Photo of the day, 4/11/2010: hasta, Islas Galápagos.

on the way back to the airport

Oh, right. Technically it was eight days...

... the last 12 hours consisted of me asking for snacks and watching Tour Guide pour some peanuts on a plate and plop the plate right in front of himself in response,* running out of fresh water with which to shower or brush our teeth, getting little sleep because of all the late night visitors to the boat, getting my feet rained on and not caring enough to shut the overhead window, and some sea lion hijinks in the morning followed by a million hours of travel smelling and feeling like that boat. But who wants to hear about that?

* I was this close to forgiving him because we had a good snorkel session that morning, but that was the final straw.

The overnight bus to Cuenca was uneventful other than being uncomfortable. I may have slept about three hours after the little girl next to me (who kept falling asleep on me and waking me up) got off with her dad in the middle of the night. The last few hours of the ride were light and I struggled to stay awake - the countryside was absolutely beautiful and I didn't want to miss it. We passed the most amazing mausoleum/cemetery that I hoped would be closer to Cuenca so I could get back somehow, but it was another hour or so into town so I probably won't get back there. It's also quite possible I hallucinated the whole thing anyway.

I arrived at El Cafecito groggy and not able to form English sentences, let alone Spanish ones, but the guy was nice and allowed me to check in early and brought me not-Nescafe. At that moment he became my BFF.

Turns out today is the anniversary of Cuenca's founding so I got to witness parades, singing outside the churches, and people generally treating Monday like Sunday.

Spent most of the day wandering the city admiring the cobblestones, the river that separates the old and new areas, and the architecture... It really is a lovely city.

Tomebamba River

Now the hostel has turned up the volume so my dorm mate and I are going to wander in search of more celebratory activities and some food. Hopefully the former will be fun and the latter will not involve rice or bread...

Photo of the day, 4/10/2010: file under "ahhhh."

sailing to Santa Cruz Island

The Galapagos, day seven.

This morning we got up before dawn to seek out Galapagos penguins and blue footed boobies. Luck was on our side for both. I was sad to realize I am a bit penguined out - that, or seeing just five wasn't as impressive as the colonies of thousands I saw a few weeks ago. I tried to muster enthusiasm, though, and these guys *were* pretty cute hopping around the rocks.

{Tour Guide said we would be going straight to the snorkeling place, so I didn't bring my camera. THANKS, Tour Guide.}

Next was a walk through sea lion and marine iguana territory in Los Tintoretos. The terrain here was interesting - black lava rocks with what looked like white paint (I assume it was lichen) which helped to camoflauge the iguanas as well as the penguins (rumor has it they can lay on their backs on the rocks, spread their wings and be invisible to prey).

Before heading back to Cat we snorkled through Los Tuneles - channels of lava tunnels and arches where we saw tons of beautiful fish, all sizes, shapes and colors, and what I assume were tiny krill. (Since I missed the "thrill if the krill" lecture in Antarctica I can't be sure. They were small, shrimplike, clear and ugly. I think that = krill.) I also saw a ginormous sting ray, about three times the size of the ones I saw in Belize, and another sea turtle. I can't get enough of those sea turtles.

Now we are sailing back to Santa Cruz Island to wind down before heading back to the mainland tomorrow. I don't mind the time at sea. There is plenty of shade from the sails and the water is a gorgeous shade of blue...

This is what I love about this trip. The amount of civilization has been disarming but here, in the middle of the ocean with just fuzzy blobs of land in the distance and the occasional sea lion popping up or random strange bird gliding by... This is how I would like to remember the Galapagos.

Photo of the day, 4/9/2010: it's no La Lobena, but...

... the beach at Isabel Island will do.

The Galapagos, day six.

This morning we came ashore at Isabel Island and dropped our overnight bags at a small hotel. They limit sleeping aboard ships in this port to curb pollution so we "had" to sleep in a hotel - air conditioning, hot water, non-generator electricity and falling asleep to the sound of ocean waves instead of an engine motor under my head? - sounds absolutely TERRIBLE.

Hotel Sol Isabel

another room with a view

Next we were bused up the road about 30 minutes to Paradero Sierra Negra for a little horseback riding,* and hiked the rest of the way to Volcan Chico.

