Adios

Up very early to pack my clothes (I couldn't face it last night), have some breakfast and say goodbye.  We will probably see Reva again because she has family in LA and San Diego.  We're going to be friends on Facebook and she has instructed that we will be conversing in Spanish and that I am not allowed to look anything up.  She spent some weeks in Costa Rica learning Spanish and I think she's wonderful.  Even the crew on the Endeavour said so!  

 

We got back to Guayaquil around 2 P.M. this afternoon and then amused ourselves in the hotel casino before we went across the street to an Ecuadorian barbecue place for dinner. Ron was not enamored with his hamburger that contained a fried egg, slice of ham, a secret sauce, cheese, etc.  The competing tastes were secondary to the very juicy hamburger and the tiny napkin.  I did enjoy my chicken dish.

 

I am sitting in my hotel room at a desk and swaying from side to side.  You can take the girl off the ship ......  you know the rest.  Looking forward to a good night's sleep and then off to Miami in the morning.  Here's a photo of our ship.  Enjoyed sharing our wonderful Galapagos adventure with you. 

 

Sometime You Just Have to Go For It

 

We don't waste much time.  After breakfast, it was off to Prince Phillip's Steps.  Yes, THAT Prince Phillip.  The guy gets around.  While still in the panga, we saw our first Galapagos fur seal (really a sea lion) for which we gave a cheer since they are nocturnal and often sleep in caves during the day.  These were sleepy but right out on the rocks and one guy got up in our honor and gave us a bow.  The Prince Phillip Steps start from a rocky ledge near shore where we disembarked from the panga.  We climbed up quite a way to get to the top of the Genovesa Island which was a bit challenging but we all managed.  We set off on a walk made lengthy by our frequent stops to see all the wonderful birds on the island including red-footed boobies, male frigate birds with their red throat pouches inflated to attract a mate, storm petrels and Galapagos owls (which we were very lucky to see.)  In fact one owl was perched quite near us having lunch which appeared to be a hapless storm petrel.   Lots of the boobies were sitting on their nests and we saw the changing off the guard when one parent spells the other.  Each takes a 12-hour shift.  They always have two eggs, the elder of which will eventually shove the younger out who then dies in the intense sun.  The parents cannot feed two offspring so Darwin's survival of the fittest is very obvious here and insures the continuation of the species.  

 

After the steps, we were more than ready for a deep-water snorkel and we had a great day for it - quite clear and not too much current.  Several of us were lucky enough to see a hammerhead shark.  Very exciting for our group.  My sightings include one reef and one hammerhead shark.  It's very difficult to convince yourself that they are not going to attack humans here.  Can that really be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? Lots of other beautiful fish too as well as one dead lobster although he still looked pretty good.

 

 

 

After lunch I was opted for a long hike along Darwin Bay Beach.  We had easy going along the sand for awhile with lots of birds very close to us since they were nesting just off the shore.  As we made our way toward the lava flow to continue on, we were stopped by high tide that made our path about thigh deep in water.  Not too safe so we came back to the beach where I decided "what the hell?" and just went swimming with my clothes on.  The water was so wonderful that several of us stayed to swim while the rest of the group went back to the ship.  I was thinking how much my mom, the water baby, would have loved it.  It also put me in mind of the British when they talk about having a  bathe.  Indeed!  What a great end to a great visit.  No hay lugar como Galapagos! 

 

On Again Off Again

A before-breakfast hike on Bartolome, a forbidding volcanic islet off the coast of Santiago Island. The challenge was a climb to the top to see a fabulous view including an underwater cinder cone remnant. We threw caution to the wind and went with the fast hikers, saving the naturalist's commentary for the summit. The climb was from sea level (of course) to 360 feet but we were helped considerably by wooden steps constructed by the Galapagos National Park Service. It was early and not too hot although humid after the heavy rain we had yesterday in the late afternoon and evening.

Back for breakfast and then on to the beach for some deep water snorkeling where there was quite a current and some waves to deal with. It was a wonderful beach with a very dramatic rocks and spires. As we landed, we made a bit of a detour to see our first Galapagos penguin hanging out on a rock. He was quite small and dark with a bit of white on his front. Wow! The snorkeling was demanding but it's always great to get into the water and we got good exercise.

