Gallaping Galapagos
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| Sally Lightfoot Crabs |
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| Fla |
Well as the start of the New Year, in my full adventurous
spirit I’m off again. This time searching for “endless summer.” Bound for South America looking for the
thing that’s calling me there. I
can’t really explain it cos words can’t really describe what I’m looking for. Perhaps, it’s that feeling, a sense of
being that you would understand as you start to awaken, let nature shape you &
know that the universe is unfolding for you. Giving you signs & allowing you to trust your heart
rather than what others think you aught to be doing. Travelling shapes you in
every way. I was born with the
quest of adventure. It’s more
about the journey rather than the usual I bought the T-shirt to say that I’ve
been there as my label to prove to the world that I been there or watch it
unfold on the telly if it was a National Geographic, BBC or Discovery Channel
special. It’s more about setting
foot off the beaten path and to discover what is unfolding for me. It’s more like to take that moment, breath
& say WOW I can’t believe my eyes.
I’ve been quite homesick lately over finding that place that speaks to
me. But sometimes you just need
some down time to work on other things that need some watering to blossom into
something that would be lost if you didn’t take that moment. As Lao-Tzu said,
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
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| Boat Parts |
As quoted in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Galapagos”:
How many Galapagos Islands were there
a million years ago? There were thirteen big ones, seventeen small ones, and three
hundred and eighteen tiny, ones, some nothing more than rocks rising only a
meter or tow above the surface of the ocean.
There are now fourteen big ones, seven
small ones, and three hundred and twenty-sixty tiny ones. Quite a lot of volcanic activity still
goes on. I made a joke: The gods
are still angry.
And the northernmost of the islands,
so all alone, so far from the rest, is still Santa Rosalia.
These islands are something special to be sailing around. Charles
Darwin called the islands home while sailing on board the Beagle & doing countless naturalizing projects in the area.
They are the only non-tropical
ones at the Equator. Tortoises
live to be in the hundreds & it’s basically a photographer’s mecca with the
wildlife better than a National Geographic documentary. If you love wildlife,
marine life & nature it’s heaven.
You’re up close & personal in it, but remember you’re in the
animals’ home. Have some respect
please!
After appropriately four hours of sleep after the flight
from Miami to Guayaquil. A new
expedition began with a flight from the mainland to Baltra. Funny, how small the runway is each
time I land here. Just another one
of those gravel strips I tend to find from time to time in the “third world”
& not to forget to exit the plane via the steps. After clearing immigrations to the national park, I was
greeted warm & welcoming from the staff. Funny, some things never change & it was the same like
the last time I was here. Some
staff were familiar from my last holiday here & of course their fun outlook
says something too. However,
something’s never change & of course I got the pissed taken out of me from
a familiar face. Antonio who I
enjoyed going snorkeling with to look for sharks, “Sharks, sharks, sharks”,
told me to go wait in the banos for ten minutes until the bus got here. Of course that didn’t happen. I took a “quick” walk around the
airport. Yes, the airport in
Baltra reminds me of the one in Fiji of Ko Samui cos it’s basically open air with
a roof on top, nothing too special, but just tropical you could say. A quick trip via the bus to the dock to
board a zodiac as your taxi to the, The Endeavour,
which will be home for the next week, seals were waiting on the rocks to wave
good bye and wish you safe travels. Love it, there’s wildlife everywhere you turn.
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| Dead Puffer Fish |
As I approach the landing to the ship, which was on one of
the sides, I say hello to Cindy the Expedition Leader and the funny thing is
that I recognize some familiar faces of the staff and crew are the same as from
my pervious expedition. It was
rather a nice feeling to know some of them & of course I’ll get to meet new
ones. You never know whom you’ll
bump into down the line either. As
my luck has it, this time I get to be enjoying a photo trip for my bonus for
competing another contract with Lindblad.
That’s right I actually can have the time to take part in the thing I
love to do. It wasn’t that I
didn’t take advantage of every photo opportunity I had last time, but this time
I can attend the lectures rather than seeing if I could squeeze in ten minutes
or so before I got back to work in Baja & Alaska. I’ve been asked so many
times from people I know, “why are you hear?” & I just reply that I’m
escaping New England winter for a bit & to work on a portfolio. It’s going to be another busy week at sea, but I’m used to it
from time to time.
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| Turtle Lovin' |
The afternoon was spend waiting for supplies and sailing
around until we drop anchor to visit a beach called “Las Bachas”, where it gets
its name from a poor pronunciation of the English word “barges”. It’s fairly an
easy peasy trail with a few rocky segments over lava being home to some marine
iguanas shore, land & lagoon birds.
Flamingos can sometimes be found here. I recall seeing some here around the lagoon back in
July. Also, one must be careful cos
we are in the animals home not ours & on this particular spot you can find
tracks of the East Pacific green sea turtles which come to the beach at night
to nest & hatch their eggs & release back to the sea for survival. The beach has black lava & not to
forget one of my favorites the Sally Lightfoot Crabs. I found out while walking
the beach that Sally Lightfoot crabs got their name from a dance & that you
can tell the sexes of them by their colors. All black crabs are juveniles, more yellow in color are
males & the deep red ones are females. They were all over the black lava. Also, I saw some flamingos in a lagoon. They turn pink from eating brine and
the more they eat the pinker they get.
Something with the genetic make up of the carotene. Oh yes, how can you forget about the
“turtle love” going on in the ocean today. Yes, I spotted sea turtles matting. Oh happy days…Overall a cool mild
relaxing day afternoon at the beach.
Got to love a little swim action after a good walk. Apparently the guests have figure out
that I’m a go to gurl & being answering their questions already. I’m like a “staff in training” these
days by a wee bit of naturalizing, photography tips & the big one to remind
them to sign back in from being at shore.
