The most fascinating thing about the Galapagos Islands is not all those unusual animals, many that are only found here, rather it is the barreness of the place. The ‘highlands’ of both Santa Cruz and San Cristobal, although greener, can hardly be described as lush. Around the coast it is semi-arid, almost desert.
In order to see all of the variety of birds and reptiles that The Galapagos has to offer ideally requires some time at sea. For us the weather would have made such ventures pretty miserable. However, we loved our stay here and our interactions with the sea lions, iguanas, tortoises, turtles and all of the colourful fishes on our snorkelling expeditions. I have never been anywhere else where the creatures are so at ease with the presence of humans.
It must be said, however that some of the big sea lions can be quite intimidating and they have pretty much the run of the place. We arrived at one bay to go snorkelling and although the narrow steps leading down to the sea were full of people, a big sea lion decided that was exactly where he wanted to come out and sun himself. Three adults and a child hadn’t moved quickly enough and were stranded at the bottom of the steps with what seemed like no way past. Although they will sidle past you without a murmur, when you try to sidle past them there is much displaying of teeth and loud ‘barking’. After what seemed like ages all ended well when a swimmer came out and with the help of clapping ushered all three past. The was a lot of sea lion grumblings and teeth baring, but no real incident.
I also must mention our last day where we dined on fresh Galapagos lobster (crayfish really) at The Pier Restaurant & Cevicheria at the northern end of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. We had lunched there a couple of times before and the family who ran it treated us like friends, no, like film stars - I was Tom Cruz for the day (believe that if you like!!). It was a great place to enjoy that wonderful last meal, and they are some of the new friends we have met on our journey.
