The Four Day Tour and George´s arse

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Apologes for the major tardiness with the blog. It´s been a crazy couple of weeks but thats why I love it here. Firstly, celebrations for Alycat´s birthday took place on the weekend of the 24th Oct, many a mojito consumed with the final destination being Iguana Rock (where else!!) and an unfortunate meeting with Notorius PIG and his mate Vin Doll, you know who you are boys!!! Antics on the station remained the same as ever, fabulous, with an excellent hike to the Mirconia forest above the station where wide horses were witnessed running freely round the foothills. Orange collecting, mora chopping, kitchen duties and many, many messy nights at the bar with Spiderman antics post haste. Not a care in the world at Jatun Sacha and some quality time has been spent thinking not ruminating about what lies ahead. Friday prior to the tour was spent in Puerto Bauqirezo Moreno (port) at the Interpretation Centre, very informative centre about the Galapagos and it´s inhabitants since it was colonised and more importantly what lies ahead for these islands if tourism continues the way it does. Another snorkelling experience, quite immune to a friendly swim with a sealion now and a house party to finish off a restful day before our tour!!!
An early start on Saturday 31st October, and after our bags, shoes and tonsils were checked and verified we started our first journey. Our Parque Nacional guide Perro ( Shia la Beouf´s doppelganger) warned us it was going to be a bumpy first couple of hours over to Floreana Island and he wasn´t wrong. Having been on a Mersey ferry I thought that the Pacific would be a piece of the proverbial. It wasn´t and I somehow managed the journey without charfing over the side, others might I add weren´t so lucky. After a long three hours and two engine cut outs, we arrived at our first snorkel point, Champion Island, visability was poor so we wasted no time, especially as a big Daddy sealion was getting particularly defensive about his rock, don´t jeff with anything that can swin faster than you!!! So it was onward and upward to Floreana. An habitied island with approximately 120 residents including the Whittmer family with whom some very suspicious Agatha Christie like deaths took place 50 years ago. After a very traditional lunch, chicken bone soup, rice, rice, rice we headed up into the highlands to visit a giant tortoise sanctuary in some very unusual cattle trucks carrying about 30 of us up with no more that a 1cc engine, it was a long journey but bloody hell it did it! Now, I thought that we have to enter with a ticket, there´d be a sign or something, so I´m happily chatting along, having a ................what the .............. there was my first giant tortoise, just mooching around being a giant tortoise and at that point I knew I was on the Galapagos, the BBC documentaires came flooding back. To be fair he didn´t do much, chewed on a leaf, yawned, chewed some more but we were all mesmerised. This place was called Alto Chino and is a natural tortoise habitiat. So there were bloody tonnes of the things. Great videos made, they don´t move very quick but do so with a certain assertiveness. It baffled me that their only line of defense is to hide and they couldn´t move sharpish if the need took them, yet thay are one of the oldest living species on the planet with the guys we seen here ranging from 60- 130 years old, maybe more. More gringo´s taking pictures is probably their most common though bubble. We also visited the pirate caves were the loot was stored hundreds of years ago then made our way back to the port on a kidney clanger of a journey. Mid afternoon, and we boarded our trusty vessel to take us to Island Isabella our home for the next couple of days. And, what a journey it was. Cruising along in the back of a speedboat, shades on, tunes pumping, Floreana Island behind us, the Pacfic Ocean ahead, the moon rising in one corner of the sky whilst the sun set (the most beautiful sunset) in the other, wind in my hair, with a fantastic group of people, words cannot describe. I was definately in the top 10 percent of people on the Earth in a experiencing a beautiful moment and it felt amazing. Any worries that were with me disappeared at point as I realised that we´re only here for such a short period and that we´re so incomprehensible so do you know what, just enjoy. Arrived at Isabella, a proper paradise island port, sand softer and whiter that talcum powder, twinkling lights from the beach shacks shining through the dusk air feeling like the weight of the wolrd had been lifted. Hotel was lovely after a great dinner of you guessed it rice and a journal update we were to knackered to do anything else but go to bed.
