Sunday, October 11, 2009

k - Good, good days.....

The days are screaming past and we do so much that its impossible to stay awake long enough to describe it all.  We are woken up at 6.45am every day and breakfast is at 7am, then we get onto the zodiacs at around 8am headed for the island of the morning.  Normally I wake up somewhere between the Galapagos Legend and the landing on an island.  Fortunately I have not fallen or made a total ass out of myself - yet, while getting on or off these little boats that bounce around precariously on the ocean waves.  Somewhere around 16 of us are perched on the soft cusions of the the zodiacs, all squished together with our bags at our feet.  If we have a wet landing, then there seem to be tons of shoes littering the floor of the little boat, and it takes some co-ordination to pick them all up or else there would be a massive bumping of heads..  So far so good.
 
We have walked on islands that are literally barren, where it is strange to see even just a few green leaves...  The cactus seem to thrive here and the iguana are fat and healthy too.....these are the land iguanas.  And then other islands are much greener or just almost totally sand and lava.  Today we spent some time walking through the tide pools at Egas Point on Santiago Island.  That was just lovely - there were the normal little tide pools, littered with the bright orange and blue Sally Lightfoot crabs, iguanas and lounging sea lions and then there were those pools that were still connected to the ocean and each wave brought a whooshing sound, a spray of foam and water and very often a sea lion with it.  It was already quite warm this morning and most of the sealions just lazed away in the water, bobbing around with the waves and swells, just popping their heads above water to breathe occasionally...... sometimes it looked as if they were dead, they were so relaxed!  We have to be so careful where we walk as the iguana, land and water iguana, literally lay all over the place and only move if they really have to.  Some seem to have a bit of an attitude, despite the permanent smile on their face - funny how a smile definitely looks like a smirk at times....... a "come on, make my day!" look.  We try not to!
 
The pelicans, sea iguanas, LYB's (little yellow birds), boobies, crabs and yes, even a (say it softly please!) mocking bird, or two, are everywhere.  That was funny - first thing this morning, literally as we hit the first corner of the path we were walking, the Sri Lankan gentleman behind me asks "is that a mockiing bird??"  I nearly screamed!  Fortunately the guide quickly told them that it was an Ani and not a mocking bird and they let it go at that.  Later in the day, Frank spotted two of them, the MB's, at the waters edge and started to point them out to me with a grin on his face..... he was heavily threatened and not even allowed to point at them in case that was seen too!  I am getting mean, but.....
 
Anyway - the walk this morning on the rocks was lovely - we watched as the pelicans dove to catch the fish right next to the rocks and it was not too long before we found a pelican that has misjudged and hit the lava........ natural selection is hard to see sometimes.  There are many little lava lizards running around and ...... well, most of us have decided that everything here carries the names of either Darwinian, Lava, endemic, Galapagonian or rare......Many jokes are made about the different names.  This is a fascinating place, its totally humbling to stop and think of where we stand and walk and what we are seeing - but everyone agrees that its very different from what we expected.  No one can quite nail what it is that we expected, but still.  The guides are very passionate about their islands and rightly so and its got to be very scary to be so totally reliant on the tourist trade in the world's economy of today.  The government of Ecuador is not 100% focussed on what the Islands need to survive and many of the aspects of protecting this amazing piece of the world are just not functional.   The tourist industry here is very controlled and apparently has very little impact on the islands - and this certainly seems to be the case.  As a matter of fact, the more tourists come here, the more money will come in and the better the Islands can be protected.
 
This afternoon we had another chance to snorkel and we passed on it again.  The water water was choppy, it was overcast and I still have the sniffles which would just not work at all in a mask.... so instead we went on a hike around Rabida Island.  This island has a red sandy beach that is liberally littered with sealions - the colors make for some lovely photos with lovely contrasts.  The male sealion patrols the waters just feet from the beach, barking at all his ladies and little ones.  Occasionally he will come rushing out of the water to make his point and we all back off really quickly.
 
Most of the people on the boat now have not seen the pink flamingo's, the blue footed boobies or the red breasted male frigate birds, or the albatross.....  Wow, we have been so fortunate to have done that first set of islands too!  Tomorrow we go to the Charles Darwin Center where all the scientists work away at trying to figure out at least some of what goes on here (I will give them your note, Welma, and hopefully you will hear from them).  We will see the huge giant tortoises as well as have time to walk through the town and buy some goodies and maybe even have a beer or two.  We then get to walk through genuine lava tunnels..........but I will tell you more about all that in the next email.
 
This afternoon when we got back on board there was an ice cream fest going on which was just lovely - except that I was being kind, trying to make up for my Sri Lankan lapse, and let another couple go in front of us and, yes, they got the last of the chocolate icecream!    And then tonight, after crossing the equator 4 times in two days, we had the King Neptune Party.  That was really sweet.  They were all dressed up, lights flickering and deep voices booming and the King was appeased and the dancing began.  It was fun.
 
I love the evenings when the boat is moving and the wake races past my window that is choc a block full of twinkling stars, and she rocks us to sleep.  I love the sound of the ocean and the cold breeze when we walk outside late at night.......We have not had many good sunsets as there always seems to be a bank of cloud right on the horizon that spoils those final moments of the light dancing across the waters, but the colors have been great and its just lovely to sit and watch the day come to an end like that.
 
Except that tonight was different in that aspect too.  After finishing our icecream and warming up with a shower, we headed back outside to see what we could see.... and there were three of the crew with a broomstick and some wires attached to it, trying to make the stick stand up straight by hooking it into some of the ropes of the dingys that were now stored on the bow of the Galapagos Legend....  We wondered what that was about - until we got to the stern, where about 80% of the crew were gathered around a huge tv screen.  On the deck right above them was the most magnificient contraption I had seen in years......... two broomsticks joined together to make a tall stick, a cross bar all wrapped with tinfoil, with wires and cable sticking out from all angles and....... well, you will just have to wait for the pictures.  This was an antennae that the crew had made to try to find a tv signal for the big inter-country football game!  It was just hilarious - but they got a signal for a good part of the second half of the game - each time the boat swung on its anchor and the signal was lost, one of them would dash up to the top deck and swirl that fancy piece of artwork until the snow disappeared on the tv and the game began again.  It was sad, but Ecuador lost to Uruguay and the mood was somewhat somber for a while.    And the sun set while we sat with our beers and watched the crew have some downtime while the game was on. The crew watched the game and us passengers watched the crew.
 
And so another amazing day ends.with my window full of stars, music still playing upstairs and the promise of another good day ahead.
 
love and light
Annie
 

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