Galapagos - October 2008 - Roger and Lilian Carrington
Last October, my wife and I enjoyed the trip of a lifetime to mainland Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands .
I have since resisted CBC requests to put the experience into words but the current media focus on the 200 th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the recent receipt of a 45 page report, with comprehensive lists and photographs, from the trip leader have encouraged me to attempt a brief report.
The wildlife of Galapagos is truly magical and its total indifference to human beings allows observation at amazingly close quarters for prolonged periods of time. However, be reassured, strict rules are in force to ensure that the animals are not disturbed. Visitors can only arrive by boat, on specified islands, accompanied by an official guide and walking on restricted paths for an allotted period of time. The boats also have to maintain a specified route and timescale and there are vast areas where no access is allowed. I stress the restrictions as the media is suggesting that tourism is damaging the island environment and, of course, the increase in the local population to service tourism is having an impact. On the other hand, the dollars earned are improving many human lives and financing scientific research. That said, the animals dictate the pace and, with a sea lion giving birth on the path in front of you, a detour is the only option! The sea lions and penguins also seem to enjoy swimming around these very clumsy humans, and the shoals of very colourful fish were positively laughing at our ineptitude.
How do those flat-footed Boobies manage to perch on such narrow branches when flipper-wearing people find it difficult to stand up?
The “tameness” of the bird life was exhilarating and we had magnificent views of over 70 species, missing just two of the rarer Darwin finches.
Darwin's Finch - Variations:
Frigate Birds were ever-present over, and on, our 16 berth boat, and petrel species were a constant identification challenge in varied weather conditions.
Dolphins led the way, bow-riding on several occasions, and pilot whales also escorted us. Apparently both species enjoy our high-pitched sounds of excitement as we hang over the bow to improve our view of their gymnastics.
Having been fascinated by iguanas as a schoolboy, I was thrilled to see them in such close proximity and the giant tortoises lived up to their name. The breathing of turtles could clearly be heard in the atmospheric mangrove swamps, where various sharks and rays were also seen but, naturally, the birds were always the focus of attention.
Where Galapagos lived up to, and exceeded expectation and imagination, Mainland Ecuador , where we spent eleven days in a variety of different habitats and climates, proved to be an experience not anticipated. Over 300 bird species presented themselves in glorious, fabulous and, at times, unreal colour. Unimaginable, even with the time spent on research before the trip.
At 12000 feet above sea level and, consequently, walking very slowly, we saw two Andean Condors and two rare Black-faced Ibis. Between there and the Amazon basin we saw fifty species of Humming Birds, one with a bill longer than its body, another with a tail twice the length of its body. Some experiences were truly surreal: one dawn walk took us to the only street-lamp in the area to witness the influx of birds feeding on the accumulation of moths and other insects while local buses and trucks gathered to take people to their work. The Cock-of-the Rock lek was spectacular but was almost eclipsed by a trek through the forest with our guide calling out the normally shy and elusive Antpittas [Yellow-breasted, Giant and Moustached] by pet-names and many endearments! Oh, he provided worms too, of course.
In the Amazon, we stayed at the Napo Wildlife Centre, owned and run with understandable pride by the local population. Access requires a five hour journey by motorised and then paddled canoes and the location is idyllic, so remote and so comfortable, with continuous wildlife sounds. The “gunshots” heard in the night proved to be territorial tail-slapping on the water by a giant fish and the loss of the fresh water supply one day was caused by a Cayman chewing through the supply pipe.
We spent a scary but satisfying morning on a small platform above the rainforest canopy looking down on a constant procession of colourful parrots, vultures, hawks, numerous small songsters and even noisier Howler Monkeys. A trip in a silent canoe at dusk revealed Caymans, Fishing-bats, Night- monkeys, many large flying insects and moths and two huge snakes dangling from a tree. This resulted in rapid reverse paddling! An increasing frog chorus and illumination by glow-worms lent further magic to the experience. Sadly, we missed out on Giant Otters and saw only the tracks of Tapirs.
These words are musings rather than a report on a [for us] exciting number of experiences, but be warned, airports are very boring places, insects bite, sun burns and bird identification is complicated by the number of birds most with no comparable European species but, if you want to see 400 species in 3 weeks?????
Roger & Lilian Carrington.