First day in Prague

A Really Nice Hotel

Our trip was uneventful, except that our luggage didn’t make it on our connection in Frankfurt to Prague. When I booked the flight with Viking Cruise Lines, I told them I was worried about 1 hour layover in Frankfurt–in fact, I called them twice before the final booking, and I was assured it was plenty of time. Well, we got to Frankfurt 30 minutes early, had to take a bus from the tarmac, then had to go through Frankfurt’s security, @35 minutes. Got to the gate where they were already loading, had to take a bus out to the plane on the tarmac–we made it but our luggage didn’t. Hopefully, it will get in tonight.

Our airline was Lufthansa and the flight attendants do a nice job. They were very pleasant and never looked harried or frazzled like so many of ours do. And they constantly served us–cocktails before dinner, a hot towel, then dinner with wine, then more wine, then soft drinks, and finally it was time to sleep. Then in the morning, a hot towel and a hot breakfast. On our 45 minute flight from Frankfurt to Prague, we got a snack of a half of sandwich and sodas. The planes were nice and modern with a lot of choices of what we could watch (many movie selections, TV, news, etc.) and lots of music. The one thing I did notice that wasn’t as good as the US was the seats in economy don’t have much padding to them and of course, they are very close together. But a good trip except for the luggage thing.

Viking picked us up in Prague and took us to our hotel–the Hilton Prague. The traffic here is not as fast moving or as many cars as in Rome or Paris (or Cocoa Beach–ha,ha). It seems to be at a normal pace. By the time we got to the hotel, checked in and got to our rooms, it was already 4:00 ; thus too late to do anything if we wanted to take the orientation walk at 6:00. That was disappointing; I’ll only have one day to take pictures of Prague, it seems. Our hotel is too far from Old Town and Lesser Town to walk so I’ll try to figure out their metro system.

The orientation walk was about 30 minutes, walking from here to Old Town. We then all split up and found a place to eat. The place we ate at was Kolkovna, a beer pub with filling Czech food. Charlie had steark tartar and I had roast beef with creme gravy and dumplings. Their dumplings are nothing like mine. Much more like bread, but Charlie liked their beer and I had two glasses of white wine. The luggage hasn’t shown up yet, but hopefully before tomorrow. I’m in need of clean clothes and a toothbrush!

Powder Tower

St. Michaels

It’s Time to Go Again

“HALF THE FUN OF TRAVEL IS THE ESTHETIC OF LOSTNESS”–Ray Bradbury

Charlie and I are again headed out for Europe. I said after the one last year I probably wouldn’t do it again because of that lo-o-ong plane ride, but I couldn’t resist a River Cruise. We’ve heard so many good things about them, we decided to give it another go and today is the start of the new adventure. Getting on the plane this evening and getting in Prague tomorrow.

This is the first time we’ve been in Prague and the above quote is probably appropriate for us. When we’ve gone abroad, it has been to countries who use the euro and I have a general sense of the language even though I don’t speak it. Prague is entirely different. The language there seems to be of words that are at least 10 letters long and there doesn’t seem to be any correlation to any other language as to what it might mean! The money is the koruna which is (at this time) worth 20.57 to the American dollar, so prices look outrageous until I do the math.

How much fun to do something totally different! After reading about the things to see in Prague, I’m sure we aren’t going to have enough time to do everything I would like to. Maybe I’ll have to come back again.

Anyway, the plan is to start in Prague, cruise down the Main and Rhine rivers, and end up in Paris. We’re going to spend a couple of extra days there so that we can do some things that we didn’t get to do when we were in France many years ago.

As Don Quixote and Sancho Panza said in Man of La Mancha–“Marvelous Adventure!”

DAY 8–GENOVESA ISLAND, LAST OF THE GALAPAGOS FOR ME

It was an 8 hour sail (about 80 miles) to Genovesa Island. Jaime tells us that it’s considered “birdland” because of all the birds we will see here. We made a dry landing at Prince Philip’s Steps (so-called because they built the steps for Prince Philip’s visit to the Galapagos.) Whether they did it for Prince Philip or not, it’s obvious they needed some kind of steps to get up the cliff side from the zodiac to the top.

What greets us is another wonderland of birds who have no fear of humans. We can walk among them and take photos to our heart’s content. A totally deserted island except for those like us that come to broaden our knowledge, just staying a short while, and then leaving them to their natural behaviors.

Masked Boobies

Mockingbird, found on every island we visited

We walked among masked boobies, many of whom were still in the “courting” stage. They would “talk” to each other and “duel” with their beaks. The males would offer the females sticks or pebbles and if she accepted it, that would mean they were a match. We watched the everyday problems of the red footed boobies trying to build nests while the frigatebirds steal from them. Something new I learned is that frigatebirds are basically “thieves.” Instead of fending for themselves, they steal from other birds. For instance, in terms of nest building, they wait until a bird has found nesting material and then they steal it from them and take it for their own. They also steal most of their food from other birds too–letting them do the hunting and catching and then stealing it from them.

