Sulidae Sinks!

Just a month or so after we disembarked, the Sulidae Yacht has sunk.  Fortunately, no casualties.  No tourists on board, just three crew (I wonder which ones?) who made it off safely. 

Here is the article. 
http://www.sangay.com/travelnews/tourist-boat-sulidae-sinks-in-the-galapagos-islands/

(In case we lose the link, here's what the article says:
The Sulidae was built/constructed in 1901 (not a typo) and has completed over 110 years of service.
The tourist boat ‘Sulidae’ sank at about 03:00 on Sunday while sailing between the islands of San Cristobal and Santa Fe, announced the National Park Services in a news release.
At the time of sinking the vessel was without passengers and carrying a crew of three, who were aided by the nearby tourist boat San Jose.
Authorities still do not know the causes of this incident but fortunately no casualties were reported.
The Galapagos National Park Service, as environmental authority, sent their high-speed boat Sea Ranger 1 to conduct an inspection of the site as it was suspected that there could be debris (scrap wood and other materials etc) from the ship. Fortunately no fuel spillage was reported.
Furthermore, the PNG (Galapagos National Park Service) has begun appropriate actions so that boat operator responds according to the provisions of the law.)


Even though I barfed the whole time I was on it, I am sorry to hear the Sulidae is gone.  It was a cool boat and added a lot to the 'skyline' of the Galapagos.

Galapagos II - Sulidae (now with photos)

 March 16, 2012.  9:39 pm.  San Cristobal Island, Galapagos.
 

Well, it is late and so I will make this short today.  Blame it on my pants.  I believe that I mentioned that my capris had a blow out and I tried to patch them.  Well, a sewn rip on the thigh is not going to hold against all of the sweat and sand and salt water it has had to endure here.  So, today I bought some 'I love Boobies' patches and did a real patch job.  The 'I love boobies' patch was the biggest I could find.  There was a lot of tear to cover. Plus I added a second one on the worn bit on the other leg because it is going to go too if I try to force my wet self into it one more time. 
 

But I still needed another pair of pants.  I wanted to use the capris for snorkeling.  I have been warned that snorkeling in just a bathing suit is a sure fire way to burn my buns badly.  But, if I wore the capris in the water, then I didn't have any other pants than my jeans for the rest of the day.  I wore my jeans today because we were in the 'highlands' but I was still stinking hot.  So when we were in town today, I bought some quick dry pants.  It is only a matter of minutes before I am a yuppie.  But of course they were too long.  So my evening has been spent patching my capris and hemming my new pants.  I don't even know if they are going to fit or if the new hems are close to even.  Not a lot of room here for trying things on. 
 

Anyway.  Today.  We woke up early because we had a very early hike on Isla Lobos (island of the wolves - which are sea lions), which is just off of San Cristobal.  (there were sea lions sleeping in our dinghy when we got up which was fun but not for the guy who had to clean up the poop).

Sea lions in our dingy

A naked lady and her scantily clad husband, cleaning sea lion poop off their boat.  As you can see, they will soon have to clean the other side too. 

On Isla Lobos, finally got some decent pictures of blue footed boobies (which, I suppose, is why I love boobies today).  We learned about the mothering habits of sea lions.  They give birth and then two weeks later leave their tiny babies for up to 15 days while they go eat at sea.  So we saw many skinny little babies lying around, looking up at us with their liquid eyes: 'are you my mother'.  I have a backpack full of them now.  No, not really but it was hard.  We saw a couple of skeletons of babies whose mothers obviously didn't come back in time.  Look away, look away. 

Love the blue boots

Back to the boat to sail back to San Cristobal's port, Pto Baquerizo Moreno.  We went into town for a bit where I bought my patches and pants.  And then tried to connect to the supposedly free port internet.  Don't believe a word of it.  Last night, I managed to connect for a couple of minutes from the boat but the wifi was so slow, I never got my Yahoo open before it the connection died.  It has not worked since.  So, having promised my loyal fans a post today, I wandered around a bit because I knew there were some shops with wifi, I could see them on the list of possible connections but I didn't have the necessary passwords.   Nicely, the place I found was an ice cream shop so that worked out well.  But I only had a couple of minutes so please forgive last post's spelling errors, factual errors, grammatical errors and all errors of omission. 
 