*This took the others about 30 minutes. As for me and my horse... Well, you know that song that goes, "old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be..."? That was my horse going up the hill. I tried all the calls and controls and gentle kicks/nudges to no avail, so finally I just sat... back... and... enjoyed... the... slooooooooow... ride... up. I firmly believe one of those giant tortoises would've beaten us in a race.

my view for most of the ride up

The views of the canyon were amazing and I was able to get some nice shots of that, as well as some of the unusual plants, from the back of Old Gray Mare.

Darwin shrub - if it isn't a "Galapagos" species its most likely a "Darwin" species

The hike to the crest of the volcano started out fairly green and rocky, changed to desertish with cacti everywhere after a quarter mile or so, and as we passed holes in the ground that were warm to the touch the climate got very hot and dry and the rocks turned black. All of this in just about a 15 minute walk. I know I keep saying this but the views at the end of the trail were truly stunning. We could see the beach and the lush green from the volcano's edge, and the colors of the rocks were amazing. Bright red mixed with browns and blacks, and occasionally a little bright green foliage in one of the volcano caves serving as a makeshift greenhouse.

surely Wile E. is around here somewhere...

one of the holes where heat - hot heat - was escaping

On the horseride back I got some tips and kept up with the others just fine. We even did some galloping. OGM must've also had a snack while he waited because on this trek he wanted to be first in line no matter what cost to his feet or my face. (Como se dice, "hey horse watch out for that tree!" or "hey horse no need to run this other horse off the road!"? Maybe an estancia in Argentina isn't such a great idea after all.)

apropos of nothing, a sign in the bathroom... paper is okay, but not "paper"

This afternoon we had down time so I sat in a shady hammock at the hotel for about an hour and then wandered around town taking pictures.

modern day pirate cave

Galapagos kitteh

Galapagos music

making the most of what's available

Absurd thing o' the day: swinging on a swing set in a public park in the Galapagos.

Dinner on the boat to celebrate another passenger's 25th birthday, and back to the hotel hammock to continue my new favorite pasttime of stargazing - only this time, from solid ground with little chance of dolphins or sharks swimming below my feet. If not for the bugs I could totally sleep out here tonight...

Photo of the day, 4/8/2010: nom nom nom.

there's a tortoise in there... Asilo de la Paz, Floreana Island

The Galapagos, day five.

Anchored at Floreana Island this morning and ate banana pancakes. Um, YUM.

First stop was Asilo de la Paz via pickup truck.

finally, a real taxi experience!

If the back of the pickup was a sign of things to come with horseback riding, I am in for a painful day tomorrow. Saw lots of giant tortoises, the last we will see of them this week, eating breakfast.

guess where the ball is, win $0.25

not banana pancakes

Afterward we headed uphill to pirate caves - alleyways of rocks with fencepost/gate holes, sleeping "quarters" and stoves carved in them. I assume they are like the sailer's caves we saw on South Georgia.

arrrr

Also saw the face of Hoaz (?) carved into a rock and ate a fruit that looked like a big seed and tasted like a sour apple. (Actual names of things were unclear and Tour Guide has left for the day.)

oh, come on - you would've done the same thing

interesting...

The views from the top of the hill were amazing...

... and the lichen was abundant and lovely.

tree aht

On the way back I finally got a photo of the elusive Galapagos cow and chicken.

missed the Galapagos pig photo op though

After this we were supposed to go snorkeling. Well, we technically did but it was a huge debacle that I won't go into (thank you, Tour Guide!) but I also won't complain too much about my cuts and bruises from the rocks or the very abbreviated snorkel session because I swam with another sea turtle... And saw a few giant tropical fish I haven't seen before.

Galapagos bruise

Now we are sailing to Isabel, supposedly on whale/dolphin watch but Tour Guide has been asleep all afternoon so if there have been any sightings none of us would know about them. I haven't told my fellow passengers about the dolphins last night. That's mine to keep. (If you're reading, friends, sorry - but I know you have your own moments to keep too.)

Absurd thing o' the day: I didn't have much chance to create my own absurdity today (other than an Ozzy pose in the pirate cave) but I think seeing a pig in the Galapagos is pretty absurd. I'll go with that.

{later} I was sitting at the bow again this evening when we pulled into port. A few miles out from port I caught a glimpse of a fin in the water, and eventually the body of a small shark (type unknown) appeared. With dusk setting and my feet hanging about 10 feet from the water I was suddenly glad my flesh wound from the rocks had closed up...