Apparently we've been cursed with a rooster outside our window on Isabela as well. After ignoring it for as long as I could, at 5:30, once again, I gave in to his crowing and woke up. Today we would be taking the Chiva to the highlands and walking the rim of the Sierra Negra caldera (volcano crater).
Knowing that this would be our last day of exploring, we were trying to figure out how to maximize our time and get more than just the hike in. Peter asked whether there was any interest in taking out another boat to see the birds. I replied that I would be interested in going if there was the possibility of snorkeling as well. The leaders said that we would have to figure out how to coordinate it time-wise.
When we arrived at the start of our hike, the weather was chilly and cloudy, but Ronn told us that as we continued on to Volcan Chica, the terrain and weather would change, and that it would be sunny and extremely hot.
So we headed out for a hike that was 4.5 miles long for the younger set and up to 11.5 miles for anyone interested in doing that. Guess which option I decided on. We reached the rim of Sierra Negra, the 2nd largest caldera in the world. The largest is located at volcano in Tanzania. The clouds came and went, and we got to see the area of the most recent eruption, in 2005, where the lava was still a dark black, and had not yet faded to a softer color.
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| At the rim of Sierra Negra |
After a quick snack, the kids and anyone else who wanted to head back did.
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| The Party Chiva - "Ponga la musica por favor!" |
Talking to Kai and Ronn about our desire to snorkel or go out on the boat in the afternoon, they mentioned that we might not have enough time to do the entire hike, but might need to turn after seeing Volcan Chica from a distance. Maxwell and I decided to walk quickly in order to make it all the way to the turning. We passed the nature guide, who was a bit of a slow poke, and hustled along. Pretty soon we were at our next stopping point, the Jaboncillo (soapberry tree). We opened and ate the boxed lunches that Red Mangrove, the hotel chain we were staying us at the Galapagos, had packed for us. Since I haven't been eating gluten, they packed me a salad. Since I don't eat tomatoes either, I tossed those over my shoulder into the bushes and speculated about the possibility of a tomato crop growing there.
The rest of our group soon joined us and started eating their lunch. Or should I say their first lunch. Backroads is famous for always providing their guests with food and ensuring that we are never hungry. Despite the extremely high activity level each day, I tend to gain weight on these trips!
A quick nature's baño break later, and we were off.
Amit mentioned as she's reading over my shoulder that she overhead Ronn say to Kai that she would have to break the bad news to us that we wouldn't be able to do the entire hike and get back in time. She did say that to us when we were sitting under the Jaboncillo tree, but our group, being who we were decided to double time it and prove her wrong.
Marcos, the Red Mangrove guide led the way. He was a much faster walker than Omar, the nature guide, maybe because his legs were so long. Soon, the terrain change from dirt road to volcanic rock and gravel. The temperature was at least 20 degrees hotter than the start. We were walking along at a pretty fast clip, jumping from rock to rock, and even jogging a bit on occasion. We passed a group returning from Volcan Chica who said to us "turn back now!" then another couple of people who asked us whether we were required to have a guide with us. A few minutes later, we stopped, overlooking a gorgeous view. Omar looked at the time - 12:20. We made it to the original turn around point in less time than they estimated it would take us to get to the closer one. After photo taking by all, it was time to head back.
We walked back even faster than we walked out, and made it to the start at 2:15, impressing all the guides. Kai said that if we finished eating lunch number 2, down at Campo Duro, 15 minutes away, by 3:00, we would have plenty of time to get on the snorkel boat by 4. Of course, we rose to the challenge, after enjoying a delicious lunch of free range chicken, lentils and rice.
(If I had many photos of the next part, I'd split this day in 2, like Harry Potter #7 or Twilight: Breaking Dawn! I was to busy experiencing to photograph, however.)
On our return to the hotel, we quickly gathered our suit suits, and prepared to meet up at 4. Instead of coming along to bird watch, the Franks decided to stay back at the hotel with the kids. This meant that both Kai and Ronn joined those of us who wanted to snorkel. We set out on the boat, and Omar asked us what we wanted to do. Peter and Nan wanted to play with sea lions while Maxwell and I wanted to spot a white-tipped reef shark. Omar settled on a spot, we quickly suited up and jumped into the water. Within 5 minutes, Omar had pointed out a white-tipped reef shark to me, and shortly thereafter, he found us a sea lion to play with. This little guy was remarkably playful! He flipped and twisted with us in the water, playing everyone. I tried imitating what the sea lion was doing, and he seemed to enjoy that.
After a good 20 minutes or so of play, I decided to head off and observe some more marine life before it was time to head back. I stuck relatively near the reef, and saw many different kinds of fish - Sargent Majors, Burrito Grunts, Galapagos Seabreams, Black Stripes Salemas, Mullet, and others, not to mention an Eagle Ray, Peruvian Torpedo Ray and more. Soon Maxwell had joined me, saying he was on a quest to find a shark, so we set off together.