Back to the boat for lunch and to wait for the new people.  We lost Anya and Doris.   Doris is now off to finish her South American leg of her awesome trip.  The new girls are two Danish and one Brit.  The Danes (names as yet unremembered) are travelling together and picked up the Brit (Kat) at English School in Quito.  But poor Zander had to give up his excellent room and also ended up with a roommate (the British girl).  He is so sweet, he is taking it all in stride.  The Danish girls are very young and talk a lot (loudly).  They have already changed the dynamic of the group.  I don't think for the better but I suppose time will tell.  They are so white, that once they burn and/or barf, it should humble them a bit. 

The new girls, Danish, Danish, British (Kat) and Anne (who isn't new and doesn't speak loudly)

Speaking of burning.  I mentioned that Val had burned her legs and feet.  Well, over the last two days, her burns have gotten progressively worse.  Blisters, swelling, pain.  Poor girl.  We went to another tortoise farm today and Val had to wear shoes.  There was some hobbling, but stoic hobbling. 
 

The tortoise farm was interesting.  Another highlands situation but the tortoises on San Cristobal are endangered so this area is now parkland.  Plus, they are breeding them.  So we got to see baby tortoises.  Which are much cuter than the giant adult version.  Probably because you can't see their tiny baby tortoise faces, unlike their homely parents. Plus,new bird.
 

The babies are numbered.  They are slightly less ugly than the adults (ok, they are kind of cute).

This is Genesis, the only survivor from the first year of hatchlings.  He is a few years old.

To remind you of how ugly the adults are, this guy was outside the farm. 

After the hatchery, we went to a fresh water lake in the centre of a volcano cone.  Yay, another hike up a mountain.  It was actually kind of funny, as we were hiking up, the clouds started to roll in.  Just as I crested the cone edge, the lake was completed socked in with fog.  I arrived (last) and everyone was like "you should have seen it'.  I demanded my money back but then the fog lifted long enough to see that it was indeed beautiful.  Plus there were three frigatebirds fishing which was cool.  The pictures do not do it justice.

Wind turbines on the horizon. 

View on the way up the stairs

That's our bus at the bottom of the stairs. 

My first 'view' of the lake



Then the fog lifted




And the lake was super beautiful

Where's the lake?  That way.  No, this way. 

Then back to the boat and dinner.  Followed by my 'chores' of hemming and blogging.  Now it is after 10 and we have another early hike and snorkel.  So I shall bid you adieu.
 

March 18.  3:17 pm.  Espanola Island (yesterday) and Floreana Island (today)

Well, I missed last night’s post because I had another seasick incidence.  But I have discovered the cure – TWO Gravol.  At least it knocked me out so fast, I don’t remember if I was nauseas again.  But let’s start at the beginning of the day.  I have to check my map, we do so much, it is hard to keep track. 
 

We started the day with a walk on Gardener Beach on the west end of the island.  There is another boat on our route now so no more isolated beaches for the Sulidae folks unfortunately.  Our first few days, we never saw another boat unless we were in port.  But the guide on our shadow boat is Omar, our first guide from our first day.  Happy greetings all around.  We had a heart to heart about his love for Anya.  Poor boy.  She has gone back to Switzerland to her boyfriend.  We all had a quick swim on the beach and then took the dinghy out to the first of the Gardener Islands – three small islands off of the beach.  We all snorkeled for a bit, including Val.  I believe I mentioned Val’s sunburned feet and legs.  It was pretty bad the first day but a couple of days later, they are really bad – swollen, blistered, painful.  I think shoving her feet into those flippers may have been a form of torture.  But she did it.  And came back with some ripped off blisters, now just holes on the top of her feet.  Ouch.  Danny, our dinghy driver (and assistant captain) has been providing fresh cut aloe for soothing relief.  I’m not sure how soothing or how much relief, but he is very good looking so I’m sure the attention is more helpful for keeping Val’s mind off the pain.
 

Then we went to another Gardener Island for another snorkel.  No sharks but there were lots of rays around.  Plus I think I got an awesome picture of a sea lion who was swimming beside me.  I will check my photos when I am not on deck.  By the way, did I mention I am writing this while sitting up on the deck with the sea breeze blowing by.  Heaven.  The crew has jerry-rigged a shade cover so we all huddle under here as we travel.  We are starting to act like the sea lions.  We swim a bit, we talk to each other (but a bit more civilly) and then we lounge around, some sleep, some snooze, some doze, nobody is fully awake. 
 

