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I was thinking about starting the blog with a saccharine sweet story of having been lulled to sleep by the rocking of the ship from the gentle waves. Cool ocean breezes would have danced over me as I peacefully slumbered. The reality is that I hit the bed and crashed like a frat boy after Homecoming Weekend. I was shattered and the death-like sleep I enjoyed was the cure I needed. After a nice breakfast buffet and meeting some more of the fellow travelers, it was time for a wet landing at Gardner Bay on Espanola Island.
Into the dinghy we went. Life jackets on, Ecuadorian Handshake executed, and off we sailed over the turquoise water towards to most pristine white sand beach. The point of this excursion was to enjoy the beach, which I did to the fullest. We took turns having our photo taken with a set of bones, probably whale bones, but don’t quote me on that, then we were set free. This was rare, because as I have said multiple times, we had to have a Naturalist Guide with us at all time. This, happily, was not one of those times. It was a beautiful day
to wander along the sand, past the sea lions to the far end of the beach. At the end of the beach, a group of us sat in the sand, feeling the wind blowing off the ocean while we talked. One fun aspect to traveling on an adventure like this is learning more about the other travelers in the groups. As a general rule, all are interesting and have amazing travel stories to tell. I wish I could truly describe how perfect this morning was, but I can’t. Hopefully the photos will do it some justice.
After such a nice morning on the beach, it was time to suit up and show up for deep sea snorkeling. As I wrote about in the previous blog, I was not entirely comfortable with the idea of this, but like so many things in my life, I was going head-on into my fear. Thankfully Merry Jo and Dave were going on this trip, so I had my safety net along with great company. I was all decked out with swim fins, wet suit, sunscreen that I had applied with a Spackle, my snorkel mask, underwater camera, and a good attitude. People always
joke about how big my feet are and let me tell you. In swim fins, they were enormous. I felt like Godzilla taking out a small town as I tried to navigate them in the dingy. Merry Jo told me to hold my mask as I splashed down into the water, which was great advice. Dave had given me some advice on how to help create a moisture barrier between my goatee and the mask. It was also good advice, not one I would have thought of myself, and truly had me embarrassed as I worked on it on the Zodiac.
The water was warm and clear, so it wasn’t a big shock, which helped me acclimate to being in water with no concrete floor below me. I hate to have strung you along so long in the past blog and a half about how ominous deep-sea snorkeling was to me, but it was easy, fun, and not scary. I loved having my face in the water watching the fish swimming by. There were great rocks to see, and the feeling of freedom was exquisite. Who knew that Brenno was a snorkeler? I certainly didn’t. It makes me wonder
what else he would enjoy that I haven’t given him the opportunity to experience yet. Sadly, my underwater camera decided to stop working today, so I didn’t know if I had any pictures. The screen went black and stayed that way. Regardless, I floated through the water snapping away. Yes, I floated. Usually, I am more of a sinker than a floater, but the wet suit helped with buoyancy, not to mention the additional 20 pounds I have put on over the past couple of years. Dave had problems with his equipment, so went back to the dingy while MJ and I enjoyed the water. She checked on me and was a huge help. Since I am writing this well after the fact, I can’t remember what types of fish we saw on this excursion but let me say that it was something magical. All too soon, we had to head back to the dingey to return to Isabella II.
Afterwards, it was lunch on the sun deck of the ship. This was the first time I was able to meet the Chef and cooks and chat a little while they worked at the buffet. It was a hot
day, so hot that the butterballs on the tables had melted into little yellow puddles. It was a very colorful lunch, because while the butterballs were little yellow pools, the backs of my legs were bright red. The sides and front were as pale as could be, but somehow the 100 SPF sunscreen I had slathered on was no match for the sun on the Equator, and as I floated face down in the water, my legs were cooking to a nice medium rare. Yes, I do like my steaks medium rare, but by-golly, not my legs. This was not good. While we ate, the ship sailed to another part of the island for our next off-ship adventure. I told you that this was not a sit by the pool kind of trip. We had some serious hiking to do, and it was not going to be easy from what we were told.
Sea lions, land iguanas and lots of birds were our welcoming committee as we sailed up to the black lava rocks of Punta Suarez on Espanola Island. The sun was beating down with all its might, so I was glad that I had layered my clothing
leaving only a few inches of my face exposed. Granted I looked like a walking burrito, but I had no plans to take my legs to a well-done state. Following what Enrique, the Naturalist Guide for our small group had done, I pulled a gator over my face to keep from burning. Please note that it was not to keep cool. Oh, my no, it did nothing to help cool me, but it was a grand idea to cover all skin.
Our group gathered on a small, sandy beach to watch the wildlife interact with each other. Sea lions moved about while land iguanas paid them no attention. By the ocean, there was a breeze, but as we soon started hiking, even that little breeze was gone. We saw more boobies, and I mean a lot of boobies. Some were doing the mating dance while we stood and watched. Not to worry, they were not shy in the least. We also saw guano. Lots and lots of guano, and you know what another word for that is don’t you?? Well, I am too much of a gentleman to say it here, even though I did watch dancing boobies. We
Isabella II
A great place to call home for a bit.saw several birds sitting on eggs, guarding young chicks, and of course land iguanas of all colors and sizes. Wildlife here is abundant and pays no attention as we pass. We watched another bird eating a fat worm that I would call a tomato bug back home. The pathway was rocky and required a lot of attention to keep balance, hence the title of this blog. I took along a walking stick from the ship and was very happy to have it. On a guano covered bluff, we stopped to rest and watch a blowhole that would spout water every so often. Standing was nice, but an air conditioner and iced coffee would have been nicer; however, hikers can’t be choosers. I must be honest here (as if I don’t tell it like it is on a regular basis) but as we hiked, sweating, huffing, puffing, having to watch each step to avoid face planting, all I wanted to do was to finish and get back to the ship. As a group, I think we were all feeling this way from the lack of chatter. We were inland, and other than lots of rocks and shrubs, there was not much
to see. I kind of wished that we could have simply beamed up and back to the beach, but technology isn’t there quite yet.
Due to the heat, Enrique changed the plan to return to the dry loading area and took us to a sandy beach where we were greeted by more land iguanas, Sally Lightfoot Crabs and sea lions. This is another advantage to small groups; he made the change, radioed the dingy and did what was best for the group. I was pleased as were the other hikers. Since we were supposed to have a dry loading, we all had to roll up our pants, take off our shoes, and hope for the best as we waded into the water towards the Zodiac. It was a quiet ride back to the Isabella II as we watched the most magnificent sunset. What amazing colors. I feel that everything here in the Galapagos is a little more vivid, more unique, more special than other places.
Dinner was back to business as usual after a cool shower, a couple beers, and a lot of air conditioning. We sat with Barb and Diane from New York and had such a
nice time. The food was as good as always, and the service was friendly and professional. I am impressed with Metro-journeys and the level of service they provide. But, bedtime couldn’t come quick enough for me. This was a long, hot, active day and the 7 AM breakfast call was looming on the horizon. There was the promise of flamingos on the next island which were the carrot on the stick to get me going in the morning. Well, that and plenty of coffee.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Brenno Breaks Barriers.... and snorkels!
Bravo my friend. You took to water like a new born penguin. Travel Brenno is always so impressive! Life has been far too busy since our return and we need to publish our final Galapagos blog. You've given us the push we needed. I miss Barb and Diane. I need to reach out to them. Eager for more.