Galapagos Islands

I`m happy to report that my cruise throughout the Galapagos Islands went off without a hitch.  Having already paid my homage to the porcelain gods in the Amazon, I escaped seasickness thanks to my good friend Dramamine and a couple of sea bands, which are nothing more than elastic bracelets with a plastic ball that presses on pressure points on the wrist.  Some of the other 15 passengers on the boat were not so lucky, and I was able to commiserate with them and share my motion sickness remedies (with varied results).
Our voyage started on Baltra Island, and hit various hot spots on Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Rabida, Santiago, Española, and Floreana Islands. 

For an 8-day cruise, that was a lot!  They kept us very busy, and as a result, most nights people were in bed, conked out, by 9:30.  Except for the second night, when we had a dance party with music provided by my iPod.  But that was a pretty early night, too. 

We mostly cruised overnight, which was great for me but torture for others.  I took a Dramamine, put my sea bands on, and was oblivious to the rocking and swaying that kept some people up all night puking. 

Most mornings I was the first to wake up (maybe due to having to wake up at 4:30 a.m. for the past month?) and thus got to see some awesome sunrises. 

Our first full day, we went snorkeling in a bay full of sea lions and blue footed boobies.  This was my first time ever snorkeling, and I was taught using the South American method: being given snorkel gear and then getting yelled at to jump in already.  Fortunately, my shipmates were more patient with me and actually explained what to do.  As soon as I overcame my fear of breathing underwater, I was swimming along.  Sea lions zoomed around right below me, breaking up schools of brightly colored fish.  I swam to a nearby rock to unfog my goggles at one point, and looked up.  To my right, a lazy sea lion sunned itself.

To my left, a blue footed booby took a break from the action. 

Right above me, a marine iguana sneezed salt water.

All around me, brightly colored crabs walked sneakily sideways. 

It was then that I realized the true magic of this place.  Because the animals have very few natural predators, they are fearless, making it easy to approach, observe, and even interact with them.  I had a lot of fun with one sea lion in particular on the red sand beach of Rabida Island. We bantered back and forth for a bit, played a game of monkey see, monkey do, then shimmeyed our way to the ocean.  Well, at least he did.  I discovered that I haven`t yet evolved enough to be able to drag myself along like that. Maybe someday.

That`s all I`ve got time for right now.  My flight for Arequipa is about to leave.  More to come! 

Patty