Since I am on a tangent about the deck, I will tangent again about the sea lions.  We all love the sea lions.  They are everywhere here.  Practically every beach we visit has dozens.  Even the empty beaches have one or two.  When they are in a group, the babies are all bawling.  Occasionally they sound like the sea lion sounds we know in BC, but mostly they sound like they are retching.  So, we all retch back at them.  I think the babies are looking for their mothers so we are probably confusing them to no end.  Sometimes they come up to us and have a look.  But mostly they ignore us and go about their business of rolling in the sand, going into the water for a roll in the water, then back to the beach to roll across another pup.  They roll a lot. 
 

Ok, back to our day and back to the boat for lunch.  I got to try out my new pants.  Excellent, although the left leg is longer than the right.  My standards are very low now so I don’t care.  Just glad to have clean, dry pants.  We moved the boat to the other end of the island to Punta Suarez.  There are cliffs there with breeding colonies of boobies and other sea birds.  Luck of luck, we saw a waved Albatross.  It isn’t the right season for them but we found one of the early arrivers.  Pretty exciting for me, no one else seemed even slightly impressed.  The best part of this hike was the baby boobies.  The boobies lay their eggs on the rocks so there are fluffy babies just sitting there, a foot or so from the trail.  I couldn’t believe how close we were.  The fluffy ones were kind of cute, but after a few days, they start to look all mangy and gangly and awkward (much like human teenagers).  Lots of photos.  
 

(an hour later).  Had a short nap among the life jackets.  Then Chef brought us some popcorn for a snack.  We usually get cookies and juice after a strenuous afternoon.  But today hasn’t been too active for reasons I will get to. 
 

Back to last night.  When we got back to the boat, we left Espanola Island to head to Floriana.  At first the waves were small crests.  No problems.  But then we started dinner below deck.  Then the waves got bigger.  Things started to fall out of the cupboards.  And we all started to get somewhat green.  Which was appropriate since dinner was almost completely green.  Broccoli, avocado, fish in green curry peanut sauce.  I mention this because I did a total Linda Blair right after dinner.  There is one good thing about having a bathroom so small it also serves as a shower stall.  Much easier to clean up than the bedroom from the first night.  But my two Gravols knocked me right out until the next morning.
 

Which was good but I missed all of the excitement that night.  The boat broke down and we had to get a tow from the other ship to get to Floriana.  Just as well we have our shadow.  Val was up on deck for it all and said it was great fun to watch them all rushing about in a panic. 

March 19.  11:29 am.  On flight EQ190 from Galapagos to Quito.
 

I feel so executorial with my laptop on a plane.  I must be important, upgrade me to business class.  Alas, that is not going to happen but our seats are not too bad.  Probably because they bought this plane from Air Canada in 1972 when they were still nice to their passengers.

With all of the hiking and swimming and eating and barfing and napping, I have fallen behind on my blog entries.  When last we spoke yesterday, we had just arrived at Floriana Island with a broken boat.  Because we were going to have to be towed back to Santa Cruz Island, we had to abbreviate our day on Floriana.  We started at the crack of dawn with a hike to an inland lake where there are usually flamingos.  No flamingos, just the first of Floriana’s bird-related disappointments.  Then we went snorkeling around the Devil’s crown (Corona del Diablo).  This is a tiny volcano top sticking out of the water not far from shore.  We were able to swim into the lagoon in the middle of the crown.  But while we were still outside, I was paddling along when I looked up and there was a shark (black tipped, I later learned) right in front of my face.  I think I got a picture.  I was so surprised; I didn’t even have time to be scared.  He just kept going.  Hard to say if he even noticed me. 

(Lunch was just served, looks not good).  I think I mentioned that the food on board was not too great the first night.  It improved after that. Like a home cooked meal every night, with cake for dessert.  And always fresh fruit with breakfast and lunch.  Soup too, strangely.  Too bad I never really got to enjoy it.  But back to the Devil’s Crown for another minute.

Once we got into the shallow middle part, it was amazing.  We have seen lots of fish over the last few days but this was even better.  The fish were all around us in huge schools.  Blues and yellows, shining in the sun.  Beautiful.  Unfortunately, that was when my batteries in my underwater camera died so I don’t think I got any photos.  I think my last picture was a starfish, just before the fish arrived.

