Saying Good-Bye

Heading back to the mainland with the Backroads group was a bittersweet experience. We had the fun of one more early wake-up,

Good-bye Chiva!

Goodbye Isabella!

a last boat ride,

Our fearless leaders

and an airplane trip where we had a full-sized plane to ourselves for the hop over from Guayaquil to Quito. 

NOT our plane - our flight was delayed by an hour and a half

Phone booths!

Once back at the hotel, we viewed the sideshow that Ronn had put together of the trip, and relived the memories of all we had done together. We then wished a fond farewell to our guides.

The three families met for dinner (which extended to a two and a half hour meal due to the slowness of the kitchen - so glad we could afford to give that much time!), said goodbye to each other, with promises to write.

I can't wait to start planning our next adventure!

ps. While reading the drafts of these posts in the Galapagos (written primarily on plane and boat trips), 

Amit said to me "what's the point of writing your blog? You know that no one reads it.". I suppose the irony of her clamoring to read the blog even as I'm typing did not quite register.

While I don't have the skills to capture the richness of experiences either in words or in pictures, the act of writing this blog, and matching photos to words helps to memorialize those moments in my memories as well as in cyberspace. It's fun for me to go back and reminisce as I read past posts, and I do hope that my girls avail themselves of the opportunity to do so as well.

Beyond that, if someone else is entertained or benefits from these scribbles about our experiences, all the better.

Galapagos Day 4 - Saving the Best For Last

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. 

At the rim of Sierra Negra

After a quick snack, the kids and anyone else who wanted to head back did. 

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.

The crew who made it to Volcan Chica

A quick rest before heading back

Priscilla, our Nature Guide, and Marcos of Red Mangrove

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.

More Penguins and and Iguana

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.

After our  last snorkeling session

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.

Galapagos Day 3 - Floreana and Isabela

Floreana Marine Iguana

Thanks to the local rooster, I was up at 5:30, an hour ahead of my alarm clock, so I took the time to write a bit on this blog, get dressed and have most of the luggage packed up. Because I made the mistake of thinking one duffle would be enough for the three of us on the Galapagos, the bag was stuffed to the hilt, and we were always trying to find one more corner to fit in a forgotten item.

View outside our room in Floreana

We had a quick breakfast, then got in the Chiva to go up highlands to visit a Giant Tortoise reserve, the fresh water spring which was the only source of fresh water on Floreana, and the caves where the first families stayed when they first came to the island.

 Priscilla told us the story of the Baroness (who was not a very nice woman) and her three lovers. After annoying the other two families on the island by repeatedly stealing their food and bathing in the communal water container (which was used for drinking and cooking), she "disappeared" but legend has it that people still see her ghost in the hills.

On that note, we got back in the Chiva, Yarden and Ricky on the roof, and headed back to our cabins to quickly collect our backs before hopping onto another high-speed boat to our final home in the Galapagos, Isabela Island.

Napping and blogging

Sea Turtles copulating

After settling in a bit and having lunch, we hopped on a small boat and headed out to Tintoreros, a small island preserve that sea lions, and marine iguanas called their home, and the adjoining channel where white-tipped reef sharks rested when they weren't feeding. We saw not only the sharks, but also many sea turtles and a giant manta ray in the channel,

White-tipped Reef Sharks

Sea turtle, Manta Ray and Shark

Outgrown crab shell

hundreds of marine iguanas one on top of the other,

and males declaring their territories to one another, and even two getting into a bit of a tussle over it.

We marveled over the cuteness of month-old sleepy sea lion cubs, that still weren't very coordinated, and we're reluctant to leave them.

Knowing, however, that our next stop was some more snorkelling, we got it together and headed out.

On the way to Tintoreros we also spotted blue footed boobies, Galapagos penguins, oyster catchers, and other birds. I will admit, I really am not of a bird person due to a semi-traumatic incident when I was a kid, so I did not respond as enthusiastically to the birds as I did to the other wildlife we have been seeing.

Penguins!

More Penguins!

Oyster Catcher

We had been really spoiled in our past two snorkel expeditions, and comparatively ,this one as a little disappointing. Sure, we saw sea turtles and rays, ho hum. (no not really, they are magical no matter how many times I swim with them), but the current was strong, and the water quite chilly. I struggled with my snorkel and mask quite a bit, but eventually figured out ho to deal with the slight leakage. When we got back, we heard that a sea lion had stopped by and played with a bunch of people. How exciting!

Before dinner, we got a quick mixology lesson, and a ceviche making lesson. Unlike Peruvian ceviche, the protein (fish or shellfish) in Ecuadorian ceviche is precooked instead of allowing the acid to do all the work. According to the chef, the following ingredients are always present in Ecuadorian ceviche: ketchup, mustard, oil, lemon/lime juice, onion, green pepper, yellow pepper, and cilantro. We were told that it is typically served with plantain chips, popcorn, fried corn kernels, sweet potato or rice. After lots of nibbling on ceviche, we we in to dinner.