The following day Sunday, we made our way to Volcano Sierra Negra. It´s the secoond biggest caldera volcano in the world, shaped like a giant soup bowl flipped upside down, its shape given by the type of eruption, a gentle spew of red hot lava rather than the explosive blow seen on the mainland. The first part of the hike was a little tough and the first view point misty but soon enough the mist lifted and we were able to see the valley below us. Words cannot describe how massive it was, pictures will never do it justice, the size and scale was amazing and it looked like Jurassic park had been plonked right in the middle of it. A whole unexplored world lay inside. After circling half the diameter, it took us 4 hours we made it back to the buses to our next snorkel point, Las Tintorinas, otherwise known as reef shark bay. No sharks were seen whilst snorkelling but the usual suspects were noted, manta rays, sealions, and a rather lovely sea turtle who I followed. Then, my favourite critters of the whole trip were noted, the Galapagos penguins, fab.
Another early rise for our transfer Island Santa Cruz, not before another snorkel through a pitch black tunnel and getting stung by a jelly fish, cue swollen chin pictures. Nearly lost Phil on the way from the top of the boat, good job holding on Big Jobby with a engine cut out. I was sleeping during this particular event and ended up face down on the deck, talk about a rude awakening i´m told it was like a Perfect Storm!!!
After a quick shower, it was off into the highlands of Santa Cruz, all the things happen up there you know, for a meat feat of a BBQ. Now, the portions at the station have not be considerable so we gluttoned our way through rice!!, potatoes, and numerous types of deliciously grilled meats, some identifiable some not, don´t question just swallow! Then with the meat sweats to a another tortiose sanctuary. Again, they don´t do much but God, I think they´re fab. After being assaulted by Phil whilst in our respectible tortoise shells, pictures will explain, apparrently its the best he´s had in years!!! Then it was to the lava tunnels, an etheral entrance made my Alycat in a rather fetching ponco and a tight shimmy out of the tunnels, the exit was 20cm high, it was back into town to see the draw of thr trip for me, Lonesome George. he residents at the Charles Darwin research station in the port of Santa Cruz, Puerto Ayroa. He´s the only Pinta Island tortoise left and attempts at mating him have been unsuccessful, so when george sadly departs, thats light out for the sub species, pretty sad really. So camera primed at the ready Í prepared for my picture with him. Only, we didn´t see him, not without maximum zoom displaced anyway, and what did he so delightfully decided to show us, his backend. So, I can say that I have a very blurry picture of me and Lonesome Georges arse. Fair play to the old guy though, hes getting on, this fame thing has lost it´s glamour, he just wants a Werther´s and a pipe. Land iguanas and a saddleback tortoise also clocked. Good guiding from Wilson, legend, Shia had proved his lack of any Inglesia at this point.
More life in this place than Isabella so a night out was on the cards, great meal, and even better Cubra Libres. Many falls that night, onto the dancefloor, off an bench onto the bench, off the dancefloor, somebody call 911, Joannes on her arse again!!! After a wild ride with Charles Darwin and a hideout in the toilets we made it home to watch the sunrise at our hotel. Good times.
Last day now and a very hungover group went to Tortuga bay. I now know the best cure for a hangover, catching the surf with your mates on a beach thats been dropped form another planet, really beautiful there, great waves, marine iguanas walking on by.
And so it was time to end the four day tour with our transfer back to San Cristobal. Leaving Phil at Santa Cruz to begin his new trip (get back on the boat Phil your not going anywhere) we headed back after our final snorkel off the coast of Santa Fe, great drop offs and beautiful fish make it a perfect place to dive and snorkel and it was sad to pull on my Red footed booby flippers for the last time. Boat boredom was kicking in, can see why they just park up at Cannes and not go anywhere, I would be a shit sailor but the second mate barry Chuckle provided us with some important laughs on the way home, mucho guapo!!!!!
Docked at San Cristbobal, the gringo´s are back in town, greeting by Vin Doll and Barry the Dr (Dr Nick Riviera) to check us for swine flu, , a lot of certification will only prove to me that he´s a real Dr. A mojito in Casablanca to mark our return, well it wuold be rude not to, before we headed back to thet station curtiosy of Layo and his SUV, Ecuadorian´s answer to Jim Royle, he´s into dubstep now, no probs Layo. A great greeting by some new volunteers including a beautiful new puppy, Nule Nule?? taking the stray dog total to 5 at the station, brain dead Princesseta still my favourite though.
A great end to an amazing trip with fantastic people, really hit me where I was and how lucky I am to have seen all of this, there is truely no where else like it on Earth, complacent at a friendly sealion frolicking besides me, never!!!!

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