Santa Cruz - Galapagos –20 April 2024.

It had been a very rolly night and sleep was fitful. I was also worried about our anchor but we did not move. I woke reasonably early and we had breakfast.  A man was due to meet us on the quay to refill the gas cylinder and so we took a water taxi ashore. He was there waiting and I handed over the cylinder. He returned it to the boat in the afternoon which was great.

Puerto Ayora was a larger town than Puerto Baquerizo Moreno in San Cristobal. The port stretches round a large bay although there are reefs and shallow patches you need to be aware of. We took a taxi to the Charles Darwin Research Centre and we had to walk the last bit. The centre was mainly about the Galapagos and projects to maintain certain species and how we need to look after the Galapagos. It was interesting and informative and there were a few videos of different species within the Galapagos with some fantastic photography. This included sealions, sharks, turtles, tortoises, albatrosses, boobies, cormorants, penguins etc.

After the centre we walked to a tortoise breeding centre and saw several Giant Tortoises – which is what the Galapagos is named after. Reptiles are dominant due to the isolation of the islands. Apart from two bats the only native mammals are rice rats. It is generally accepted that the Galapagos has never been connected to the mainland and therefore the 1,000km journey may have been made much easier by reptiles than animals.  

There are about 11 different types of tortoises (and three extinct), and they live on different islands and are recognised by the different shapes of the shell. This was a factor which helped Darwin in his theory of evolution. They are divided into two groups – the saddle back tortoises which live generally on low islands and dome shaped tortoises which live on larger higher islands where there are more extensive moist areas. It is generally accepted that the saddleback shell evolved to help the species reach high in the vegetation to feed whereas the dome shaped evolved to enable feeding at ground level.

The Giant Tortoise measures up to 1.5m in length and weighs up to 250kg.  Mating takes place in March/April with the male tortoise mounting the female. Mating takes several hours and is accompanied by loud snoring or grunting noises from the male and it is often described as the loudest noise in the Galapagos bush!! After mating the female heads off to the lowlands where she will find a suitable area to dig a hole some 30cm deep and lays about 20 eggs which look like large ping pong balls. She covers up the nest and incubation takes 120-140 days. Once hatched the young tortoises find shelter away from predators. It is thought Giant Tortoises live at least 150 years and some to about 175 years.

We saw several large tortoises and they are very large. We then headed back to the centre and to the beach and slipway where we saw several iguanas and Sally Lightfoot crabs. We then walked back into town where we saw some sea lions but not as many as San Cristobal and a number of large brown pelicans There were lots of boobies, frigate birds and other birds of different colours and sizes which I did not recognise.

We stopped for a drink and then had lunch. We then went for a nice ice cream recommended to us by an art shop run by an English artist from Malmesbury. The town itself is a lot larger than San Cristobal and more up market and developed with lots of art shops, up market clothes, wood carvings etc It felt more touristy.

We returned to Stormbird and had intended to go in for dinner but felt so full we decided to stay aboard and have a light supper which we did. Mark cooked a Spanish Omelette with salad.

We head back to San Cristobal tomorrow in preparation for the week on our tourist boat.

One of my blog readers has asked some questions –

How many nm so far? Since I left the UK on 18 July 2023- we have covered 8,851nm. Since 1 January 2024 when we left the Canaries we have covered 6,011nm.

How long is the next leg?  3,000nm to the Marquesas Islands – this will be the longest non-stop passage on the trip.

Are you flying back for home visits in between any legs? Yes I fly home in August from Tahiti for a few weeks.

What’s the most interesting ( surprising) fact you have learnt so far? – The details about the Giant Tortoise set out above.

If you have any questions to ask then do email me and I will try and answer.

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