3)

The sunset hour arrives and we find a strategic vantage lookout point on the north central rim of Alcedo Volcano, just above our makeshift campsite. It has been almost fourteen hours since we landed before dawn and we haven’t stopped, other than for very short rest or meal breaks. Still our spirits are very high, energized by the magnificence of being on such formidable natural surroundings, watching one of Galapagos’ most spectacular volcanic calderas, a privilege just reserved of a few lucky ones….

We quietly sit together to watch the sun start plunging behind the summit of Fernandina Island, which we can clearly see.  The sky is totally void of clouds and intensely blue, providing a superb luminosity…. The western part of the Archipelago begins turning brightly red, shifting to ruby-red, orange, green and then fading into a violet-red.  We couldn’t see the magic “flash” but the sight is awesome and incredible, sending us into loud cheers as we film and photograph the magnificent scenario: Mother Nature has just provided us with a unique and unforgettable show of lights and colors…..

Dusk begins installing over the rim of Alcedo Volcano and we take the last glimpses of its caldera, planning to make our way downhill, back to our tented camp.  However, an increasingly bright glow over the northern part of the Island, directly above the summit of Volcano Wolf, the northernmost of Isabella Island and the highest of the Archipelago, detains us… a new show is in progress…..  Our first reaction is, possibly the moon is just about to emerge from behind the colossus and we’re up for another grand view…..  But there is no moon and yet the glow gets brighter than ever while the night’s darkness has fully installed around us…. Macarena is the first to shout out loud: “guys, it’s an eruption!!!”  And yes, the evidence was unmistakable…. We are now a dozen privileged front row spectators, at the summit of Volcano Alcedo, witnessing a live eruption on the neighboring Wolf Volcano…. The total darkness allows us to clearly detect that the eruption is not coming from the main caldera of Wolf, but instead, from one or two parasitic cones on the upper, southern flanks of the colossal mountain.  Each spout of bright yellow-red fountains of liquid lava, steam, gases and some rocks, rising high into the air, send us all into wild cheers of unparalleled excitement….  Heinz, Rob, Mark and Irene don’t waste a minute filming the show, while the rest of us take photos and record all the data we can….. We have been gifted with the unique privilege of watching from a location, second best to none, one of Earth’s most amazing natural events and we must record all of its details…

The natural show goes on for hours… we have forgotten completely to eat our dinner and just one or two in the group rush down to the camp to bring in more water and chocolate bars for the rest…. The entire southern flanks of Wolf Volcano are now “in fire”, with clearly visible rivers of yellow-red molten lava heading down the mountain’s slopes… at moments it looks like a gigantic procession of torches descending from the giant’s summit…. The periodic explosions tell us it is a major eruption and it will last for several days… Our excitement is just limited by a bit of common sense and we register every detail, to furnish first-hand information to the Galapagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Research Station.  We were the privileged witnesses of the actual start, the triggering bang of a major eruption on Galapagos’ highest Volcano….  Jimmy, Luis, Rob and Mark chose to carry their sleeping bags to the actual lookout point to spend the rest of the night in vigil, alert for any major event. The rest of us descended to the camp, commenting frantically our luck and speculating about the event we were so closely witnessing…. We hardly ate and, tucked in our tents and sleeping bags, we all made mostly useless efforts to sleep for a few hours.  Well after midnight, a thick mantle of fog pulled in from the south and covered the view of the surroundings…. We had made a decision: we will lift up the camp at 5:00 am and start rapidly descending, so we can sail towards Wolf and make a new landing right by the eruption’s site.  At five o’ clock while we busily pack up everything and make sure not to leave any litter or other object, I call our Yacht with my handy-talkie radio and, fortunately, the signal is good. Captain Rafael, anchored across from us, at James Bay, responds clearly… I ask him if they saw the eruption… he answers yes and tells me how it was seen from his location, down at sea level… I tell him of our plans and ask him to hoist the anchor and sail as fast as he can to Shifton Cove, as we intend to sail towards Wolf and try to climb as close as possible to the eruption’s site.  In the meantime, I call the National Park, report to them the great event and request permission to the Director for us to proceed to Wolf, as it would take at least 24 hours for the first official expeditions to reach the remote location, while we could do it in few hours.  After assurances of responsibility and many recommendations, permission is granted and we have the green light to proceed.  We literally run down the eastern slopes of Alcedo, keeping an eye at the still cloudy and foggy silhouette of Wolf, clouds tainted in an orange coloration now with day’s light, telling us that the eruption still continues……

This amazing story is to be continued……..

