GPS reading as they crossed the Equator.
Peter enjoying the sunset during the equator crossing.
Don happily sailing...
We've all arrived....
As mentioned in our Manchu Picchu blog entry, we rendezvoused with Peter and Don at a local bar (around 3:00 p.m.) in the afternoon on June 10th. We couldn’t have picked a better time to arrive as there was a huge soccer match going on between Argentina and Ecuador. The entire town was wearing the yellow soccer jerseys and we joined the locals at a bar to watch the game on T.V. We cheered alongside them, as Ecuador emerged victorious. As we all poured out into the streets, the town came alive with a parade of cars, motorcycles, etc, with flags being waved, horns honking and public celebrations. with the entire family. We were swept up in the excitement and grateful that our Galapagos visit got started with such a bang!
Peter joining in the celebration for Equador
We are anchored in Academy Bay, just outside the main town of Puerto Ayora, one of only three inhabited islands in the Galapagos archipelago. We were expecting it to be really rough, since the winds are predominately from the South and this bay does not offer any protection from the south winds. We were pleasantly surprised, however, and have now spent a week here in relatively calm waters. It is a busy harbour, with many tour boats anchored in close quarters, so we have out both a bow and a stern anchor. We take a water taxi back and forth to town, for only 60 cents during the day and 1.00 at night. This allows us all lots of freedom of movement.
Enjoying a beach stroll
The first full day here I came down with a nasty cold, which Don says that he got for a few days enroute. Luckily he was better by the time he arrived, or they wouldn’t have been permitted to come ashore, nor would we have been able to board QuickStar. I am still under the weather a week later, and frustrated that I’ve been so boring. I have managed to do everything, just not as enthusiastically as normal. I think that once we were all together, after a lifetime of dreaming about Manchu Picchu andthe Galapagos as well as the six months of planning, and no longer having to worry about any of the travel arrangements, my body just wanted to relax a little. I’m hopeful I’ll be back to normal soon.
Baby turtles at the Darwin Centre.
The first day we walked in the town and then out to a beach, which is 2.5 kilometres each way along a man-made walking trail. We had our first encounter with the ubiquitous marine iguanas. Everyone went snorkelling and Martha managed to get quite a sunburn (which is getting better every day as well!). We’ve had dinner onboard each evening, playing bridge and telling stories. As on the hike, we get up early (around 6:00) and go to bed by about 9:00.
A hidden land iquana
Our second day we went on a panga bay tour. It was an incredible value for only $25.00 per person we spent half a day and were taken to five different sites, where we swam, snorkelled and saw hundreds of iguanas. (We have seen both the marine iguana, which is black in colour with blunt noses and also many land iguanas, which are multi-coloured with pointed snouts). It was a bit too rough to see sharks, but we knew they were there! The next day we did a Seymour Island boat trip, which involved taking a bus across the island and a boat ride for about a half an hour. This island was incredible as it has the largest colony of magnificent frigate birds. The claim to fame for this island is that it is the nesting site for blue footed boobies and red throated frigates.
Check out the male with the red throat!
We were literally 2 feet away from breeding nests that were in various stages. Some birds were doing the mating dance, (we were incredibly lucky to see this ritual with both the boobies and the frigates as they blow up their red pouch to attract females) others had already mated and were incubating their eggs, and others had their young alongside them in their nest. Nowhere else on earth could you witness this “circle of life” so closely, or in such quantity. Shelby will love this island!
The mating ritual
Since we are on the main, central island, we are ideally situated to do land touring as well as out island hopping. The next day, I tried to get some sleep to kick this dumb cold, while everyone else went to the Darwin Centre. I’m saving this to do with Doug and Shelby. They got their first glimpse of the gigantic tortoises and the famous “lonesome George” who is the last of his species.
Don with the giant tortoises.