Back to the boat for an early lunch.  We were shortening our rest time so that we could leave early.  So lunch at 11:30 and then the dinghy to the Baroness’ lookout.  We were warned not to wear red or orange because of the wasps.  But when we arrived, there were lots of other tourists on the beach in red and orange.  Then Alberto, in black, got stung so I don’t know if there was any truth to the colour theory but I still felt superior to the ones who hadn’t been told.  I like Alberto, he is a good guide. 

The Baroness is an excellent story (Val bought the book, the Curse of the Giant Tortoise which has the whole sorry business in detail).  There were two couples living Floriana in the 30s, happily avoiding the real world.  Then the Baroness arrived from Germany with three lovers.  Much jealousy ensued.  Affairs, murder, shipwrecks.  Good stuff that I don’t have time to tell properly, plus I don’t remember all of the characters.  But during all of it, the first baby of the Galapagos was born.  He just died a couple of months ago.  Wilhelm, maybe?

After climbing the lookout (in my flipflops – those things have had much more of a workout than the communal hostel showers that they were bought for), we got back into the dinghy.  When we had left the boat, there was a rumour that there were penguins in the area.  Omar and his boat folks had seen them on the rocky islands off the beach.  So we took a very slow cruise through but no penguins for the Sulidae guests.  That was even worse than no flamingos.  And, there is a rare mockingbird there, the Floriana Mockingbird, which we also didn’t see.  Oh well, next time (haha).

After the penguin hunt, we went to Post Office Bay.  I should mention, Floriana is the island that has been inhabited the longest.  There are pirate caves and penal colonies and the history is awesome.  Every story ends with “and then he was murdered” or “then he was forced to leave penniless”.  I can’t wait to read Val’s book.  But, the point is that the sailors and whalers and possibly pirates had a system for mail on Floriana.  For that last two + hundred years, people would put their mail in a barrel on the beach at Post Office Bay.  Then when the next boat would come by, if it was heading home from Galapagos, they would pick up any mail for the place they were going and hand deliver it when they got home.  Now, tourists keep up the tradition.  So we all put in a post card to ourselves, in hope that it gets sent (or brought) to us back home.  There weren’t any for Victoria but I grabbed two for Canada.  I will mail them when I get home.  Fun stuff.

Then back to the boat where I last saw you, napping in the life vests.  I had to follow that with a real nap, in my bunk.  Then dinner.  We were all so excited – it was lasagna!  But alas, mid- dinner, as we were being towed, we hit some swells again.  Red barf this time (in case you are keeping track). Then I just went to bed.  And that is why I am finishing this on the plane. 

This morning we woke up to no power.  They had turned the generator off for some reason.  So we had to shower with very little water and pack with no light.  My stuff was everywhere.  Damp and crammed in the corners of my bunk.  I do not have one clean piece of clothing.  I am just happy if it is dry at this point.  I bought a T-shirt as a souvenir, that is going to get pressed into service.    

A quick trip to Darwin’s centre to see Lonesome George.  The last remaining giant land tortoise from Pinta Island.  He is almost a hundred and they have spent millions on trying to breed him with other island tortoises (and/or clone), but so far, no luck. 

Then, into a cab with Margorite, Jean, Zander and us.  We all are on the same plane that left at 11:25.  And now we are caught up.  I will try to post this from Quito.  I am almost out of power so I have to find Wifi AND a plug in. 

March 19.  4:33 pm.  Quito.

Just a quick follow up before I post (if I can, the internet is down).  We decided to get a room for our eight hours in Quito before our night bus to Lago Agrios to our Jungle adventure.  We just went back to the Tierra Alta (the sewer smell hostel).  We just needed a home base to go through our stuff because we took all of our clothes to the laundry.  I am wearing my bathing suit under my new pants and my new t-shirt.  Literally everything else is at the lavanderia.  I would worry it might burn down and leave me clothesless, but it is pouring rain here so I guess that isn’t a worry.

We are at CoffeeTree for milkshakes and dinner.  Val is having fries, I am having a caesar salad.  I am so glad not to be sweating.  When we arrived, we also stopped in at our travel agency to drop off my bag of unnecessaries (coffee anyone?).  And while we were there we also bought a day tour for Cotapaxi, a nearby volcano, for the Sunday after we get back to Quito.  My salad is here so this is it for now. 

