Galapagos Departure

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> Today we set sail for our 2995nm passage to Fatu Hiva in the Marquisis French Polynesia from Porto Aurora, Santa Cruz, Galapagos! >
> Our Galapagos experiance has been phenominal and worth every bit of effort and cost. We learnt so much about the animals and fauna that live in this island paradise, and also how it IS POSSIBLE for humans to live with, and even profit from nature. The rest of the world could learn a lot from Equador and their management of the Galapagos national park. >
> Our last blog was sent from the island of Cristobal which was so facinating we decided to extend our stay a few extra days. The swell rolled in over our final days and we were watching the points at the entrance to Wreck Bay produce world class 10ft surf. With my level of surf fitness being poor I was too scared to attempt the big waves, but finally I couldn’t just sit and watch these awesome waves, and I hitched a ride out to the point on the western entrance to the bay. I paddeled out to the outside takeoff, nervous of the size of the waves and the reef it was crashing into. A smaller wave came, peaking perfectly for my take off position, so I paddled and took off, landing a beautiful 6ft wave all the way to the edge of the point. I now had my confidence back, and for the next three days I was surfing the perfect 6-8ft reef break, with the waves roaring well over my head behind me as I surfed along the face. Despite my arms feeling like they were about to fall off I went out to the Eastern break that afternoon which held a fatter and even bigger wave. I continued surfing for two sessions a day until our departure…. Epic. >
> In between surfing sessions we would pack up our snorkling gear and get a $4 taxi to Loberia (sea lion) – our new favourite beach – to swim with Sea Lions, huge green turtles, marine iguana’s and thousands of fish species that in low tide are trapped in a large rock pool that was about the same size as an olympic swimming pool. I would often meet the family at Loberia after my morning surf. Loberia is a turtle nesting area and in the morning we cold see the turtle tracks where they had made their way up the beach through the night to nest. There were hungreds or rock pools and Max enjoyed searching for crabs in between the lazy sea lions. There is a fresh water lagoon behind the beach, so Issy and Max built a small swimming pool on the beach, and were occasionally interupted by a sea lion pup wanting to join in the fun. >
> By the 26th February the swell had died off, and we were exhausted from our busy schedule of snorkling with sea lions, tropical fish, turtles and iguanas, and walking with tortoise, iguana’s and a thousands of other endemic species. We hauled up our anchor and completed our anti-clockwise tour of the Galapagos Islands, returning to Porto Ayora Santa Cruz. >
> To enjoy the best diving on Galapagos you would need to book onboard a live aboard dive boat. I definitely plan to do this in the future, but for now decided to enjoy the best diving Santa Cruz had to offer, and hooked up with a local dive company to dive Seymore Island, Mosquera, and Gordon Rocks with rays and huge schools of Hammer Head Sharks. Dive companies offer two dives per day at each location and I had some awesome dives with great people. >
> While I was diving Emilie would take the kids on local adventures, and snorkle at a local beach. After diving we would explore the town. We returned to the Darwin Research centre numerous times to further explore and learn. There is so much educational material for all ages on many topics from animals to economics – Did you know one living shark generates Galapagos $5.2 million in tourism, while a dead shark fished for its fin would generate less than $200 dollars only! >
> We made some new friends who live and work on Santa Cruz and they invited us to go out on their tourist boat to Seymore Island to see the red breasted friggate birds and their crazy mating ritual. We had a blast on the tour and enjoyed the company of a number of American tourists who inspired us with stories of their recent cruise to Patagonia and Chili – that will be another cruise for us later! On Seymore Island we saw the huge Land Iguana’s with their gold chests, and the amazing Red Breasted Friggate bird. The male friggates puff out an inflatable sack on their chest to attract the females. These birds are known as Pirates of the air, and are quite ruthless with each other to attract a mate despite breading all year round! >
> After our walk around the island we enjoyed some snorkeling around the southern shallow edge of Seymore Island. I had dived the deep side in the previous days and it was great to see the comparison and share the underwater area with the family. We saw garden eels, many species of tropical fish, sea lions, and Emilie saw a “Huge” Galapagos shark. This was the biggest shark Emilie has swum with and I was impressed with the thrill she got from swimming with this curious creature who swum towards Emilie and circled her a few times before being chased away by a sea lion! There will be many more reef sharks in French Polynesia for Emilie to enjoy in the near future! >
> In the evenings we enjoyed walking along the local streets of Porto Ayora. We even lashed out on some local artwork and carvings to take home as momento’s of this amazing place. Everybody we met on our adventures were so interesting and had so many stories to tell which inspire us to keep exploring… there is just so much to discover on this amazing earth! >
> While shopping for provisions Emilie met a wonderful lady in a shop who offered to go to the 5am local market for us to get our fresh produce. This was amazing and the produce looks fantastic. With our last provision shopping done we bid our friends farewell and made preparations for our departure from Galapagos, and today 3rd March 2024 we cleared out and set sail for our 2995nm passage to Fatu Hiva in the Marquisis, French Polynesia. >
> Over the next three weeks at sea, we have so many lessons to unpack from Galapagos. There is just so much to take in we must now try to remember all we have seen and done. Issy and Max are writing scrap books for everything we have seen, and I plan to write a report on what I have seen in the islands and the impressive way they are managed by the local people and Equador goverment. >
> Thank you Galapagos for an amazing adventure. Thank you.. Thank you.. Thank you. Thank you. Thank …………………………………………

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