Swimming with Penguins

January 7, 2009

Last full day on the boat, last snorkeling trip. I was a little bummed, having missed out on most of the excitement from the morning's rendezvous with dolphins. But this time I was ready when the guide called out “penguins!” Two birdies zipped to, fro, and through. I swung around, desperately pushing the shutter and captured... mostly open ocean. Penguins are fast. I did manged to capture a few shots above the water, however. Small camera but they give me something in case my earlier, underexposed shots turn out to be unsalvageable.

Overall, a good trip.

Thirteen were expected. Health issues with one of their members forced the group of five Swiss to back out. The remaining eight forged onward: A young couple from Colorado, a retired couple from Scotland, two sisters from Poland, Glenn, and myself moved among the islands aboard the motor sailer: MV Samba.

First stop was South Plaza: a small flat piece of rock near Santa Cruz. A fairly unremarkable island but it set the tone for the what we would see later. The landscape was arid, dotted with giant prickly pear “trees”, birds that did not flee, and iguanas.

We found marine iguanas in large numbers virtually everywhere and land iguanas many places. We learned to watch where we stepped to avoid trampling on them.

Nearly the same could be said for the birds. In some ways, a tour of the Galapagos is bird watching for dummys. Forget the tripod mounted telephoto lens. In the Galapagos, you can nearly pat tweety bird on his head.

In the highlands of Santa Cruz, we met he fabled Galapagos giant tortoise. Far more numerous than one might expect, they lumbered about their daily business, barely noting our presence.

Each day brought new adventures and much of the same. Most landings brought forth iguannas and sea lions. Nearly every coast line and mangrove filled estuary teamed with sea turtles and sting rays. But only on Santiago, did we find fur seals

and we did not see penguins or flightless cormorants until we reached the newest land in the Galapagos: the far west island of Fernandina. As we waited by the dock at Baltra, a solitary penguin appeared in the waters below, as if to say goodby. Our guide pointed out that penguins are not normally seen near Baltra, possibly the most damaged of all the Galapagos Islands. This is encouraging, a sign that the penguin population may be extending its range. But it is not goodbye. Glen and I are not leaving yet. We have more diving to do and another island to explore: San Christobol.