After lunch, there was another deep water snorkel scheduled but it was overcast and there was still that chop to deal with. Ron, Jackie and Larry opted out and I didn't really want to find another dive buddy, so I exited my wet suit and got dressed to stay on the ship. I was about to leave the cabin when my friend Riva knocked on the door to say, "Come on, Jane!" You guessed it - I suited up again in less than a minute and off we went.

We ended up in a secluded area and, although it was overcast, the animals in the water were incredible. We swam in the middle of large schools of fish, saw many wonderful species, and were floating around in perfect serenity. Then the most incredible thing - one of the panga drivers shouted to our underwater camera guy and began pointing wildly. I looked over to see 4 or 5 penguins in the water and off I went to join the parade. I was swimming right behind them and could see their little feet and bellies under the water right in front of me. When I raised my head out of the water, there were their heads and backs floating along. I could not believe my luck. That went on for at least a minute. Awesome.

We finally got back into the panga when another naturalist shouted that there was a shark in an underwater cave near us. We all bailed out of the boat again only this time I didn't bother with my fins. We swam over and dove under water to view the shark in the cave. I was thrilled! Hung out there for 10 minutes or so and then finally back to the panga. We came back to the ship in pouring down rain with not a care in the world, congratulating ourselves for not missing such a great time.

We were to have a panga ride around these small islands in hopes of seeing more animals, but this was canceled because of rain. So now a little time to catch up before our daily briefing which will be followed by a barbecue dinner outside on the pool deck. I predict a diet in my immediate future. Thank God we've been so active!

Making Friends

A quieter day today. We started with a long (and heated) hike on Cerro Dragon Island and ended up traveling down to an alternate departure spot since it was low tide and our ponga couldn't navigate the rocks. It made for a good adventure and helped us work off our hearty breakfast. Later, I went for a swim at a beautiful beach and shed my wetsuit since it was so warm in the water. The unintended consequence was a lot of sun on unprotected skin so I am rather red tonight. One of the casualties of the trip was that I lost my big bottle of sunscreen in Guayaquil so I have been using odds and ends. No more conserving! I will see what the ship's store has to offer in the morning for my Northern European self.

This afternoon we had a zodiac ride to a scenic coast in an area called El Eden and got caught in a downpour in one of the only times that I didn't have poncho with me. It was nice and cool and since I was able to protect my camera with my backpack, all was well. I was dry by the time we got back to the ship.

One of the woman naturalists had dinner with us tonight. She lives here in the Galapagos so it was interesting to hear about her life. Like all of the crew, they work 4 or 5 weeks on and then have several weeks off. Kind of hard on relationships and families but they seem to really love their work and put their hearts into it. They are all employees of the Galapagos National Park as must be any naturalist who works in the Islands. Quite a wonderful group of people.

I Love a Man Who Comes Prepared

Another early start this morning for our full day on the island of Santa Cruz and our first sighting of the Galapagos tortoises. First stop was the Charles Darwin Research Station where we saw the famous tortoises Lonesome George (once thought to be the last of his species until his relatives were found on another island) and Diego, who was repatriated from the San Diego zoo and who subsequently saved his species from distinction. There is a program here for hatching and bringing up babies who take around 25 years to come to maturation in the wild and who take several years to grow to a size where they will be safe from predators. Santa Cruz, the second largest of the Galapagos Islands, has about 18,000 inhabitants with strict controls to prevent new people from moving from the mainland to the Islands in order to control the population.

We walked into town and made the shopkeepers happy with a few purchases and then boarded our bus for a demonstration of making molasses, sugar and moonshine from sugar cane. Must mention here that Larry took one for the team and had a shot of the moonshine which he said did not have enough o's to describe how smooooooth is was.

A mishap occurred en route to lunch on the bus when I got up and dumped my camera onto the floor. Heavy sigh. It was not happy and refused to focus properly and made me work hard for any photo I attempted to take the remainder of the day. My hero, knowing me better than anyone after all these years, brought along an extra lens so I am back in business as on this evening. (The same thing happened to me in India, as Joan remembers.)

