Marina at Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal
Our next stop was a three day cruise around the Galapagos islands. After the cool mountain temperatures of Quito, the warm, humid air of San Cristobal was more than welcome!
The entire archipelago is part of a national park, claimed by Ecuador. Our flight to San Cristobal was once again, early, but that left us an afternoon free for swimming and snorkeling. This was a new experience for me, but after only one mouthful of sea water, I was having the time of my life! Unfortunately there weren't many fish near the small beach that day, but just the chance to play in the ocean was wonderful.
Our cabins were "cozy," but considering I spent every moment I could on the upper deck, I didn't mind. Our first night was overcast, so no stars, but the breeze as we cruised onto Isla Espanola was so inviting, no one wanted to return to their cabins. We spent the night chatting with our travel group, and two other couples who were also booked on the same ship. One couple was from Germany and the other from the U.S. as well. The capacity of the boat was 20 passengers, so we still had a nice size group that was easily divided between our two naturalist/guides for nature walks.
The first of which came early the next morning when we landed on Isla Espanola. Being the end of the rainy season, we again missed out on some wildlife. We saw one Blue Footed Booby. Normally abundant, El Nino's been wreaking havoc with them as well, affecting their food supply. We did see several marine iguanas (many of which I almost stepped on!), Masked Boobies, sea lions and even a few albatross'--apparently the first to arrive this year.
Sea lion
Masked Booby
Later that afternoon we had time for more snorkeling, but the surf was so rough it was difficult to find many fish, still, I was having fun playing until I had a close encounter with a jellyfish, which ended my sojourn rather quickly.
The next day was Isla Floreana where, in the distance we saw a flock of flamingos. Our guide informed us that it's the tiny shrimp the bird eat that give them their distinctive color. A short hike across the island brought us to a white-sand beach were we spied the tracks of sea turtles that had returned to the ocean from their night time resting places on land. Here we also heard "legends" of Floreana's most colorful resident, A Baroness, who came to live on the island with her three lovers!
Later that morning we had one last opportunity for snorkeling, around Devil's Crown, a sunken crater some distance away from the shores of Floreana. This was a particular thrill for me, being away from the safety of land. Of course our transfer boat or panga was nearby, but the warnings of unexpected strong ocean currents had me paying attention to precautions for a change!
Once we were in the water, my apprehensions vanished. Although I missed seeing it, I was told one of the other five snorkelers had seen a white-tipped shark, but it moved off too fast for me to see. I did get the chance to see a few sting rays though! There were definitely more fish at this rocky out-cropping than I'd seen in my "vast experience" as a snorkeler, and I soon found myself losing all track of time. Once we rounded one side of the "crown," we entered a protected bay were there were a few pelicans and sea lions in residence, none of whom wished to swim with us.
That afternoon was Isla Santa Cruz and the Darwin Research Center. Most of the work there consists of trying to bring back the population of Giant Tortoises, which they've had great success with. I believe I heard the guide say they'd re-introduced 1000 tortoises back to the islands, most notably, Isla Espanola.
Our last day was spent at an interpretive center for the islands on San Cristobal. Again, I wish we'd had more time here as it was a wonderful museum covering the natural and man-made history of the Galapagos.
While I was waiting for our panga back to our cruise ship, I was talking to a man about where I came from. Sitting in the sun, near the equator, it was odd trying to explain about our long Wisconsin winters to someone who'd never been further than the mainland of Ecuador. Somehow the subject of my car came up and I could see the wonder on his face when I told him I had my own. To him, having lived on an island where the only vehicles were the municipal ones, my car must have made me appear rich. That thought struck me as odd. Something I take so for granted, like having a car, was the world to him. It was a humbling moment to realize how truly fortunate I am to have the life I do.
Later that day we flew back to Guayaquil for our last night in South America. We had a short walking tour of the downtown, featuring yet another cathedral and this delightful park, populated with iguanas. Our new guide explained that they remain in the park, which I found rather unusual, considering there were no barriers. That was all we had time for, as our flight back to Miami was early the next morning.
I'm not sure what I expected from this trip, but I was totally unprepared to fall in love with the countries we visited. I imagined I would be anxious to return home after nearly three weeks, but instead I found myself wishing the time would never end. To borrow a phrase, it was the shortest long trip I've ever been on.
*For those interested in contacting Overseas Adventure Travel for more information about their trips, they can be reached at: 1-800-955-1925. Or by mail at: 625 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge, MA 02138.