Red footed Booby

10% of the red footed boobies have this white coloration

We watched an interesting occurrence play out between a red-footed booby and a frigate bird. The male was gathering nesting material. He worked hard at pulling a branch with some nice greenery off of a shrub. It probably took him about 10 minutes to get just the right one. As he carried it back to the nest, the frigatebird swooped down and took it from his beak. So he tried again, back to the same shrub, again working hard to get the right branch for the nest. This time we noticed that the frigatebird was just sitting there watching and waiting. Sure enough, as soon as he had pulled the branch from the shrub the frigatebird was right there to take it away. The booby stood there on the ground for a minute or so, pecked around by his feet, and picked up this large stick (with no greenery on it.) It was big enough that he had a little trouble taking off, but finally he was aloft and made it safely to the nest with the stick. I’m not sure what his “mate” thought of that big, bare stick, but as far as he was concerned, it didn’t get stolen so it would have to do.

We also saw a short eared owl with some prey, having lunch, but too far away for my camera lens. Later though as we were getting ready to leave, we saw a frigatebird chase an owl, probably for his catch, but the owl managed to evade him.

Short eared owl

Galapagos ground finch

Once again, no one was interested in snorkeling because of the overcast day (the sunlight doesn’t penetrate far enough down to see anything interesting), so we spent some leisure time on the deck, reading and just watching the shearwaters, the petrels, and the red billed tropicbird float along on the breezes.

In the afternoon, we made a wet landing at Darwin Bay, where swallowtail and lava gulls abound, as well as the boobies and frigatebirds. There were also several yellow crowned night herons and a brown booby which we hadn’t seen anywhere else. Swallowtail gulls were interesting in that they seem to nest on pebbles on the ground. They would search for just the right pebble (seeming to prefer the black ones), plop it down on the nest, then sit on the nest to, I guess, see how it feels!

Swallowtail gull on her “comfy” nest

Brown Booby

This time we just walked around the beach instead of actually hiking. A few complained that we could have swum on the beach and snorkeled off of it and that way those of us who didn’t swim, could have used the snorkeling masks in the shallower waters. The trail was marked with stakes further down the inlet even though we would have had to wade through some water (which would have been okay since we all had our water sandals.) However, Jaime didn’t want to go there, so we spent the whole time this afternoon on the beach. It was our last day because tomorrow we would go directly from the boat to the airport (after an overnight sail of approximately 10 hours.) Most of us felt that he just didn’t want to do anything more than he had already done, so we didn’t have any choice, and we were disappointed.

Lava Gulls

All the Galapagos finches are just known as that–except that there are small, medium, and large

Another Galapagos Finch

All in all, I loved being in the Galapagos Islands. It’s somewhere I had always wanted to go and finally decided there was nothing keeping me from making the trip. It’s an unusual place, 650 miles from any mainland, somewhere that is totally distinct from any other place I have been. A trip of over 400 miles sailing from island to island. Minor inconveniences and some disappointments often happen on tours, but I never let that overshadow the reason I’m there. It was adventure I’ll never forget. At home, it will be back to civilization to get ready for our Family Reunion at the end of June. Busy, busy, busy

DAY7–RABIDA ISLAND

We sailed last night just a couple of hours to put into a quiet bay for the evening and to allow people to get some sleep. Tonight and tomorrow night will be 2 long sails so they were giving us a respite. We got up early again to hike on Rabida Island where we made a wet landing on a very pretty, red beach. Here the landscapes were very pretty, with the red rocks, the blue sea and the green vegetation. The views all along the trail were beautiful and such a change from the black rock we have seen on many of our hikes.

Pretty red paths and beaches

The naturalist couldn’t tell us much about the way these islands evolve; he just knows that some are older than the others. My theory is that the black rock lava fields are the youngest areas of volcanic activity. As they get older they would break up to end up like the fields on Isabela Island due to oxidation. This black lava has a very high percentage of iron in it, so it “rusts” as it weathers, finally breaking down into the red rocks that we see. (Of course, that may not be right, but since no one could tell me about why some are red and some are black, I can make up my own speculations.) 🙂

We made a wet landing disturbing a female sea lion nursing a young one who looked to be about 6-8 months old. While we were changing shoes, 2 other young sea lions showed up and decided they wanted a little mother’s milk too. The youngest one didn’t like that at all so chased them away. It was funny to watch that smaller guy taking them on! The hike was very nice–finally got a good photo of our boat and some other pix of the type of landscape here, so much different than the other places we’ve stopped. Supposedly, on this island we were supposed to hike to a saltwater lagoon to see flamingos and to an old salt mine, but Jaime just said “no” without any explanation.

