Day 148: January 10, 2008 P. Villamil to P. Ayora
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2007
1
151
202
Trip End
Mar 01, 2008
Puerto Ayora,
Ecuador
Thursday, January 10, 2008
We got up at 6:00 for a 6:30 breakfast. By 7:00, we were in the panga, which took us to the municipal dock in Puerto Villamil. Hundreds of boobies and pelicans were diving for fish as we headed for town. We took a large van from the dock to the far end of the beach and began our walk back along the beach, about 3 km. Pelicans and boobies were fishing here too. We walked along the white sand beach until we came to some pahoehoe basalt outcrops. Numerous baby marine iguanas played in the rocks while sea lions frolicked just offshore.
After we reached the new dock area, the panga picked us up and took us across the bay to the Tintoría hike. The marine iguanas there are the largest we have seen, some with the red and green marks we saw on Floreana. Numerous young also scurried about through the aa lava field. The tide was low and the lighting was wrong to see any sharks resting in the bay so we continued across the loop trail through the aa and returned to the landing.
Kathy had aparrently eaten some mushroom with dinner last night and had been feeling the effects of an allergic reaction. She had taken some benadryl early in the day but not enough. She was not feeling well and her throat was swelling. Antonio could not raise the Estrella del Mar I on the radio from the landing so he asked a taxi boat to go get them.
Jico came with the panga ten minutes later. We thanked the taxi guy and returned to the boat. We got Kathy taken care of and then put on our wetsuits and returned to the area we had just left. The snorkeling was in very shallow water. We saw the standard fish. The highlight for me was following a 60 cm stingray around for about ten minutes.
We started to get cold after an hour beneath the overcast sky and returned to the boat for lunch. It was disappointing not to be able to see the volcanoes Sierra Negra and Cerro Azul but they were shrouded in clouds.
Right after lunch, we boarded the panga again to go visit the tortoise breeding center where the various giant tortoise subspecies and other turtles of the island are raised until they are three years old before being released into the wild. It appears to be a very well run operation. Many of us left small donations to the center. We took taxis back into town to await the panga. None of the bars were serving because of siesta and the internet was essentially down because the connection was so slow.
We walked to the dock to wait. A mass of pelicans was swarming next to the dock. We finally found a place that served beer five minutes before the panga came. We managed to down them by the time it got there. The pilot took a group picture of us with Antonio in the panga.
Back on board, we immediately set sail for Puerto Ayora. We slowed down and ran up the west side of Isla Tortuga, about 50 m offshore. It is an eroded tuff ring just east of Isabel. Hundreds of baby iguanas clung to the steep walls just above the waves. Frigate birds and boobies flew overhead. One area exhibited numerous male frigate birds with their bright red pouches inflated. Once we reached the north shore of the island, we headed east, watching the sky turn a pastel orange behind Tortuga as the sun set behind the clouds, obscurred by the island. It only appeared, a little to the north of the island, just before dipping below the horizon.
As darkness fell, we congregated in the salon for our final briefing. The crew threw us a small party, highlighted by the crazy cook singing a couple of songs. He was very entertaining. We gave Antonio and the crew their tips and paid for our equipment rentals and consumed items before having our final dinner. Afterward, I gave Chico Bags to Antonio, German, Jico, and Juan Carlos and then helped Gonzalo and German make out receipts for everyone. That done, I went down to my cabin to write and retire. We arrived in Puerto Ayora and dropped anchor about 10:30.
