There are a lot of conflicting comments about the Galapagos weather that we've finally sorted out after a couple of weeks. We were confused because people would frequently comment on how cold it was in the Galapagos, despite being on the equator. And how dry the islands are with water always an issue. But we've had temperatures from 80-86F, humidity 70-77% (high!), 80F water when we went diving and lots of rain.
As we've learned, the "rainy" season is Feb-May, the dry season is the rest of the year. The dry season starts when the Humboldt current pushes north, and the Cromwell current pushes east, bringing colder water which lowers the temperature and humidity and thus the rain. The colder water also brings whale sharks (they eat plankton) and other pelagic fish. Most tourists understandably come in the "dry season", hence the reputation for colder, drier weather and colder water. And of course some years are wetter than others and this is apparently a fairly wet year; we've certainly see plenty of rain. And this explains the high temperatures and humidity (77% in the boat yesterday!).
We've been here in Puerto Villamil on Isla Isabela since Sunday morning. We are pleased to report that the sea lions are much less aggressive. They swim under and around the boat (exhaling under the boat so we hear the bubbles come up the hull) chasing the small fish that move in under the hull. Occasionally one moves onto the swim platform briefly, but it will depart as soon as it sees us. There are also usually 1-2 penguins swimming around the boat, again chasing the small fish. They are not nearly as graceful as the sea lions, but they're fast as they dart around, making sharp turns and surprisingly quick dives. Great entertainment.
The town of Puerto Villamil is definitely is much smaller than San Cristobal or Santa Cruz. The streets are unpaved, the cars and trucks in poorer condition, the general income level appears lower, almost nobody seems to speak English and the people are friendlier. I walked through and around the entire town today in search of a shop to weld some eyes onto our flopper stopper. After many questions, and directions I mostly couldn't understand, I eventually found a "shop" that did the work while I waited. The place was surrounded by prior projects. Once they understood what I wanted they picked up some scrap, cut it up with a hacksaw, pounded it into shape and then arc welded it onto the flopper stopper. They even added a coat of red paint for an additional charge. Then a long walk back to the municipal port, where it was low tide which meant very careful circumnavigation of the sand bars and lava rock that make up the vast majority of the "water" between the dock and our anchoage.
Yesterday we took an excursion to The Tunnels. This in an area where the lava flowed into the ocean and created a network of lava flows with channels between them and then tunnels under and through the flows. It was an exciting and noisy trip in a boat with twin, but unmatched outboards (150hp and 110hp) and in a generally poor state of repair. As we accelerated to full speed to race through the surf break (at low tide no less) and into the sort of lagoon at the tunnels I could only think that should it touch any of the lava rocks we were dodging it would instantly splinter into pieces leaving us to be pounded into the jagged lava by the surf. But the driver's skills (or luck) were survived to write another blog entry.
Inside we went snorkeling for about 40 minutes. The fish were not special, but the geography was unique. The lava flows are covered with cactus and it was pretty odd to be snorkeling between the lava flows, looking up at cactus. Not the usual tropical snorkeling scenery.
We then went to a second location with a slightly less dramatic entrance. There we snorkeled at the edge of the mangroves, between the lava rocks on the coast and the mangroves just slightly further inland. The water was very murky and full of loose vegetation, but we saw a large seahorse (5" - 6") and a very large green turtle. Definitely the largest turtle with which we've swum. Fay got some nice pictures and a video. When we eventually get some bandwidth we'll upload them.
