Carol's Travels

Last night we motored four hours through fairly rough seas. I didn’t enjoy the ride, even though I was in bed. I was thankful to be in the lower level cabin close to the middle of the ship.

This morning after a breakfast of sunny side up eggs, ham, cheese, hot rolls, hot chocolate, and mystery juice, we went to Floreana Island. We had each written out a postcard addressed to ourselves. On the island is a mailbox, and we looked through the postcards that other people had left there. I was surprised to find a lot from many foreign countries yet there was none from our area of California. The idea is to take one and deliver it to that person by hand like they did in the olden days.

We continued along the path, stepping up black lava rocks until we reached a cave. We slowly walked down the wooden ladders then walked along the floor of the cave. Soon we sloshed through water which kept getting deeper. Finally I decided to swim to the end of the cave until I could touch the rock wall at the end. Only four of us did that.

Then we climbed back out of the cave. I had decided not to bring my snorkeling gear with me, so I just swam in the cove with five others looking at crabs and blue-footed boobies. The rest of the group snorkeled and found three late sea turtles.

We came back to the ship for lunch. We ate Yellow-finned Tuna in Coconut Sauce, Lettuce and Pineapple Salad, a small relative of the potato, and Red Banana Cake. An hour later we were snorkeling in water where the currents were swift. We came back to the ship sooner than planned. We next went to Cormorant Cove to see flamingos, Blue-footed Boobies and their babies, crabs, and other smaller wildlife. The sand had tiny green crystals throughout, so it will glisten in the bright sun. Unfortunately, it was overcast. Fortunately, I got a picture of a mother Blue-footed Boobie feeding her baby.

For dinner we had pork chops, mashed potatoes, red cabbage with tomatoes and cucumbers, broccoli, and some kind of red fruit frozen dessert. After dinner we all went to our cabins since we have an early morning tomorrow. The ship soon started its four- hour cruise to our next island.

. Galapagos Mailbox

Swimming in the lava cave

We left the ship in pangas at 6:00 A.M. to paddle in some inlets around Baltra at low tide. We spotted quite a few green sea turtles popping their heads up out of the water only to quickly disappear again. It was very peaceful quietly watching for birds and other wildlife. We returned to the ship in an hour. Our breakfast was French Toast, fruit, and yoghurt.

The ship then got in line to refuel close to the airport on Baltra . We stayed aboard and relaxed for about two hours. During this time, Juan wanted to see Cha-Cha-Cha, so I went to my cabin to get her. She talked informally with Juan and the others in the group who were in the lounge relaxing. Juan wanted to learn how to do vent, so I worked with him a bit to show him the basics. His wife does birthday parties as a clown, so maybe she will add vent to her act.

We had another tasty lunch of chicken, salad, and mixed fresh veggies. Then we went to the other side of Santa Cruz island to see the flamingos in the lagoon. Then we walked around the island looking at large yellow marine iguanas. They are bigger here because food is plentiful. We saw some Blue-footed Boobies and mockingbirds too. Juan made sounds like a mockingbird and it came to us hoping for food. Sailors long ago fed them, so even now they are hopeful we will feed them. We don’t, though.

We came back to the boat, and it motored for two hours. We stopped for dinner. Later it will motor another four hours to our next island.

. Sunrise

. Sea turtle

After a breakfast which included pancakes, fruit, and crispy bacon, we went in the pangas out to Chinese Hat Island. It is an extinct volcano, so it was difficult walking on the dried lava. We saw a couple of penguins swimming, and there were lots of crabs and iguana on this island.

Then we went back to the boat and got into our snorkeling gear. We snorkeled by the same island. I felt excited when I swam with a school of sturgeon. Then we saw a shark and a stingray. I found it difficult climbing back into the panga, so I pretty much fell into it once I had been pulled over the side. Then we went back to the ship for lunch.

I have been tired all day, so I decided not to snorkel when we reached island. I went to shore in the panga and enjoyed sitting on the red sand. I watched the snorkelers and the birds. Our group didn’t stay very long because conditions weren’t right to see much. Near sunset we hiked on the island. We saw a hawk sitting next to the path, and Juan showed us how to walk by it without startling the bird. One at a time we each passed by the hawk. He stayed where he was! We then continued to hike around the island.

We later had a pleasant dinner sitting with our interesting new friends from New York, Fran and Paul. After dinner we chatted until bedtime.

. Juan, our Galapagos guide

. Penguin

. Sally Lightfoot Crabs

. Group photo