Unique Expedition To A Galapagos Volcano (Part 2)

To catch a breath before undertaking the final ascent to Alcedo Volcano’s rim, we distract ourselves with a plant identification quiz, easily won by Irene, the group member with a greater botanical knowledge….  Now it’s time for the final climb to the summit of the volcano. The trail gets narrower and is made of loose volcanic ash and sand. The trail also becomes steeper, almost 60 degrees of inclination, so it is designed in a zig-zag way, to make it a little gentler for the adventurers who occasionally undertake such an unusual trip. We are closer to the rim, but it takes us longer to negotiate the climb, while we continue admiring the vegetation and the incessant activity of Darwin’s finches, mockingbirds and some Galapagos flycatchers.  Half-way up, we meet our first giant tortoise of the trip… This one, rapidly baptized as “Lucho” by the group, is a relatively young, dome-shaped carapace individual, belonging to the particular sub-species which is endemic only to Alcedo Volcano.  The reptile sees us and hisses while tucking its long neck and “ET”-looking head inside the rounded carapace, while slowly moving out of our way…. We manage to take plenty of pictures of the pre-historic looking animal and continue our journey, now enthusiastically expecting to see many more giant tortoises in their natural habitat…..

Most of us seem to have been in good physical condition and make it to the rim in good shape. After a short walk along low-growing grassland and small bushes and scrubs, we meet more giant tortoises, of all ages and sizes…. We have reached their realms… It is precisely here, inside the caldera of Alcedo Volcano and its rim that the largest surviving population of these fantastic and long-living creatures survives in the Archipelago, an estimated five thousand individuals.  Beyond the gently curved and rather wide esplanade which marks the actual rim, there unfolds before our eyes the magnificent scene of the giant caldera, the second largest in Galapagos, an impacting and awesome view…. It is some two to three hundred feet deep, formed by steep and black rocky cliffs, covered by abundant vegetation, broken only by stretches of barren lava fields, denouncing the intense volcanic activity occurred there centuries ago…. The caldera floor is flat and mostly made of black lava fields, dotted with a few “islands of vegetation”….. To the southeast, near the caldera’s floor, a small aggregation of mini cones produce several fumaroles, clearly telling us there is still activity in the magmatic chambers beneath…. The whole view is astounding and we quietly sit on the bare ground just to enjoy the privilege of being able to watch such a formidable natural scene…..

It is midday, there are hardly any but a few big trees to provide shelter, the sun is merciless, but we must keep on with our program so, after a quick luncheon of canned fruits (not to leave alien seeds in the area), a sandwich and bottled water, plus our chocolate and granola bars; we rapidly select the best place to pitch our tents for the night we will spend there.  The selected location, (a few of us had been there before), is a small and flat plain, some meters below the actual rim, sheltered from the evening’s summit wind and secure enough to allow us to sleep reasonably well on such wild environs. Without siesta break, we now march again, single-file, following donkey trails (yes, there are many of these as the area has been badly impacted by introduced donkeys and goats), along the crater’s rim, heading to the south east, precisely in the direction of the fumaroles…. We negotiate, with a bit of difficulty the well known “Devil’s Ditch”, an irregular-shaped small hill of sharp black lava, where I manage to fall and tear some skin tissue from my knee, rapidly cleansed by my travel companions and the handy first aid kit we carry with us at all times.  All along the way, we meet groups of tortoises, some of them remarkably big, but also many young and small specimens…. Not used to a frequent human presence, the tortoises act shyly and defensively… Since we reached the summit, we haven’t stopped photographing and filming, so this slows down our pace a bit…. We finally reach a privileged location at the southern part of the rim, just above the fumaroles, from where we can see and record them in photos and video, while clearly sensing the intense smell of sulfur…..

