Hello!

I am in the Guayaquil airport about to fly to the Galapagos islands for our cruise with Ecoventura. The name of our ship is the Eric and we are about to sail for seven days in the Galapagos Islands.

The trip has gone well so far. We flew from Michigan to Miami and then from Miami on to Guayaquil. All went smoothly and I love flying on LAN, a great airline.

Yesterday we spent the day exploring Guayaquil. We spent many hours in the Parque Historico Guayaquil…this is relatively new. It first opened in 2000 and they have been adding to it ever since. It is a combination…part is an animal park with species typical to the region like ocelots and tapirs, then there an historical section that is a collection of historic buildings that have been restored, and then there is a typical farm in the countryside and then a hacienda of a wealthy cacao planter. Add to that a petting zoo, an urban garden and play areas and it is really quite a complete attraction. It is well worth visiting if you spend a day in Guayaquil before flying to the Galapagos.

Then yesterday afternoon we walked to the Malecon (walkway) along the river and visited the artisans market. It was a full day.

Now I am in the airport, about to fly to the Galapagos Islands. I will not have internet for a week so my postings will be suspended until then. However, I will keep a daily journal that I will post after my return.

Until then, travel well.

This past week I cruised the Galapagos Islands on the M/Y Eric, operated by Ecoventura. As I did not have access to internet, I am going to post my daily blogs this week.

Sunday, Sept. 20:

Our Galapagos adventure with Ecoventura begins. Today we flew 1-1/2 hours from the Guayaquil Airport to San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos. When we arrived it was raining which we thought was a rather glum start. But nothing is ever as it seems here and we were in for surprises.

Our first afternoon...and the first of many sea lions

Our first was the revitalized dock area in the town. It is really quite lovely, with a wooden pier and and a pavilion. Close by were some very attractive bars. We were met at the dock by our first wildlife: several sea lions were sleeping on the planks. So we stepped around them and clambered into inflatable boats and headed toward our home for the next week, the M/Y Eric.

The Eric is quite a comfortable vessel, with 10 cabins carrying up to 20 passengers. There are 18 of us this week, all journalists here to write articles and take pictures of this fascinating area. Huw and Julia are from the UK giving us a bit of international flavor. It is nice to be traveling with some of my SATW friends, Clark Norton, Dave Houser and Lois Friedman and to meet Mary Love and George Miller , who are also in SATW.

We board, have a quick briefing and meet our guides Ivan and Harry. We are issued snorkel gear and wetsuits for the week. We then immediately head to our first Galapagos experience. As we travel to Ochoa Beach (on the same island) the clouds disappear and the sun comes forth. Our guides assure us that all is well in “paradise.”

We have our first “wet landing” (you get off the boat at the beach, stepping in the water) and are greeted by more sea lions. Our guides give us a quick briefing and then we have the chance to test out our snorkel gear. After so many days of travel, it was a great respite.

After our snorkeling adventure we begin an overnight sail to Genovese Island. On the way, we pass by Kicker Rock, one of the great rock formations in the Galapagos and we are able to take sunset pictures.

Kicker rock

There was a short reception with the captain and crew, followed by a very tasty dinner — it is obvious that the food is going to be quite good. We all head to bed early after a long day of travel.

This past week I cruised the Galapagos Islands on the M/Y Eric, operated by Ecoventura. As I did not have access to internet, I am going to post my daily blogs this week.

Sept 21: Genovese Island

Last night we sailed almost 75 nautical miles north and about 3:30 a.m. we crossed the equator. There was a lot of wave action and most of us did not sleep too well and at least one of us (maybe two) was seasick. But the trip was worth it.. Only ships carrying 20 passengers or less may visit this rather remote island. Ecoventura is able to visit as its ships are the right size and its cruises are long enough (seven days) to include it in the itinerary.

