Day 5: Galapagos

Day 5:  - Galapagos

Quote of the day: THB swims with the big fish

Weather:    Mid 70s with slight breezes, overcast in morning, clearing late afternoon

Pics:     Mating birds (same same to pic from Channel Islands), chick, juvenile bird, small black heron, sea lions from living to recently departed to been gone a long time, iguanas from fully skinned to molting, DB at sunset (similar shot taken in NZ on S Island), decontaminated shoes drying out from land excursion

Pop Quiz: How many marine iguanas do you see in the “STOP” picture?

Breakfast al fresco. Today, THB must be the first (and only) person to have toast as it takes two tries and 7 minutes to get the bread lightly toasted. The “put on rack and slide out the bottom” toaster wasn’t working either. And, the “8 ways to get coffee” (with milk, chocolate, etc.) was out of coffee this morning at 7:10. Hmmmmm…maybe the last group aboard had a wild, wild party? All-out revelry of toast and moccachinos until the wee hours on the last evening?

2+ hours “hiking” around South Plaza: lots of iguanas, sea lions (we see one climbing 25 foot cliffs while at the same time one is slithering down a different route to the ocean), shearwaters (birds), lava heron (see pic). We probably cover less than a mile total, with lengthy stops to hear Malena, a naturalist, explain what we’re seeing and the evolutionary pressures.  

Lunch of eggplant parmesan and pasta puttenesca with basil and garlic, and mock tiramisu and panna cotta (THB skips the desserts). Oh, it was Italian theme!

Amazing snorkeling on Santa Fe (a nearby island): sea lions, rays, and turtles, along with large schools of the same tropical fish as seen in Hawaii and Jamaica and Bonaire (seemingly larger than we’ve seen before). Over the top!! Water not totally clear, wildlife terrific.  Oh, and THB attempts another personal best: most sneezes while snorkeling. Apparently he breaks the local, continental, and possibly hemisphere record. Not pretty….especially after taking off his mask in the middle of the panga.

The moccachino machine is working again, makes for a nice welcome-back from being in the water. Or, was it a send-off, as we are off to kayak a short time after finishing up snorkeling. Another nice, and very easy, adventure. We see a few sharks, many sea lions, a very large school of rays (from the panga), and somehow manage to drift both in towards the beach and then back again (though slower). How can the current run both ways?

Dinner: turkey roll, broccoli, and sliced carrot salad. THB is resigned to refueling as opposed to fine dining.

Off to bed, THB thinks it is 10:30, it is only 9. Hmmmmm….even though we are only (now) one hour time zone from E-ville, the changing of time zones and low sleep the last few days are catching up with him. And, exhaustion from the day’s activity is also catching up with him. And the sometimes not so gentle rocking of the boat is catching up with him. Otherwise, THB is way out of front of the competition.

Now for a bit of gossip: The woman complaining about the food yesterday has also requested and received special service: a table for six is reserved for her, her mother, her brother and mom’s partner (Pierre). So they used up two seats now unavailable to others. Since we are a group of six, it occasionally means we are scrambling (the staff is very considerate, if they see us struggling they will find us spots). She and her brother (no spouses along? No spouses?) also set up a special scuba trip for a couple of days from now (THB is backfilling with info gleaned later in the trip). The day after the scuba trip, after boarding the panga for a snorkeling trip, sis decided it was going to be the same thing as before, she might get cold, an so got up and left just before we departed, and not in a friendly way. She and her brother are playing backgammon on a tablet whenever mom is safely tucked away. The brother and sister have adjoining cabins on the lower deck, mom and Pierre are up on our floor. The brother and sister are both quite fit, he’s very intense and lives in Bishop, she lives in Chicago (as do mom and Pierre). Coming back from a hike, THB catches bro bypassing the shoe cleaning wash-off we do whenever touching an island and then getting back on the boat….and he knows cuz we do it every time. And, they leave the boat after five days (same as the Russians…time to start a conspiracy theory?) and we learn that mom is Mr Playboy’s ex and sis and bro and his offspring and sis is the ex-CEO of the family biz. And bro is gay. Can THB make this up or what!! 

Book Review: Wild, Cheryl Strayed, memoir. A woman tries to find herself while walking the Pacific Crest Trail. Well written, quite an adventure for an unprepared recently divorced woman hiking alone, still grieving over the death of her mother. With a happy ending.  And, if you buy the Kindle version endorsed by Oprah, you get occasional underlining and links to comments by the one and only (though it appears that Doctor Phil was not there to comment as well; darn!). Recommended (the book, not the hiking the PCT, alone or otherwise).