Isla Isabella - Tunneles y Tintoreras

LOS TUNNELES

Galapagos Penguins migrated to the equator in the Humboldt current and adapted nicely to the tropical climate. They are about a foot tall.


Los Tunneles, a 45 minute boat ride from Puerto Villamil in Isabella, is reached by a treacherous boat ride through breaking waves and a ridiculous channel. Wonderful to watch sea turtles swimming in the shallow water, clearly visible, doing laps around the lava formations like go-karts on a track.

Kym with a blue-footed booby (piquero pata azul) at Los Tunneles - these birds are almost like the lizards, they couldn´t care less if we are next to them...

From Galapagos - Isabella

Penguins kept a watchful eye as we snorkled in the Tunneles. Just around the corner, we could see about 5-6 white tip sharks (small, around 1-1.5 meters) swimming in the caves and tunnels, less than six feet underwater. In retrospect, I wish the Tunneles trip had lasted all day instead of a half-day - the place was just too amazing!!

LAS TINTORERAS
Another trip was to Las Tintoreras. It started at a dock near the town and went 5 minutes to a small island, where the white tip sharks (also called tintoreras) like to rest. Note the marine iguanas on the rocks right above them. No worries though, these sharks are vegetarians, supposedly...

Diving at Gordon's with Hammerheads

Diving - Gordon Rocks

Dive master Hugo showing us the layout of Gordon Rocks, my second dive in the Galapagos. He is the owner operator of Academy Bay Dive Center in Puerto Ayora.



Gordon Rocks is the best known site nearby Santa Cruz island to see hammerhead sharks. The strong currents flowing across the submerged crater attract the animals. Kym, Scott and I went, along with an English girl called Anushka.


We watched the school of hammerheads for about 1 minute. The 15+ big sharks above our heads had graceful and powerful silhoettes - a few made agitated, brusk movements that were slightly scary. I just clung to the rocks below me as the current swept by. It was surreal.




I lost track of how many turtles we saw, they were around every corner. Turtles are so relaxed, casual.


This white tip shark, also called a Tintorena, was sleeping on the rocks.


Spotted eagle rays, floating, flying.


Dive #7 for me.
Max depth: 91 feet
Total time: 42 min
Water temp: 22C/73F
Visibility: 30-50 feet
Current: strong - held onto rocks, then drifted
Surge: moderate

For more pictures, check out the album here.

San Cristobal - scenes from the town

San Cristobal is to the right of Santa Cruz, centered, 2.5 hours by boat.


The waterfront road at Puerto Baquerizo.


August 10th was the celebration of Ecuador's independence, and all government workers (at hospitals, school, etc.) were mandated to be part of the parade. There had been band practice with loud drums nearly everyday, particularly during siesta time. This evened out the noise spectrum - from the 6am blarring radio at the mechanic shop, to the dogs and chickens making a racket all night, to the taxi horns during the day. Noise seems to be a part of life here.


A week before independece day, the mayor put on a concert for the locals, to celebrate the town.


Yan the surfer from Paris - the ozzies taught him hand motions to mimmick getting barreled on a wave, and he practiced these in the middle of the street.


The beach and the ozzies from Melbourne, Warren and Eric.


Enroute back to Santa Cruz island - August and September are the windy months and the channel crossings are the roughest.

Diving - Leon Dormido

This was my first dive in the Galapagos, off San Cristobal Island - a monolithic rock 1 mile offshore, called Leon Dormido or Kicker Rock, with a split down the middle. The split has produced a channel with moderate currents that attracts sharks and rays, about 20 meters deep (60 feet). This was my 6th dive, the first after finishing the SCUBA certification back in California this May.


There was a school of 20+ Galapagos sharks, 1-2 m (3-6ft), swimming through the channel as we dove - they went right up near the surface and paid the snorklers a visit! A school of 8 or 10 spotted eagle rays, as wide as the sharks were long, also swam by.



Shot of a green sea turtle with my "waterproof" Pentax before it leaked water and broke. The water was too turbid to see hammerheads, which cruise by the rock walls at 80 feet. Our guide explained that the water is supposed to be colder this time of year (it's 22C or 73F); since the cold and warm currents are still mixing the water is more cloudy than usual.



