Galapagos. A letter from Henry the Sea Lion

Henry. Able to write letters besides the obvious difficulties

10 de Agosto

Hi.

My name is Henry

I am a sea lion.

I’m pretty cute aren’t I?

Thank you for visiting me on the Galapagos Islands. I hope you have enjoyed your stay.

I think it’s now time to reflect on our journey together. You remember me. You thought I was the cutest thing ever. Thanks for that. I agree with you. Of course

Thanks for popping by.  It gets lonely out here.  I see people every day. Most of them recognise me. I am the cute little bugger who is full of sugar every day, dancing about on the sand, trying to get your attention with sand rolls and sad puppy face stares, trying to avoid the miserable beach master sea lion who is old and shouty. I love swimming about and blowing bubbles and diving through the water. 

The lazy iguana would soon have his dole cut

Henry was certain the snake took the heads 

Henry was next in line after the tourists got their fill

I am addicted to your camera. I’ll attend my position according to your lens. I’m happy to oblige. In fact if you happen to fall over, I will crane my neck at a silly angle to compromise. I like other stuff though. One of my favourite activities is making stupid noises. Noises no one can understand. Sometimes I could be crying out for milk from my mum who may well be 600 miles away when really all I want is for someone to clean to poo off the jetty which happens to look like a pretty comfy place to lay a head. But because I am soooo cute and lovable the humans always fall for it.

I like lying about. It doesn’t have to be sand. Boats will do. I’ll pop in one from time to time to check if the fishermen back from their duties have left me a present. If not, I’ll just make my way up to the docks and beg and plead with quiet and adorable eyes, and rustle my whiskers their way. The damn pelicans get in the way, but it was funny that time when one of them stole the fish head, and the dangers of having a beak and pouch bigger than your gullet was never more evident when the pelican flew off with a fish head shaped neck. It’s a pretty cool design, perhaps one day it will catch on. Actually I’m not sure if he died from that. It looked near certain to me.

I like park benches too. What better place to lie about on the street. As you see there are no hobos in the Galapagos so I may as well take up that homeless role.

The road is fine too. The lack of cars on the lazy islands does help that cause.

I like playing. Fuck I love playing. Swimming and playing are awesome together.

If you dive and swim in the water, and you happen to have a wet suit, (because I know you want to look like me….Christ look at how cute I am) then you are my bestest friend ever! Because although I know you are not one of me, the fact that you look like me, is bloody awesome!! If sharks or stingrays or stupid ass fish or shit head jellyfish threaten you, I’ll bitch slap them with my flippers.

I will swim under you, over you, around you, above you, but loyally, with you. I wont leave the sea until you do, my new friend. No one becomes between me and you. The fact that you have made the effort to travel billions of miles to spend your holidays with me (….excuse me…many sea lion tears to sniff way….very emotional stuff….), makes you pretty damn awesome. 

The tortoise was upset with the anti wrinkle cream effects

Mario Cart objects regularly appeared on the roads in Galapagos

Henry would cleverly disguise himself as a dog for an extra smacko

The hiker regretted walking into Henrys path

So, I have followed you. I watched you board the boat in Puerto Ayora, the capital of the Galapagos, and saw your adventurous smiles, your thirst for adventure. I knew that the moment I ducked my head back under the water and followed the wake out to sea, I would be yours.

Did you notice the Catholics in town that refuse to get along with what Mr Darwin has been saying all these years? The giant sign in the middle of the main street on the Galapagos, on Charles Darwin Avenue of all places, reminding the denialists with the words “Remember, God created man, heaven and earth”

The first day when you docked in Baltra, the Mars of the Pacific, so called due to the red earth of the seaside, I could tell that you were impressed.  But I like stuff. Swimming is cool. But if you cant be assed getting in the drink then I will do my best for you.

Along came Floreana, more birds than aquatic, so I figure I should take a backward step for now. You took a scenic hike on the island; I was hoping you wouldn’t be away from the water for too long. Floreana is awesome if you are a bird. Which I am not. Or a bird watcher. Also, am not.  I understand the boat you were on was full of Birders. Or in English, Nerds. Such a shame, half a ship full of avianiacs. Folk that gathered at the end of each day to discuss which feathered friend they had encountered. They were all from the USA and would gather around on the boat nightly and tick off the birds that they saw. There were all types of finches; cactus finches, seed finches, sand finches, water finches, sandwich finches, full moon finches, croissant finches, airport finches, toilet finches…the list goes on. I could hear the cameras clicking and whirring at a thousand shots a second, and none of them were pointed towards cute little old me!! Thousands of pictures a day on birds! All in the hope of being that one birdwatcher who wins the World Series of Birding by being the one to photograph as many species of avian friends as possible in one year. Have you not heard of Google?  Save yourselves the travel costs.

