Charles Darwin's Galapagos Islands

One of the worlds natural wonders, the Galapagos Islands had so much to show case and each island had their own beauty. To snorkel with sea lions, green turtles and reef sharks it was an achievement for myself and an experience you will not get anywhere else. I was lucky enough to do this trip with Amy, a friend for many years and we had an amazing time.

TO CATCH A ZODIAC, A VAN, A FERRY, A BUS AND A PLANE-THIS IS GOODBYE GALAPAGOS

WEATHER: Beautiful and 23C – of course we are leaving!

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The plane was on time for my connection to Lima

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Saying goodbye to Amy

BUYS OF THE DAY: New scarf to replace the one I left in the Seychelles

WORD OF THE DAY: Get this bird in the air – I’m starving – Amy ready to chew her arm off

Today was departure day.  It was a big travel day for me as well.  But as it is my last airline day for the next 5 months, I am happy to just suck it all up.  Starting the day at 5.30am and my flight is due into Lima at 11pm plus then getting to the hotel, I will be lucky to be in bed before 1am.  Yeah a BIG day ahead.

One thing that I will not miss is the beds on the La Pinta.  Amy and I both had singles, but I have to say they aren’t the widest beds in the world.  You cannot do a full roll or flip over without having to shimmy shimmy to be able to do it, they are super skinny beds and I think I kept waking every time I went for the flip in the fear that I would roll out of bed.  The other thing is the beds are positioned in the cabin, when we hit rough seas that we roll from side to side.  On the Expedition the beds were positioned that when rough seas hit we rolled from head to foot, which was more soothing (like a baby) and you didn’t feel like you were going to get rocked out of bed.  So that’s my rant on the beds.  Other than that they were quite comfortable.

Our bags had to be out at 6.15am, this wasn’t an issue for Aimes and I as we had packed last night, after showering and changing we were at breakfast at 6.30am having a potter of a time till we found out at 7am that we were leaving 15 minutes early at 7am to give us some extra time at the land tortoises.  Luckily we were all packed; I just had to squeeze in my laptop and charger, brush my teeth, stopping in at the restaurant for some final goodbyes then into the zodiac at 7.08am.  Not too bad at all. 

So our last ride in the zodiac was back to Santa Cruz.  Our bags had gone ahead of us in another zodiac, so we just had with us our hand luggage for the 15 minute ride.  We had some time to kill, as the ship was getting relocated around to another bay, so we had to get off, so keep us busy they were driving us the 35 minutes to the tortoise farm, where Amy and I had been last week.  So unless we stayed at the jetty with a small café, we decided to for the ride and take another gander at these amazing creatures.  The farm is located in the Highlands, so the weather at 600m wasn’t that great and hold onto your hats I didn’t take a single photo, so you will be relieved that you won’t have to sift through tortoise photos for the second time.  We got around 40 minutes at the farm and it was a little sad that we had been there already, as the other 8 people were having their ‘wow’ moment and we were yawn yawn been there done that, but we didn’t let on and ruin it for them, but that was the 3^rd problem with us starting in Balta, we doubled up on an excursion.  I know it’s all to do with itineraries and what they are allowed to do by the National Parks, but it is still a little sucky.

So we travelled back the 35 minutes back to the small pier, where we had to catch the 10 minute ferry to the other side and literally leave Santa Cruz Island and now back on the non-populated Baltra Island and heading to the airport on the islands bus for the 10 minute ride.  Our flight was at midday, and we arrived at the airport at 9.30am.  This is the busiest part of the day for the airport, as they have 3 flights arrive within 40 minutes of each other with LAN, Aero Gal and TAME and then they all turn around and depart within 40 minutes of each other.  So the airport was a hive of activity and someone entrepreneur was smart and they have a row of souvenir shops with people making last minute purchases at double the price you pay on the mainland.  Smart people.  They also had some ‘normal’ shops and there is a shop called Lonesome George’ where they produce high quality shirts that Lada had purchased when her bag went missing on their arrival.  So Amy and I were keen to get a shirt from there.  They were really cool shirts, but they were 47USD a pop!  I have to buy clothes that fit me as I see them, and sometimes if I have to pay a premium then so be it.  I am not going to have the luxury of getting a new set of clothes in London on this trip, so I sucked it up and bought 2 shirts and one off the sale table for 27USD.  I am still on budget to help justify paying 122USD for 3 t-shirts, but they are really nice to boot!!!

This was the most stressful part of ALL my 37 flights.  I NEEDED them to all run, they could be late, I had a 4 hour window in Quito, but they had to fly.  South American airlines are notorious for running late and to the beat of their own drum, so I was a little apprehensive and even after I was sitting on the plane I wasn’t happy till; we were actually in the air.  I have seen many a flight delayed and cancelled even after you are all strapped in and ready to go!  All flights fly via Guayaquil, so I wasn’t home and hose till those wheels touched down in Quito 4 hours later.  We were on an Airbus A319 with a seating configuration of 3x3 and the plane was packed.  We saw people on the flight that we flew over with a week ago and we all look a little browner and happy.  The flight time to Guayaquil was 1 hour and 35 minutes, with 45 minutes on the ground and then only 35 minutes further to Quito arriving in at 4pm winding out watched forward an hour?  After collecting our bags, there was someone from Metropolitan Travel to transfer me to the international airport which was laughable as it was only a 2 minute walk, but nice of them all the same. 

This is where Amy and I said our goodbyes.  Amy, you were an awesome travel buddy.  We think alike, we even look like sisters (according to more than one person on the trip) and we really are on the same page with a lot of things in love, life and work.  I am going to miss you terribly; it was AWESOME to have familiar face and true friend to share this experience with.  Are you sure you can’t come further on my trip with me?  Are you sure?  Anyway safe travels to you for your extra week in Ecuador and I will be seeing you in June/July next year for our trip to Ottawa and Montreal.  Here we can catch up with Shauna and also my Contiki husbands Marc and Andrew.    

Before heading through the security checkpoint I found a post office where I was able to get my Ecuador stamp and post a letter to Ethiopia.  I wasn’t too concerned about the stamp for my Globetrotters book as I am back in Ecuador in April next year, but no time like the present, so it was good to get that done.  I didn’t have my book on me for the Galapagos, so I missed out on the ink stamp there, but I did buy some limited edition lick lick stamps, so I will be able to use one of those, so I am a happy camper.

