(This
final section of the trip log
includes our one actual cruise day: snorkeling and then shore
exploration of Floreana Island.)
Monday January 13
it's a tiny cabin but enough
room for us; the bed was fairly comfortable - it was only "full" sized but we can deal with
that. Over my side (by the wall) there was about a 6-8" shelf
over the bed - it made good use of the space but I had to be careful
sitting up! Breakfast was served family style in the "kitchen"
area at 7, then we went out to snorkle.
The shortie wet suits
that were provided were fine and plenty warm enough; John and I both
found flippers that fit. My full-face snorkle mask worked
perfectly! Ceci knew I was a novice so she got a life
ring and told me to just hold the ring and let her pull me around so
that this first time I could
concentrate on breathing and just enjoying it rather than worrying about
where I was going. So I also didn't bring my underwater camera
this time, thinking there would be plenty of times later on to get
pictures. It
was an amazing experience so I have borrowed some of Katie's photos to
illustrate! There were loads of sea turtles (left), a white
tipped reef shark (I admit I didn't actually
see the shark but had to share it anyway). Below are (left to
right) Mexican hogfish, a blue-chin parrot fish and a King
Angelfish. Behind the Angelfish, in gray with a yellow tail, is a
Razor Surgeonfish and to the right is a smaller, blue and gold
snapper. The little orange-colored ones Katie thinks are Blacktip
Cardinalfish. It was very fun but also
exhausting for those of us not used to it.
The good news is that my
scopalamine patch is
doing its job – no
seasickness at all. The bad news is that it does come with some
side effects. The obvious one is dry mouth - it's very annoying
but not debilitating. However, I'm having trouble keeping
anything in my brain – consistently getting times and places messed up;
losing stuff
in the
cabin which then wastes time hunting it up. John and Katie are
pretty sure I have to get rid of the patch! Turns out that, since
today was our only day at sea, that became a moot point but something
to remember for another time.
After snorkeling we
changed out of the wet suits and took the pangas around Floreana to see
what we could see. We did see lots of creatures without even
leaving the boats. The most common sitings - I think anywhere in
the Galapags - are the sally lightfoot crabs (left) and the iguanas,
who often seem to be playing "King of the Hill." This side of the
island apparently was used as a sea lion nursery and playground.
Below are a couple of adolescents playing, one who seemed to be posing
for us and then a mom and pup who had just climbed out of the water
onto the rocks.
In that same area was a
Magnificent Frigate nesting site - see a female sitting on a branch
keeping an eye on her nest. Also a lava heron (aka Galapagos
Heron) - seen on the lava rocks along many of the islands - and a lone
flamingo we spotted (maybe escaping the family - see more below).
On
the left you can see Ceci standing at the head of the second panga,
trying to explain to us where we were going and what we were seeing -
she was very good at balancing on the end of a rocking panga! We
were heading to a wet-landing site in Post Office Bay. It was
just a very short walk from the beach to the site of the "Post
Office." Since the 1700's there has been a "mail barrel" at Post
Office Bay (I suspect not the same one that whole time). Whalers
who were at sea for years would leave messages in the barrel and others
who stopped on their way "home" would pick up any that were addressed
in that direction and try to deliver them. That system is still
operating today - in fact I left a postcard for myself and it arrived
at my house 3.5 weeks later! One of the women in our group
lives in NYC and hand delivered a card addressed to someone in Queens - it
was from her grandparents and she was pretty surprised to be receiving
it from a stranger!
Our last stop was at another beach landing on Floreana Island (I think Punta Cormorant). A
brief hike inland took us to a peaceful lagoon where we could observe a
flamingo nesting
site and also some black necked stilts wading about. Among the
flamingos, particularly if you enlarge the picture, you can see several
white, fluffy chicks (one easy to spot on the right side and two others
in the back towards the left of the group).
When we got back to our
landing site, Ceci talked to us a bit about the ecology of the area and
then we walked a short way down the beach to where there was a
Blue-footed Booby nest up on the dune. We didn't get great
pictures since we were below on the beach, but we did see both a youth
(with just a bit of blue on the bill) and an adult (you can clearly see
the blue legs and blue bill), who pretty much ignored us (which is
good). Out in the ocean, north of Floreana, we could see the Mary
Anne waiting patiently for our return. We never did get to see
the sails up - they had been taken down a few weeks earlier for
cleaning and repairs.
We
headed back to the ship for lunch which was pasta with
various sauces we could choose from,
salad, veggies and yummy chocolate ice cream in passion fruit
sauce. The picture was taken while we waited to be served!
If we'd really had 9 days on that boat we no doubt would have gained
weight even with all the hiking and snorkeling! (Ceci and I were
both wearing our Wilderness Travel t-shirts.)
Most of the
group went back out after lunch to do another snorkle at Devil's
Crown. Had we known that was our last chance, we would have,
too! But being our first day we were pretty worn out and chose to
just rest that afternoon.
Unfortunately, our routine
"7 pm update" just before supper was that the rest of the cruise was
being cancelled! They were unable to repair the engine so were
having to take it out of service for a month to overhaul it. So
sad! But we all understand that it was a safety issue - at that point we were
still fairly close to Santa Cruz, but the next week would take us much
further afield. So it was not only that they couldn't keep all of the equipment running -
A/C, kitchen, motor, etc. - but also it could pose a danger if we were stranded far from an inhabited island.
So after supper we had to
pack up and go back into Santa Cruz where we stayed at the Solymar
again. (At the right is an iguana flopped on the wall in front of
the hotel on Tuesday morning - our final "typical wildlife"
siting of the Galapagos.) After breakfast the next morning we
were shuttled to the airport and flown to Guayaquil where we spent much
of the day at Hotel Oro Verde arranging our return travel plans. Tuesday night we
had a final "farewell dinner" at the hotel, then a 3 AM shuttle to the
airport Wednesday morning.
We
couldn't reproduce the nice schedule we
had originally arranged for our return, so we ended up spending 8 hours
in the Miami airport and were very tired by the time we got back to
Minneapolis close to midnight. There were lots of storm warnings
out for the midwest for the weekend, so we drove back home Thurday the
16th.
Final note: I must reiterate (from the Galapagos Index page)
that Wilderness
Travel took full responsibility for the interruption, even though it
was clearly not their "fault." (They don't own the ship - they just lease it for tours.) They reimbursed us for the FULL
amount we paid them and also repaid us for the full plane fare,
including the change fees. They
also offered a generous discount if we
choose to join them on another trip. I hope we can do that. We had emails from the
WT President, and Thursday morning had a call from the General Manager
offering more apologies. The trip was a disappointment, but they really
came through with the customer service and trying to make the change as
smooth as possible - housing us, feeding us, helping with rearranging
our flights home. Huge thanks and kudos to Ceci (Cecibel
Guerrero) who really
stepped up and was a terrific person to deal with
something like that - she kept us informed at every step, found things
for us to do even when "stranded" on Santa Cruz and was a really
awesome leader!
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