Galapagos

The Galapagos
After 13 days at sea, we finally arrived on the of island of San Cristobal...It was one those arrivals that I love, as the sun rises, on the horizon, land slowly appears...One by one we wake up, knowing that when we pop our head outside, land will be there to greet us...
Good Morning the Galapagos....
The first glimpse of them, was not what I quite expected.
Arid, dry land...Mountain top in the misty clouds, and rugged coast line with the south Pacific breaking its long lived swell, eating away the volcanic rocks...

Margot, was already there, they got there 3 days before us...10am SSB radio transmission, we tell them that we are not far, just behind the south point...Roger had already found a cheaper agent to do our entry papers, and they were all waiting, eagerly...

Entry Papers in this part of the world are not an easy task, well they can be if you have NO problem with just giving your money...This place lives on tourism, and they know how valuable their island’s are in the eyes of the world, how Unique every one sees them, so the bill can be high...

National Park Fee: us$100 per person
Agent Fee: 150
Lighthouse fee's : 48
Harbour Fee: 76
Immigration: 15
Fumigation : 80
Exit fee: 25.....

After a lot of hard negotiation got our bill reduced as much as possible. Plus we played the poor one that did would not see the national park, too bad for us, but at least we save money...At the end, we have been able to see it all!

San Cristobal is the second largest Island of the Galapagos, with a population of 8000, it still seems very quite and laid back. The Main town Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, is actually the administrative centre of the Islands. A little town, that getting around by foot is quite easy…The seals here are everywhere!
In the sun on the docks, on the little local beach front, and even in town…They are the street bums! They even jump up the back of the boats, not shy to make more territory of their own!

We spend 7 days on the Island of San Cristobal.
Margot has a generator problem and we are trying to get the auto pilot fixed...
Doing laundry, getting the boat back in order but enjoying the sea lions company.
A day in the high lands, exploring the Island.
The Jungo Lagoon, the only fresh water lake, at 700m above sea level, where Frigate birds come to bath.
A tortoise sanctuary, Where they live in a semi-natural environment. A great way to see them. They also hatch them, so there were many baby ones…Amazing to see them so small and think of how big they can get…and old!
180 years!
As well as stunning views of the Island.

Most of the Islands have 3 climate’s: Dry, Tropical and Humid.
The coast line is dry, almost dessert like with cactus, dry scrubs and rocks.
Then at about 200m, its gets green, tropical. Where Oranges and Guavas are almost a weed…They also have their very own coffee!
And the High lands, what they call the Humid, are lost in the mountain tops, where clouds linger all the time.

A lazy Sunday at Las Loberia beach, with more sea lions! A very territorial male as well as jealous and protective of his wife’s…Cause sea lions have more than one female!
I was surprised to see the females breast feeding.

We slosly started to realise that we could not get our things fixed, so we had to ark permission to the Port Captain to go to the next main Island; Santa Cruz.

Sailing boats like us, are not allowed to cruise in the Galapagos, they are so afraid that we might see something, and not go on one of the many cruises!
But as we had things broken, that could not be fixed where we were, we were given the permission to go.

8hrs sailing, Passing by the Island of Santa Fe, and we arrived at the Island of Santa Cruz.
The bay is not at all protected. But there are many boats, we had thought that San Cristobal was busy, well this place is so much more!
Cruise boats, constantly come and go. Tourist’s by the mass…On and off, cargo ships unloading goods the hard way, hand labour.

A cruise here, for 3 Days costs $350. That’s to be with 20 other people.

We have been very lucky to be able to see yet another of the Galapagos Islands…And this time Puerto Ayora, the “city”…On this island live an estimated 18 000 to 20 000 people. This is the Capital of the Galapagos.
Here we have been able to fix most things, yet unfortunately not the auto pilot!
We will have to continue holding the healm for the next haul!

I am now 24weeks pregnant, 6 months…Despite a very little weight gain (for me that is), baby is doing well.
22 cm long and kicking lots! Even getting its very own music.
Being on the boat with a belly that is getting bigger, is not getting any easier, but everyone helps as they can. We even had to come and sleep on “Margot” while here, as the anchorage can be very roly! Cause sleeping on one’s side when it rolls is no fun I can assure you that!
Apart from that I am doing well!

More fruit and vegetables, we are now ready to go on for the next step of the trip!
The marquises. 3000 nautical miles, that can take up to 25 days. Once again depending on the wind!