As I was checking in 4 hours early, I wasn’t sure if they would let me, so I joined the queue anyway and they had 2 ladies coming around with a clipboard checking your name off a list.  Geez I hope my name is on there as this particular flight has changed 3 times since I left home, not all me I might add.  But I was there and they left me in the line, so it was good that I will be able to drop my bag and head straight into departures instead of killing time at check-in.  I didn’t get to see how heavy my bag was, as they whipped it on and off pretty quick but nothing was said, so with a smile and a window seat boarding pass in my hand, I can’t believe that this is my last flight for 5 months.  I now don’t have any flights booked at all.  It feels a little scary and liberating all at the same time.  This is my 38^th international flight in 9 months.  I have travelled approximately 74,543 miles as the crow flies, which is about 119,965 km!  To put that into perspective I am 35km just short of being about to travel around the world 3 times based on km travelled.  I did look at the moon stats but it is approximately 420,000km to the moon, so I wouldn't even get halfway there - as impressive as that would have looked!

I will pass through and visit approximately 49 airports and travel on 19 airlines - some of which I hadn’t even heard of.  But in some regions it was the only way to get there.  That life motto life is just too short comes into play in these instances!!!  In saying that I should start looking at booking my Easter Island component for May next year, you may laugh, but it will be here before you know it.  Look how fast this year has gone already!

Considering how much air traffic passes through Quito International, the airport is quite small with only 4 gates.  As I was so early I had a wander around, that took 10 minutes, and then decided I should have something to eat, as I am sure LAN will only serve me a ham and cheese roll.  So I had Subway, a foot long club, it was the only thing I understood on the menu without too much hand gesturing, a drink and a packet of crisps for the cool total of 15USD.  Where I sat to eat my massive dinner, I could see the departure screen and I couldn’t help but keep looking to make sure my flight still had the ‘still on time’ status.  Thankfully it didn’t change and 8.10pm we were called and started boarding my flight to Lima.  The start of my new adventure, meeting new people, and not just a 3 week jaunt, I maybe with some of these people for 5 months, depending on how far people are going.  Even if they are just doing the first component, that is 39 days long.  That’s just over 6 weeks, which can be a long time if you don’t all get along.  Bye bye Amy, bye bye Quito….  I will be back.

The flight from Quito to Lima was 2 hour and 45 minutes.  I should have been tired enough to sleep, but I wasn’t and I was lucky enough to be in an exit row with a seat spare next to me, again.  So I decided I should try and blog to try and keep on top of it all.  Nicola said it was like a full time job, and I guess she is sort of right.  I still enjoy writing it, getting a kick that I have had over 21,000 people click on my site  and I will look forward to the day that I will be able to get it printed and bound and have the time to re-read my journey.  That would be kind of cool to just suck up what I did do and take the time to relive my memories.

So my flight arrived in at 10.50pm along with what looked like another 50 planes.  Immigration was a nightmare.  They have 2 sides to pick from, and it was impossible to see which one was the shortest, so eeeny meeny miney mo – I took the right.  From here it was one queue to the top and then you had to pick another line for the run to the immigration guy.  So I chose the middle man, they all looked the same, people wise and then I looked at the 2 queues beside me to mark a person that was the same as me and to see who makes it through first.  Well I picked the wrong line.  Couldn’t see that one coming.  There was an issue with the passenger and the guy had to leave his little box…. No no no where are you going….come back……… so our line was stalled for around 10 minutes as I watched my 2 queue counterparts move up and finally get processed and through the other side as I was still in line.  I hate that.  Finally our guy was back, we were stamped and though.  The upside my bag was already on the carousel and with a free trolley, I had to them join a queue a mile long to get our bags checked by customs.  They have a cute system.  Once you make it to the top of the line, you give the guy your form, you have to press a button that will flash up green, and you are good to go  straight through or red and you had to go to the left and get your bag checked.  As I pressed the button I was praying for my travel god, one more time to come through and flash me a green light, which I got and I was home and hosed.  Welcome to Peru.  I made it, no problems, no delays and finally no stress. 

Well there was one more hurdle, was my transfer waiting for me?  Lima’s International airport looks busy, and that is just based on the time I finally emerged at 11.35pm and with the amount of signs that were being held up.  I am sure I look like a goose as you try and scan them all looking for your name or Tucans brand on a board.  Seriously there would have been over 100 people holding up signs.  I finally found my little dude at the back with my name and Tucan.  It may as have been flashing and lit I was that relived to see it!  Awesome!!!

The transfer from the airport to the hotel only took 20 minutes.  There was hardly any traffic on the roads once we got out of the airport traffic getting me to the hotel just before 12.30am.  I have now been on the move for 19 hours and I am still feeling not too bad.  From waking up at 5.50am this morning to getting to my room at 12.30am.  I checked the message board on the way to my room, with 3 names on the welcome letter; at least I know there are 3 newbies and finding the start time for 6.30am!!  Holy moly!!!!  My roomy Mala was already in bed, so I used my mobile phone for light, unpacked my PJ’s, which were on top purely for this reason and was in bed by 12.45am.  There was a knock at the door, which I answered, and it was a message to call Mark, our tour leader, to check in that I had actually arrived, doubled checked that the departure time tomorrow was 6.30am and then tried to get some sleep.

So I am now on the start of my mammoth 154 day tour of South America. 

Back into an overland truck tomorrow. 

Back into tents for some of the trip.

Back into land travel and no more flights BUT no having back Dave, Lisa, Manu and Sean.

Tomorrow I meet the new group.  Please please let them be nice.  Most of them have already been on tour for 16 days, so let’s hope that they aren’t too clicky already.  I also missed the meeting this evening, which I hate doing, but given all the circumstances I am just glad that I am here.  The other thought I had while trying to get to sleep was the seating on the truck.  I know what we were like with the Africa overland, we were hell bent on getting the middle seats and not the front ones due to the cool air from the cab to the truck.  But there is nothing I can do about that, as they would already have ‘their’ seats, so I will just fit in where I can.

Goodnight from Lima – Peru.

AN ERUPTION OF ANIMALS ON OUR LAST DAY

WEATHER: Hot 25C all day and sunny!!!

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Choosing not to kill ‘bitter old woman’

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not killing ‘bitter old woman’

WORD OF THE DAY: Indigenous duck

Is there such thing as birthday blues?  I am still getting Facebook messages and now have 364 days till my next birthday.  I don’t know why people don’t like having birthdays.  Maybe my tune will change when I hit 80 or maybe 90.  I can’t see it happening before then!

