The Galapagos Islands

Welcome To The Galapagos

Only two or three days after I had returned back to Quito from doing my presentation in Santa Elena, my boss - Mario, called me over to ask me something. He wanted to know if I would like to do some field-work out in the Galapagos. I would be working with a team from America and I wouldn't have to spend a cent - the trip would be entirely paid for. Before he could finish telling me about it, I was already hugging him!!! Six weeks later, I was off.

So here was the deal: I would be going to the Galapagos Islands with three other people. The first was an American woman named Cynthia, a professor at Rochester University up in New York State. She had lived and worked at universities in England for about 14 years, but she was American and had returned there about 4 years ago. She had advanced knowledge of the work we were about to undertake and of the Galapagos, so she would be in charge of proceedings. The second was a young American guy named Nate. He was a student at the University where Cynthia taught. In fact, Nate had a fair few lectures with Cynthia. He had just finished his bachelor degree and was asked to come along for the ride. The third person was an Italian. Marco. He was undertaking a PhD in Miami and his study area was the Galapagos. I went along as a representative of the Instituto Geofisico.

Our job would be just this: There are 15 seismic monitoring stations around the island of Isabela. These stations primarily monitor the activity of the huge volcanic centre of "Sierra Negra". Our job was to service each of them. They had been collecting seismic data on the volcano for the last 6 months. Our job was to retrieve the data and make sure each station would continue to record information for the next 6 months. Seven of the stations are only really reachable by boat, as they sit on the edge of a remote part of the Island - within its southern and western sections. The other eight stations could be reached by land - which means 4x4 trucks, horses and primarially our feet. There were also two weather stations to instal. They would monitor a series of aspects of weatheriness around the volcano - wind speeds, air temperature, levels of rain - that sort of thing. We had 13 days to the lot and while we all believed we were fully ready for it - I don't think any of us were mentally prepared for what was to come!!!

On Sunday 9th January 2011, early morning, we all met up at the Instituto Geofisico - collected our gear, headed off to the airport and departed mainland Ecuador. Just two hours later we touched down on Baltra Island in the Galapagos. If you know nothing about the Galapagos Islands, let me briefely explain: Part of Ecuador, but located 1000 km off its mainland, the Galapagos forms a series of small islands out in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the islands are inhabited while others are difficult to get to and are therefore only home to a few odd species of the non-human variety. In some respects, the islands can be seen as a place of paradise but on the other hand their not. You can sail around the beautifully blue Pacific and see dolphins leaping out beside your boat. You can walk along the sandy beaches with iguanas and giant tortoises or snorkel with playful seals and turtles. But equally, venture through the islands and they are often sparse and bare of vegetation - almost desert like. The islands formed through a series of large volcanic eruptions and still today, those volcanoes are creating the same havoc they always had done, building up the islands as they go. Thats why we were there of course - for the volcanoes. These volcanic centres however, have created a series of islands often solidly black in appearance, producing a generally interesting but not aesthetically appealing look. The real magic of this place though - is the wildlife. The Galapagos Islands were first discovered in 1535 however, they were made famous 300 years later when a British naval vessel called the Beagle stopped off at the islands and out-stepped Charles Darwin. He only stayed for 5 weeks, but during that time he made countless notes, took specimens upon specimens, and even ate a few of the creatures. Later, the time he spent and the samples he collected there would be used as evidence in his theory of evolution.

The islands are special for another reason too though. There is an abundance of wildlife on the Galapagos, yet very few of the animals have natural predators. Since the Galapagos Islands were turned into a national park, the authorities and environmentalists from around the world have continued to work their socks off to keep it that way. The result is that the creatures are just not afraid of anyone or anything - including humans. These animals will come right up to you out of curiosity and if you accidentally do some thing unexpected, instead of running away like animals generally do in any other location on the planet - here they just stare at you like your some sort of weirdo!!! It truely is a special and unique location.

We landed on Baltra Island and took a small boat to one of the larger islands and a main hub for tourists - Santa Cruz. Here we would spend two nights. We stayed in the main town of Puerto Ayora, located on the coast. Its home to a sereis of fancy restaurants and nice hotels built specifically for tourists. It was a shock to see this place - as I can't think of many places in mainland Ecuador possessing this sort of wealth - or at least the look of this sort of wealth. The town is also home to The Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF - but originally called "The station"), where scientists of all disciplines come to work, within this amazing environment. Most are conservation based, performing intricate studies on some specific wildlife species. We were here for the volcanoes. The foundation set us up with accommodation and provided everything we needed to make us comfortable. During those first few days we had briefing and safety meetings about working out in the field - especially on dangerous lava terrain. I was almost prohibited from working, as the foundation were under the assumption that an Ecuadorian was going from the Instituto Geofisico - apparently they wanted a representative from their own country. I tried my best to pretend Ecuadorian but I dont think my Spanish held up. In the end they said it was okay for me to go.

Our only other job was to clean out everything we were taking with us including our clothes to make sure no unsuspecting seeds or bugs were transferred to another island, causing mayhem. This business is taken very seriously here. Before the plane lands to bring you onto the Galapagos they walk up and down the isles spraying insect repellent. Our cleaned equipment and underwear was checked very carefully by workers at the CDF and then they were put in quarantine for 24 hours.

During our wait, we checked out the small town, every now and again an iguana would walk across your path and you would once more be reminded of how incredibly odd this place is. We spent some time on the beach, relaxing before our work was to begin. We also spent some time in the CDF. There they have a giant land tortoise area - where you can go right up to these huge incredible creatures. It is also home to Lonesome George, probably the most famous tortoise in the world. He was found to be the only tortoise living on a specific island (Pinta) out in the Galapagos. They brought him back to Santa Cruz 40 years ago but have never got him to successfully mate with any other tortoise. He is thought of as one of the rarest creatures in the world. George now lives in a closed off area with two females. Tourists have to look at him from a distance these days as previously people would be caught riding poor famous George. I got to see the old tortoise - he even weed when I was there. Oh the delights.

During the few days we spent on Santa Cruz Island, we ate deliceous food, rested in the intense heat and observed the huge varieties of different species this island had to offer. Amongst others, we saw: finches, land and sea iguanas, pelicans, crabs, lava lizards, giant land tortoises, yellow warblers and more. Although you get used to seeing such strange animals walking next to you down the street, you rarely lose fascination in it.

Once our items had been cleared in quarantine, we were ready to depart. The first part of our trip was via boat. We had hired a private sailing vessel which is often used for scientific journeys. After two days in Puerto Ayora - we were fully ready for our volcano work - so we loaded up our belongings, our heavy instruments and ourselves - and sailed off into the sunset..........................