Sometimes it’s hard to put experiences into words. Galapagos put’s up this challenge. And it’s not about finding the “right” words, but to find words at all.
We are no biologists. Otherwise we would have cared more for the details. The differences Darwin discovered between some birds on the various islands. Tiny differences in their wings and bill.
We pay more attention to the broader scale…
How different wild animals react when being well protected. Not running, swimming or flying away. No fear. But rather curiosity. Unfortunately they can’t talk. Or at least we can’t understand them.
From their looks we read questions “What are you?”, “Why are you here?”. And sometimes even commands to “Play with me!”.
I jump into the water for snorkeling. Ice cold, thanks to the Humboldt stream.
A pair of dark, wide open eyes meets mine through the googles. Just on the other side the young sea lion has more beard *smiley winking*
We were told not to touch any wild animal. Somebody should have told the same to the sea lions. They bump into you. Eager to play with you in the water.
I can feel, how we both start to spend much more time observing the wildlife. Fregat birds flying with the boat across the open sea. Pelicans knowing exactly on which side of the boat the kitchen is. Sea lions having found a comfortable “bed”. Or just laying around on the beach.
We decided to let the pictures speak for themselves:
Isla Espanola
Landing site Gardner Bay
Landing site Punta Suarez
Isla Floreana
Landing site Punta Cormorant
Snorkeling site Devils Crown
Landing site Post Office Bay
Unfortunately no underwater pictures from snorkeling with sea turtles and dolphins passing by…
Isla Isabella
Landing site Tintoreras
Landing site Puerto Villamil
After 5 days so close to nature I feel different. The hectic in the buzzing capital Quito and on the market in Otavalo seems far away. And the office life we followed until 2 weeks ago feels months away.
Gladly we found a way to stay two extra days in this extraordinary archipelago.