Today was volcano day.  We were walking on them, walking on lava, surround by them and awed by them all at the same time.  Punta Moreno and Espinoza are some of the youngest islands in the Galapagos Archipelago at round 300,000 years old.  Earlier in the week we were visiting islands that were over 4 million years old.  So we had an early start this morning as Carlos wanted to get us on to Punta Moreno early before it got too hot.  It is on the southwestern side of Isabela. From here there is a spectacular view of the Alcedo, Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul volcanoes. Here there are a number of lagoons with different kinds of birds such as frigate birds, flamingos and pelicans.  Punta Moreno has a desolate and pristine landscape of very impressive black lava flows with a unique system of brackish lagoons that are a magnet for wildlife.  This newly opened visitors site offers Darwin’s finches, Galapagos doves, penguins, blue-footed boobies, mockingbirds and flightless cormorants.  There is extraordinary and unusual vegetation here.

So our first landing was Punta Morena.  It was a dry landing, but on the edges of 300,000 year old lava and it was quite a climb out of the zodiac.  One lady couldn’t handle the steepness and unevenness of the landing, so she got a ride around in the zodiac while we completed the walk. 

The lava was really tough on people’s shoes and if they weren’t good quality the soles were really getting cut up.  The sound of the loose lava when we walked on it sounded like we were walking on broken plates.  I can see why they wanted to get us out here early, as the lava is black and there was no shade at all and you really had to concentrate where you were walking over the lava as there was path markings to follow but no path made, you just had to choose the best route to get you over without falling down crevasses or holes.  It was a challenging walk for us, so we have to give credit to the oldies that did the walk.  The ship had walking sticks that you could use for any of the walks, so this helped them and I am not sure if they could have done this walk without them.  But they got along, no complaints and just kept walking and taking their time to complete it all.  There was one duck that only had on Lacoste shoes, so they weren’t even proper walking shoes the poor dear.  Kudos to every single one of them I say!

¾ of the way through the walk Amy got a massive migraine, so when we got to the other side of the island, she was shuttle directly back to the ship as we got zodiac-ed around some of the small pools of the island.  This was probably the best panga ride we had to date.  Our mission was to find some penguins, where apparently 10-20 are found here out of the 2,000 that reside in the Galapagos and only after 3 minutes we found out first gut on his own on some rocks.  Not far from him were the BIGGEST iguana’s we have seen all trip and then further down the rocks was a sea lion and some flightless cormorants!  What a bevy of animal sightings and we also saw another group of about 8 penguins lazing around, all in different states of shedding their ‘Galapagos winter’ coats.  In between all that there were Green sea turtles poking their heads up as we motored around.  It was an amazing 45 minutes of wildlife viewing and got a bunch of photos that had all four species of Galapagos animals in the one shot.  I am sure I have the ‘money shot’ or the ‘Nat Geo’ shot. 

So it was back to the ship.  We have some ground to cover today as we are on the west side of the Islands, heading north and for our very last landing of the whole trip at Punta Espinoza in the afternoon.  It was nice to have 2 hours in the morning free to do whatever.  I was going to start packing my stuff that was spread from one end of the cabin to the other, our cabin steward Angel must have thought I was a messy bugger!!!!  But as Amy was sleeping to shake the migraine, and any excuse to put it off a little longer, I sat up in the lounge, updating my blog and trying to spot whales which would be highly likely in this part of the islands.  I have been unsuccessful in being able to upload my pictures to Facebook for Antarctica and Galapagos, but I have a feeling that could be a Facebook uploader problem and it is driving me nuts.  I have probably over 3,000 photos to upload!  I know right, it’s gonna take me ages if I don’t keep up with it.  I went out on the bow just before we left Punta Moreno, and it felt a little like the Expedition from Antarctic.  Man that was such a good trip, but seem like a distant memory now, and it was only 9 days ago.  Holy schmokes!  

We arrived into Punta Espinoza on Fernandina Island at 2pm. Uplifting and lava flows issuing from the massive domed cone of Volcano La Cumbre have formed Fernandina the most volcanically active island in the Galapagos. Punta Espinosa is a jagged promontory of cracked and eroded lava, but the name could also refer to the hundreds of spiny marine iguanas that drape the rocks. Pristine nature under an active volcano and a highlight of the cruise so far.  Flightless cormorants, Galapagos penguins, Galapagos sea lions, waders and the world's largest colony of marine iguanas thrive on the edge of a barren lava flow. Fine stands of mangroves support yellow warblers, Darwin finches, large billed flycatchers, Galapagos hawks and nesting brown pelicans. There are plenty of green sea turtles and marine iguanas underwater and shallow lagoons attract sea turtles more sea lions, fish and rays.  Vegetation includes these funky looking cacti called lava cactus and pahoehoe lava.   The immense shield of Fernandina volcano provides an impressive backdrop for Punta Espinosa, a narrow spit of sand and lava rock extending from the base of the volcano into the sea. the harshness of the recently formed landscape of Fernandina's slopes can be appreciated by taking the trail inland to the edge of a large lava flow.

We got a zodiac run into a dry landing and there was a sea lion sitting in the small concrete pier, stopping us from coming in.  We still drove straight in and I think he got the message as he slinked into the mangroves to let us disembark the boat.  Well after the last person was off, the big Argentinian guy walked to the end of the small pier and the sea lion jumped back up and had him cornered between it and the water.  It was so funny and made a great photo opportunity; before the seal looked like had had his laugh and slinked back into the sea again to let him back to dry land.  Well the first thing we see are my favorite animals the marine iguana – NOT.  These things are SO So U-G-L-Y!!!!!  Really they are and I have mentioned before they give the Wildebeest in Africa a good run for their money in the UGLIEST thing in the world call.  Really.  To be honest they also scare me, they are that ugly, they spit and these ones seem to be massive.  They don’t give a hoot that we are walking within 40cm of them as they cover the walking path and tracks everywhere we have gone, but they really give me the heebie geebies.

The Marine Iguana is an iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. The Iguana can dive over 10m into the water. It has spread to all the islands in the archipelago, and is sometimes called the Galapagos Marine Iguana. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove beaches.

On his visit to the islands, Charles Darwin was revolted by the animals' appearance, writing:

The black Lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large (2-3 ft), disgusting clumsy Lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'. They assuredly well become the land they inhabit.