BTW.  Now we are both land sick, it is like the land is moving under us.  Awesome. And it is just bucketing here and we have both gotten out of the habit of carrying our raincoats everywhere.  Another mad wet dash. 

We will be in the Jungle until Saturday so hopefully another post when we get back to Quito on the weekend.  Although, maybe this post next weekend at the rate the internet is going here.

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Galapagos - Sulidae (now with Photos)

I only have a few minutes until the dinghy comes to take us to the boat so here is my daily musings unedited.

March 13, 2012. 8:35 pm (we went back one hour). Galapagos, Santa Cruz harbour.




Our first view of Santa Cruz harbour.

Ok, I think that this boat idea could have used some more thought. Where should I start. How about half an hour ago when I barfed all over myself, my bed, the floor and then the bathroom. No, let's go back further than that.

We got up this morning and went to the airport. An uneventful flight until just before we reached the islands. Then the cabin crew opened the overhead compartments and proceeded to spray what I assume was some sort of industrial version of insecticide all over the carry on luggage. Val was in the aisle seat and was disinfected along with the bags. Once we were over the islands I got an amazing view. The water in the bays is an indescribable colour. A million versions of a cross between blue and green, swirled together, blending in and out. Imagine Lake Louise, then take that one amazing colour and multiply it by countless variations. Unbelievable. I can assure you that my camera will not do it justice. (Two good reasons to have short legs and take the window seat - more view and less poison).

When we landed (on Barta Island), we had to wait for our luggage. They pulled it in on a tractor then unloaded it to the floor. Then a very adorable golden retriever (aka hard core drug agent) crawled all over the pile. It was quite suspenseful to see if there might be a "hit". But no, the bags were clean and the gates were opened and we all rushed to grab our stuff. After that it as a bit of a whirlwind. Our Sulidae guy met us out front. No time for the bathroom, the bus is leaving. There were two other passengers from our boat on our flight/bus, Valerie H. and her boyfriend Hakam from the States. They seem very nice. Then off the bus and onto a boat-bus to take us from Barta Island to Santa Cruz Island. The islands are very close together.

My first views of Galapagos have been somewhat underwhelming. We drove along a straight flat road through scrub. There weren't even any birds. Although, I think I saw a giant iguana sunning itself on the runway. And I definitely saw a Great Frigatebird from the plane window while we were still flying (my first in flight ID, it was hard to miss the giant red throat pouch). But then we reached the harbour where we crossed to Santa Cruz. The water! (see poorly described water description above). Unfortunately, our guy (I knew his name but he left so I immediately forgot it) took my carry on bag which had my camera, computer, binos, bird books. I thought he was just carrying it but he put it on the flat top of the boat-bus where I couldn't get it (and spent the whole boat ride wondering if it was going to fall off). So no pictures but I'm sure there will be many more to come.

When we reached the other side, we got passed to another guy (same situation with the name) who drove us in a truck to the harbour where we met up with some other passengers on the dock. I am trying to remember the name of this harbour (I will fill in later). It is actually quite a substantial little city, 20,000 people live here. And the harbour is full of boats. There are dozens of them. Valerie H. pointed out our ship. Oh My God! Compared to the other ‘yachts’, it is tiny. It is wee. It is itsy and it is bitsy. It is 'honey, I shrunk the pirate ship'.



That is the Sulidae, dead centre half hidden behind a small sailboat. 



A Galapagos (or Lava) Heron, my first Galapagos bird.

Val and Danny in the dinghy

Our first proper view of the Sulidae, our pirate ship.


We were then handed off to Omar (who is already gone but he lasts long enough to keep his name). An older German couple were added to our little entourage. We then all piled into an inflatable dingy and went out to see where we are going to live for the next 7 days, 6 nights. Already on board, a German woman named Doris and a Swiss woman named Anya. They are sharing a room but not traveling together. Doris is motorcycling from Alaska to Chili. Anya is the unofficial welcomer. They are also cool. Rounding out our group: a French/Swiss couple Margarite and Jean, and a young Swiss guy named Zander (who has his own room - we are all wildly jealous). Everyone is great - definitely middle of the tourist scale - not hippies, not yuppies. The older German couple (she is Anne, he also has a name) aren't very comfortable speaking English so I don't think they are going to be major players in this tale. They have lots of German speakers on board but they are keeping to themselves mostly.