There was a family from Cuenca on the right (old colonial town in Ecuador), a spanish diver, an american diver, myself, and the two neighboring ozzies.

San Cristobal - El Junco, Galapaguera

Climbing the volcano in San Cristobal - "El Junco". The inactive volcano crater is the largest fresh water lake in the Galapagos and provides the town with its drinking water, which is much better than the other towns in the archipelago. I walked its circumference in 30 minutes.


After considerable effort by the national park to remove the invasive species of guava trees and blackberry bushes, which have overwhelmed the islands and destroyed tortoise habitat, the area around the volcano is back to native vegetation. It's ironic that fruit can do so much damage!


From Wikipedia:
The shape of the carapace of some subspecies of the tortoises is said to have reminded the early Spanish explorers of a kind of saddle they called a "galápago," and for these saddle-shaped tortoises they named the archipelago. Up to 250,000 tortoises inhabited the islands when they were discovered. Today only about 15,000 are left.

A noted visitor to the archipelago, naturalist Charles Darwin, remarked "These animals grow to an immense size ... several so large that it required six or eight men to lift them from the ground." [3] This is due to the phenomenon of island gigantism whereby in the absence of natural predation, the largest tortoises had a survival advantage and no disadvantage in fleeing or fending off predators.



This sign at the Galapaguera shows how they brought tortoises in 2002 from their natural habitat in the far north of the island to Puerto Baquerizo (by boat) and then to the breeding center at Cerro Colorado (by truck). The breeding program run by the Charles Darwin Foundation and the National Park has succesfully re-introduced hundreds of captive-bred juveniles back into the wild, helping tortoise populations to recover.



Puerto Chino, at the end of the road.

San Cristobal - surfing

First look at Tongo Reef, two guys out.

I was deceived from the view from my house, at the top of the hill - it looked like the surf was flat. So on the first day I walked out to Lobería, which is the sea wolf colony just past the airport, and picks up the most south swell. It is a heavy reefbreak just outside a pretty lagoon - unfortunately, the trade wind is blowing onshore at this spot, between June-Nov, 24 hours per day.

The following day, I walked out past the naval base to check out Tongo Reef, not expecting much; El Canon, the indicator spot which we can see from town, looked tiny. After the 25 minute walk I arrived at Tongo - it was overhead and consistent! I galloped back to town on my havaiiana sandals, scouted out a $10 rental board, and rushed to Tongo, where I had two excellent and redeeming afternoon sessions, on my own.

They were long lefthanders, tame but enjoyable, and the wildlife was unreal: a bunch of sea turtles swimming around, blue-footed boobies divebombing for fish, sea lions messing around. Sadly, as I went through the "minefield" of lava rocks on my way to shore, I snapped a fin off, which ended up costing me $20 for a replacement, out here in this isolated and costly island.


The view from the naval base enroute to Tongo. Popeye rules.


The outside and inside sections linking up. The water was 68-70 degrees fahrenheit.


The Cabana and the rental board. I ended up spending $60 on surfboard rentals all together, more cost-effective than bringing my own? Less hassle, at least...

While I was in Cristobal 2 weeks, there were 3 smallish swells, never much bigger than a foot overhead, and flat for days on end. People didn´t seem particularly surprised by this, except for me. The roaring 40s are pouring with storms, and everywhere else is pumping: Peru, Tahiti, Australia. So why is there so little swell in the Galapagos this time of year? Or maybe I caught a slow period and it usually pumps...

Everyone raves about the waves during the other season - November thru April - as the north swell spots are firing, the wind is calm, AND there is south swell. Go figure. Clearly, that´s the best time of year. But, I certainly got my money´s worth in the perfect playground of Tongo Reef, for seven days in the water.

Local kids were really good, even with just 2 years experience. They would sometimes wait for each other on the beach to share the board, as they likely co-owned the expensive tabla. The sea lions look like they´re slobbering white stuff, but it´s just an illusion.

The view of "El Canon" from Casa de Celeste, where I was staying. It never got big enough to surf it. There is, in fact, a big naval canon in front of the point.


Just past the actual point at Tongo is another section, called the "Peak" - I surfed this as it was less crowded and more powerful. Disadvantage: it is littered with rocks to dodge and weave through. No damages to body or equipment, I´m happy to report.