This island is also made up of old lava, but wasn’t on mass as Punta Moreno.  There was a Blydes whale skeleton that was on show for us to see what a ‘small whale’ looked like at 6m long.  It was missing its skull, but someone had replaced it with a dolphin’s skull which looked a little out of place.  We were able to touch the skeleton and I handled one of the spinal disks and it was light as a feather and as big as a bread plate, it was pretty big. 

This walk was a combination of lava and beach walking.  The beach was a stunning white beach, but made up of all broken shells that had busted up over the volcanic rocks.  That stuff is pretty nasty and I would hate to fall over on the stuff that is for sure.  We found some more Iguana, and because they are marine iguana’s they are dark in colour and with the black volcanic rock you really have to watch where you are walking as they are so well camouflaged that you could easily step on one if you let your guard down, which I did twice and nearly DID step on some.  Thanks to Amy she saved me a few times as well.  I would hate to see the scene had I actually stood on one.  Their claws/talons are massive and I am sure they could do some serious damage.  This group of iguana seemed to be more energetic than ones we have seen previously in the week so there were lot of them moving and walking around, I felt like I was watching my back the whole time!!  Yick, they really are a horrible animal.

So the walk continued and we were back on the beach.  We had to stay to the left of the path markers as the iguanas had eggs buried in the sand and we didn’t want to disturb their nests, damn right about that!  We were watching a large iguana that was getting swept off some rocks from the waves crashing in to the beach, where he decided to give up and swim to shore.  To actually see this ugly animal swimming was fascinating and he looked a little like a snake as he swished his tale in the water to help him move.  Well he was just about to the beach when Carlos came in behind me and grabbed my left calf like a jaw and I have to say I squealed like mad hog, but managed to keep all the expletives I had in my head right there and chased him half way down the beach for a slap.  My heart was in my mouth, it scared the hell out of me, but it gave Carlos and Amy a great ol’ laugh. Yeah hardy har har guys.  Carlos thought I would have been a better schmuck than Amy knowing how she felt about snakes.  Yeah well iguanas aren’t that far off my hate list either buster.  What a scare!!!

Moving further along the beach we came across a ‘hord’ of iguanas.  That’s their official collective noun.  A hord.  There would have been 100+ of them all lazing around, on top of each other, next to each other, in pairs, triples singles you name it they were doing it.  It was disgusting and fascinating all at the same time.  As ugly as they are it made for some great photos with a mass posse.  Seriously, imagine if they all had decided to move at the same time – ugh I hate to even think the thought. 

There were sea lions playing and frolicking in the small pools as we walked to the point of the island to see some more wildlife.  I think after the seals, the most photographed animal I have taken is the Sally Lightfoot crabs.  These crustaceans are so pretty with colours of blue, orange, yellow and reds, they make for some great close up photos.  There were hundreds of them on the rocky point, and we had to make sure that we weren’t going to step on any of them as well, but they are a bit more skitterish than the iguana’s and generally move out the way before it even becomes an issue!  There were also more sea lions basking on the rocks and like all the other guys we have met, they were pretty non plusses without arrival and presence.  I just can’t stop taking photos of them, they are so cute.  Amy can’t believe I am still snapping photos after 7 days of seeing these guys and she stopped on day 2, but they all look so different and it’s better to have too many than not enough – right……..  We also did a photo swap.  I have copied Amy’s 536 photos and I copied my 1567 photos for her and that number already has the dud’s already removed.  Surely I didn’t take that many more of seals than Aimes?   

We easily could have spent another our here walking around and taking in the surrounds with massive volcanoes, swimming sea lions, sunning sea lions, crystal blue waters, iguana’s, sally lightfoots and green turtles popping their heads up now and then.  But with the tide coming in fast, we had to high tail it back to the waiting zodiac and get back to the ship.  The Captain was getting that worried/frustrated that he even sounded the ships horn as we pulled out of the little pier coming back.  The water had also got a little rougher, so maybe the weather was about to change as well?  Either way, we were on our way back and made it safe and sound.

Our next activity wasn’t until 6.00pm, which was an invitation to the Captains Bridge for a champagne as we crossed the equator at 0 0 0 degrees. So Amy and I spent the afternoon packing our bags.  Mine for airline travel for the last time, well for 5 months at least anyway.  That is one thing I am NOT going to miss, airports, planes and packing.  We did some hand washing and the ship has a dryer that we could use which was awesome, so I am now travelling with a brand new pack of clean clothes.  My backpack is still chocked to the brim, and I am just waiting for one of my zips to pop and then I would be up the creek.  The old girl just needs to hang on for one more day and 2 more flights.  I now have a broken top strap, a half ripped side pickup strap, a small hole developing on the bottom and I think my frame maybe starting to change shape as well.  I have to say after packing everything in, the bags seems to weigh the heaviest I think it has ever been, so I am hoping I don’t get done tomorrow for excess baggage tomorrow at Baltra Airport. 

The call came at 6pm to head to the Bridge.  It was going to be pretty cool to cross the Equator on a ship.  So we all gathered on the bridge with a champagne glass in hand.  There was a beautiful sunset happening at the same time, so I thought I would have enough time to go out and get a photo and then back inside for a photo of the ships instruments to get the 0 0 0 readings.  Well Amy and I missed it the first time around, along with a number of others, so the Cap did a U-turn, which took around 10 minutes, for us to do a countdown to get the 0 0 0 readings the second time, well when it came to 0 0 2 it skipped the reading 0 0 0 so for the last time we swung around again and got a third chance to get it.  I even changed my camera to burst mode to make sure I got it with 15 frames and I missed it again with 0 0 2……  Needless to say the Captain wasn’t going to turn the boat again, so I will just have to steal some-ones photo off Facebook, as I think I may have been the only one who didn’t get it.  Damn it.  Like the Expedition in Antarctica the La Pinta also had an open Bridge policy, which I think is quite rare in ships, so it was pretty cool to see all the gadgets and instruments that they use to navigate us safely though the islands.