A giant volcanic caldera in the center of Galapagos’ largest island; the fumaroles and the numerous giant tortoises roaming the area make up for an unparalleled experience, enhanced by perfect weather, which sends our spirits real high, feeling  privileged and fortunate…. As the sunset hour was coming close we speed up our pace to return to our campsite still under daylight….  But the day still had a major surprise for us…….. This one we will have to narrate for you on the next issue, on part three of this story…..

 

A Unique Expedition To A Galapagos Volcano (Part 1)

It is still pitch dark and our small and slender three-mast schooner has anchored inside the small and little known Shiffton Cove, on the center of the east coast of Isabella, the largest of the Galapagos islands. We have a hearty breakfast on board, finish sorting out our backpacks and soon we are waving good-bye to Captain Rafael, while George shuttles our small party to shore, riding the crest of good surfing waves, on a small motorized dinghy.  We reach a small and dark-colored, volcanic sandy beach and wade on to shore, with knee-deep water and our backpacks, loaded with equipment for our overnight expedition to Alcedo Volcano, a sanctuary of giant tortoises and the central of the five volcanoes which make up the huge island.

While we dry our feet, slide into our hiking-trekking shoes and hide some supplies on a secret and secure place for our return, some 36 hours later, the first lights of the day begin to appear over the eastern horizon and we can turn our flashlights-off. It is not yet six in the morning and we have already started our near six miles hike uphill, to the rim and crater of Alcedo Volcano. Our expedition required a special permit from the National Park and was granted as a study and filming trip, exclusive for a group of qualified naturalists and biologists, preparing to become National Park Guides.

There is a marked trail which follows, practically from just behind the sandy beach, a winding ravine, predominantly made of a rather unusual material for the rest of the islands: volcanic originated pumice.  For the first two miles the gradient is gentle and we can move at a considerably fast pace, in spite of carrying on our backs and shoulders considerable weight, with our personal belongings, tents, sleeping bags, cooking utensils and food, abundant water supply plus all of our camera and filming equipment.  We quietly march, single-file, trying not to talk in order to save breathing capacity and just enjoying the always fascinating sights, scenes, fauna and flora of the Enchanted Islands…. The lowland vegetation presents varieties of bushes and scrubs such like the “muyuyo” or “cordia”, with its yellow flowers, the endemic and red-berried “castelas”,  the highly spiny “scutias”, several cacti and forests of “palo santo” trees.  We begin sighting several species of Darwin’s finches and, as the early morning hours become sunnier and brighter, the unique birds salute the day (not us) with a noisy yet fascinating concert of chirps and songs.

By eight o’clock we have covered the easiest part of the ascent, the sun is very strong and we make our first stop to rest, rearrange our backpacks, strip-off from the jackets and sweaters we used at the pre-dawn landing and fit ourselves now into the shorts and T-shirts look, while smearing our exposed skin with lots of sun block. Munching bites of the special trekking chocolate bars, we talk enthusiastically of our unique adventure, just beginning… Luis is the leader, Rob and Mark the official Naturalist guides and Macarena, Ana Maria, Irene, Jimmy, Rodrigo, Lucho, another Rob and Heinz are the congenial group members, all united by a passion for nature.  After the fifteen minute break, we restart our ascent, which, from here begins getting a little more inclined and effort-demanding.  We pace ourselves a bit slower, trying not to wear ourselves out, climbing the mountain’s outer flanks under an increasingly scorching equatorial sun.  The vegetation clearly shows us a new “layer”: the transition zone: more vegetation, larger bushes and trees, several species and sub-species of the fascinating and endemic “Scalesias” and “Darwinothumnus” plants, plus  bromeliads, mosses, lichens and an increasing presence of more species of Darwin’s finches.  Two vermillion flycatchers force us for a filming and photo stop to watch their fantastic courtship ritual: the brightly red male makes astounding acrobatic sky-dives from high up, to impress the olive-colored female which responds with equally great aerial antics.  We are reaching the last third of the ascent, the most difficult one, so we take a new break under the shade of a huge “pega-pega” endemic tree.  The day still has a host of adventures and unimaginable moments reserved for us…. But the rest of the story will have to continue on the next issue……