First order of business, camp out on deck. From left: Doris, Hakam, Valerie H, and Anya.

 

Here is the deck without people sprawled all over it. Behind the white mats, there are some blue lifejackets. Just before the life jackets, you can see a silver metal strip. This is the edge of our 'hatch' in the ceiling of our room, the only source of ventilation. Which we had to close if we wanted to change or shower since it was right where everyone sat.

By chance, we were on the first dingy to the boat, the Americans, the Germans and us. We got room 3, which opens onto the dining room. We are right in the middle of the boat, below deck. The cabin is so small I burst out laughing when they opened the door. It is about 4 feet across and 10 feet long. Along the left side runs the bunk beds with a tiny tiny tiny bathroom at the end. There is nowhere to put my bag. Val, who is tidier and can reach higher, has put hers on the life vest shelf. Mine is at the end of my lower bunk.




Our TINY cabin (room 3). Where Val's right elbow is is the height of the bathroom ceiling.

Once the next dingy arrived with the last passengers, we ate lunch. Unmemorable. The two roll over guests (Doris and Anya had already been on for four days) had said the food is awesome but after lunch and then dinner, they said something had changed and it was now mediocre. Since I didn't keep mine, I don't really care so much. I will jump ahead a bit to dinner where we all started to talk about our rooms. It turns out we are in Shangra-La. The only one who doesn't hate his room more than us is Zander. He is offering to sell it to the highest bidder. When the room conversation started, I couldn't believe anyone had a smaller room. But the French couple have even less space, their bathoom is beside the beds so they only have about 2 feet of 'corridor'. Ours is at the end of our beds so we have at least 6 feet of walking space (I use that term very loosely). From what I can tell, there are three rooms up top. They are over the engine and all occupants are not happy with the noise and smell. Valerie H just poked her head into our room (because our door is wide open due to the excessive and pervasive and stiffling heat) and said they are going to sleep on deck because they can't take the gas fume. Margorite is really unhappy. So, I am not complaining about the room.

But a last bit about the bathroom. It is maybe 20 inches by 20 inches. There is a toilet (sort of), a sink and a shower head. Val cannot stand up in there. It is about 5 feet to the ceiling. I can stand but without enough head space to get the shower head between my head and the ceiling. I took a shower tonight so that I could sleep with wet hair but it was a challenge.

Ok, enough about the boat. It is pretty cool looking. We are pirates. Arrrgg.

I think I have to stop now. I will tell you about the tortoise farm tomorrow. And the barf.

March 14. 8:26 pm. Sante Fe Island. Galapagos.

I am never going to be able to keep up with the blog at this rate. They keep us totally busy so I may resort to a quick recap without my lengthy narrative. I’m not sure if I can do it.

Back to yesterday. After we got our rooms and ate lunch we all got back on the dinghy and went back to the dock where we loaded onto a bus. We were going to a farm where land tortoises hang out. It is near the highest point of the islands, about 600 meters. Apparently, the Galapagos Islands are 97% national park. This farm is part of the other 3%. But, farm or no, it is where the tortoises go to mate and generally lie around. Omar told us most of the females have already left for lower ground to lay their eggs but the boys sometimes never leave. So there were still a few around. And apparently, at least one female because I got a very awkward mating shot. I took photos of course, but I discovered that one giant land tortoise looks exactly like the next giant land tortoise so don’t expect miracles. A couple of new birds. Plus, this little bit of hill is high enough to grow coffee. Who knew?



Omar



 



Here is the awkward mating shot, notice that the one of these two is facing the wrong direction. 
(It is blurry, not because of my lack of photography skills but in order to be discreet for the young lovers).

 

I forgot to mention the lava caves (lava tubes) on the farm. These develop naturally from volcano eruptions.  This is us underground, with just my weak headlamp to guide us.

Back to the boat. I wasn’t feeling too good during dinner. But then I went to bed and tried to take a Gravol. That Gravol was in my stomach approximately 2 seconds before it decided it had arrived too late and left. So, I had to clean up my own puke. Then I went to bed for a horrible sleep.