Our next big tour took us via a three-hour boat ride to Bartolome Island. We climbed the stairs to the top of the volcano to see the “post-card” view of the Galapagos. The highlight of this tour though was our snorkelling trip. Peter and I were lucky to see a white tipped shark, about 4 feet long, go swimming right below us. This was the best snorkelling to date, with lots of fish, but especially fun to swim with sea lions and penguins! We also met five crewmembers of a large (170 foot long sailing catch which was anchored in our bay) called DrumBeat. They were not allowed to tell us who the Captain nor the owner is, so Don is planning on Googling some more to find out! It could be Ron Howard, as we saw him on Seymour Island the same day we were there, but based on the sailboat name, Don is guessing that the owner is a famous drummer!
Yesterday, we went wandering through town and had lunch at a packed outdoor restaurant, off the beaten track, that was full of locals. Don and Martha caught a 2:00 boat to Isobela Island for 2 nights. We couldn’t go with them, as Peter doesn’t want to leave the boat unattended, so we might do that tour when Doug and Shelby arrive in the Galapagos. We caught up on our emails and I’m doing the blog updates. We kidded Don and Martha and told them to be circumspect if anyone asks them about who the famous owners of QuickStar are, ha,ha.
Tomorrow morning when they return from Isobela, we will do a daylong Highlands tour, which will take us into the hills to view herds of wild tortoises in their own environment. Tomorrow night will be our last night together and we look forward to a fun dinner and evening before they leave to go back home on Friday morning.
Peter and I will then have about 5 days on our own, where we will get the boat ready, provisioned, and repaired for the next leg. On the way over, the front hatch leaked badly soaking everything in my Princess cabin and making it impossible to sleep up there. Doug is bringing down some spare parts to help fix this. Both T.V.’ DVD players also stopped working because of taking in water over the deck, but we’ve bought new ones here. I’m hoping I can finally kick this cold, so that we can do some diving in between guests. I can’t wait to dive with hammerhead sharks!!! Last week a diver died here, so that makes me a bit nervous. Another tourist also jumped in for snorkelling and got a bit of his butt chewed up in the propeller. Hopefully our dives and snorkel trips will be far less exciting!
Doug and Shelby arrive on June 25th. They will have approximately a week here to explore before we head out for the wild blue yonder. (over 3,000 nautical miles of open ocean). We are so grateful that we have 21 days in this beautiful part of the world. Lucky, lucky us!!!! I am trying not to get too nervous about our big crossing. So far, I have only done two nights in a row, so this potentially 30 day crossing is a big step! As our Manchu Picchu guide kept saying, “today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow”, so I will try to heed his advice and not think too far ahead.
I will update the blog again on Friday, June 26th after Martha and Don have departed and after Doug and Shelby have arrived. New crew, new adventures!
Until next time………So glad Kylie is feeling better after dislocating her knee again and getting tonsillitis…and you guys were worried about us!!!!!.
Peter and I will then have about 5 days on our own, where we will get the boat ready, provisioned, and repaired for the next leg. On the way over, the front hatch leaked badly soaking everything in my Princess cabin and making it impossible to sleep up there. Doug is bringing down some spare parts to help fix this. Both T.V.’ DVD players also stopped working because of taking in water over the deck, but we’ve bought new ones here. I’m hoping I can finally kick this cold, so that we can do some diving in between guests. I can’t wait to dive with hammerhead sharks!!! Last week a diver died here, so that makes me a bit nervous. Another tourist also jumped in for snorkelling and got a bit of his butt chewed up in the propeller. Hopefully our dives and snorkel trips will be far less exciting!
Doug and Shelby arrive on June 25th. They will have approximately a week here to explore before we head out for the wild blue yonder. (over 3,000 nautical miles of open ocean). We are so grateful that we have 21 days in this beautiful part of the world. Lucky, lucky us!!!! I am trying not to get too nervous about our big crossing. So far, I have only done two nights in a row, so this potentially 30 day crossing is a big step! As our Manchu Picchu guide kept saying, “today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow”, so I will try to heed his advice and not think too far ahead.
I will update the blog again on Friday, June 26th after Martha and Don have departed and after Doug and Shelby have arrived. New crew, new adventures!
Until next time………So glad Kylie is feeling better after dislocating her knee again and getting tonsillitis…and you guys were worried about us!!!!!.
No comments:
Post a Comment