Notice the large shark bite on the mother

Back to the boat for lunch and we saw a few sharks were trailing us which made most of the snorklers unwilling to go out again. However, John and Rich both thought they’d like to get a little closer and try to get videos of the sharks. They stayed by the boat, generally, holding on to a rope because the current was strong but they did manage to get some good shots. The captain was accommodating and took Reinier’s video camera into the water for him to get the video footage.

After that adventure, we pulled anchor to sail to Sullivan’s bay. The captain took it slow and easy and the long way around so we could do a little sightseeing and we had plenty of time before lunch. We passed by an area where we could see, in the distance, the large saltwater lagoon with lots and lots of flamingos there. I asked again if we would be hiking to that place and our guide said that we wouldn’t. There was no explanation as to why we couldn’t hike there. Jaime had a tendency to, if he didn’t want to answer a question, ignore you. He had a way of making me feel stupid for asking any question.

The hike in the afternoon was over another black lava field, but this one was only 103 years old. It was much smoother than the one on Isabela–easier to walk on. The ropy parts of the lava were not broken up and it made very interesting abstract figures .

Abstract designs in the black lava fields

Even though I enjoyed our two hikes, I was disappointed in what we didn’t get to see. Supposedly, this is where we were going to see nesting pelicans up close and the flamingos. I think Jaime is getting tired and wants to get back home. He’s a friend of Reinier’s and evidently he isn’t doing much guiding any more. Instead he’s building a hotel and has other enterprises going on. I have a feeling he would just as soon not be here.

Lava Cactus

The chef had a new dish tonight–I would have like the recipe for this one. It was called Casuela–fish, shrimp and plaintains in a yellow sauce–really good. Roasted potatoes, rice, zucchini, beets, cucumbers and tomato salad and tres leches. Yum, yum. One more island before going home.

DAY 6–SANTIAGO (SAN SALVADOR) ISLAND

Isn’t It Amazing that We Can See 3 Different Animals All Within a Few Feet of Each Other?

Last night was another long sail–about 11 hours for our 60 mile overnight trip to get to Puerto Egas on Santiago Island (also known as San Salvador Island). It was rougher last night than before, but luckily I continue to weather it quite well. The engines seemed to hold up which was good news, but Heather and Rich continue to have to sleep on the deck.

These long sails have to be tough on the crew. The captain does the sailing, and someone (or possibly more than one?) has to be up to assist and someone to keep watch. While we’re off snorkeling and hiking, the crew is busy cleaning and maintaining the boat. Our rooms are kept very clean so we have nothing to say but good things about our crew. The ‘troops” get restless on these long sails, probably due to not sleeping well and some concern about the boat. Yesterday we had a “fuse fire”–small, but just one more thing. Also David complained of A/C problems. But we all seem to agree that it has been a great trip other than the inconveniences noted here, and all of us were glad we are here.

Our hikes are generally planned for 6:00 a.m. to avoid the heat (and better for good photos) so we get up about 5:00. They have “biscuits” and coffee ready for us at 5:30 and we are off by 6:00. Today was a dry landing but light misty rain made the lava rocks slick. Once I made it up the slope, it was fairly easy walking. Younger people have not had any problems with what we’ve done and even the ones my age, generally don’t have a problem. It mostly seems to be my balance problems that cause the difficulties of navigating the uneven rocks.

Small Lagoon

Hawksbill Turtle

We hiked along the black beach watching for wildlife and I’ve been lucky to get pretty good pix all along. I really like my new telephoto lens that can do wide angle shots as well some distance shots too. We saw today oyster catchers, Galapagos flycatcher, brown pelicans (a little lighter than the ones we see at home) and Galapagos ground doves. Small and medium finches, the G. mockingbird, the Galapagos Hawk and happily, the Hawkbill turtle. Also Elliot’s storm petrels and swallowtail gulls.

Male Lava Lizard

After breakfast, several went snorkeling but fewer than usual. It’s overcast and the water is not clear enough to see very far down without the sunlight.

The afternoon hikes are usually around 4:00 p.m. so that we can stay on the island until close to sunset. This afternoon we made a wet landing where we chose to hike further inland on the island instead of on the beach. This was a nice, sandy beach with less coarse sand, so we could go barefoot for the landings and getting back on the boat instead changing from hiking boots to some sort of water shoes. One thing we all notice (and remember, most of us are from Florida) is that it is even more humid here than it is at home. We come back with our clothes drenched even when we have a nice breeze and we don’t particularly feel hot.

We hiked a trail with lush vegetation, seemingly making our own path. I could tell hardly anyone hikes that path because it’s mostly overgrown, even though the path is marked. It goes by a saltwater lagoon, gains a little elevation, back down through huge button mangroves (too dark for me to get a good pic) and then closing the loop to the beach. Everyone seemed to like the change of pace of this hike. Something a little different.

