Galapagos

The Galapagos Islands!

Well seeing as I’m only getting round to typing this yonks after we were actually there, I’ll keep it short and sweet (like Lisa lol).
We arrived from Quito with the Swedish couple (we bumped into again in the airport) to Isla Santa Cruz in the Galapagos, to sweltering heat and not a cloud in the sky.
The Swedish couple had a cruise booked on The Rumba “yacht” starting the day they arrived. Unlike me & Kenny who spent four days bumming around the Island, searching for a cruise on a nice boat, whilst also lording it up on one of the most gorgeous unspoilt beaches I’ve ever seen, which was a bit of a trek to get to each day, but well worth the effort. We had little lava lizards escorting us along the pathway to the beach.
Oops I should have mentioned a bit about the animals. We read before we left for the GI’s that all the animals are big and fearless, but it doesn’t sink in until you actually come face to face with a few. Our first encounter was with a MASSIVE pelican! The thing was huge and you think to yourself,
“As I move closer to this small aircraft-sized bird, it’s going to take off scared”…
But they don’t. They just kind of look at you as if to say, “Yeah? Can I help you? Out of my beakin way, I’m fishing here!”
Everywhere we went we saw Land and/or Sea Iguanas that could and would spit at you. There were also lots of Land and Sea turtles on the islands that were so big, it was amazing, the land ones especially were absolutely HUGE (see pics below). We stumbled upon a couple giant ones bonking in the forest one day, which was pretty funny coz the guy lets out a big moan with each bonk.
Oh and Sea lions are everywhere!! They are very playful and inquisitive, but they are also smelly bastards pooing and peeing all over the place. Also there was a whole host of birds like blue/red footed boobies, lava herons, pelicans, albatrosses (he he), and lots more that I can’t remember.
Emm what else we see.. There were Sally light foot crabs, which were aptly named, as they could jump about two feat from side to side. On the last day we saw small Galapagos penguins, which were so cool and jumped into the water beside us. I should mention that every day we were woken up at half six, fed a ginormous brekfast and then put into snorkel gear. We were then led off on snorkel expeditions by our 68 year old guide! Whilst on our many many snorkeling trips, we saw and swam beside sharks, big rays and many colourful, massive fish, that looked like they had all been at the steroids.

We ended up saving a fortune by going directly to the islands and booking a boat from a tour guy there, rather than booking in Quito. Plus we got a lovely yacht with a great crew and air conditioning. Unlike the Swedes, who we bumped into a couple of days after we first got there. They SHOULD have still been on their boat, but lol the crappy boat they were booked on had no air conditioning in the cabins.
Their boat had a small fire in the engine room on the first night and they all had to abandon ship at about 5am in their underwear! They spent the next few days hassling the owner for their money back, and trying to book another boat for the remainder of their holiday! Bummer!
So anyway we got the Darwin Yacht, which had air con, a great crew and guide and a nice bunch of other passengers. One of the first girls we were talking to was a nurse from Newcastle but living in Bermuda. She asked if we knew any Irish living in Bermuda. But I couldn’t think of any.. Then we thought hold on…. lol Triggers brother lives there so we asked did she know any Bacons! Surprise surprise, she knew the Bacon in question! She referred to him as Andrew “ theatrical” Bacon. It had to be him… all the Bacons I know like a bit of drama ;o)

So the rest of the crew were mostly all geeks and a few our own age that were sound, like a Dutch guy called Uri who spoke like an American until he said words like “coool” or “smoke an a bagel” or (for Trigg) “You like your bagels REEAALLLY HAWT”

The cruise went really well. We were traveling at night and exploring islands by day seeing all these amazing animals and crazy volcanic landscapes with lots of snorkeling in between, which I have to say was the highlight of the trip. Coming face to face with a two meter long shark and watching him swim beneath your legs is pants soiling fantastic, or swimming / playing with sea loins and penguins so their little legs are flapping away right in front your mask. Lisa was a little apprehensive about the snorkeling at first as was I but after a few times out she took to it well like a fish to water :op she even went out and seen some sharks J

Lisa says - (Let me add that the first time I put on the mask, it leaked, the water went down my breathing tube and I couldn’t control my flippers. I did not like snorkellling one bit. However , everything revolved around the fecking snorkeling so I had to just get on with it. There would have been no point being on the boat without going snorkeling. I went on all the snorkeling trips (except the bug day) and gradually began to enjoy it. I even jumped in when I knew there were sharks there – my ultimate fear. And I’m really glad I did, I was so proud of myself and it was tres scary and exciting. J - LISA )

Everything was going swimmingly (pardon the pun) until the seasickness kicked in. A d then a bug went around the ship as everyone was sick at some stage throughout the 8-day cruise. I did my Exorcist impression, with an impressive display of projectile vomiting one evening in our cabin, where my lunch made its second appearance of the day. Not wanting to feel outdone, the following day Lisa did her own exorcist impression which was equally impressive as mine. Perhaps a little more impressive as it came with a strong stench of lunch – CAULIFLOWER soup!!! Now think of that nights sleep.. rocking back and forth in a tiny cabin then rocking side to side with the slight smell of diesel from the engine and STRONG smell of cauliflower from the bathroom… cozy!

We were happy to get back on dry land after the cruise and during the next few nights sleep, it still felt like we were back in the rocky cabins of the Darwin. It was such an amazing trip and we saw some fantastic things. I’d defo recommend it to everyone, but maybe just the five day cruise and make sure u stock up on sea sick tablets. J

Jimbob Seapants.