Red-footed booby

Our guides Ivan and Harry have told us that every island has a “highlight” and today’s is the red-footed booby. We barely set foot on the island before we run into this colorful bird, which is the only member of the booby family to nest in trees. It has a blue beak, black and white body and brilliant red feet. We also soon meet the swallowtail gull (very colorful, with red-rimmed eyes and red feet), the Nazca booby (with a black and white mask) and the large frigate birds.

The vegetation here is mostly mangroves near the beach and holly trees in the interier. These are loaded with nests, and we soon learn which belong to the boobies and which belong to the frigate birds.

It is hard to describe the Galapagos wildlife experience. Each of these islands are filled with wildlife and much of it is only found in this archipelago. By and large, these animals do not fear humans and we are able to get very close to them.

The Galapagos National Park Service carefully controls access to these islands. It regulates which boats may visit where and for how long. They have carefully marked trails on each island and we must stay within these boundaries. We are not to touch any of the animals or remove anything from the islands. We are especially warned against touching baby seals as our scent is transferred to them and their mothers will abandon them.

We are divided into two groups for touring purposes and Ivan is our leader today. He gives us several important briefings during our morning hike but perhaps the most important is an explanation of the difference in a plant or animal being classified as endemic, native , migratory or introduced.

“Endemic” means that it came naturally to the islands and then evolved into a unique species found only here. The swallowtail gull is an example. “Native” means that it came naturally, found that its needs were met and colonized here. The same animals are found elsewhere in the world. Red-footed boobies are an example, as are the frigate birds and herons. “Migratory” birds are those that pass through the islands but belong to where they nest. “Introduced” means the animals were brought by man. These include feral goats, feral pigs, donkeys and similar.

A Swallowtail gull with egg

This turns out to be critical information as what captured Charles Darwin’s imagination and that of so many visitors since. There are all of these amazing species that you’ve never seen before and might never again and you get to experience them up close in their natural habitat.

This is going to be an amazing week!

This past week I cruised the Galapagos Islands on the M/Y Eric, operated by Ecoventura. As I did not have access to internet, I am going to post my daily blogs this week.

Sept. 22: Fernandina and Isabela islands

Last night we made another big run, almost 125 nautical miles, to Fernandina Island, and again there was a lot of rocking and rolling. But this morning almost everyone reported sleeping well as we were tired from our many adventures (and lack of sleep) the night before.

Up close with a marine iguana

So we were ready for our adventure this morning, which was a hike over the black volcanic rock on Fernandina Island. All of the Galapagos islands are volcanic, and many of these are still active but the most recent eruption was here, on Fernandina, this past April. The eruption was on the other side of the island from where we landed.

Fernandina was quite different than Genovese. There are huge slabs of black lava all the exterior while much of the interior is finely shredded seashells and sea urchin spines. It can be very rough walking here and I wished I had brought even sturdier hiking boots as ankle support would have been helpful.

We had just landed on Fernandina when we spied today’s main attraction, marine iguanas, hundreds of them. These reptiles, which are pretty darned ugly, grow to be several feet long. They mate and lay their eggs on land but feed on algae in the sea. They are one of the best-known animals of the Galapagos.

There were iguanas all over the shores, but many other new species as well. We saw the bright red Sally Lightfoot crabs scampering about. Then several huge green sea turtles floated into the tidal pool at our feet. Then the great Galapagos hawk swooped overhead. All were new to us and a thrill to see.

After we all had taken dozens of iguana photos, we walked across the island to another small tidal pool and this one had at least eight of the huge sea turtles in it. What a bonanza. There was also a bull sea lion frolicking with a female…and several young sea lions learning to swim.

This afternoon the boat traveled from Fernandina through the Bolivar Channel to Tagus Bay on Isabela Island. This is the largest of the islands, with many volcanoes on it, but one of the least visited. Here the group had options: Some went snorkeling, others kayaking and the rest took a hike to the top of a ridge to see a lake. After this, everyone piled into one of the two “pangas,” which is what they call the inflatable boats, and we went for a ride along the cliffs of Isabela Island.