Scenes from Sailing from one landing to another

Coming back to the beach I got some good photos of brown pelicans. One might wonder why I would want photos of pelicans since Florida has so many but these are lighter in color and I thought they looked nice with the setting sunlight on it.

Galapagos Hawk

Brown Pelican

The chef continues his good work. Breakfast every day the main dish is different. It’s been pancakes, corn fritters, omelets, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, along with deli meats, cheese, tomatoes, cereal, juice. For dinner or lunch, we usually have a soup course, plus the two choices of meats, vegetables, salads, etc. Tonight we had pork chops and turkey.

DAY 5–TAGUS COVE AND PUNTA ESPINOSZA

Charles Darwin Lake

Tagus Cove historically used to be an anchoring spot for pirates and whalers so it’s quite calm compared to most of our anchorages and was a welcome spot for a night’s sleep. We were up at 5:00 a.m. to hike to the top of this part of Isabela Island. The path was an upward climb on a dirt trail so it was easier than yesterday. Jaime had us a little worried last night because he described it as a 40 degree uphill climb, but he forgot to mention that the 40 degree climb was just the part going up stairs that are built on the trail and that the rest of the trail was a normal gradual climb.

There were lovely views as we went up of the saltwater crater that is called Charles Darwin Lake. Most of the people with me aren’t particularly interested in the landscape shots, but I wanted to include those too, because how else to describe the different textures of the islands. We see some finches, lots of grasshoppers.

Trees on the hillside of one of the volcanos

Lava Lizard

Just a little bit of science for those of you who may be interested: At the top we had a view of 2 of the volcanoes. The volcanos on these islands are not big ones like we usually think about–just small ones that were formed by the interaction between three tectonic plates and a “hot spot”–a region of intense heat within the Earth’s mantle. The Galápagos’ stationary hot spot formed a chain of volcanoes as the Nazca crustal plate moved east-southeast above the hot spot like a conveyor belt. This process formed a chain of islands that is home to some of the most exotic flora and fauna found in the world. These plants and animals are exotic because of the isolation the Galápagos Islands. The Galápagos consists of thirteen major islands and hundreds of smaller rocky outcroppings. A few of the islands lie above or on the equator; however, most are found in the southern hemisphere. A single volcano formed each Island except for Isabela, which resulted from the union of six different volcanoes–probably the reason for the diversity of environments on Isabela Island. (I got most of this information from Wikipedia and a couple of other places and this is a watered down version of the explanation. If you are interested in knowing more about how these islands were formed, there’s lots and lots of info on the internet.)

Back to boat for breakfast then the swimmers went snorkeling. Three of us went on the zodiac while the snorkelers played hoping we would be able to get some photos of the wildlife. We did see a Pacific green Sea turtle, a flightless cormorant, and sea lions, but it was pretty rough to try to take photos. The snorkelers have lots of good stories about what they saw. Most are taking videos so I can’t get any photos from them to show what’s underwater, darn it.

Galapagos Mockingbird

Pacific Green Turtle–photo taken from zodiac

Back for lunch, soup, shrimp boil, Italian eggplant dish (there’s a name for it but can’t remember), pesto pasta, fruit and vegetables. The best part of the boat so far has been its chef. He’s really good. After lunch, we weighed anchor for the 40-minute trip to Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island (about 7 miles.) I think I aggravated the tailbone problem by going on the zodiac because it really hurts this afternoon. I’ve been taking Medrol so can’t take any more ibuprofen and I left my Tylenol at home. This afternoon the snorkelers are going again, supposedly will see sea turtles, penguins and sea lions. Then back to boat where all of us will go ashore to see the wildlife there.

This was a “dry” landing so when we arrived on the island, we were surprised to see that it was high tide and the first hundred yards of the trail was ankle deep in water. Jaime, who was wearing his usual flip flops, just waded on through it and a few of the group had on their water sandals so it didn’t bother them, but the rest of us had to take off our shoes/boots and socks and then put them back on–much like a “wet” landing.

This part of the path was mostly sandy and beachlike, and the first wildlife we came upon were the marine iguanas–probably a minimum of 500. They lay on top of each other in little bunches and it’s hard to isolate them for a good photo op. Also, these rocks had some really good chances to see the Sally Lightfoot crabs. They’re really pretty crabs, especially seen against the black lava rock. They start out being black, going through a blue stage, to a red stage as they mature. They have 5 pairs of legs and can actually hop from one rock to another. They can also “skitter” atop the water if it’s not too far. And of course, there were sea lions nearby.

Juvenile Sally Lightfoot Crabs

Mature adults are very territorial

This is one of the few places to see the flightless cormorant too. Of all the cormorant species, it’s the only one who has lost it’s ability to fly. It’s breast muscles are smaller because it doesn’t need them to fly and the legs are heavier and more powerful than the other cormorants. It moves through the water by powerful kicks. The loss of flight is thought to be because there are no natural predators in the Galapagos and to a restricted feeding area. They are only found on the coastline of Fernandina and the northwestern shore of Isabela.