Pretty soon, though, another sea lion had joined us, and started playing chicken with us. It would swim really fast toward me opening his mouth as he came really close, and I'd swim fast toward him, and at the last moment I'd swerve. Fun, but nerve wracking at the same time. We did this several then Max spots a shark and we go after it. It was a pretty big shark-5 or 6 feet long. We swam near it a bit while it was swimming back and forth, but both got spooked at the same time, and let it swim off. I don't care how harmless a particular breed of shark is, my heart rate will still go up being that close to it!
The sea lion stuck around and continued playing with us, following us back to the boat when it was time to head back. In fact we spotted a giant manta ray, and were pointing at it. The sea lion then swam up to it and looked like it wanted to take a bite out of the manta ray's tail. Yikes! We made it all the way back to the boat, with the sea lion still at our side. He then spotted a buddy, and swam off to play with him. Perfect timing, and the perfect cap to our snorkeling adventures.
We returned to the hotel for dinner and a rousing game of "Hot Seat". It reminded me a lot of "Catch Phrase" which we used to play at Club Getaway on trapeze weekends. We were also treated to a silly dance that Kai and Ronn performed to break the news to us that we had another early wake-up the next day, to catch the boat to Baltra, in order to catch a plane to the mainland.
The rest of our group soon joined us and started eating their lunch. Or should I say their first lunch. Backroads is famous for always providing their guests with food and ensuring that we are never hungry. Despite the extremely high activity level each day, I tend to gain weight on these trips!
A quick nature's baño break later, and we were off.
Amit mentioned as she's reading over my shoulder that she overhead Ronn say to Kai that she would have to break the bad news to us that we wouldn't be able to do the entire hike and get back in time. She did say that to us when we were sitting under the Jaboncillo tree, but our group, being who we were decided to double time it and prove her wrong.
Marcos, the Red Mangrove guide led the way. He was a much faster walker than Omar, the nature guide, maybe because his legs were so long. Soon, the terrain change from dirt road to volcanic rock and gravel. The temperature was at least 20 degrees hotter than the start. We were walking along at a pretty fast clip, jumping from rock to rock, and even jogging a bit on occasion. We passed a group returning from Volcan Chica who said to us "turn back now!" then another couple of people who asked us whether we were required to have a guide with us. A few minutes later, we stopped, overlooking a gorgeous view. Omar looked at the time - 12:20. We made it to the original turn around point in less time than they estimated it would take us to get to the closer one. After photo taking by all, it was time to head back.
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| The crew who made it to Volcan Chica |
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| A quick rest before heading back |
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| Priscilla, our Nature Guide, and Marcos of Red Mangrove |
(If I had many photos of the next part, I'd split this day in 2, like Harry Potter #7 or Twilight: Breaking Dawn! I was to busy experiencing to photograph, however.)
On our return to the hotel, we quickly gathered our suit suits, and prepared to meet up at 4. Instead of coming along to bird watch, the Franks decided to stay back at the hotel with the kids. This meant that both Kai and Ronn joined those of us who wanted to snorkel. We set out on the boat, and Omar asked us what we wanted to do. Peter and Nan wanted to play with sea lions while Maxwell and I wanted to spot a white-tipped reef shark. Omar settled on a spot, we quickly suited up and jumped into the water. Within 5 minutes, Omar had pointed out a white-tipped reef shark to me, and shortly thereafter, he found us a sea lion to play with. This little guy was remarkably playful! He flipped and twisted with us in the water, playing everyone. I tried imitating what the sea lion was doing, and he seemed to enjoy that.
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| More Penguins and and Iguana |
Pretty soon, though, another sea lion had joined us, and started playing chicken with us. It would swim really fast toward me opening his mouth as he came really close, and I'd swim fast toward him, and at the last moment I'd swerve. Fun, but nerve wracking at the same time. We did this several then Max spots a shark and we go after it. It was a pretty big shark-5 or 6 feet long. We swam near it a bit while it was swimming back and forth, but both got spooked at the same time, and let it swim off. I don't care how harmless a particular breed of shark is, my heart rate will still go up being that close to it!
The sea lion stuck around and continued playing with us, following us back to the boat when it was time to head back. In fact we spotted a giant manta ray, and were pointing at it. The sea lion then swam up to it and looked like it wanted to take a bite out of the manta ray's tail. Yikes! We made it all the way back to the boat, with the sea lion still at our side. He then spotted a buddy, and swam off to play with him. Perfect timing, and the perfect cap to our snorkeling adventures.
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| After our last snorkeling session |
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