We dined alfresco at a hotel owned by an American and and met and made friends with woman in her early 80's who was there selling jewelry. By the time Ron was done talking with her, she invited him to stay with her the next time we visited and she also sat and had lunch with us. She was originally from Belgium talked extensively about her life, mourning the changes in the islands over the last 50 years. Too many people for her now, I think, and too much like other towns in Ecuador. Her daughter is a famous photographer, Tui De Roy.

After lunch, I walked in a forest of endemic Scalesia trees, one of the rarest ecosystems in the islands. We saw Los Gemelos - a pair of huge pit craters left after volcanic eruptions thousands (or millions?) of years ago and then visited a place where the tortoises move through and feed. We saw at least a dozen of them. My sisters know they don't call me Lucky for nothing!

We concluded our day after walking into two lava tubes, having some wonderful Ecuadorian coffee and taking the pangas back to the ship. We'll sleep well tonight.

The Luckiest Day

Up at 6 A.M. in order to prepare for a brief walk on Floreana Island with our wonderful naturalist who is also one of the 2 Nat Geo-trained photographers on board. He gave a wonderful lecture last night to us camera fanatics that was so helpful and even included a bit of a hands-on for our individual cameras. I have not had time to look at my photos from the walk, but there were three flamingos in a beautiful lake a bit in from the seaside. We also saw lovely flowers including one from the lantana family. Back at the shore, there were turtles too numerous to count. They were swimming and we were not, but it was very thrilling. We saw fresh tracks heading a bit away from the beach where the turtles had come during the night to lay their eggs. Turtles and whales are creatures that render me speechless with their magnificence. Back for a well-earned breakfast and then off with the "drifters" group of snorkelers for a ride off shore where we got into the water from the zodiaks (or pangas as our crew call them.) We might have been awkward in the boats but we rocked once in the water. With the sun shining we had the best look at all of the wonderful colors of the various fish. I saw a lobster (big), Jackie saw a shark, we all saw many species of fish, and enjoyed watching our underwater photographer doing flips and summersaults with the sea lions. Really! We have had very interesting companions for our meals including one of the naturalists who was born here and now lives in Florida, commuting to work. Two cousins sat with us this morning, one a retired Episcopal priest and the other an anthropologist. Of course we had to tell the ladies about our daughter, Caroline. After lunch we boarded the zodiaks to land at the "Post Office" on Floreana. Starting in the whaling days, visitors left letters in a wooden barrel and when others came to the island, they would take the letters with them to mail on the mainland. Today, we all left postcards of our own and looked through the mail in the barrel, hoping to find addresses near enough to our homes to hand deliver. A Floreana tradition that we will carry out by delivering a card to Irvine. There followed a lengthy ride in the zodiaks looking for and finding turtles, rays, birds and fish. A great day. The luckiest day!

Our first look at our tour group was at breakfast and we know that people are generally not at their best when lining up for food or when boarding for free-seating on a plane. Things  improved when we got on  our ship and were able to have little conversations with people.  I did meet a couple from India and enjoyed talking to them, albeit briefly.   During the plane ride over today, the crew came through and sprayed all the carry-on items in the overhead compartments with insecticide to protect the flora and fauna of the islands. I am happy with any effort to preserve such a unique and wonderful place but tried mightily not to inhale.    We've heard THAT before. Nat Geo does a great job of organizing and maximizing the  trip experience for their passengers.  I happened to ask if there was sugar in the mango frappe and before the conversation was over, I was assured that there would be Splenda desserts for me including sugarless mango frappe later in the week.  Bueno.   After the obligatory comfort and safety talks, we had an interesting presentation by the naturalist regarding the formation of the Galapagos Islands, plate techtonics, volcanoes, and the three currents influencing weather and food patterns for the fish and animals here.  And then, TA DA, we were off in the zodiacs.  Oh - it rained for about 15 minutes and then we got on with it, approaching the shore of San Cristobal for our first look at Blue Footed Boobies, Sally Lightfoot crabs, and the very amiable seals at rest.   And eat your hearts out.  I begin the day tomorrow with an early morning stretch followed by a deep tissue massage on a private glass-bottomed boat so that I can enjoy the sea life while I'm being worked on.  Ahhhhhh.