Flightless cormorant

Marine Iguanas

We explored Punta Espinoza from sandy beach to black lava rock until sundown, enjoying watching the sea lions at play as well as all of the other diverse wildlife. What a multitude creatures–of crabs and marine iguanas to oystercatchers, blue footed boobies, and baby sea lions waiting for Mom to come home to feed them. This stopover was a favorite place for me with the constantly changing character all around me and a seeming serenity about the place. All these animals living together in a small area–I’m sure I missed things to see because of the many tableaux on every side of me. This is the type of area where it’s good to sit alone so as not to be distracted from the ongoing scene. It’s rare to find this kind of place.

DAY 4–A LONG SAIL TO PUNTA MORENO ON ISABELA ISLAND

A Crater filled with saltwater at Punta Moreno

The Nemo II

Our 12-hour sail turned into a 14-hour sail. One of the engines went out so we were left with one engine and the 2 sails. The group has been talking about the boat and the fact that they seem to be fixing something all the time. It’s obvious that it’s time for it to be taken out of service and to be overhauled. Holbrook Travel is going to get an earful, I’m sure, when we get back. Last night was quite rough and once when I was awakened by a pretty big jolt, I started thinking about things such as “I don’t think I told anyone about my travel insurance–that there’s a death benefit included,” and “If one of these pontoons breaks open, we’re goners.” But the sun came out, we were still afloat, and we went out to do our thing while the machinist/engineer put things back together. Life always looks brighter in the day time, doesn’t it! I’m sure we weren’t in any danger, but being that I can’t swim, I sometimes have dire thoughts. 😦 LOL

We got into Punta Moreno about 8:30, and got ready to take the zodiac to the spot where we will be landing. This part of the island is basically a black lava field, but a pretty old field as it’s already breaking up. There are 2 types of lava –one is Aa (ha ha), rough and hard to walk on and the other is Pahoehoe (pay-hoy-hoy) which is smooth and ropy. I actually found the ropy part much harder to walk on because it’s hard to find a flat part to land on two feet. If I can start from a base of both of my feet, I don’t have any trouble, but when I have to balance on one foot and then push off and land on another place that’s not necessarily flat, it becomes a problem for me. (I don’t know if I’m describing this is a way someone might be able to understand.)

This is the type of stuff we were walking on

A Swimming Flamingo

The ship’s crew have walking sticks for those of us who need it, so several of us took them, which really helped. Having that little bit of extra balance (that third leg), helped a lot. I didn’t wear my camera vest this time, only my backpack to lighten the load. I’ve basically resisted walking sticks to take with me because of trying to handle the stick, the camera, etc. and then trying to take photos. But it made a real difference so will make sure to take one with me for future hikes.

The guide isn’t very alert as to whether people keep up with him (he walks everywhere in flip flops), so luckily one of the particpants stayed with me to help me over some of the rough areas. John is a paramedic battalion chief (and used to be a flight medic) so I figured if he wasn’t telling me to “Go to the light” then I was in good shape. 🙂 Really nice guy–probably my younger son’s age.

The lava is really black and it was all around us. Occasionally we would see a crater filled with saltwater, fed by the lava tubes from the ocean. These were like an oasis in the desert (except no fresh water) but with green vegetation and some birds. I’m not sure if a photo shows the coarseness and desolation of the lava but I will try to post a few. At one of these craters we saw a flamingo. I was watching it, and asked if it was swimming–didn’t know flamingos could swim. Jaime looked at me as if I were crazy, but after watching it for a while, he and Reinier decided it was swimming, a first according to them.

After the hike, we took the the zodiac and went by rocks with lots and lots of marine iguanas, some penguins, and a couple of sea lions. Also some blue footed boobies. With the zodiac bouncing up and down it was hard to get a sharp picture, but I was happy with the results when I looked at them on my computer.

Marine Iguanas

Galapagos penguin–smaller than most penguins

After lunch, most of the group went snorkeling–they get to see all the underwater stuff, including sea turtles and sea lions too. And they had underwater video cameras so got some really nice shots. It must be a wonderful experience. Wish I could swim.

In the p.m. went to Urbina Bay and took a short hike on the sandy path around the area. This was a “wet” landing. A wet landing consists of having to get off the zodiac by swinging your legs over the side and jumping in not very deep water. Getting back in is a different story–have to climb back into the zodiac so for most of that means we grab hold of the side and someone (or two) have to drag us in! Our explorations found many, many finches, several land iguanas, and a land tortoise, smaller than the giant tortoise but very large anyway. He was back in the shrubs so couldn’t get a photo.

