Friday May 11, 2007
Rise up; it is our last day in Galapagos. We have been here only a week, but the memory
seems like at least six months. I think we have decided to adopt this place to a special
place in our hearts. We already think about a return trip someday. They say this village
on the sea was not here ten years ago. It is hard to believe that such a strong family
oriented culture of such gentile people could form without generations of tradition. I
wonder what it will be like in ten years. God Bless Galapagos. All of us and the rest of
the world could learn lessons on how to live a good life from these people.
Enough reflection, it is now time for action. First let's take the wash to the laundry.
There is one block in the village that has everything we need in one place. We pass the
church and the children are assembled by 7 AM to start their school day with song and
prayers. We arrive at the laundry, weigh the dirty cloths and it is 10 kilos; at one
dollar per kilo, the wash will be ready at 5 PM, this is good. Across the street there is
a small breakfast place we heard about from the Danish girls. Fresh fruit blended into a
smoothie, 2 eggs, 2 huge rolls with local Galapagos cheese, a bowl of papaya-melon and
coffee for $3. As we eat breakfast the old man who soon will fall to sleep reading his
newspaper is preparing ceviche to sell at lunch time. This morning though, he has
customers engaging him in lively conversation, eating his bread and drinking his coffee.
After a relaxing and pleasant breakfast, we cross the street to the internet café to plug
in our laptops to update the web and send-receive emails. Deborah finishes quickly and
leaves to shop for last minute items in the wildlife center, a place where some money goes
to the Galapagos wildlife. We agree to go grocery shopping after lunch. Ant does emails
and it looks like he is checking his mySpace. It takes me 3 hours to upload 96 pictures so
I people watch. Some Latin businessmen use the café as an office, talking on the phone in
one hand and a computer mouse in the other. Local women bring the kids in who run around
and play while mom checks her email. Foreign students come in with their backpacks to
check email and mySpace. Local school children in their school uniforms come in and use
available computers, probably free or at reduced rates. Then there are the tourists like us.
At noon I am packing up my computer and Don walks in and takes my seat. Back at Bella
Donna Deborah has purchased some great palm nut treasures and just could not resist
getting started on the grocery provisioning; they had freshly baked bread at the store
across from town dock. Since all purchases must be loaded onto a water taxi and passed on
board Bella Donna while bouncing in the rolling sea, we made several shopping trips before
declaring provisioning complete.
We walked to the little back streets to gather the best fruits and vegetables. At one
street vender's stand we waited for the woman I had seen selling her fruits for days. She
shows up with a fruit popsicle in her hand and attempts to count how many green bananas we
are buying in the 3 hangs we have selected. She keeps loosing count and starting over.
Finally she puts down the popsicle and does it one last time. We spend $25 for all the
fruits and vegetables we can carry back to Bella Donna.
We meet Terry, a New Zealander, on our water taxi ride back to the grocery store. He says
buy as much as we can here as the prices are sky high in French Polynesia for food and
wine. We fill 3 baskets while in the store. One is for the wine; we get good Chilean table
red wine for $3 to $5 a bottle. The only unsalted nuts we find are walnuts; we were
looking for almonds. We get a wide variety of cheeses, several dozen eggs, many bunches of
romaine lettuce, locally known as Cesar Lettuce, and two tubs of local peanut butter. We
got a lot more that I do not remember. Ant shows up after an errand to the hardware store
for engine bolts-nuts to help us lug all these groceries to Bella Donna.
Provisioning is done. Quickly we leave for last minute shopping before dinner at our now
favorite sidewalk restaurant. The cook knows us and knows what we like, John's hamburger,
Deborah's pizza, Ant's ceviche and large Brama local beer for all except ANT who has a
coke. We celebrate our last night in town at another local restaurant with cappuccinos and
moccucinos (chocolate cappuccinos). Don and Deborah miss out because they go to the
internet one last time. Ant spots the Holland girls and goes to say goodbye. We are dead
tired and go quickly to bed; we leave at first light tomorrow.
God Bless Bella Donna
Thursday May 10, 2007
Too soon it is 4:00 AM, I am up ahead of the alarm as usual. I think my subconscious mind
does not like the jolt of an alarm clock. Too soon it is 5 AM and the water taxi just
called and he is on the way. Hurry, hurry, and don't forget anything. Surge again, jump
for the water taxi, now I am awake, wide awake. It is dark, the bus is on time and we are
off. That was quick!
Same drill as yesterday except much earlier as we have a 3 hour boat ride ahead of us.
Once started, we are served breakfast that consisted of very good bread, Galapagos Cheese
(soft white cheese that was a little salty), hard boiled egg, papaya and coffee or tea.
Our guide, Che Che, demonstrates extreme excitement over and over again as he points out
sea and bird life around us. I thought he was going to have a stroke he would get so
excited. First it was the sea lion sleeping on a channel marker. "Why does the sea lion
sleep on the channel marker?" Che Che says. His body has been deprived of oxygen by his
shopping trip, fishing and eating. He lies on the marker to absorb fresh air until
revived. Have you ever felt like this sea lion? I sure have.
Along the way Che Che sees a school of bottle nose dolphin. He uses the sound of the
boat's horn to call them to play. They redirect their entire school to swarm all around
the boat. One jumps in the air doing a summersault along side the boat s/he is so happy.
They play and perform for us for a long while. Finally they resume their morning shopping
trip.