Today we got up and had breakfast. Also not good, nausea wise. But I kept the bit I ate down. Add to sea sickness, I am also dehydrated and sunburned. Pick a reason. After breakfast we had our first excursion of the day. We also have a new guide, Alberto. He knows his birds so I like him. A hike on Isla Plaza. This is a tiny island off of Santa Cruz. There are yellow iguanas there. And some new birds. I won’t bother to describe, the pictures will be better. But one thing noteworthy. The dock was covered in baby sea lions. It was hard to get around them because they were in the way and they were so cute. Long story short, I bailed on the rocks and broke my camera. It still works but the view screen doesn’t so I have to use the eye thingy. It is like 1982 all over again.



We all had to go on the rocks so as to not disturb the babies.



Hello



We like the sunshine



A yellow land iguana

Another yellow land iguana, again, they all look pretty much the same.

A lava lizard.  Each island has it's own species but they all look the same too.

The island vegetation with the Sulidae at anchor.



Baby sea lions all look alike too but I thought they were adorable so prepare yourselves, there will be many more like this one, but even cuter, if you can believe it. 

Back to the boat. We had to sail for over two hours to get to the next island, Isla Santa Fe. This island also has yellow iguanas, but they are paler. Like the tortoises, one iguana is really starting to look like the next. But before we went for our hike on the island, we took an hour to snorkel. Now, I have not snorkeled since my first trip to Mexico in 1992. And it was not a pleasant experience so I wasn’t so sure about this time either. Plus, when I asked for small flippers, they all kept looking at my feet and shaking their heads. Hmmm. Seems they don’t have children’s flippers. But Doris, who has small feet but bigger than mine, gave up the smallest pair and several people had to trade up a size but in the end, everyone had flippers. Masks and snorkels applied. Add water. Voila! The most amazing experience. And we didn’t even see that much. The sea turtles were not cooperating by swimming near us. But, since it was my first time, it was awesome. Val also had the best time ever. So easy to please novices. I took some pictures with my underwater camera. Some of them are pretty cool.  But most are just blue.



Val in the water

Me in the water (self portrait)

My underwater camera was an excellent purchase.



Alberto swimming by.

This is awesome says Val.

We swam for 90 minutes or so. Then back to the boat to dry off, rest a bit and then onward to Santa Fe to see differently yellow iguanas. But I am not complaining because I got some excellent birds. The Galapagos dove is very pretty. I have a good picture of him so he gets a mention. Plus a Galapagos hawk which I am happy about but no picture. Oh, and a Galapagos mockingbird. There is a bit of a theme when it comes to bird names here.


Wet dock.  Disembarking from the dinghy onto the beach.  We learned early to ask if it was a wet dock or a dry dock so we had on the appropriate shoes.

Everyone has to have their picture taken with the animals.  Here's mine.

Here's Val's

Here's Zander's.  We all had different ideas of how we wanted our photo to be staged.

Baby sea lion nursing

And now for some birds.

Santa Fe Mockingbird



The same bird, I just like this picture



The Galapagos Dove.  there will be better photos later



our first blue footed boobie.  WAY better photos later.



A Darwin finch.  I don't remember which one, maybe a Small Ground Cactus finch?

 And just a couple more Sea Lions for good measure

I told you that they get cuter - this is what I was talking about.  Adorable.

Back to the boat for dinner. I am feeling much better and actually ate more than a teaspoon full like I did at breakfast and lunch. But we have to travel for 8 hours tonight so that won’t be great. I just took my bedtime Gravol in anticipation. I am totally exhausted and I am going to bed as soon as the water is replenished.

I believe Alberto mentioned that we will be in port in San Cristobal tomorrow evening. I may try to post this if I can find wifi. There won’t be time for picture posting though. Too bad, cause they are pretty awesome.

March 15. 8:06 pm. San Cristobal Island. Galapagos.

Well, there is wifi here but it is so weak at the boat, I will take my computer to the dock tomorrow and post then (hopefully).



Pufferfish would surround the boat whenever we docked. 



me looking at him, him looking at me...

This trip is a study in dicotomies. All internal experiences are crap. I am nauseous but fortunately, not as bad as the first day. But I can barely eat. So I am hungry. I am sunburned. Although not as bad as Val who burned her lower legs and feet so bad she can barely walk. Headachey. Whiney. Hot. Tired. It is very hard to sleep in our swaying sauna.

