Wall of tiles
We checked out the Charles Darwin Research Center. There was a lot of info to take in there. One of the main functions is to act as a breeding facility for many different kinds of tortoises. As the pirates and other seamen took so many as ship food. Some species were becoming extinct. At this facility, they also had the saddleback species. These particular species live on the really dry islands and had adapted a saddle-shaped shell and a long neck in order to reach up and eat cacti.
Over the next couple of days, we explored the underwater world a bit more. Galápagos is world renowned for the excellent diving. The craziest sites are only accessible by Liveaboard Dive boats but we felt quite lucky to be able to do the ones accessible by day trips. We ended up doing 4 dives total at two different dives locations: North Seymour and Gordon Rocks. We were not disappointed, let me tell you. Over all the dives, we saw over 40 hammerhead sharks! Many coming within meters of us (No they are not dangerous!)
I grabbed some pictures off the Internet here.
Gordon Rocks Dive location
The superstars of the diving!
So many turtles...
There was also an instance where we found ourselves surrounded by a huge school of barracudas.
Also saw Galápagos sharks, white tip reef sharks, and black tip reef sharks.
There was huge areas that were covered in garden eels who would slip into their holes once you got too close.
We also saw so many different kinds of rays: spotted eagle rays, manta rays, and sting rays.
The reason for the abundance of the marine life is that the Humbolt current upwells from the deep ocean, bringing all the nutrients with it. This allows a lot of algae growth starts the chain of life. This also mans the water is quite cold. Water temperatures were around 18 C so we were wearing thick wetsuits with hoods and everything. At times there would be thermoclines in the water that were much cooler temps, so it was chilly! But when you see a school of hammerheads right beside you, you tend to forget about the cold!
The one things that was quite affordable on the Islands was the food. There was a bunch of outdoor restaurants in a row selling all kinds of fresh seafood. A lobster meal for 2 was only $15 after some bartering. We ate there every night when we were on this island.
Some local residents....
After a few days, we grabbed a boat over to San Cristobal. We met up with Carol and Jaime once again which was great. They are the couple we have travelled with many times all over South America.
One day we hired a taxi to take us around the island. First stop was at a crater lake.
The girls working the camera.
It was a bit cloudy and cool up there.
Then we headed to the tortoise breeding facility on this island. We just couldn't get enough of these slow moving giants. It was the first time Carol and Jaime had seen them, so they were quite excited.
Next we headed down to one of the beaches on the island for a couple hours.
Roberta did some exploring and found a whale skull.
Some residents of the beach...
Relaxing at the hostel after another "tough" day
We spent some other days just hanging out on the beach and exploring the island. We were even able to catch a couple of great live music shows a couple nights.
Roberta found this mama sea lion who had just given birth.
Blue-footed booby...
Just hanging out with baby sea lions....
We also did two dives off of this island at Kicker Rock.
Once again it was awesome. Just as we were descending, a large school of fish started swimming wildly and within no time a sea lion came cruising by. She was definitely the star of the show on one dive. Watching the fish scatter while she hunted them was amazing.
There were also many schools of large fish and some sharks as well.
And that concluded our Galápagos trip. We spent more money in two weeks than in most 2 month periods, but it was a once in a lifetime experience!
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