14/09/2008 (end of week 6).
Welcome to my 6th blog post – a late, but substantial update - from the Galápagos Islands. I am now halfway through my volunteer stint here at the Charles Darwin Research Station.
So, this is the halfway mark and I have six weeks left working at BIOMAR and the station. The fisheries monitoring sites database is shaping up nicely and a number of other databases are being analysed for cleaning soon. Hopefully during the 2nd half of my stay I will be plagued a little less by technical problems.
The GIS office has become a livelier place now that two, and sporadically three, people are sharing the workspace. Mandy is the botany terrestrial GIS person who is permanent and Graham is an ex-Biomar head - here to conduct fieldwork during September. Being able to bounce ideas off the others over the last week or so has certainly been refreshing.
On Wednesday night some English volunteers working at the local hospital held a poker night. The only two novices came 2nd and third respectively, so there were suspicions they had been bluffing all along.
Isabela Island – day 1
On Friday I left work early and headed over to Isabela Island with another volunteer, Zoë. I was prepared for a rough boat ride after what I experienced on my earlier dive trip to San Cristbóbal and based on what others had said about the trip. Both crossings ended up being very smooth, although not everybody thought so.
Isabela is the largest island in the Galápagos and makes up 70% of its land area. The total population is roughly 2,000, compared to the 18,000 on Santa Cruz and 7,000 on San Cristóbal (Floreana has about 100).
One word best describes Isabela; unspoilt. After the relative hustle & bustle of Puerto Ayora, the sandy roads of sleepy Puerto Villamil were a welcome sight. The town embraces the eastern end of a beautiful beach, which is one of the best in the islands.
After settling into the accommodation recommended to us by volunteer colleagues, I headed to the lagoon backing the western end of town. This is where I was hoping to see a Flamingo. I was busy watching the feeding Galápagos pintails and quarrelling plovers, when I caught sight of a larger bird at the other side of the lagoon. Seeing a Flamingo in its natural setting (despite the town’s proximity) was very rewarding. It gradually came closer, but by then the light was beginning to fade for good photography.
That evening, over dinner at a restaurant popular with the locals, we looked into the logistics of trying to go up nearby Sierra Negra Volcano the following day under our own steam rather than joining a tour. It could be done, but involved walking rather than riding horses and would take much longer. We decided on a US$45 tour and also put our names down for a snorkeling trip to Los Tuneles, which had been recommended to me a by plenty of people, but requires 6 people to keep the cost down.
Day 2 – Volcanoes, vistas and fidgety horses
The following day’s 8am tour start turned into a 9am effort after all the other tour participants, including the guide, turned up looking the worst for wear after a night at the local discotheque. We eight hopped into two taxis and proceeded quickly from town and the arid zone, into the greener transition zone and finally up into the cool mists and highlands on the southern flanks of the volcano. Sierra Negra Volcano is one of five shield volcanoes on the island of Isabela and last erupted in 2005. For an interesting description on the formation of the islands and more on the eruption, click on this link at the NASA earth observatory.
Welcome to my 6th blog post – a late, but substantial update - from the Galápagos Islands. I am now halfway through my volunteer stint here at the Charles Darwin Research Station.
So, this is the halfway mark and I have six weeks left working at BIOMAR and the station. The fisheries monitoring sites database is shaping up nicely and a number of other databases are being analysed for cleaning soon. Hopefully during the 2nd half of my stay I will be plagued a little less by technical problems.
The GIS office has become a livelier place now that two, and sporadically three, people are sharing the workspace. Mandy is the botany terrestrial GIS person who is permanent and Graham is an ex-Biomar head - here to conduct fieldwork during September. Being able to bounce ideas off the others over the last week or so has certainly been refreshing.
On Wednesday night some English volunteers working at the local hospital held a poker night. The only two novices came 2nd and third respectively, so there were suspicions they had been bluffing all along.
Isabela Island – day 1
On Friday I left work early and headed over to Isabela Island with another volunteer, Zoë. I was prepared for a rough boat ride after what I experienced on my earlier dive trip to San Cristbóbal and based on what others had said about the trip. Both crossings ended up being very smooth, although not everybody thought so.
Isabela is the largest island in the Galápagos and makes up 70% of its land area. The total population is roughly 2,000, compared to the 18,000 on Santa Cruz and 7,000 on San Cristóbal (Floreana has about 100).
One word best describes Isabela; unspoilt. After the relative hustle & bustle of Puerto Ayora, the sandy roads of sleepy Puerto Villamil were a welcome sight. The town embraces the eastern end of a beautiful beach, which is one of the best in the islands.After settling into the accommodation recommended to us by volunteer colleagues, I headed to the lagoon backing the western end of town. This is where I was hoping to see a Flamingo. I was busy watching the feeding Galápagos pintails and quarrelling plovers, when I caught sight of a larger bird at the other side of the lagoon. Seeing a Flamingo in its natural setting (despite the town’s proximity) was very rewarding. It gradually came closer, but by then the light was beginning to fade for good photography.
That evening, over dinner at a restaurant popular with the locals, we looked into the logistics of trying to go up nearby Sierra Negra Volcano the following day under our own steam rather than joining a tour. It could be done, but involved walking rather than riding horses and would take much longer. We decided on a US$45 tour and also put our names down for a snorkeling trip to Los Tuneles, which had been recommended to me a by plenty of people, but requires 6 people to keep the cost down.