All external experiences are crazy amazing and make up for all discomforts. This morning we arrived at Isla San Cristobal at Punta Pitt on the north end. We started the day after breakfast (which I couldn’t eat) with a hike up to the top of a volcano peak. The volcano is long dead but makes a very beautiful bay with high cliffs surrounding. Despite my aversion to mountain ‘hikes’ this one was very nice and not too difficult. Still straight up a mountain but at this point, I am just happy there was no mud. So much easier to climb up and down when you know your feet are going to stay where you place them.



Yup, we are going up that.



Anya and Doris on their last day.



The Sulidae waiting in the harbour.



Our group photo.  From left (German guy)Mathieu, Anya (Swiss), Anne (German), Hakam (US), Valerie H (US), Val (Canada), Me (Canada), Zander (Swiss), Jean (Belgium), Margorite (French) & Doris (German).

Red footed Boobie, on the nest. 
The other boobies (blue footed and Nazca) don't make nests, they just lay their eggs on the rocks. 



Another lava lizard, this one posing prettily on a path post (a very alliterate lizard)

Enjoying the beautiful view from the top



The view.  You can see the volcano ring in this picture.  Worth the climb.

Lots of pictures. (20 minute interruption here for a conversation with the Chef. He mucho gustos me. I didn’t understand most of the other 19 minutes). The hike was followed by a quick swim (did I mention that I climbed that volcano wearing a bathing suit under my clothes, and it was already a million degrees at 8am). Now, I am not a swimmer by nature or by nurture. But no one can say no to a dip in an emerald green bay after pouring sweat for 2 hours. Although Val did decline. But I was in there like a dirty shirt, which by the way is how I am doing my laundry now – by swimming in my filthy clothes.

Then we all piled into the dinghy for a zip around Pitt island which is a breeding colony for sea birds. One new one. We didn’t go onto the island, to steep and bird poopy. (I am fading so I will sum this up quickly). Back to the boat (I should call this blog – back to the boat) for lunch.

Pitt Island




Magnificent Frigatebird



Here is some of that amazingly blue water.



You say Guano, I say GuaYES!!

Then a trip to another bay just to look around (a new duck) and another swim. This bay was beautiful. And that is compared to all of the other Galapagos bays. The blue was so pale it faded into the white sand. But it was surprisingly cold. Perfect for a hot day.



You know it is extra beautiful when Danny and Alberto (locals) are taking pictures of it.

 

Back to the boat. Then we moved to an island called Leon Dorado (Sleeping Lion) for a snorkel. There are sea turtles and sharks there so I was pretty keen even though I had already been in the water twice already today. This island is two giant stone towers. They are huge with a small channel between them. This is where we snorkled. Yes, amazing. I swam with sea turtles and there was a school of sharks right below us. I’m pretty sure the turtles showed up on my camera but I don’t think the sharks were high enough. We’ll see. The current in the channal was very strong and I had to stop concentrating on the animals and start paying attention to getting through to the other side. At one point I was pushed into the cliffs but no damage. Fortunately, it wasn’t coral there. When we made it through to the other side of the island, it was so choppy; I kept getting sea water in my snorkel. We had already been out for an hour so I bailed at that point. The older German couple were already out of the water and in the dinghy so I joined them. Apparently, all I missed was a manta ray. That would have been good but not worth staying in the water.




Leon Dorado from the distance.  You can see the Channel.  We swam though that!



I couldn't get the whole thing in frame, it was huge. 



Here I am in the middle, looking up.



A sea turtle.  This camera is not good underwater from any distance.  But you get the idea.



This is when I crashed into the side. 



Whew!  I made it out the other side, now get me out of the water!!

Back to the boat. After three swims, pretty much everything I own is wet. It is tied to the rigging on deck to dry. Dinner which I ate than lunch but it is still iffy in tummy land. Most everyone else has gone into Pto Moreno, the capital of Galapagos (pop. 8000 not as big as Pto Ayora on Santa Cruz). Val is up on deck cooling her feet and I am below writing this.



Drying our swimming clothes (and everything else) on deck. It better be tied down or it will be gone by morning. 

Tomorrow we have a hike at 6 am. I have no idea why, I am guessing a new colour of iguana. Then we drop off Anya and Doris and pick up two new people. Hopefully this will get posted. I am off to my tiny bed full of my stuff. But I am excited because we are in port and not moving anywhere tonight so I am hoping it is calmer and I can finally get some sleep.