Even though this is our last night and more than half of the people are leaving tomorrow, it is not classified a Captains Farewell, so no freebie drink and no slide show for our last 4 nights.  Bugger.  We will be able to see the slide show next week once it is loaded on their web site, so that bit, we will still get, but it is sucky that the ships itinerary doesn’t work for all passengers.  We were given feedback forms to fill in, which everything was an excellent.  It was very hard to fault the La Pinta, its staff and its crew.  They were all amazing and it was certainly a nice and luxurious way to see this part of the world.  We signed the guestbook, we paid our bill popped out tips into the boxes provided for staff, bar and naturalists and we were packed.  I think I will write a separate letter to Metropolitan Touring suggesting about the arrival letter for guests that come in on the ‘off’ arrival days.  Just to make us feel loved. 

Our last dinner with the ‘rowdy’ bunch was as funny as ever.  Dermot, Jane, Mike and Nicola have made wonderful dinner companions and will be missed around my eating times for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The exchange of emails and Facebook addresses we swapped and with the promise of if I was in their neighborhood to pop in next year.  Well I am not sure if they know but I will be in a position to do just that and will certainly take them up on it mid next year on my back through Europe when I finally head home, well if I head home.  We certainly had some great laughs, even if we got shushed by the bitter old woman the other night.  Stupid old bat! Her and her racist husband were the only 2 people on the cruise that Amy and I did not like one iota.

On that note, it was time for bed.  We had an early start in the morning with bag collection at 6.15am, breakfast at 6.30am and a 7.15am departure from the ship.  We said a few farewells, but hoped we would see everyone at the staggered breakfast times in the morning for the final goodbyes. 

So it another successful trip, another wonderful experience, more new friends made, more memories to lock in my travel bank and more thanks to be given to my travel gods and to my mum.  The Galapagos Islands is truly an untouched paradise, a once in a lifetime experience and something that you will not experience anywhere else in this magical world we call our home. 

So as all my other trips I would like to thank my new friends for making this experience what it was.  Life and travel is also about the people you meet as well as the destination and the things that you create with them.  So thanks guys and in no particular order:

Charles and Lotte Moore – USA

Dermot – Northern Ireland

Jane – UK

Mike – UK

Nicola – Scotland

Peter – UK

Amy – CANADA AY – old friend but you deserve a BIG thanks – love ya xx

Carlos – Ecuador

Victor – Ecuador

Antonio - Ecuador 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME – DAY 245

WEATHER: Overcast and 23C in the morning – Sunny and 23C in the afternoon

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Seeing more sharks and not totally losing it

BUMMER OF THE DAY: Camera battery dying and not getting some ‘shots’ in the afternoon

WORD OF THE DAY: I am going to finish yesterday’s blog today-for the 6^th day in a row

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MEEEEEE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

So another year passes me by.  This time last year I was ¾ of the way planning my World Odyssey.  I had moved out of my home, packed all my worldly possessions into a shipping container for at least the next 2 years, left my husband and moved in with my BEST friend and my beautiful God-daughters.  It was a busy time and I hadn’t even thought at that point where I would be spending my 37^th birthday in 2011.  So here I am in the Galapagos Islands sharing my day with Amy, a great friend I met on my Contiki tour a few years ago, and whom I try and catch up with every 12-18 months, floating around on a luxury yacht with a busy day planned ahead.  I wonder how many people can say they had their birthday in the Galapagos Islands.  Oh besides Peter, another passenger on the cruise who is enjoying his 62^nd birthday today.  Okay so at least 2 of us can say that.  What’s the chance out of 22 people that there are 2 people with the same birthday?

Amy was first to wish me a happy birthday armed with a beautiful necklace purchased from San Cristobal.  I was wondering why she kept trying to get away from me all morning while we were there.  Sneaky gal.  My Facebook messages just keep on coming in and I got an email from my best friend Shelly with messages from my god-daughters and that she had cooked my favorite foods and quote “You have 37 little Banana Cakes with Candles........  37 mini quiches..... and 37 Jam Donuts waiting at the CAXTON” Apparently Shane couldn’t wait for my birthday to come around to help consume my birthday feast.  So I really have got 2 days of birthday wishes due to the time zones and I am loving it.  So BIG thanks to every single one of you who have messaged, emailed and written on my wall in the last 48 hours, it keeps me going knowing I have friends out there.  You guys are my family.

I need to also pause a moment and remember my mum as she passed away 3 years ago today.  We think it was earlier than my actual birthday date by a few days, but the Police came to work on my birthday this time 3 years ago to tell me the bad news.  I would not have been able to do this trip without my mum’s hard work and dedication throughout her life and I am thankful and I appreciate every day that I am on my journey.  My mum had always wanted to travel overseas and kept saying next year, next year and it never eventuated for her.  In saying that she wouldn’t have travelled for 16 months, that is all me, but as long as I am happy and don’t go too crazy, I hope she would be looking down and giving me the thumbs up sign and that she would be proud of me.  There isn’t a day I don’t think about you Ruth Susan McAnally and I miss you every day.  I received a message from a squash friend yesterday that one of mum’s friends had lost his battle to cancer.  So my thoughts and prayers go out to the Miles Family in their time of grief and you just never know what is around the corner and live each day as if it’s your last.  It sounds so cliché, but it is so true.  Trust me. 

So it was another busy day for us in the Galapagos.  Our first stop this morning at 8.30am was Floreana Island.  More commonly known as Isla Floreana or Isla Charles, Isla Santa Maria as it is officially known, is the sixth largest island in the Galapagos Archipelago at 173 sq. km. With the fourth largest human settlement, this island has a very colorful history and has often been associated with whalers, pirates, buccaneers, convicts and colonists over the years.  In September 1835 the second voyage of HMS Beagle brought Charles Darwin to Charles Island. The ship's crew was greeted by the Acting Governor of Galápagos, Nicolas Lawson, and at the prison colony Darwin was told that tortoises differed in the shape of the shells from island to island, but this was not obvious on the islands he visited and he did not bother with collecting their shells. He industriously collected all the animals, plants, insects and reptiles, and speculated about finding "from future comparison to what district or 'center of creation' the organized beings of this archipelago must be attached.

Also known as Mystery Island, in 1929, Frederich Ritter and Dore Straucher arrived in Guayaquil from Berlin to settle on Floreana, and sent messages back encouraging others. In 1932 Heinz and Margaret Wittmer arrived with their son Harry, and shortly afterwards their son Rolf was born there, the first citizen of the island to have been born in the Galápagos. Later in 1932, the self-described "Baroness" von Wagner Bosquet arrived with companions, but a series of strange disappearances and deaths left Margaret Wittmer as the sole survivor of the group who had settled there. To this day their bodies have never been found.  But she set up a hotel which is still managed by her descendants, and wrote an account of her experiences in her book Floreana: A Woman's Pilgrimage to the Galapagos.  There are a few books now on my list, that I hope to download and read at some point.