Day 2 – Volcanoes, vistas and fidgety horses
The following day’s 8am tour start turned into a 9am effort after all the other tour participants, including the guide, turned up looking the worst for wear after a night at the local discotheque. We eight hopped into two taxis and proceeded quickly from town and the arid zone, into the greener transition zone and finally up into the cool mists and highlands on the southern flanks of the volcano. Sierra Negra Volcano is one of five shield volcanoes on the island of Isabela and last erupted in 2005. For an interesting description on the formation of the islands and more on the eruption, click on this link at the NASA earth observatory.At Paradero Sierra Negra, we got on our horses. Some of the horses were fidgety and looked like they might want to head off at pace (which turned out to be a sign of things to come), but mine was relatively calm - which suited me just fine as a relative novice. The more experienced riders were soon lost in the mist to the three of us lagging behind. We slowly made our way along the slippery mud trail with some semblance of control over our mode of transport and eventually left the mist behind, reaching the crater rim after about 1 hour. An impressive expanse of rippling black lava contrasted sharply with the green edges of the crater walls.
Sierra Negra, at 7 x 10km, is the largest basaltic caldera in the world. Another 1.5km along the 1,200m high crater rim we left the horses and heard about a fallen comrade. She had fallen heavily when her horse unexpectedly jumped over a bush after the leading horses starting racing on sighting their destination. She was very sore, but determined to keep going. We took in the views of the crater - some of us grateful to be off the saddle, in control, and moving under our own power.A further 1 hour downhill walk over open brittle lava flows, took us to Volcán Chico and some
impressive views looking to the north (despite cloud cover blocking the views of four more volcanoes). The walk back up to the horses was hot and tiring and it was almost a relief to be back in the saddle. The ride back was more treacherous; going downhill through the mud the horses tended to loose their footing more easily. A few close calls later and we were back at the start of the horse trail and I very gladly dismounted; although unconventionally, as the photo on the right indicates.
Back at Puerto Villamil we enquired as to whether there were any more people interested in the trip to Los Tuneles, but there were no more takers. The day ended in a very brief visit to the Tortoise Breeding Centre just out of town as darkness descended.
Day 3 – Tears, a wall, side-trails and the beautiful Concha Perla Lagoon
The following day, on rented bikes, we rode out to the wall of tears; built by prisoners when Isabela was a convict colony from 1946 to 1959. It is a slightly disturbing place; the wall, made up of sharp volcanic rock, is
totally useless and there were many deaths during its construction. On the way back we stopped off at the many signed side-trails to various lookouts, lagoons, lava tunnels and some interesting mangrove areas
. We also spotted 4 wild tortoises next to the road.After dropping off the bikes, we headed to Concha Perla Lagoon to snorkel. A beautiful spot, the lagoon is near the pier at the end of a boardwalk though the mangroves. We had to step over a snoozing sea lion to get there. Very soon after entering the lagoon for snorkeling I spotted an endangered Galápagos Green Turtle (a subspecies of the Green Turtle) - the only turtle that nests in the islands. Soon after I briefly spotted a shy visiting Hawkesbill Turtle. After a brief swim with a playful Sea Lion, it was time to head back as evening approached. Back in town, there were still no more tourists for a trip to Los Tuneles and we decided to give up on t
hat and sleep in instead the following morning.Day 4 - Concha Perla Lagoon again & Las Tintoreras
We had organised to meet Ronny from Israel - who we had met at dinner the previous evening - at Concha Perla Lagoon for more snorkeling. This time I ventured over the rocks at the eastern end of the lagoon into an adjoining lagoon. There were more turtles and I caught sight of an Eagle Ray, which soon disappeared from view. I think I spent 2 hours in the water before finally seeing where the others were and heading back to the boardwalk in the 1st lagoon. I was half out of the water when a playful sea lion came by wanting to play. I spent 10 minutes twisting & turning while trying to take photos and video, contorting myself into some rather ungraceful poses as my bemused and already out-of-the-water snorkeling companions later told
me.Late afternoon and we headed out to Las Tintoreras, an island lying just south of the fishing pier by boat. The mangrove area is a Ramsar site, in recognition of it being an important wetland area. From the boat we saw Blue-footed Boobies and Galápagos Penguins on the eastern most tip of the island - very cool. We were set off on a jetty and walked a loop around part of the island. Young Marine Iguanas were everywhere and only scattered from underfoot at the last second. In a narrow 30m long channel running parallel to the shore, a dozen or so white-tip reef
sharks were either gliding by slowly or not moving at all, seemingly undisturbed by our gawking faces from above. A young Sea Lion made a brief appearance to see what was happening and soon left when the sharks showed no interest in playing. We then headed offshore for some snorkeling in a spot where there were plenty of colourful reef fish; impressive despite the dark clouds overhead.On arriving back at the pier we couldn’t resist it; we made one more trip to Cocha Perla Lagoon! I certainly slept well that night.
After a 5 o’clock start the next morning (Tuesday), we were back in Santa Cruz by 8:30am and I headed to work at 10am. I slept well that night too.
Next week’s post (which I will put up shortly) will be shorter… I promise!
Pete