Galapagos Finch

Galapagos Finch

Male Land Iguana

Galapagos Grasshopper

They had planned to snorkel here too, but the water was too rough so they didn’t get to do it.

Evening dinner was swiss steak, rice, salad, vegetables and fruits. Very, very good. Our chef is excellent, especially since he has to do eveything in a galley. Another 2 hr sail to Tagus Bay where we will anchor instead of sailing through the night. A welcome respite for those who are having trouble with seasickness. Most everyone has recovered except for the younger couple–they have been sleeping on deck because they think that helps.

My brother usually thinks if I say anything negative that it means I’m not having a good time, but that isn’t true for me. I’m trying to describe what the experience is like for me, so what I’m trying to say is that even with the problems I incur, I wouldn’t have missed it. These islands are fascinating. Dry as a bone with no fresh water. How do these animals live like this? Black lava which means the island is young (“young” being relative.) Going to places where we haven’t seen anyone else. We’ve hardly seen any other boats since we were in Puerto Ayora. How many places in the world can you do that? I think it’s exciting!

Lots of pix for this day, and couldn’t decide what to show–so much diversity! So more than usual.

DAY 3–SANTA CRUZ ISLAND AND GIANT TORTOISES

Puerto Ayoha on Santa Cruz Island is the most populous town in the Galapagos National Park area at 15,000 people. There are several hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops because this is the home base of many of the tourists who come here who are not on tours. It’s also the place where the Charles Darwin Research Station is located with over 100 scientists, educators, and volunteers conducting scientific research.

We sail at night and the going is pretty rough. Five of our group were seasick even with this short sail. Where I thought a catamaran might be more stable, the problem seems to be that we hit the waves straight on, which means we ride over the tops of them, up and down the troughs, instead of plowing through them. Laura said the previously chartered boat had a deep-V hull which would have been better at going through the waves instead of over the top of them. With the rough water, getting on and off the zodiac was a lot harder today than yesterday. As most of you probably know, I’m not real steady on my feet due to my back problems, so I was having trouble balancing while climbing down into the zodiac, and today, there was no one to help me down the last step onto the floor of the zodiac. As I teetered on the 2nd step, trying to make that last long step to the zodiac floor, I lost my balance and fell. I hit my tailbone on the edge of step really hard and now I find it hard to find a comfortable position to sit. I’m having to sit straight up and down or off to the side. Luckily hiking and taking photos doesn’t require much sitting.

Today was Galapagos tortoise day. It looks like we won’t be going to the island where many, many of the tortoises are seen walking across the dry arid land. Instead we visited “preserves”–family farms that have been designated preserves for the tortoises. Farmers used to hate the tortoises because they ate all the vegetation and destroyed the grounds, but once they could charge $3 per person and serve food and drinks and sell souvenirs, they liked the tortoises a lot more. 🙂

Thus, we took a bus for 45 min ride to one of the farms that is designated a preserve for the Galapagos tortoise. Because it’s the end of the rainy season, the paths were muddy and sometimes we had to walk through standing water. Galoshes were provided which were helpful rather than getting mud all over our boots/shoes. We ran across the first tortoise just a few yards down the path. They are really, really big fellas. He was lying in a mud puddle of water and it was hard to get at an angle that provided a good photo. That was basically the only one that we saw there. But our guide knew of another preserve, which was more interesting, because they were walking around everywhere. They were “small” compared to the first one we saw (small being relative) but they were all along the road, and some of them were in the middle of the road so we would have to wait until they chose to move over. One guy seemed determined not to let us pass him. When we would try to go by on one side, he would move over there. Then we would try to go around the other side, and he would move over there. (I keep saying “he” because doesn’t that sound like a typical male??) Saw several more of the tortoises there.

By the way, does anyone notice that ET looks like the head of a giant tortoise?

After our communing with the giant tortoises, we visited a “lava cave” that was formed when lava poured out of the volcano. Sometimes giant air pockets were formed which became a “cave” of sorts. Sometimes there will be owls or bats in these caves but not today.

After snorkeling and a hearty lunch, we visited the Research Station. To help the tortoise make a comeback, they have some breeding tortoises from the different islands. The baby tortoises have been catalogued as to what island they come from so they can return the juveniles back to the correct island. They are raised from eggs, with a pen each for 1 year olds to 4 year olds. After that time, they are returned to the island that the parents originated from. We saw a lot of small birds (finches, yellow warblers, flycatchers, mockingbird), Marine iguanas, Sally lightfoot crabs.

Marine Iguanas

While Renier went off with our guide to see his new hotel that is being built, we had a chance to do a little shopping, eat some frozen yogurt, watch the fishermen come in with their catches while brown pelicans and sea lions tried to get some of their fish. A 3 person volleyball match was going on (for money, so the referee’s calls were often disputed.) Puerto Ayora is a thriving community, one of the few towns on all of these islands. There is no natural fresh water on any of the islands. They are rather isolated from the mainland, so it certainly discourages growth of new towns. By sunset, it was time to go back to boat for our meal of saurbraten, red cabbage, vegetables, two salads, cheese, rice and potatoes.