Post Office Bay was our first wet landing of the day.  On our approach into the island we saw for the first time some Pacific Green Sea Turtles.  The water was clear here and you could see them in the water, and they would also poke their heads up out of the water to get some air before heading back down again.  They were so cute.  We will get a chance to swim with them this afternoon hopefully.  We also had the Blue footed boobies doing their amazing fish diving while we came in; I just LOVE watching their fishing skills.  At Post Office Bay, since the 18th century whalers kept a wooden barrel that served as post office so that mail could be picked up and delivered to their destination, mainly Europe and the United States by ships on their way home. It was first post office in the Galapagos, which was established by the British in 1793 to send and receive letters from England.  Cards and letters are still placed in the barrel without any postage and continues to this day. Visitors sift through the letters and cards looking for addresses that are close to their home addresses back home in order to deliver them by hand.  There were 3 big snap lock bags in the barrel that contained a few hundred letters, postcards and bits of paper with people’s stories and addresses on them.  It would have been great to have had more time to read the backs of some of the postcards, as they all told very different stories.  There was quite a few of DO NOT DELIVER postcards who were waiting for the arrival of other people or I guess the possibility that they may come back to the Galapagos one day.  Some people I don’t think understood how the whole concept worked as there was no address on some of the cards.  Um how do they think it is going to get somewhere if there is no address? Der.  There was one card I did read and it was dated October 2010 to an unborn child.  The mother was 25 weeks pregnant when they came to the Galapagos and they wrote a card to the expected child with a DO NOT DELIVER on it with the hope that when she gets old enough she will come and collect the postcard.  Sweet idea.  Out of all the postcards there were a few Sydney based addresses and a Williamstown one, which isn’t far from my Nan, but I did manage to find a Wooloongabba address from a Jan Hore, but she had just written on a piece of paper that she enjoyed her time here and had no date.  But I have taken the piece of paper and hope to deliver it next year when I return back home. Amy got 3 postcards for nick of the woods, so it would be pretty cool to be on the receiving end of one of the intended postcards.  My postcard drop offs were thought about in advance.  I didn’t think there would be many Ethiopians or Tuross Head people passing through the Galapagos, so I wrote one for myself wishing me a happy birthday, Dave in Ireland and Amy was also the other recipient.  I wonder if we will ever see the cards again?  It was a novel idea though and a game with fate.  Amy and I also signed the barrel with our names and the date.  I also plugged my blog address on there as well.  I wish I had of been better prepared and bought a nikko pen, a sticker of Australia or something along those lines.  Oh well my name and date will just have to be enough.

We got around one hour here before heading back to the ship and relocating to Champion Islet where a group of us were going to be deep water snorkeling for the last time while the rest got a zodiac ride of the area.  We had about an hour before we dropped anchor, so it was enough time for Antonio to fit in a talk about the fish that we have been seeing while we have been in the water.  It sounds boring, but when you are snorkeling it is nice to know what fish we are actually looking at.  So Champion Islet is an island off Floreana.  The deep sea snorkelers got ready and we left the boat at 10.30 with all our gear.  I have to say after what Amy saw last night at the side of the boat in the light, I have lost a little of my ‘Rambo’ confidence and am still contemplating going in, even on my zodiac ride to the drop site.  The sun had disappeared again, and the water was colder than yesterday, so it was NOT 20C as Carlos tells us each morning and again Amy and I are not in wetsuit while the rest of the snorkel Muppets are all rugged up and ready to go.  Hell, it’s my birthday, it’s our last deep snorkel, our second last day of the cruise…I’m going in.  It was another current dive, as it was actually quite strong, so once we were in and our bodies had dropped 20C it didn’t feel too bad!!!  Champion Islet is a small crater fun wall and another drift dive. We saw a few sea lions in the area, but not in the water. 

There were heaps of fish and plenty of schools as well.  We had only been in the water 10 minutes and Carlos and others had seen over 7 sharks swimming up current.  With the call up of ‘sharks over here’ I was brave and swam over, all the while looking around me frantically hoping I would and wouldn’t see them all at the same time.  But they were gone.  By this time the current had swept us a fair way down the coast, so Carlos made the call to get us all back on the zodiac and head further up than the last drop point to then drift back down again.  As I was waiting my turn to get back in the zodiac, I saw a small (well 1.5m) white tip swim under me and that just made me go white and scuttle as fast as I could back on the boat.  I was done.  I was more than happy to sit on the zodiac while the others went back in for a second time, but I was done and dusted.  Well my fellow snorkelers would have nothing of it and I crumpled under pier pressure and went in for the last time, hoping we wouldn’t see those damn sharks.  Well I saw 2 more below me and then when something touched my leg and I screamed out, I knew that I had totally lost my nerve and was just hanging on by a thread to returning to the boat.  Dermot looked over after the scream to make sure I was okay to which I replied with a thumbs up as okay, but I found out later that night that means I need help and should have done the ok signal.  Either way I was okay, just super jumpy and the call to go back to the zodiac couldn’t have come quick enough.  So much for big and brave snorkeling……Pffffffffffffff chicken!!!

Lunch was served on the sun deck at the stern of the ship.  Today’s theme was an Ecuadorian feast and my favorite was the delicious pork and the caramel biscuits!  As usual we ate too much, but I guess I should make the most of shipboard food, as in a few days I will be back to overland food, and at this point I am thinking it is not a bad idea as ship food I think has added a few pounds in the last 4 weeks. 

Our afternoon landing was at a place called Punta Cormorant.  Named not after the bird but a US ship, there is a wet landing onto a, literally, green / black beach - so colored because it is made from olivine crystals (volcanic silicates of magnesium and iron) and the first thing that hot us was the smell.  It was like bad rubbish / sea lion smell and it was pretty disgusting.  The smell comes from the brackish lagoon that is located at the back of the beach.   Pencil sea urchins may be found on the beach.  Amy was in the first kayak group for the afternoon, so I decided to get some photos of the Sally Lightfoot crabs, which are really pretty in colour and then wait on the beach for her to return so we could go snorkeling off the beach in search of Pacific Green Sea Turtles.  The water was freezing here, so I didn’t want to get in too early and snorkeling from the beach didn’t faze me, it’s that damn deep sea snorkeling that freaks me out.  Well the first kayak group arrived back and no Amy, and then I see her little head bobbing up and down in the surf.  She had decided after kayaking to cool off and swim in, but she was swimming against the current with no flippers, so being the great friend I am, I manned up in my snorkel gear and swan out to give her hers.  This water was the coldest by far that we have swum in and I rekon my limbs were nearly frozen it was that cold.  It was worth it though as we did see 2 turtles swimming beneath us, around 2m away, so it was the last thing to check off out list and it was pretty cool to see them swimming around us in the wild.

