I like boats....
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2008
1
9
13
Trip End
Nov 03, 2008
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Well actually we've already been and are now living the high life in Cuenca... But I'm a bit slow with the old blogs so will just pretend....
We (Vicki, Jo, Nomes and I) arrived in Quito to a FLASH hotel!! Woohoo!! Hot water even!! And a guy whose only job was to open the door for us!! What luxury... Jo had a wee problem with the security guards at Lima airport not liking her packing. She got through eventually, sans sunscreen, aftersun and insect repellant.
We turned up late to a very sombre group of people listening intently to the pre-trip briefing from Hot Guide
No hurry...
. (Clearly he was a white water rafting instructor in another life). Attempts to lighten the mood revealed another Kiwi in the group. Loud cheering ensued, to the frowns of our fellow travellers. However we did the maths (correctly of course) and determined that 3 kiwis in a group of 16 was obviously a majority therefore we should have those extra privileges as deserved. Other members of the group were - 6 Irish, 2 Scots, 1 Swiss, and 4 English (including Vicki and Jo - who were obviously stalking us, having come from the Peru trip as well.)There were planes, buses, and boats, and we finally ended up at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island. We were taken to visit to the Giant Tortoise farm, posed as giant tortoises ourselves (making a quick escape on warning of a male tortoise aproaching), and went lion hunting in the lava tunnels. Found no lions but a slightly disturbing (and obviously rabid) guide. Explored the town of Puerto Ayora for a full 10mins, took thousands of photos of a pelican and Sally-Lightfoot crabs, then boarded our ocean going sea craft, our home for the next 7 nights.... Luckily we had the penthouse suites onboard. Nomes found the bar and settled in.
So. There was 2am sailings, seasickness (Nomes), siestas in the sun on the top deck, and subsequent sunburn, allowing us to start the exclusive 'Flamingo legs club'
A previously unknown species...
. For a while Nomes and I were the sole members of the club, but Vicki and Jo (stalking us again) soon joined. Lynn (very pale scotswoman with a permanent drink in hand) joined a few days later. We visited Floreana Island, Espanola Island and returned to Baltra on day 4. We saw the famed blue footed boobies, learnt the dance, and attracted unwanted attention while practicing boobie dancing back on board. There were stingrays, marine iguanas, albatrosses and thousands & thousands (no exaggeration even!!) of sealions. Our guide Luis regularly demonstrated his multi-lingual abilites in calling out sea lion style. One night while sailing we were accompanied by hundreds of dolphins. We laughed and clapped and cheered on their antics, and graded them out of 10 for performance, difficulty and splash as this was the Beijing Dolphin Gymnastics. We were suitably qualified judges of all areas. Meanwhile the crew stood above us on the top deck laughing at us getting soaked by the dolphin splashes.
Vicki and I held the record for the latest nights - first night 10pm, second night 9pm and third night 8pm. And we were still the last to bed each night. We sailed each night, and as the rocking set in, the faces of our comrades grew greener, and they made their appologies one by one and headed for bed
Going on a lion hunt...
. After 3 nights, we returned to Baltra to drop off all but Lynn & Bob (Scots) and Nomes & myself. By this time we were officially sailing under a Scottish flag. Nomes and I registered our objections with the appropriate committee, but they were biased and the flag remained for the rest of the trip. Sad farewells to our stalkers Vicki and Jo (can't believe we let Vicki leave with all the lollies!!), and we became the welcoming committee for the newbies arriving. We achieved this by monopolising the 4 deckchairs on the upper deck and refusing to move. Prior to this friendly welcome we had been unceremoniously dumped ashore by Armando at Baltra on the World's Most Boring Beach Ever, while the crew refueled. Our sad faces and cries for help were finally heard by Leonardo, who came to our rescue.
The new arrivals consisted of an overwhelming army of English (x5), 3 Canadians, and 4 Danes, (to be known as Mama Danish, Papa Danish, and blond Danishes 1 and 2). However the kiwis still held majority. As fitting our status, we educated these poor people on the correct language usage - lollies, jandals, sup? etc. Phil was a quick learner. Can't say much for other members of the group... We were introduced to the crew again, and this time managed to remember the names
Our sturdy craft
. Luis el Capitain, Luis el guide, 2nd in charge Leonardo, el chefs Umberto and Fabrizio, Kathy el clearner and waitress, Armando, introduced as 'the sailor', which actually translated to 'bumboy', and Carlos, chief engineer and fixer of el baņo. (Nomes had managed to break her second toilet so far this trip.... but actually we blame Vicki...). Turned out the crew were starting to know some of us by now as well. More islands: North Seymour, Santiago, Chinese Hat, Santa Fe and to our delight and great excitement - Rabida Island. Who would of thought there would be an island so full of rabid animals that they would name it the same??!! We explored the islands every day and snorkled usually twice a day. One of Nomes's more graceful manouvers was sealioning headfirst into the zodiac after a snorkling session. We saw sea turtles (procreating even!), fur seals, land iguanas, gulls (procreating), blue footed boobies (procreating), and whales (procreating).... bit of a theme here. We started to become very suspicious of our guide Luis's motives as he shouted "action action sexo sexo!!"
Scottish Lynn instigated the dancing on board. Every night, after first announcing "dooone the hatch" and swigging back her drink, she would relentlessly pursue poor Armando until he finally gave in and danced salsa with her
Spacious rooms in the penthouse suite
. After that there was no stopping us. We became Salsa and Merenge dancers extrordinaires. Armando was a patient teacher, informing us politely when we were not wiggling the butt enough. Guide Luis was soon in on the action (we estimated aged 50ish). We suspect he was actually after a little of the old "action action" himself. In fact his hints were less than subtle. He became very close friends with Nomes and I, offering to teach me spanish one night "all night", and offering to wash my back for me after observing manta rays flipping in the air in order to wash their backs.... I declined his kind offers. Nomes was treated to a detailed run-down of all his previous relationships.... In fact he became such close friends with Nomes and I that some of the other group members accused him of favoritism even... hinted that he only answered our questions and not theirs... We declined from mentioning his offers to stay in Ecuador and stay in the Galapagos....We learned the story of Lonesome George, the giant Galapagos turtle who is the sole remaining member of his species, and who after 40yrs in the Charles Darwin Centre with female tortoises a plenty, has finally had a little bit of "action action" with not one but two young partners. On hearing of this fine old chap, we felt that the name seemed fitting to our own Lonesome George, guide Luis.
So
Claiming the deck chairs
. There was only two more items on my checklist to be done. I may have mentioned that I like boats once or twice. Obviously no trip would be complete without me taking over the role of la Capitana, driving the boat. I started small, hijacked Leonardo's spot at the stern of one of the zodiacs one day as we were being ferried to shore. I instructed Leonardo to put on his life jacket, and drove the zodiac in towards the beach. My fellow passengers were not terrified at all. That job completed, I plotted as to how I would managed to captain the big boat. My chance came as we motored from to Santa Fe one afternoon. Armando was steering when I walked past the cockpit. He agreed to my steering the boat, so I happily zigzagged the boat towards Santa Fe for about an hour, listening to Armando's music in one ear while he listened with the other earphone as we went. Apparently the other passengers were complaining of seasickness on this particular trip. Can't understand why. Gardebeng Gardebeng, we attempted to summon the boat on our walki talkies but with limited success. Apparently Luis's walki talkie was better than our ones...
Gardebeng gardebeng - looks like this blog is done... Mike Sierra Foxtrot this is Whiskey Charlie Charlie. Over and Out.