After 3 hours we anchor and dinghy to shore for an easy landing, but then we climb in the
building heat of the day. Lots of sun screen and water are applied; the saving thing is
wind, lots of wind. The views from this high ground are classic to the image that is
Galapagos. The only wild life is abundant lizards and an occasional iguana. The summit of
the trail is over 100 meters above the ocean below. After a moment to take it all in, we
head down to skin dive and snorkel on the beach below.
Che Che says all we need is snorkel gear and camera. He promises at least 2 penguins,
probably, and maybe more. Don has equipped us with an entire beach base camp in a bag. In
minutes Don constructs a temporary resort complete with tent, tarp front porch with 2
chairs complete with sun screening umbrellas facing the beach. There is even an inflatable
boat that Don launches and sets sail in. All this is accomplished while Che Che leads
future residents of this instant village snorkeling to Pinnacle Rock.
Meanwhile at Pinnacle Rock there are indeed at least 2 penguins standing on the base of
the Rock and diving in, swimming within inches of us shopping for food but also enjoying
human company. It is truly unbelievable that a penguin would be so unafraid of us. It is
hard to take your eyes off the penguins but there are huge schools of fish everywhere. One
can understand why it is so safe to swim with sharks here as they have food everywhere and
no interest in eating us. We see angle fish, puffer fish, clown fish, in fact we see all
the kinds of fish we have at home in the salt water aquarium. Finally it is time to return
to base camp.
Che Che walks out of the water removing his mask and exclaims "Oh my God, what is this?";
he is responsible for maintaining order as possible disruptors of nature, his tourists,
visit the park. Soon his attention is drawn to a more damaging threat than his tourists in
this temporary village, some Russian tourists have left the beach and are climbing the
fragile cliffs to get a close up picture of a sea lion. When he returns to the village he
finds us organizing a Bache Ball game. Che Che no understand BaChe, so we offer to teach
him. He really enjoys the game, wins and is crowned Galapagos Bache Champion by the villagers.
Soon it is time to return to the boat, get lunch and return 3 hours to port. Whereas Don
constructed the village, all the villagers help to bag it leaving no footprint in the
park. In a few hours the sea lions will return from their day's shopping trip and set up
their own village for the night.
Red fish, rice and salad for lunch and ½ grapefruit for desert is enjoyed by all.
Back on Bella Donna for dinner Deborah prepares a gourmet rack of lamb. We enjoy an early
night as tomorrow we will prepare to return to sea. Ant goes out to meet up with his new
friends he met today. John says not too late as he must "rise up" tomorrow, there is a lot
of work to do.
God Bless Bella Donna.
Wednesday May 9, 2007
Sorry today's post did not make it; we spent all day on Seymour Island and a nearby beach
taking in the wildlife. The morning started at 8 AM as we sat on a park bench at the town
dock which is across the street from the grocery store, post office and local church
waiting on a bus. We could hear 10 year old children singing songs in the church, with
all their feelings; the song was Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence sung in Spanish.
There were two more songs we recognized by the tune but not the Spanish lyrics, before the
bus arrived. School starts for these local children at 7 AM; they are out by 1 PM, just
before the day gets hot. Every day starts with an assembly in the church for prayer and
songs. They then file out in order, in their uniforms and holding hands in pairs to the
open air school house a couple of blocks away. This says something about these beautiful
people.
The bus takes us over the highlands to the other side, the north side, of the island. We
then are split into 2 groups, one speaks English and one speaks Spanish. We board a power
boat for Seymour Island, about a 1 hour ride. We board the dinghy to make an acrobatic
landing on the rocks. The sea surge is tossing the boat as you leap hoping for sure
footing on the rocks. Everyone makes is miraculously. Once on land we contemplate
extending our stay until the sea calms down.
A well marked path cuts through the volcanic rocky island with bird nests just off the
path everywhere. The immediate site is of the Blue Footed Boo Bee and the red breasted
male Frigate bird. There are the ever present sea and land Iguanas. The Boo Bee lays 2 and
sometimes 3 eggs. However, the first chick that hatches is the only one to survive. Both
the mother and the father watch the nest taking turns going shopping, fishing for food.
The problem is the first chick's appetite grows beyond one parent to provide enough food
and the second chick starves or both parents leave the nest to fish and a predator eats
the weaker defenseless chick. A third egg is almost certainly eaten before it can hatch.
We can't stay until the sea is quiet so we commit to an acrobatic jump from land to an
ever surging moving dinghy. We then have a swim on a nearby white sand beach. This time
the landing is wet but not subject to ocean surge. One hour to swim and then back to the
boat for a red snapper, rice and salad lunch.
The ride home was one person trying to out sleep the other. All the hot sunshine and
activity had finished us. We had a light supper followed closely by the sack as we set the
alarm for 4:15 AM for tomorrow's trip. Ant went out for a quick night cap with his new
friends. He finds the girls are 24 and two are 25. Two are from Holland and one from New
Zealand. The blond is a feminist who took leave from her job in New Zealand as a
criminologist. All three have traveled for weeks in South America including the Amazon
before passing through Galapagos. The shorter brunet has just become a medical doctor in
Holland, but wants to spend the next two years as a dive instructor; her next stop is the
Pacific Coast of Mexico. All three are diving tomorrow so the night ends early.
God Bless Bella Donna
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