So once we had defrosted the group left on a walk of Floreana Island.  A short walk inland and the trail took us to that damn smelly brackish lagoon. This is home to one of the biggest populations of flamingos in the archipelago, these pink residents spend about 7 hours a day or more eating.  Looking into the mud of the lagoon there appears to be 'cracks' in the mud. These cracks are not caused from dryness but are actually the footpaths of flamingos.  We were terribly unlucky and only saw one flamingo, all on his own, as a speck on the horizon.  My camera battery was starting to die and for the first time I didn’t have a backup battery, so I had to conserve what I had and I snapped one photo to say we had seen one and then moved on. 

From here the trail crosses a narrow neck of land and comes to a white beach on the eastern side of the island. Ghost crabs inhabit the beach, and rays and turtles can be seen in the sea.  We couldn’t get too close to the water as the Diamond Head rays were right there and they have a sharp barb to them if you come into contact with them.  We could see around 10 Pacific green sea turtles in the sea and 2 of them were mating, but all we could see was the occasional head popping up and there dark shadows in the crystal blue water. The Sea turtles nest at here December to May.   The sand was really fine and white and the beach is known as Flour Beach because of this.  There were also a few sea lions resting near the rocks and a marine iguana further down the beach.  My camera was dead by this stage, which is a shame as the colours of the sky; beach and water were magical as the day set.  So Amy and I stood next to each other looked, closed our eyes and committed the scene to memory.  It really was beautiful.

I have to mention after 6 days of early mornings, 2 activities a day, we are really feeling the pinch tonight.  We are SO tired.  So much for having a few birthday drinks tonight.  We were still seriously thinking about it till we saw that tomorrow mornings start was at 6am.  Um, yeah I think we won’t be having a big night tonight.  Nothing wrong with having a sober birthday, well not entirely alcohol free.  Mike and Nicola bought Amy and I a birthday drink during the briefing and then Dermot and Jane kept my wine glass filled all night over dinner.  To finish off the evening Amy had ordered a cake through the ship and Happy Birthday was sung to Peter and I with those jokey candles that never blow out, and trust me after a few glasses of wine I tried!  So thanks to you all for making my day a GREAT one.  To be able to spend it with new and old friends in an amazing destination was certainly a highlight! 

 

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.  I wonder where I will be for my birthday next year?  That will be in the hands of fate and destiny and I am sure a whole lot of other contributing factors!!!

I SNORKELLED WITH A SHARK AND SURVIVED

WEATHER: Overcast and 23C in the morning – Sunny and 23C in the afternoon

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: The snorkeling

BUMMER OF THE DAY: The sun not out in for the snorkeling – would have been awesome

WORD OF THE DAY: “Safety first to avoid the worst”

ANIMALS SEEN TODAY: Yellow tailed sturgeon, spotted manta ray, large trigger fish, Eel garden, white tipped shark, Galapagos doves, Naughty turns, Brown pelicans, Lava lizard, frigate birds, and Swallow tailed gulls, large angel fish.

We had an early start this morning with a wakeup call at 6.30am.  We have a pretty jammed packed day today, hence the early start.  We departed the ship at 8am for our 2 hour walk around North Seymour Island.  The main animal attractions we would be seeing today would be of the bird variety including a large population of Frigate birds (the black birds with the red balloon) and more Blue Footed Boobies. 

North Seymour is a small island near Baltra Island in the Galapagos Islands. It was formed by uplift of a submarine lava formation. The whole island is covered with low, bushy vegetation.  It is named after an English nobleman, Lord Hugh Seymour and has an area of 1.9 km² and a maximum altitude of 28 meters.  We walked along the visitor trail which was approximately 2 km in length crossing through the inland of the island and exploring the rocky coast.

Just as we were pulling into the dry landing, the Blue-footed boobies are great at fishing and this was no shown first hand when there was a magnificent splash and 5 seconds later a Blue Boobie pops up and then flies off.  It is an amazing sight to see as they are like an arrow as they hit the water have been known to go as deep as 3m when they enter, catching a fish and then heading back to the nest.  Hunting off-shore, the boobies dive from mid-air into the sea in order to catch fish. Successful, they return to the island with their prize to feed their young.  Seriously you need to see it to believe.  It is one of things, every time I see it I just marvel at what nature can do.

Upon arrival at the rocky cliff and seeing some sea lions we headed out on the said trail. It was a rocky path, so we had to watch where you were stepping so you didn’t roll an ankle.  The Iguana’s don’t seem to be in abundance here, but there is one that is endemic to this island and he is yellow in colour, so we are keeping our eyes peeled for him.  Along the way the trail passed colonies of blue-footed boobies and magnificent Frigate birds all co-habitating together and happily by the looks of it.  The highlight for me today was going to be the Frigate birds and getting a picture with their pouch all puffed up and it didn’t take us long to find one along the trail.  It takes around 25 minutes for him to puff up the red pouch and around 2 hours for it to deflate.  It looks amazing and I got some great photos.   

The magnificent frigatebird, a large black bird with a long wingspan, and a hooked beak, is extremely fast and has excellent vision. Frigatebirds are known for the large red pouch on their necks. During mating season the males thrown back their heads, inflate the pouch (sometimes to the size of a soccer ball), and shake trying to capture the attention of female frigates.  It was mating season this time of year, so we were quite lucky and you could see the females circling above looking for a male for the season.  We were also lucky enough to see a chick with its mum, and he was cute as a button!

Boobies and frigates share an interesting relationship. Sharing the same nesting area on North Seymour blue-footed boobies nest on the ground making their nests from the twigs of the palo santos trees, while the magnificent frigate bird nests just above them in the saltbushes.   

Frigatebirds named for the warships once used by pirates are the pirates of Galapagos birds. In contrast to the booby, frigates are poor fishers. Their bodies produce very little oil for their wings and they are not waterproof. Unable to spend time in the water fishing they must rely on food stolen from other birds to feed themselves and their young.