It's All Happening at the Zoo

We looked over the possible sightseeing destinations for today and settled upon a zoo that was about 30 minutes from our hotel. We cleverly contracted with our cab driver from yesterday who picked us up at 10 A.M. He spoke Spanish to us and I (hee hee) translated for the group. I knew we were getting somewhere when we started joking with each other. We spotted quite a large man and I said, "Grande" to which he replied "Albondigas" and when I told the others that we said the man was one big meatball all of us had quite a laugh! The zoo was a rudimentary affair and blessedly small. Our guide conducted quite a thorough tour which was, you guessed it, all in Spanish. Ron bought a ticket for our driver to come along and we 5 were the only patrons. The guide was a cute and animated girl who spoke slowly for my benefit and who enhanced her descriptions with many gestures. She provided each animal's name, where it was found and what it ate. I always understood carne and fruitas and that seemed to comprise most of the diets. There were signs in English, too, with the animal names. I stayed with the guide and got the cab driver involved when needed but the others basically amused themselves. We all agreed that it was an experience with many aspects as is true of so much of this life. We did enjoy going through a village en route to the zoo where we saw many tuk tuks and no cabs. Reminded me again of India except that there were so many less people. Jackie came up with a good idea of returning to the bazaar so we did that before returning to the hotel. Another good experience. There are very few English speakers and not really that many tourists here in Guayaquil since the Galapagos limits the number of visitors. The people here are very proud of their city and the cab driver wanted to make sure that we all enjoyed seeing the sights. He might have warned us off thte zoo, but he probably thought we really wanted to go there. The other option was a botanical garden. In retrospect..... Early day tomorrow and by afternoon we'll be on our ship and able to swim, snorkel, hike or kayak. How about all of the above? More from The Endeavor - maybe tomorrow.

Rising to the Challenge

 

Here's my conclusion:  If you're making your way through a new program with no instruction book or tech support, perhaps it's best if you were born into a generation for whom iPads, iPods and iPhones are a way of life.  Friend Joan assures me that acquiring new skills (like this blog software than enables photo inserts) is a hedge against brain disorders.  All I can say is she damn well better be right since this is the third time I've written about our first day in Equador.  

 

We made no hasty moves this morning, being the last group in for the breakfast buffet at the hotel.  Sufficiently fortified, we talked with the kind and capable hotel staff and contracted with a taxi to drop us off at Simon Boliver Park where we could explore before making our way to Rio Guayas and Malecon - a river walk with lovely parks and gardens and places for refreshment.

 

Ignoring the increasing heat and humidity, we made our way to Cerro Santa Ana which is a picturesque area of brightly colored homes, and a 444-step climb to a small fortress, church and lighthouse.  Here is a photo from the river looking up to the lighthouse.  Our reward at the top was a stunning view of the city and a welcome sea breeze since it was quite warm and very humid.   More conferring with the locals, and we found our pick up point at a mercado where we only had a few minutes before our driver arrived.  Jackie and I were a little bummed and the boys were darn near gleeful.  Hummm.

 

Back at the hotel, we discovered the casino and had dinner.  Two good pursuits.  The hotel was somewhat taken over this evening by many lovely young ladies in white gowns along with their very dressed up families.  These were recent graduates of a nearby Catholic school so we got to share in the celebration.  Buenos noches, mi amigos.

 

 

 

Two Bad Apples

Despite January, no long winter's nap for us. We arise at 3 A.M. to prepare for our faithful friend Terry's arrival and the trip to LAX. We meet Ron's sister and brother-in-law in Miami and decide to start the party immediately. By the time we arrive in Ecuador, we've been at it way too many hours but we perserve through the customs lines where I proudly say a word or two of Rosetta Stone Spanish. I'm even prouder when I understand that the customs agent is asking, en Enspanol, if I've ever been to Equdor before! In English, I answer the rest of his questions and we proceed to the next queue for bag check. Here I am shuttled aside with an indication that my carry-on will be checked. After a bit of conversation (thanks again Rosetta Stone) I determine that there will be no mas manzanas when the 2 apples I'd brought for a snack were confiscated and unceremoniously dumped in the Agricultural Inspection office. I had to wait a bit and sign a form describing the contraband and indicating the encounter's outcome: retention of my apples. I do hope someone ate them - nice ones from Costco. Since it's past midnight, we can't see much but our hotel is lovely. We gratefully get ready and fall into a delicious bed for a great night's sleep. Ahhhh.