We started our sail to Isabela Island even before dinner because it’s a 12-hour sail–that’s with 2 engines and both sails up! It’s close to 90 miles.

This type of cactus can live to be over 200 years old

Galapagos Mockingbird

DAY 2–FLYING TO BALTRA, SOME SURPRISES, AND SETTLING IN

Land Iguana

Another great breakfast at the Oro Verde Hotel. Then we met at 7:00 to go to airport. The travel agency rep stood in line for us with our passports but then we had to pass our luggage through an inspection and quarantine area to be sure we weren’t bringing in any non-native plants or soil. One of the guys (Reinier), who has been here before, says that even a small amount of soil on your boots could cause a problem, so most of us washed our shoes/boots last evening. We caught our plane at 8:55 a.m and were in the Galapagos 1-1/2 hrs later. I was quite surprised to find that it was @700 miles from the mainland!

The airport is on Baltra, a gift from the US from WWII. There we went through customs and those who didn’t go through a travel agency paid a $50 park permit fee. We were met by our guide (Jaime) who took care of getting us and our luggage to our boat, the Nemo II.

Our boat is somewhat of a shock to all of us. Holbrook Travel told us that they had to change boats because the first one had an accident, and it couldn’t guarantee it would be ready for the trip. But, they told us, it was a better boat than the original one, holding only 12 passengers instead of 16, and much nicer. After checking out our accommodations and seeing the previous boat anchored in the bay, we decided they weren’t able to fill all the slots so they downgraded us so they wouldn’t have to pay for the empty berths.

For two adult (old) women, we have a tiny cabin, where two of us can’t stand at the same time. Our cabin, as well as 3 other ones, are located in the “pontoons”. Two cabins have bunk beds, but ours has a bed and a “loft” which meant one of us had to climb a high ladder to get into it. Melissa was a good sport and let me have the lower bed since I didn’t think I would be able to handle getting my suitcase up those steps (hers was smaller.) All showers are the kind that you stand in the middle of the small bathroom, soap up, and rinse off with a hand-held faucet. In our bathroom, we had a toilet where you had to run a little water into it and when you were through, you had to hand pump it out. I think the other ones had a more modern device from what they said. Needless to say, we were all surprised. One of the women (Laura) had been on the originally scheduled boat a couple of years ago and said that it was much nicer, so telling us this was a nicer boat was obviously a falsehood!

The good news was that each day we were able to dine on the deck with table linens and a crew member in his black pants, white shirt and red vest or his whites. The chef was excellent! I kind of laughed to myself when he was introduced as a chef, but he put out 3 large meals per day that were very, very good, all done is just a regular galley. The service by the crew members was also excellent; they were very attentive and helpful. I understand that is not usual for some of the less expensive cruises, so we all appreciated that. Besides the deck area where we ate, we could sit on the back end of the boat and watch some of the sea creatures such as sharks follow us. (We just hoped they didn’t know something we should’ve known. (Ha, ha.) Also a large sitting area on the top of the deck, where, whenever any of us came on top, they put up a sunshade for us.

I wish I could have taken photos but I couldn’t stand far enough back to be able to get the whole cabin in. Maybe I can get some other photos later.
For lunch, we had spaghetti, salad, always tomatoes and cheese, cucumbers, a vegetable and fruit (watermelon and cantelope.) Dinner was cream of spinach soup (not to the taste of most of us), tuna steaks, always some kind of potatoes and rice, at least 2 vegetables, 2 salads and dessert. Made us forget for a moment that we were disappointed.

After lunch, snorkeling was offered. It seems this boat doesn’t carry kayaks after all, so snorkeling it was–twice a day. The snorkelers were irritated by that because as much as they like to snorkel, some days just weren’t suited for snorkeling and would have been better doing another activity such as kayaking or swimming from the beach. This first day of snorkeling, though, was everything they could want it to be. Saw lots of fish and sea turtles and had a good time. (I’m not a snorkeler since I can’t swim.)

After resting from the snorkeling, our guide took us in the zodiac to North Seymour, on the opposite side of Baltra.. This would be our first “dry” landing. To get onto the zodiac, one must step down 3 steps from the boat to the floor of the zodiac while it’s rocking and rolling. This while carrying a backpack with camera equipment and wearing a life jacket. Then scoot along the edge of the zodiac to be close to the person already sitting there (have to fit 15 people along both edges) to make the trip from where the boat is anchored to the place where the landing is. Then one must take off the life jacket, scurry up the 3 steps onto black lava rock which could be slick, if wet, and pick one’s way over about 20 yards of this black rock where one finally reaches flat, sandy ground. Exciting, huh?!? 🙂

Someone at home had told me that they had heard that the wildlife here aren’t afraid of people and that’s certainly true. We walked among Magnificent and Great Frigatebirds, Blue footed boobies, and land iguanas, all of whom didn’t seem the least bit concerned that we were there. We spent about 2 hours there surrounded by all of these creatures that we wouldn’t be able to see anywhere else, especially at such a close proximity. We finished our afternoon hike on the west side where we could watch the Sea lions come in at sunset. We all felt that this is the type of thing we had come to the Galapagos to see and were happy with the results. I got a lot of really good photos at North Seymour. These are just a few–it’s hard to choose but I think these are representative.

