"Love You Like An Albatross": The Galapagos Islands

The Albatross are a group of birds endemic to the Galapagos Islands. They mate for life so it stands to reason they're very careful in their selection of partner. A male and female will spend up to a year getting to know and trying to impress one other before finally deciding to make the all-important lifetime commitment. Sounds just like mine and Imran's story. He thought so too. "Love you like an Albatross," he said. Shucks.

But then our guide told us the male goes back to the island of choice to ensure the nesting area for future eggs is ok. He arrives a few days before the female and in that time, being the horny devil he is, pounces on any other birds (pun intended) who may have landed in the wrong spot and has his wicked way with them. The poor female Albatross, faithful and loyal to the male she's chosen, lays the 'bastard' egg but then abandons it. And in the meantime, the male Albatross welcomes back his original chosen mate with open wings. "Ok, I don't love you like an Albatross," Imran said. "Really... I swear."
There you go, folks: your fun fact for the day.

We've just finished our week sailing around the Galapagos: eighteen islands in the Pacific ocean, each with their own distinctive wildlife. And it's just incredible. White sandy beaches with black rocks and turquoise waters, lagoons, volcanic rocks, snorkelling twice a day with colourful fish and sting rays and sea lions and hammerhead sharks, treks to see iguanas, flamingoes, dolphins, giant tortoises and an enormous variety of birds. If you love nature, wildlife, spectacular scenery and both walking and swimming alongside all of these, this is the place for you. Each island is like a personal zoo but with the animals roaming free in their natural habitat.

Spending a week in a boat with fourteen other people - eating all meals together, trekking everywhere in a big group; basically spending 24/7 with them - meant we really hoped we'd find some people we got along with. We got very lucky and made some great friends on this trip, primarily an Aussie couple and a group of six Americans we nicknamed 'The Chicago Crew'. We had a lot of fun with these guys - they were hugely energetic and lively and had great stories to tell of their global adventures. That was one of the best things about this cruise for us - we met people we would otherwise never cross paths with and will hopefully make some lasting friendships.

On Floreana Island there's a small patch known as the 'post office' with a little wooden box in which people leave postcards for loved ones. The tradition is that when you go to the postbox, you not only leave your own card but take out some already in there and either post or hand deliver them to the addressees. I think the idea is to meet new people but it's a guessing game as to how long it'll take for your card to be delivered: weeks, months or even years. We took a few out with London addresses on them but I haven't decided yet whether to simply post them or actually take them personally when we're back in London. Lex and Suzanne, just so you know, we left you a letter in there with 'To Be Personally Collected Only' written on the front. There are no two people we know who would love this archipelago more than you guys. It's just the most perfect place for wildlife enthusiasts and we'll keep bugging you to go for as long as it takes! And when you do, there'll be a note waiting for you in the postbox dated Nov 2011.

So are you ready for another fun fact to finish? I don't want to bore you with any more written details of the cruise when it's much better to see Imran's fantastic photos instead. But I'll tell you about the blue-footed boobies. We were lucky enough to see a courtship and mating between two of these birds with, as you may have guessed, blue feet. The male will offer the female a twig (cheap date) and if she accepts, he'll jump on her (he didn't even have to buy her dinner) and do the deed for the grand old time of four seconds. Literally - we counted. He then walks around holding his head up very proudly before they finish with a dance: leaning to the side lifting one foot off the ground and then again on the other side. It's a genius dance and one that Imran & I are going to attempt to turn into a trend in the London clubs when we're back.

Hope you're all doing well! xx