San Cristobal -Galpapagos - 15 April 2024

It was another nice day and we had a nice breakfast of cereal and fruit including pineapples. We decided to go ashore and to go to a beach called La Loberia below the airport which was in Mark’s guidebook. We decided to take a taxi there and walk back. The taxi ride was about 10 minutes and we were deposited by some small trees and bush.

We walked down a path and came on the shore with the waves breaking on to the rocks and the path led left and a sign indicated 600m to a beach and lagoon. We walked along the path and there were lava rocks along the shore. There was low bush type scrub along the path with green creeper with purple flowers. Mark suddenly said is that an iguana on the rock over there. I looked and thought no -it was just a rock but then the shape came into focus and it appeared to be one. We therefore approached and saw several large iguanas on the rocks sunning themselves. There were some on their own (see the picture) and then there were 3 together to presumably get warmth from each other and many others. They blended in so well to the rocks they are difficult to see initially. They saw us and turned their heads and did not mind us. When I returned to the path there was one on it and it was almost as if it was coming to greet us.

We carried on the path and came to a curved beach with some small lagoons behind which had several egrets flying around them. The beach had rough sand and there was quite a swell with breaking waves off it. There were a  number of sea lions enjoying the bay, some asleep under the unattended lifeguard shack. There was a little baby sea lion who came out the water and made a squark noise and appeared to be looking for its mother. However, every sea lion it approached on the beach essentially told it to get lost, so it retreated to the water again.

We retraced our steps and then most of us decided to walk back to town. This was about 2-2.5 km and it was quite a hot walk. We met up at the ice cream shop for a rewarding ice cream and to cool down. We then decided to go to Playa Mann (beach) for lunch and a swim for those that wanted and most of us had fish for lunch.

Angus. Mark and I decided to go to the Tortoise sanctuary which was about a 30-minute taxi ride going toward the east coast. We were picked up by a taxi   driver called Roger who spoke quite good English and he talked to us on the way. We passed through certain areas where he said they grew lots of fruit and vegetables and he said they were sold at the market. Mark saw an opportunity and asked whether through him we could order fruit and vegetables for our trip to the Marquesas and he said he would help. The road was a good one across the island and we came across the main volcanic cone which Roger said was 750m high. We passed through one village and then the odd house. We then came to the sanctuary and it was quite low key.

It is an enclave where they breed and look after tortoises and I am talking about the San Cristobal variety ( as each Galapagos Island has its own). The bush/tree/arid ground etc is the perfect environment for these tortoises. They take the egg and incubate it. In the wild this period is 90-120 days and then the mother has put on top of her eggs a mixture of sand, urine an excrement and it takes the hatched tortoise about a month to come to the surface during which time it has to rely on the contents of the egg to sustain it. In this centre they keep them in the dark to replicate this. They then keep them in pens and ensure they grow to a good size before they release them into the rest of this sanctuary. We therefore saw the small ones and also as we walked round the larger tortoise some of which were giant in size and that is where the name of the Galapagos comes from. We saw at least two males coming up to females to smell them and then chase the females but on each occasion the females were not interested and could out crawl the male. They are magnificent creatures and need to be protected. Apparently they used to be about 100,000 on the island and all over. Now apart from the sanctuary there is about a 26km area of the northeast of the island where tortoise live naturally.

We returned to town and met the others who had swum or shopped and then we returned to Stormbird and had a light supper of salad and cheese and fruit. It had been another good day and seeing the iguana’s and tortoises was special, being endemic (only found here) to the Galapagos.

We have some diesel being delivered tomorrow morning between 7am -8.30am.    

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