More Adventures on the Enchanted Islands

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This is my last post for this trip. I've been home for 2 days. It was a long and tiring journey home. We left the Carina at 8 in the morning on Tuesday and got back home at 10 am on Wednesday...a dinghy ride to the pier, public bus to the airport, flight to Quayaquil, another one to Quito, 5 hours in a hotel by the airport with Alfredo and the group, back out to the airport at 9 in the evening, a 5 hour flight to Atlanta, a confusing transfer...which gate B17 or A12??, and then the last flight to Newark. It's exhausting to even type it all. I'm determined to finish this blog to cover the last few days of this trip...mostly for my own memory sake.

I promised to say something about snorkeling which happened almost everyday. It was hard. By the time I got a wet suit and mask on, I was already tired. Then we had to go into the water off the dinghy, a little intimidating. Then there was a current to deal with and the flippers and keeping the water from getting into mouth. Juana would have a round life saving ring for those of us who needed to be helped through the water. She was great and pointed out things along the way. The ring got crowded. Still it was worth all the effort to see the colorful fish and to watch sea turtles and rays swim by. I made it out 3 of the days but that was enough of a snorkeling experience for me.

Day 4: I woke up to the boat moving to Baja Urbana. I made a cappuccino and sat on the steps in the stern of the boat to look out at the view as it moved. It's magnificent and I felt so privileged to start my day this way. It is unsettling not to have contact with family though. I try not to think about it but it is occupying part of my mind all the time. I can let go of not knowing the news of the day for the most part but it is strange to be cut off from the rest of the world. Hard to believe that the crew and Juana also have no contact with family all these days. Then came the dolphins...many of them around the ship and in the surrounding waters. Such beautiful animals and so exciting to see them up close! We went in the dinghies for our first wet landing on the beach at Urbana Bay, on the west coast of Isabella Island . We walked for about an hour and a half and saw golden iquanas and their homes, giant tortoises, and mockingbirds. There were pelicans on the beach. We came back and the boat moved to Punta Mangle while I read on the top deck. We had lunch and watched the last part of the Galapagos Attenborough special, Evolution. Our last adventure of the day was a panga ride to Punta Mengle which is part of Fernandina. The walls are all black lava. We saw many marine iguanas, pelicans, sea lions, and 1 blue footed booby. Came back and got the plan for tomorrow, the boat moved to Tagu Cove, dinner and I convinced George, Terry, and Cheryl to play a round of Scrabble. (I won!)

Day 5: Woke up to see Tagu Cove, back on Isabella. This time sea lions and penguins were swimming around the boat. After breakfast we went out on a panga ride and saw <br style="color:𱖌 font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-variant-ligatures: none; letter-spacing: 0.1px; white-space: pre-wrap;" />red starfish, soft coral, brown terns, sanderlings, and a hawk, which is the biggest predator on the islands.Tuff cones and layers of ash formed the walls around us. Blue footed boobies, pelicans, cormorants were everywhere. During snorkeling today, I sat on the top deck enjoying the view and the breeze. Juana gave a talk on fish classification in the afternoon and at 4:30 we took the dinghy's to hike Fernandina. It was a dry landing and we hiked on lava surrounded by the ocean, sea lions, and many marine lizards. We hiked for an hour and a half with many stops to watch sea lions playing in the water. It was awesome!

Day 6: I woke up to the boat moving to our next location Punta Vicente Roca, the Northwestern tip of Isabella Island. It's shaped like a sea horse and this part is the mouth. The waters around us are totally mist covered. I can't see beyond a few feet from the boat. I had a cappacino and thought about nearing the end of this trip. We all joked last night about sitting with phone in hand tomorrow night to see internet come back up. I'm not eager to read what's been going on in the world but can't wait to check on family. Gradually the mist burnt off and in front of us was a huge volcano...Equator...and the tip of Isabella. There was a cave and birds on all the crevices. We dinghied out along the wall and into the cave...the walls were green and purple from minerals in the water (magnesium, calcium, and I forgot what else) and sea turtles and sea iquanas swam by. We saw the Nazca booby, terns, swallow gull, and furry sea lions, and of course blue footed boobies and penguins. The water was clear through to see the fish. We came back to this spot to snorkel later. What we saw was equally amazing but it was hard for me. Once I slid into the water from the dingy I already had water in my mouth and the current made the swimming hard. I had to join Juana on the ring. It was much easier once I joined her and slowed my breathing. We saw almost every fish from her slideshow yesterday. And found Nemo! Lots of them. Sea turtles were swimming or drifting below us and so were a couple of stingrays. We were in the water a full hour. We passed the equator 'line' 00 00 on the ship's bridge with the captain and a toast with canelaso. Later watched a movie Galapagos Affaire about mysterious deaths on Floriana in the early good 1930s. With just 3 families who tried to settle here there was an awful lot of drama and mystery that made headlines around the world. The boat traveled many hours during the afternoon to get to Santiago Island for our last day in the Galapagos

Day 7: Sea lions barking woke me during the night. I walked out of my cabin at 3:30 am to see the noisy guy and his friends. At 4:30 I went to the top deck to see the stars. Terry, Kay and George came up too. The sky looked like a planetarium. We were able to see the Southern Cross, Big dipper, and Scorpion and what looked like a million other stars. By 6am I had a cappuccino and sat on my perch at the front of the ship looking at Santiago. We did our last dinghy ride exploration along the coast of Santiago, at Buccaneers Cove. We took a tour of ship's engine room and kitchen. l learned that all water is desalinated down here. All water on the ship is from the ocean, which surprised me. And the kitchen is small for all the cooking that gets done. Our last hike was at Puerto Egas on Santiago and was a wet landing. With the waves that was challenging and took additional crew, along with the captain, to get us all off and back on the dinghies safely. It was sunniest and hottest day so far but it was also amazing. We walked along a beach that was formed from different volcano eruptions and erosion. There were tide pools and sea lions, oyster catchers and lava and blue herons and sandpipers, even Darwin's Toilet, which is a unique crater formation that causes water to fill and empty with every wave. This is a very special place. Santiago is not inhabited and is the island that was totally cleared of non native animals, like ferral cats, pigs, and rats that had been brought to the island by people who tried unsuccessfully to settle here. We had a farewell dinner in the evening where everyone shared what was their highlight, and packed to get ready to leave in the morning. The boat traveled for the 8 hours to go from Santiago back to Baltra. Then we started the 24 hour journey back home.

I'm leaving Ecuador with many fun memories, lots of beautiful pictures and a few souvenirs I picked up along the way, but especially with a greater appreciation of the beauty and fragility of nature. I've learned a lot and had a wonderful time doing it. I'm very grateful that I can have such amazing experiences and so appreciate the gift of travel.

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