After doing the 2km circuit and 2 hours later we ended back to the cliffs and our waiting zodiac back to the ship.  I would feel bad if I didn’t take some photos of the sea lions, so I snapped off a few and as we were doing this some of the female Frigate birds were riding some of the air currents just above our heads, seriously she would have been only 3m above us.  They are magnificent looking birds when they are in flight.  So fare what a great morning and it’s only 10.30am.

We only had a 20 minute turn around once back on the ship to get changed into our swimmers and get our snorkel gear and head back out in the zodiacs to do some deep water snorkeling.  By this stage I think I’m sort of a Rambo snorkeler and was wondering what I have been worried about all these years not swimming in the sea and not doing snorkeling.  Welcome back confidence and I have to say I think I enjoy it.  Pfffff I have been worried for nothing, right.  It was a current snorkel this morning as the sea was a little choppy, so we got dropped a little up breeze and we let the current just sweep us down to the point where we would be collected by the zodiac.  Keeping with the Rambo theme, Amy and I are still not in wetsuits and the only 2 of the whole zodiac that aren’t.  Well the water this morning was to say the least FREEZING.  But we just have to suck it up and we counted una, dos treis and jumped in and lost out breath for a few seconds to acclimatize and then we were good to go.  Well after being in the water for 15 minutes I see my first shark ever, while I AM IN THE WATER.  Amy was swimming behind me and had seen it earlier, but had decided against telling me, well at least while I was still swimming, but the white tipped shark was swimming my way and I saw him and so did Nicola and Mike at the same time and the 3 of us all popped our heads out of the water to all point and let the rest of the group know, and by the time we had our heads back in the water he was gone.  I have to say I wasn’t too scared and I felt damn amazing that I had faced a fear and I hadn’t freaked out.  Okay the shark wasn’t that big, maybe just over a meter, but it is a SHARK and I WAS IN THE WATER!!!!  High five me man.  People, who know me, know this was a massive deal for me.  I snorkeled with a shark and survived.  Time ticked and we saw massive schools of fish, a spotted manta ray that swam in a circle around us, so graceful, an eel garden, which I didn’t get till I found it, and basically the eels were sticking their heads out of the sand like swaying leaves in the wind, and there would have been 15-20 of them.  It looked so cute even if they were eels….., we saw 2 massive Large Trigger fish which are like disc shaped and the size of 2 dinner plates and my most favorite fish is the Yellow-tailed Surgeons.  They are such a pretty blue fish, with yellow tips on the tails and they travel in schools all the time.  I have seen them every time we have snorkeled.  What an underwater paradise this was this morning.  Apparently we were out there for an hour – it went so quick.

So all that was done before lunch time.  There is no rest for the wicked on a Galapagos cruise that is for sure.  So returning back to the ship, showering and lunching the afternoon was free till 3.30pm.  We finally were able to sort out some washing.  Apparently washing days are only on Tuesdays, so we were going against the rules asking on a Saturday.  Amy and I aren’t sure what the big deal is if they have a washing machine on the ship what day it happens to be, but we sweet talked Marco, the hotel manager, and we were able to get some washing done today.  It is free, but we just had to tip the guy for his time.  Sure sounds fair.  It will be good to have majority clean clothes for the start of my next tour. 

Today is only the 26^th November here in Ecuador, but back home it is the 27^th November, which happens to be my birthday.  So it was great to log onto Facebook this afternoon and have 77 messages from people all over the world wishing me a Happy Birthday.  Birthdays are a big deal for me and I can’t tell you how special it was to have so many people make an effort to wish me a great day.  I have been so lucky making and meeting amazing people through my journey, not forgetting my true and trusted friends back home.  I am blessed to know you all and thanks for making me feel ‘special’ on my day.  Well a day before where I am but on the day back in Oz.  I have no reception on my mobile, which is super frustrating and thank goodness for the internet and Wi-Fi.    

This afternoon we had a walk also on Santa Cruz Island, but from another bay / point called Dragon Hill or the Spanish name Cerro Dragon.  It opened to visitors in 1998.  After a dry landing at a dock, the walk took us to a hypersalinic (saltier than the ocean) lagoon behind the beach, often frequented by flamingos, common stilts, pintail ducks and other species of birds.  We weren’t lucky enough to see any flamingos today unfortunately, but there were some great reflection photos off the lagoon.  This walk this afternoon was purely for scenery and not so much wildlife which made a nice change and to just enjoy the environment around us.  After around 45 minutes we walked up a short hill, which rewarded us with a great view of the bay and a nesting site of land iguanas. This is where we met up with our other group that had started the other way and we got a group shot of us all at the view.  Both Carlos and Antonio have camera’s and they are taking pictures of us during the week to put together to a slide show on our final night and then we can get copies of the photos a week after the cruise has finished off the web site.  It’s a great idea!  Many of the Iguanas that nest here have been repatriated by the Charles Darwin Research Station.  We were still to see one of these guys here.  We saw plenty of tail markings in the dirt, but not the actual animal at this stage and we didn’t see one for the 2 hour walk.

So back to the ship, where they had cool drinks and some snacks served on the sun deck for us which was quite nice, as the sun was about to set on yet another awesome day in The Galapagos.  Each day brings us a new experience and animals and it really is an untouched paradise out here.  We had free time after that, which is generally only an hour or so before the 7pm briefing for the next day and then dinner at 7.30pm.  Dinner is a much livelier affair than last night with our new friends Jane and Dermot and Nicola and Mike, so it is good to have some laughs and share stories over dinner.  No-one replaces Charles and Lada, but it is nice to have company all the same.

Amy went for the star gazing at 9pm and came back afterwards to let me know that she saw some sharks that were attracted to the ships lights.  There were 4 of them and apparently they weren’t the pissy 1.5m sharks, they were BIG buggers.  Talk about deflating or popping the Rambo snorkeler’s dream.  This has placed my original fear right back on track and I am thinking of not doing my deep snorkel in the morning.  On the upside, we are moving from this spot some time tonight, so we leave ‘those’ sharks behind, but they can be anywhere right?!  This is Amy’s payback for the snake sighting so all is far in love and phobias.

So it is good night from me and good night from bitch face Amy (for the shark story) and when I wake tomorrow I will be another year older, making me now a comfortable 28 – again……