Here we saw Galapagos penguins and blue-footed boobies for the first time. These penguins are the only ones that live near the equator. They are quite small and many visitors never see them. We were fortunate to see several groups of them in the caves along the wall. The boobies were also fun to see (everyone has heard of these!) and we will see many more on this trip.

Photos by Chet and Cindy Janssens

This past week I cruised the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador on the M/Y Eric, operated by Ecoventura. As I did not have access to internet, I am going to post my daily blogs this week.

Sept. 23: Santiago Island

Today our first visit was to James Bay on Santiago Island. Here we landed on a black sand beach and then walked across a peninsula to a dramatic shoreline shore of black volcanic rock.

At the Grottos

Ivan explains that when Charles Darwin first visited here he recorded many land iguanas living here but when other researchers came here 45 years later there were none. It is believed that goats and pigs were introduced and probably killed off the iguanas. In time, there were thousands of goats living on Santiago Island, endangering the native species. So in the early 2000′s, an eradication program eliminated over 100,000 goats. Today they believe that only 12 goats still live here.

The volcanic rock formations on the far beach are impressive, The most famous formation is called The Grottos, and is an actual bridge that you can walk over (if you can get the marine iquanas to get out of the way). In this area, we see the Furry Seals, which are not actually seals, but a different species of sea lion. There are plenty of Sally Lightfoot crabs here as well, and many of us continue to try to get a perfect pictures of this skittish creature.

When we return to the black beach, many of our group go snorkeling and they saw sea turtles, rays, pufferfish, sharks and many schools of colorful fish.

The colorful Sally Lightfoot crab

For lunch back aboard the Eric, we were treated to a special Ecuadorian buffet that featured shrimp ceviche (delicious!), chicken stew, hominy and corn meal, corn cakes and peanut sauce and a tasty rice pudding for dessert.

That afternoon we traveled to Sombrero Chino (“China Hat), a large formation on Santiago Island, and many of us snorkeled off the pangas. The water was a bit rough and visibility not as good but we did see a number of penguins. After returning to the boat we traveled to Baimbridge Rocks where we were able to see a colony of bright pink flamingos – we could only view them from the top deck of the boat, and they were pretty far away, but still it was neat to see where they live.

Each evening we have a briefing before dinner at which the next day’s activities are discussed and we are told what kind of excursions we will have (hiking, snorkeling, etc.). Tonight Ivan reviewed all of the fishes that we have been seeing while snorkeling.

Off to snorkle

This evening we move to a bay off Bartolome Island where we anchor for the night. Ah…no rocking tonight!

Photos by Chet and Cindy Janssens

This past week I cruised the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador on the M/Y Eric, operated by Ecoventura. As I did not have access to internet, I am going to post my daily blogs this week.

Sept. 24: Bartolome and North Seymour islands

We had a very peaceful night as the boat was anchored all night. We woke to lovely views of the Pinnacle, another famous site in the Galapagos.

Pinnacle Rock

Today we took an early hike to the summit of Bartoleme Island (369 steps, but mostly all on wooden stairs). This is a very busy island so we left a bit earlier than usual. This gave us a lovely view of this small island that is one of the most photographed in the Galapagos. It is a small volcanic island that looks like a moonscape (in fact, when astronaut Buzz Aldrin visited here he said it looked more like the moon than any other place he had visited.)

It is very barren. The only wildlife we see are the ever-present sea lions and birds overhead. From the top, you can see both golden and white beaches. The main land feature is a rock spire called “The Pinnacle.”

A colorful land iguana

After walking back down from the summit, we board the pangas and head over to the white beach where most of us go snorkeling around the Pinnacle. I see many large fish, including a barracude, as well as many starfish. The snorkeling is quite good here in the Galapagos we have have had many snorkeling opportunities. You can bring your own equipment, however the ship will issue you snorkle equipment and wetsuits to use for the week and these worked fine for me. (The water is cold enough that you appreciate a wetsuit.)

After lunch we went to Baltra Island for refueling. This area on Baltra is a military base so we cannot get off the ship here.

