Last night was a bit rough for Dave - he wasn't feeling well and probably just had a case of travelers disease. He was doing a little better in the morning but decided to skip the morning excursion. Now I am the one wondering, what the heck did I get him into.
A little bit after breakfast I went on the morning trip with the rest of the group to Isabela island which is the largest and youngest in the Galapagos and we will make a few different landings here over the next few days. Today we land around the most northern part of the island at a spot called Punta Albermarie. This the site where the US Army once had a base. This island also has hundreds of marine iguanas and they were just lying on the rocks and a few were even in the middle of the paths. We were able walk anywhere around here to observe the iguanas as well as see the remains left by the US Army.
After spending a bit of time at this location, we head back to the ship. So far this landing was the roughest. Even though it is classified as a dry landing, you are landing on wet lava rock which is very slippery even to those that had good hiking shoes. We did all make it back in one piece though so that is a good thing.
Back on the Samba I find that Dave was able to eat an apple and have a Sprite since they didn't have gingerale and he seems to be doing a bit better.
We have some lunch which included a nice soup, salad, beets(again) as well as a beef stir-fry and even though Dave and I only ate a little bit, we find it to be good. Dessert today was peaches poached in a wine sauce.
During our lunch we got underway to our second spot of the day, and just as we finished lunch we all headed to the captain's deck to view the GPS mark the 0.00' as we crossed the equator. Our next stop was still on Isabela but was at Punta Vicente Roca. This not a site where we can land so we had water excursions, the first was snorkeling just on the outskirts of the island and this time the water was quite cold and we were glad we wore wetsuits. Dave was feeling better and he came along but he didn't stay in as long as the rest of us because of the water temp. While he was in the water with me we saw a sea turtle, then another, then another and when we looked at the bottom of the ocean floor there were many more just hanging out in the bottom of the sea. It was amazing to see how many there were. Dave went back to the pangas and waited until the rest of us finished snorkeling. I was just kind of floating around and all of a sudden I came upon 3 sea lions just playing around in the water. One of them had a lizard that he just kept bringing to the surface and then dropping, then going back down and swooping it up again. He was quite a treat to watch and I hovered there for quite a while with him watching him play and trying to get some pictures and a little video of him, we'll have see how good these come out. Some of the others in the group as well Dave from the pangas saw a few penguins playing around but I missed those.
Once the snorkeling was done, we headed back the ship and redressed into dry clothes and then went on a ride in the pangas to observe the walls of the sunken volcano and there we saw many birds, lizards and some fur seals playing in the water. Those guys move so fast it was impossible to get a picture of them from where we were sitting.
Next it's back on the boat and we will travel southwest to Fernandina which sits to the west of Isabela. The crossing was fairly easy and pleasant as far the motion goes since we were heading into the channel between Isabela and Fernandina.
Dinner was curry shrimp with the usual salad, yucca, and some carrots and broccoli. They told us dessert was cheesecake but it had more of a custard or flan texture but still it was very good. After dinner Fausto gave a bit of a geology session to explain how the islands were developed through the shifting of the tectonic plates and then the islands were lifted above the ocean's surface. I find it interesting that they say some of the islands are still young yet they have been here for hundreds of years.
Tomorrow we are due to visit both a part of Isabela and a part of Fernandina.
A little bit after breakfast I went on the morning trip with the rest of the group to Isabela island which is the largest and youngest in the Galapagos and we will make a few different landings here over the next few days. Today we land around the most northern part of the island at a spot called Punta Albermarie. This the site where the US Army once had a base. This island also has hundreds of marine iguanas and they were just lying on the rocks and a few were even in the middle of the paths. We were able walk anywhere around here to observe the iguanas as well as see the remains left by the US Army.
After spending a bit of time at this location, we head back to the ship. So far this landing was the roughest. Even though it is classified as a dry landing, you are landing on wet lava rock which is very slippery even to those that had good hiking shoes. We did all make it back in one piece though so that is a good thing.
Back on the Samba I find that Dave was able to eat an apple and have a Sprite since they didn't have gingerale and he seems to be doing a bit better.
We have some lunch which included a nice soup, salad, beets(again) as well as a beef stir-fry and even though Dave and I only ate a little bit, we find it to be good. Dessert today was peaches poached in a wine sauce.
During our lunch we got underway to our second spot of the day, and just as we finished lunch we all headed to the captain's deck to view the GPS mark the 0.00' as we crossed the equator. Our next stop was still on Isabela but was at Punta Vicente Roca. This not a site where we can land so we had water excursions, the first was snorkeling just on the outskirts of the island and this time the water was quite cold and we were glad we wore wetsuits. Dave was feeling better and he came along but he didn't stay in as long as the rest of us because of the water temp. While he was in the water with me we saw a sea turtle, then another, then another and when we looked at the bottom of the ocean floor there were many more just hanging out in the bottom of the sea. It was amazing to see how many there were. Dave went back to the pangas and waited until the rest of us finished snorkeling. I was just kind of floating around and all of a sudden I came upon 3 sea lions just playing around in the water. One of them had a lizard that he just kept bringing to the surface and then dropping, then going back down and swooping it up again. He was quite a treat to watch and I hovered there for quite a while with him watching him play and trying to get some pictures and a little video of him, we'll have see how good these come out. Some of the others in the group as well Dave from the pangas saw a few penguins playing around but I missed those.
Once the snorkeling was done, we headed back the ship and redressed into dry clothes and then went on a ride in the pangas to observe the walls of the sunken volcano and there we saw many birds, lizards and some fur seals playing in the water. Those guys move so fast it was impossible to get a picture of them from where we were sitting.
Next it's back on the boat and we will travel southwest to Fernandina which sits to the west of Isabela. The crossing was fairly easy and pleasant as far the motion goes since we were heading into the channel between Isabela and Fernandina.
Dinner was curry shrimp with the usual salad, yucca, and some carrots and broccoli. They told us dessert was cheesecake but it had more of a custard or flan texture but still it was very good. After dinner Fausto gave a bit of a geology session to explain how the islands were developed through the shifting of the tectonic plates and then the islands were lifted above the ocean's surface. I find it interesting that they say some of the islands are still young yet they have been here for hundreds of years.
Tomorrow we are due to visit both a part of Isabela and a part of Fernandina.
No comments:
Post a Comment