Exploring San Cristobal (Part two)

We sadly leave the splendid sight of El Junco, the only fresh water lake in Galapagos, and descend the staircase, as Darwin’s finches busily fly from bush to bush on the forest type of vegetation, typical of the highlands of San Cristobal.  We decide to walk down the road to the nearby Tortoise Rearing Center of the Galapagos National Park Service, a  relatively new installation , which complements the main one in Santa Cruz, existing there for decades. Our company for the short hike is the one of noisy San Cristobal Mockingbirds, an endemic species, exclusive to this island.  Having seen on the previous days the other species of mockingbirds on other islands, we can readily tell the difference and Jose gives us a complete explanation on how evolutionary processes developed such distinct features between islands, not too distant between each other.

The Giant Tortoise Reserve and Rearing Center of San Cristobal is a large surface of land, discretely walled with lava rocks, to keep it as natural as possible….  The Interpretation buildings, small and equally discrete, welcome us for an introductory talk about the purpose and objectives of the Center.  The main tasks here are to rise, in semi-captivity, individuals from the unique species of San Cristobal Giant Tortoise; conduct a controlled reproduction program of them, for later repatriation to the specific (and in many cases remote) locations they originally came from in the higher and farther parts of the island and also to rise and study some specimens from other islands or from unknown origin. Outside, a natural environment of vegetation and lava rocks greets us as we start touring the complex.  It just takes us a few minutes along the rocky trails to spot the first giant tortoise, this one, according to Jose, a relatively young adult (some 40 to 50 years), with the distinct carapace which identifies the species’ found on islands with not too abundant pasture or dense vegetation.  Soon, more of this gentle reptiles appear, slowly wandering through the brush, some of them in search for shade on the sunny morning, others heading for the natural ponds to drink some water…  Our cameras click away at every new sighting, while we learn more about the animals which are the symbol, main icon and name-givers to the Galapagos Archipelago….

The driver has already disembarked from our white pick-up, four mountain bikes, with the respective helmets, and soon we are pedaling our way, downhill, towards the south western tip of San Cristobal Island.  The air feels crisp and delightfully clean, the temperature on the rise and the sun shining against a blue sky, just dotted with a few scattered white clouds, are the backdrop for our bike adventure, as we see, once again, the amazing changes between vegetation zones as you descend (or climb, according to the occasion), from the greener highlands to the transition zones and into the more arid lowlands…  Endemic Scalessia and Miconia trees are replaced by grasslands and then by the ghost-like “palo santo” forests.  Straight ahead from us, on the gravel road, as a desired oasis, is the blue bay which we are headed for.  Sweating and sore-legged, we finally arrive to Puerto Chino, a beautiful bay of turquoise waters, framed by a golden colored beach.  Frigate birds fly high above us and we can see some pelicans awkwardly plunging in shallow waters, looking for fish….

A refreshing dip on the slightly cool waters of the Pacific is the prize we get for our biking effort…. Within some three hours, we have ridden a pick-up to the highlands of San Cristobal; walked around El Junco lagoon; hiked to the Tortoise Reserve and Rearing Center and biked to the opposite end from our point of departure, to meet the sea again and feel its water and energizing power on our bare skin…. The uniqueness of Galapagos, the combination of land and sea worlds merging together, and the overall magical environment, produce on Ana Maria, Javier and myself a sheer feeling of joy, which is visibly shared by Jose, our native islander guide, who has taken us on this thrilling outing, just one of so many memorable travel experiences one can live while exploring the Enchanted Galapagos Archipelago…. And there is more to continue sharing with our readers about San Cristobal on the following weeks…..