This afternoon we took a hike on North Seymour Island and saw many more great animals. The most interesting here are the land iquanas, which are even larger than the marine iguanas and more colorful. Many are somewhat yellow or orange. We also saw some of the small black marine iquanas.

A male frigate bird

Then we saw lots of frigate birds, who nest here, and finally we saw some males with their brilliant red neck pouches inflated. These do this to attract females for mating. It is another of the Galapagos’ famous sights.

We saw even more blue-footed boobies and I know we got some good pictures.

We are all looking forward to tomorrow when we see the giant tortoises!

This past week I cruised the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador on the M/Y Eric, operated by Ecoventura. As I did not have access to internet, I am going to post my daily blogs this week.

Sept. 25: Santa Cruz Island

This was the day most of us had been waiting for. Today we got to see the most famous animals in the Galapagos island, the giant tortoises.

A Galapagos giant tortoise

In the morning, we landed on a dock in the city of Puerto Agora on Santa Cruz and a bus drove us to a farm in the highlands of the island. On this farm, the giant tortoises live in the wild. Actually, they live most of the time in the higher areas but move down to lower levels to breed and lay their eggs. In this process, they move through several large farms…land that is subsidized by the government, to protect the breeding process.

We are pleasantly surprised to find many giant tortoises here today, at least 20 of them. We are able to get quite close and get some excellent pictures. These particular tortoises have domed shells.

Not the prettiest face

This afternoon we visited the Darwin Center. The research center just outside of the town of Santa Cruz raises tortoises from eggs until they are five years old and then reintroduce them to the wild. This way they are increasing the number of giant tortoises, a breed once threatened with extinction. Here also we meet “Lonesome George,” a rather famous turtle who they are seeking an appropriate mate for…this is a worldwide search and thus far no female has been found that matches his DNA.

Me with a giant tortoise

After our turtle activities, we head into the town of Santa Cruz for our first shopping of the trip. We are surprised to discovered a number of fine jewelry stores and art galleries…and plenty to T-shirt shops, too. Tonight we have been given the option of eating dinner in town so we eat at La Garrapata where we get good seafood at reasonable prices. Of course, we have a few cervezas, too!

This past week I cruised the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador on the M/Y Eric, operated by Ecoventura. As I did not have access to internet, I am going to post my daily blogs this week.

Sept. 26: Espanola Island

A pair of Nazca boobies

We had another rocking and rolling boat ride overnight to reach this rather dry and barren island. Well, at least it seemed that way. We go ashore for our final hike and see many species that are endemic to this particular island…meaning the only place in the world that this particular species is found is here.

The marine iquanas here, for example, have a lot of red in their skin, instead of being black like all of the others we have seen. The mocking birds here have longer beaks. Here also we see the largest colony of Nazca boobies in the Galapagos.

And for our final farewell, we see lots of blue-footed boobies, many who were doing their famed mating dance. And finally, we see many wave albatross and their chicks. These are the largest birds in the islands and a great final sighting.

The famous blue-footed booby

One more note about the blue-footed boobies: All three varieties of boobies found in the Galapagos are interesting. The red-footed boobies nest in trees. The Nazca boobies have the funniest faces with their black-and-white masks. But the blue footed boobies are famous because of their blue feet and because they dance. They also don’t move around much and so are always seen when visitors come.

This has been our final day of cruising with Ecoventura aboard the M/Y Eric. We traveled with a wonderful group of people and saw many great wonders of nature. To be sure, this trip is not for everyone. Cabins are fairly small, you have to be willing to climb in and out of small boats and hike for several miles a day. But if you love nature and wildlife this is a trip of a lifetime.

Special to AllThingsCruise.com

At first glance, the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, is nothing to write home about. Hot, dirty, ugly, dangerous, the only reason I´m here is that it is the gateway to the Galapagos islands. This city is the best stopping-off point on the way to the famous islands put on the world map by Charles Darwin almost 200 years ago.

