And so another travel chapter
ends. It is with a sense of achievement
that I can proclaim to have lived up to my word and returned to South America
solely to visit the Galapagos Islands. The
time frame has been perfect in order to achieve a sense of fulfillment in the
amount I have seen and leave more than satisfied. Financially the burden has been large. These islands aren´t cheap, but I guess how
you view this depends on what you value more, money or experience.
My final impressions of the place
are as you would expect, different to what I had previously envisaged. I came here to swim and play with both
penguins and iguanas. I leave here having
done much more. By far the most
impressive undertaking of my trip was the eight day liveaboard scuba adventure to
Wolf and Darwin Rocks. The remainder of
my time has entertained, although lacked somewhat when compared with my
expectations of an adventurer´s paradise.
There is no doubting the
significance of this place to the world.
It is incredible to see the more than obvious natural variances in so
many species of animal. These same
differences were viewed by Charles Darwin all those years ago. They captivated and helped inspire his
hypothesis on the origin of species and evolution. Here you can find evidence supporting these
theories right on your door step. There
are flightless Cormorants, birds with stunted wings because they have evolved
for a life in the water. Vampire finches,
little birds that have adapted to feed on the blood of other animals. Marine iguanas, the world’s only ocean based
lizard. The list goes on.
But with all these marvels within
reach you find it almost impossible to feel as if you have truly grasped them. This for me is the frustrating part. Your expectations are of a real life discovery
channel of wildlife but the actuality is somewhat less. The Galapagos Islands are locked down
tighter than the proverbial nuns.... And
it is unfortunate for me to say this but I get a very real sense that it is
mostly to protect the financial interests of the local population. When staying on the islands, there is a tick
and flick mentality to the tours offered.
This is probably why a multi day boat tour is preferable as you get some
leeway with your activities.
When staying on the islands you
will find that once you have been passed through the proverbial tourist meat
grinder and seen all the usually array of pre-chewed sparkly stuff, you have
one of two options. You can sit on a
beach and draw in the sand or you can bask in the one or two free activities on
offer until the pain in your head gets too much. In other words, once you have spent your
money, you should leave. But I had a
month here and that was the time I was going to spend. So I persisted.
Being a bit of an info geek and
not averse to the odd bombing of scientific mumbo jumbo, I looked for
interesting tours and the like to keep me happy. Now my Spanish is nowhere near good enough
for a scientific conversation, hence I signed up for the English speaking
tours. Unfortunately I was left wanting. Almost all of my guides were less than
convincing in both their mastery of the English language and their offerings of
wisdom. On the most part they managed to
convey a definite sense of routine. Hmmmm.....
1+1 = I know bad apples when I see them and these were bad apples.
Obviously I´m too Australian and
bull headed to take well to this caper. I thought “f@!k it, if these turkeys can´t
give me what I want then I´ll just do it myself”. That´s a big negatory on that one team leader.... Get off the happy happy little tourist merry
go round and you will find out some fast facts of the non-sciencey type. Like the one where happy little park rangers
quickly become unhappy little park rangers when you decide to go and explore
what it is that you want. Result: they
get $2,000 a head angry. Even despite
the fact you may have done absolutely nothing to interfere with anything. Don´t expect any consistent reasoning for
their displeasure either and the “oh, I´m an idiot tourist with no Spanish
skills” trick only works the one time.
Cause now they know your name and details. And they are very prudent on getting them exaaactly
right.
FAST FACTS for the travelling
public: The deal is this:
You can snorkel where we tell you
to, and if one suitable snorkelling hole for an island girt by sea and
ridiculous marine wonder is not enough for you, you can take a tour J
Within the national park, you
need a guided tour to do most activities unless it is designated
otherwise. And try to get off the
designated path. You will find a host of
signs and rope fences preventing this. On
the other side of these fences lies...... you guessed it, a $2,000 fine!
You cannot approach within 2m of
the wildlife unless you are on a boat tour then you can wedge a boat in the
butt crack of any animal.
You definitely cannot by any
stretch touch the animals unless they touch you, even if they are on your stuff
or in your way.
Well Mr Park Ranger man, here is
a list of animals that just happened to clamber on over and touched me. Iguanas, turtles, giant tortoises, sharks,
rays, fish, octopi, seals and the odd bird.
I must be the Ace freakin Ventura of the Galapagos.
All this out there though, it is
not a bad place if your time is short or you are just looking for a place to
relax and do nothing much during your travels.
I can think of more than a dozen other places though that would be
cheaper to relax and do nothing much, but they probably don´t have seals you
can just chill with. Try not to get
caught in the hype of not doing a boat tour around the islands. I personally think this is a mistake. The best stuff is the out of the way stuff
and like the islands the wildlife is quite varied by local. Now I will leave you with a little motto that
will aid you in your decision making processes when visiting this area and it
goes a little something like this: It
doesn´t pay to be tight on the Galapagos.
And now for the good bit. I won´t hate you much if you just scrolled down to the end looking for the pictures. You can´t help a short attention span.
Isabella Island. The largest of the Galapagos archipelago and covered with many different kinds of volcanic rock. It is like being on the moon.
On these rocks live many an aptly named Lava Lizard. These little guys attend to those pesky insects so that you can relax and enjoy life.
Isabella is also home to some massive marine iguanas. Could be a front rower.
Godzilla in waiting.
I think my quote was "The Galapagos are like the islands where all the left over animals went". Flamingos....really.....
A Blue Footed Boobie targeting some unsuspecting little morsel.
Cute as hell sea lions.
Randy turtles. Those guys in the background would prefer their privacy....
Underwater landscapes.
Underwater lava tunnels.
And people not following the rules.