And they didn’t even get a photo of any sea creatures. Extraordinary.

Your cruise was sweet. The boat looked great. I heard you managed to score a first class boat at tourist class prices*. I was pissing myself on the beach with your tales of the staff on the boat. Francisco the waiter, who I noticed looked all resplendent in his suit and bow tie (although at first glance to me he looked like a penguin and I thought I might have been lucky enough to have a tasty snack) delivering you those delicious meals. Didn’t the Captain have big guts? I saw him on day one in his Love Boat attire, then after that the stubbies and bonds tees came out, along with his belly. Driving the boat with his stomach. Very talented.

Nasa were surprised that wildlife on Mars is very varied

The retarded flamingo spent days on end chasing his own reflection

Baltra Island. Red

Floreana Island. Not red

Animals were often used as soccer balls on the Galapagos

The older sea lions liked to play suncream pranks on the younger ones 

So, am I still your favourite animal after all of this?  I know the extensiveness of what you saw. The land tortoises, (it’s a shame Lonesome George didn’t hang on a few more weeks for you, and is now an officially extinct species after passing on just recently), so elegant and graceful even with all the crinkles and wrinkles. The sea turtles and reef sharks also contributed to the kaleidoscope of marine animalia during those snorkelling trips.

The Blue Footed Booby birds (he he, funny name), looking magnificent with their odd coloured feet, putting on quite the spectacle when dive bombing for their daily fishing. It’s quite an orchestra of mayhem when like torpedoes, they fish in groups, stealing the little herrings that I have been eyeing.

Did you like the flamingos? They are very pink but they don’t actually do anything. Just stand there on their giant matchstick legs and stick their crooked beaks into the pond, posing, demonstrating their awesome colours to all. But still boring as batshit.

The albatrosses, with their sword fighting courtship. The clacking of beaks and the purring of chicks nestled beneath their protective wing.

The dolphins were spectacular. The sight of them leading the bow, leaping from the water as you sailed to the setting sun, like they were guiding you to safety, in the playground of twisting eagle rays, hammerhead sharks and breeching humpback whales.

The rather large iguanas don’t seem to do much either. But I guess in this environment, less is best. Hanging about on the beach on top of one another to gather warmth. Occasional swim before sucking on some fresh algae. That’s the life.

Albatrosses. Not just a golf score

Rocks were preferred to actual Ecaudorian hotel toilets for hygiene reasons 

So now you look back on your journey, and you see the sad sea lion faces you left behind. Myself and my family of cuties will be here, waiting, hoping, for you, shall you return, hoping you return, with the same smiles, the same expressions, the same adorations we see in one another when we look into the deep dark eyes of life. I know that when you do return, I will welcome you and embrace you, but most of all I will love you the way you have loved me over the time of your visit. I know I look a bit goofy at times. I have whiskers, and my flippers are not conducive to excellent walking practices. And you have seen me try to run, but thank you for considering me as being the one for you. Your heart, your affection, your time, su vida. Yo nunca olvidare.

I know I am just a sea lion. But I have a name. I have a face. I want to be the sea lion that you show to your children, and to their children, and to their children. I want to inspire. I want to let them know that outside their world, is ours. We will be here waiting for them and future generations as long as there is the respect for the environments we live. Show your loved ones the pictures you took these very days. Lay back and remember and share the moments that made up the greatest few days of your life.

The baby seal could not lie about the sugar jar any longer

*The Galapagos cruises generally cost approx. $2500 for the standard of class that we travel in, but the tip is to book them as soon as you get to the Galapagos, hoping to get a last minute deal in preparation for departures within the next day or two. We paid $890 each, such was the bargain. The Bird Nerds paid a lot more, we think $5000.

The cruise included three massive meals a day and snacks, juices soft drinks, and all your wetsuit, snorkelling hire.

There were seven of us that made plans like this, and excellent bunch of people from Canada, US and Israel. And a guitarist, who entertained us with bits of the seven songs he knew (it was a short gig).