But I´m waiting for the cruise given by International Expeditions, of Helena, Ala., and they offer a four-hour city tour for those of us who have arrived in town a day early because the cruise begins the next morning.

Our guide George meets us at the hotel and driver Francisco drives us to the city center, where we see an eclectic mix of architecture, some of it quite beautiful. Italians came here and built some lovely structures, the most notable of which is Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele, an exact replica of the same gallery in Milan. Here, it houses government offices rather than shops, but is quite impressive.

George takes us on a walk along the malacon, the boardwalk overlooking the River Guayas, and shows us the statues of the intellectuals who with their leader Jose Joaquin de Olmedo comprised the quiet, non-violent overnight revolution which freed the Ecuadoran city from the Spanish. The poets, artists, professors and the like simply gave a “party” one night and took over all the government buildings, and in the morning, Guayaquil was free.

We walk a short distance to Seminario Park, which is most notable for its hundreds of iguanas chomping on lettuce, slithering up the trees, lazing in the sun gathering warmth. This park was the highlight of the entire Guayaquil trip for my 8-year-old grandson from Colorado. He will never forget petting a foot-long reptile there.

Nearby the park is an artisan´s market where locals have made a renewable resource, from the tagua palm tree into “palm ivory,” a beautiful hard substance that is carved into buttons, ornamental animals, jewelry and the like.

Francisco drives us to the botanical garden of Guayaquil, where we see five different lemon trees, coffee bean trees, and cocoa trees, the latter from which the Ecuadorans sell their rich dark chocolate all over the world, including to the Hershey company and several Swiss chocolate companies. Among the stunning flowers in the botanical garden are the golden shower flower and a bromeliad — a red, pineapple-like flower connected to a gorgeous purple orchid that looks like a tropical bird.

We could climb the famous 444 steps of La Espana neighborhood, but George finds us a shortcut and we walk up a lovely neighborhood of artisans and on the other side of the road, million-dollar homes with lush gardens surrounding them, and a view over the city. Further on this road the city has begun building a Wyndham Hotel, which will be a nice addition to this part of town, with a breeze and a nice view of the  River Guayas, as well as the island locals call “Manhattan,” another neighborhood of beautiful private homes.

There´s a neighborhood called “Kennedy,” after U.S. President JFK, and our final stop, “The Hill,” or Mirador de Bellavista, an enormous hill where you can see nearly every one of the three million people and their homes that occupy this town.

We have delved a little deeper into a town we´d never even heard of before our trip, and found fascinating facts, such as, this is the only city in the country with a Jewish cemetery — Guayaquil has a large Jewish population. There´s a Moorish tower celebrating the Arab population here, and many uniformed security guards of every type from local police to bodyguards for the mayor to federal guards for others, but while we´ve been warned that Guayaquil can be a security risk for tourists, we have found the locals friendly and helpful and interesting.

Tomorrow, off to the islands and our cruise.

April 1, 2011

Special to AllThingsCruise

They loll around around the harbors and spoon together the same way we do when we sleep, even to the same way we belch and cough. But it’s obvious that in the Galapagos, sea lions rule.

We’ve come here at the beginning of April to join a group of visitors on the MV Evolution, the 200-plus-foot ship owned by International Expeditions which will take us to seven different islands of this archipelago 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador.

An unexpected advantage of this voyage is the fact that 13 members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society are part of our 28-member group, which means that we will be able to see some of the amazing birds here on the islands through the sharp eyes of experienced birders who not only see birds with their sharp eyes, but know what they’re looking for and are extremely excited to add a large group to their life lists.

Thus on our first island visited, San Cristobal, the blue-footed boobies are an extra thrill to everybody. We are actually able to get within inches of these ridiculous looking birds and even see a couple of them courting. Mating to a blue-footed boobie means courting by means of picking the bugs out of your would-be mate’s feathers.

The bright red Sally Lightfoot crabs are striking against the black lava rock of this island.

April 2, 2011