Female Land Iguana

DAY 1–A LO-O-O-NG DAY IN GUAYAKIL

We got in last night, met our transport and stayed at a gorgeous hotel in Guayakil (Wa-ya-kel). The room is great, the bed is comfortable, and after sorting through my duffle bag and finding the things I need for tomorrow, it was time to go to bed. The time change is only one hour difference (Ecuador is an hour earlier) so no problem with adjusting to that.

We were supposed to meet at 8:00 a.m. for our visit to Churute River Ecological Reserve and other sights of interest. My roommate (Melissa) is very nice and accommodating. She likes to get up a little earlier than I would usually, so up at 6:00 to get ready for breakfast and my first day in South America. You should see this breakfast–maybe I’ll remember to take a photo of it when we get ready to come home! Cheeses and deli meats, all kinds of fruit, omelets made-to-order, carved roast beef, rice and a beef stew to put over it, pancakes, bacon, and more. It is more like our brunch offerings than it was breakfast. It was certainly worth getting up for.

There are 12 of us, ages 75 to about 35. Nice to have a variety. We all meet on time for our bus tour to the ecological reserve. Our guide tells us about the countryside and in the 35 miles to the Reserve there are an amazing amount of different types of crops. There are mangos, cacao, teak, sugar cane, rice, bananas, and plaintains. The land is divided into small farms that families may own. The houses in these rural areas often look rather dilapidated. They seem to be put together somewhat haphazardly with differing widths of wood for the sides, sometimes not even abutting each other. Many are on stilts, as many of them stand in water or have an impoundment (?) of water near them. It seems the ground around the farms are always somewhat muddy and that this part of Ecuador has so much water that they can sell it to others during the dry season. The farms that are prospering generally have stucco houses, some on stilts and others on the ground. More about farm later.

A House on Stilts

Crab Fisherman can catch 99 male crabs per day, 9 months a year

When I think of a national park, I think of ours with our “manicured” paths and roads, but these reserves
are not “managed”. The roads are muddy and have plenty of holes. People live throughout the reserve where they might have a little space of land. I don’t know if they own land there or not. This was true in Beleize too–the Reserves there were the same.

We did some birding, but didn’t see much and because this part of Ecuador is a lot of wetlands, most the birds are like ours in Florida. None of my bird photos turned out well because my lens wasn’t long enough but I’m keeping a photo of them until I get to add it to my bird list. The newer birds I saw were the grooved ani, the Peruvian finch, the vermillion flycatcher, the cocoi heron. Saw lots of snail kites, probably because as wet as the land was, there had to be lots of snails.

We ended up in an area near the Churute River, where half of us went for a hike to see if we could see the howler monkeys. We never did see them but heard them close enough that we had hopes–just didn’t happen. Enjoyed the hike, amazing amount of vegetation. Very, very humid with the dampness and the amount of greenery. We then changed places with the other half of our group and went for a canoe ride down the Churute River. Saw some birds there but mostly the same birds as we get in Florida. Ecuador is known to be a major birding destination but to find the colorful and more exciting birds, one would have to go up in the highlands or the forests.

Our Canoe

By now the troops were getting restless. It was 3:00 and we hadn’t had lunch yet! So our next stop was a “working” farm where we were fed a really good meal of stewed chicken and rice, along with fried plaintains. It was an open air “restaurant” and a very pleasant atmosphere. The amazing thing about this farm is that, although it belongs to the family, their 21-year-old daughter has taken it upon herself to make this a thriving farm. She oversees the planting and grafting of the cacao trees. She grows herbs and all the plants she needs to be able to produce a meal. Grapefruit trees, all sorts of herbs and spices, tilapia in the water underneath the hyacinths. She uses an outdoor kitchen with just 3 pans, a couple of bowls, and basic utensils. I bet we can’t envision cooking for a large group with so little. And she showed us how to make hot chocolate from scratch–take the cacao beans out of the pod, cook them for 15 minutes, add water and brown sugar and cook until the sugar melts and pour. (I may have left out a step but it was basically very simple!)

Cacao Pods

After the demonstration, back to the hotel for a last “real” shower, a drink and a farewell dinner. Tomorrow morning we’ll go to the airport to go to the Galapagos.