San Cristobal - Galapagos –14 April 2024.
We woke early as we had decided to go on a 360-degree tour as they call it of the Island. We had to get a water taxi for 7.00am as we had to be at the tour office at about 7.10-715am. It was a quick breakfast of porridge or cereal. We call a taxi about 6.55am and once came quite quickly and we made the office on time. As part of the tour you could borrow masks and snorkels and wetsuits.
At about 7.25 am we were led to the pier and met our guide Angel who then escorted us to the water taxi which took us to out boat called the Blue Fish. This was a deep-sea fishing type vessel and about 32 feet with a raised wheelhouse. There were 12 of us in total so 6 others with us. We were asked to sit down and put our life jackets on and the inspector took a picture of us on his phone. Once they had left Angel said we could take them off.
I noticed that Blue Fish had two large Yamaha 300 hp outboards on the back. Our first stop was 1 hour and 40 minutes and we motored out of the harbour and then the captain opened her up and we were moving quite fast in an anti-clockwise direction round the island. There is very little development other than wreck bay and the rest of the island is covered in green bush. There were in certain parts little cacti trees but it was generally a rough, rocky coastline. There were certain volcanic cones which you could see but my guess is that the height was no more than 500feet. Whilst it was very green it was also quite brown and there were areas where lava had flowed and no vegetation had yet established itself. There was one stretch where there were about 30 small cones which were apparently volcanic vents.
Before we got to our first destination the captain motored out to some rocks about 2 nm offshore and we started to fish. Apparently there are lots of fish in this spot and before long we caught two tuna. They looked reasonable size fish, but the captain said they should go back as they were too small. We could see some turtles around. We did not catch any big fish so off we went to our first stop which was off a lovely sandy beach on the east of the Island. Blue Fish anchored and reversed back to a small beach section and we had to take our snorkelling gear with us. We stepped into water up to our knees and walked ashore. Angel then took us on to the lava by the beach and we walked round cacti trees and bushes and came to a large lagoon. He said it was saltwater and it was connected by tunnels linking the sea. He was to take us on a snorkelling tour of this lagoon which was quite large.
We got changed and into the water. It had a sandy bottom and the rocks at the edge had some weeds and green and there were lots of little brown fish swimming here. Angel led us along the lagoon and the water was a bit cloudy, but we could see reasonably clearly. Suddenly he said shark and I looked down and there were about 10 large black sharks on the bottom most of them not moving. However, there were about 4 or 5 swimming around and they did not seem to mind us or Marks new swimming trunks which had blue boobies on them!! This was a little counter intuitive as you spend your life afraid of sharks and here we were swimming with a whole load of them. They were white tip reef sharks.
Once we had our shark fill we headed on round the lagoon and came across a small ray which was trying to disappear into the sandy bottom. We then came across a turtle gently feeding on the green on the bottom. It was huge. I mean I have seen and swum with turtles on the Caribbean, but this was 4 times the size of those turtles and very graceful. We carried on seeing fish of different shapes and sizes and saw some more turtles and sharks. This had been quite a snorkel and we got out and walked back to the beach. We then had some time on the beach to wander around. The sand was perfect white/yellow and soft and I saw a huge hermit crab in the foliage on the edge of the beach. It was certainly carrying its house with them. I also saw a green lizard, but it had a red underbelly. There was a large brown pelican on the rocks who was probably twice the size of those in the Las Perlas. There were also Sally Lightfoot crabs on the rocks which were essentially very red bit with other spots of colour such as yellow, purple, brown, pink etc who liked to position themselves on the rocks as if paddling when the surf rose.
After about 30 minutes we went back to the Blue Fish and they gave us a snack of watermelon and circular pastries and water. Our next stop was a rock which was covered in birds. There were brown, red and blue footed boobies and Nazca boobies, gulls of all types, frigate birds and many I could not name. It was quite a sight and very busy but you could only view from the boat. We carried on and went to another area where we saw lots of frigate birds and it is their mating season. The males puff up their chests with what looks like a bright red ballon to impress the females. We could see several of these males on the shore and at least one flying around. It was quite a sight. We carried on and went over the North of the island. They gave us lunch of fish and rice en route. We then came to our next stop which was a large beach. As we anchored up we saw two very large sharks coming to greet us- they were bigger than the ones in the lagoon. We snorkelled in this bay and saw these sharks, sea lions, lots of puffer fish, parrot fish and other types which I cannot identify. We could then explore the beach and relax a bit The issue with the beaches here is that they have huge house flies that can give you a nasty bite and I killed a couple trying to eat me. Angus got badly bitten on his left leg!.
We then carried on to our last stop being Kicker Island. We watched the shore and the scenery as we passed looking at volcanic cones, cliffs and arid brown and green landscape. There was a special Durdle door type arch but lower down in a large cliff and they positioned the boat so you could put Kicker rock into the gap and get a great picture.
I was another 15 minutes to Kicker rock which is a large circular rock but with a small gap between it and a piece of rock which must have been part of it at some time. It is as if a bolt of lightening or something simitar had sliced through it and cut it off from the rest. When we arrived we had to get into the water together as a group and follow the guide Angel. It was very deep and when you got near to the rock and looked down it disappeared down into the depths. Apparently Hammerhead sharks hang around here and we hoped to see them.
The guide did not tell us that we were going round the whole rock which was quite a way. If you kept close to the rock then you could see lots of life – lots of different fish and sea urchins. The small fish were in the shallower water and the larger fish were a little deeper but in essence the whole area was teeming with fish of all sizes, colours and shapes. You could feel that the water was a lot cooler and that there was a current pushing you around the rock. In certain areas there were waves crashing on the rock and you had to be careful not to be swept into the rock itself. During our circumnavigation of this rock we came across two large turtles which were very large and a similar size to what we saw in the lagoon. We also came across the odd sea lion who would whizz past us in their playful type fashion. Unfortunately, we did not see any hammerhead sharks but perhaps that is a good thing? The snorkel went on a bit long for some and there was some relief when the boat came to pick us up. We were then given a glass (sip) of sparkling wine as a form of celebration and then we were off back to Wreck Bay again.
It had been a long but eventful day and we had seen a lot of the island and a lot of amazing wildlife it offers. We were very grateful for the experience and we all felt that the trip had been well worthwhile. Once ashore we had a cooling beer and then returned to Stormbird where we made a simple supper of chicken nuggets (from the freezer) as we had not got anything out in advance. This was accompanied by some baked beans- my suggestion as I felt like some comfort food and salad. It had been a day we will never forget.
Opportunity for any Readers/Sailors.
In late May 2024 we shall be in the Marquesas in French Polynesia, and we will then move through to the Tuamotu’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world.
In addition, in year two I will be going up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.
If there is any interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
The blog will continue as we head off to the Galapagos and beyond.
If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk