Day 1 of the Galapagos

The fish market and the curious, brave sea lions and pelicans

A huge tortoise!

Our boat: the Golondrina

(copied from my hand-written journal)

October 12, 2009
Location: Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
Time: 9:19 PM (2 hours behind Ohio)
Weather: Cloudy and rainy upon arrival—not pleasant island-ish weather

I should be exhausted. I slept one hour on the bus and one on the plane to the Galapagos. Over than that, I've had no sleep in the past two days. The bus picked us up bright and early at 2:30 AM from the Fundacion so I found no reason to try to sleep. Instead of catching a few winks at “home” then attempting to call a taxi at 2 AM, wrestle my luggage out the door, and lock the gate without waking Mama Isa and Manuel up, I opted to stay at the school overnight. Everyone chose the same fate. Narcisa was kind enough to allow it so I got quite a bit of much needed internet time in.

The four-hour ride was horrendous. I've become an excellent sleeper during bus travel because it's so long and tedious, but when everyone is grumpy and tired and about to toss the closest person over the next cliff, it's very difficult to enjoy it. Here is how our trip started:

“So,” the bus driver asked, after we all loaded onto the bus at exactly 2:30 like we were told, “where am I taking you folks?”

Narcissa to the rescue! We called her frantically and she was already on her way with her son, who accompanied us to the airport in Guayaquil. We arrived grumpy and whiny and I regret to inform you that there were many gringo fits pitched the whole way through the mountains: it was too hot, it was too cold, the time was bad to drive, the flight was late, the roads were bad, the food was bad, there was no food, etc., etc., all at a very loud volume. It's times like those when I would prefer not to associate with Americans and simply represent myself and my God, not an entire population of people known for exactly this type of behavior.

Being a good example of Christianity is difficult, I feel, when you have a wide vocabulary composed of even the offensive words. It's a bad habit of mine to swear but I feel like doing something like whining all the time would be far worse and far more offensive than flavoring my statements with a little pepper. I am definitely trying to keep a positive attitude on the trip, even when I'm exhausted, like today. I'm typically a pessimist (wonder who I got that from!) but trying to be an optimist and an encourager has made me feel a lot better when everyone else has steam pouring from their ears. Several have noticed and commented. I hope I can keep it up.

We flew into the Baltra airport on Santa Cruz (which is actually a glorified driveway with a barn for customs) and drove across the island to Puerto Ayora, where our boat is docked in Accademy Bay. The boat, the Golondrina is fairly small for the 16 of us but I've found that I am quite spaciously accommodated because of the multitude of drawers, shelves, and nooks to stash my stuff. I'm sharing a cabin with Megan Post for the week and I'm glad. She is sweet, calm, happy, and doesn't whine or gossip. (Speaking of happy, Professor Melampy is a totally different person in Ecuador: he is downright cheery! It should make the trip much more pleasant.)

I had my first full meal of fish since I was a wee youngin today. Aren't you proud of me, Daddy? I was eating my delicious lunch on the boat and remarking on how tender and delicious the chicken was when Melampy told me it was fish. But that doesn't mean I'll eat Ohio fish, Dad. You'll have to fish in the Galapagos for that to happen again.

After getting somewhat settled in our cabins, we all were ferried back to shore to visit the Darwin Research Center to see marine iguanas, land iguanas, and loads of tortoises, including Lonely George, the sole remainder of the Pinta Island turtles. It took a while for our guide to pick George out among the bushes, but we saw him! “He will not reproduce,” our tiny, wrinkly, adorable old guide told us, chuckling to himself. “He is either sterile or gay!”

Sea lions are everywhere. Their audacity exceeds that of any animal I've ever encountered, including Canadian geese, because they feel the right to take over space anywhere they please, including boardwalks, buoys, and boats—unoccupied or occupied.

We had 1 ½ hours of free time to explore Santa Cruz before dinner so we shopped in the port. It's a sadly touristy place, complete with high prices (shocking after cheap Cuenca), discotheques, and what appears to be a strip club. Lovely.

I have been musing over foods we'd like to eat since beginning the 11 hour journey to get here. We saw an Italian place and decided to honor our heritage by eating there and refuel our depleted garlic tanks (think I'm lying? You must not be Italian...). Upon discovering its dark windows, we opted for lobster instead. It was divine. No rice, no plantains, just sheer heaven. Everyone but Brittany Goetz, who joined us half-way through the meal, was about drowning in their own drool when they found out. Rice and fish for them. Bwahahaha. On the way out of the restaurant we saw a full, perfect double rainbow. Then I ate an entire bar of dark chocolate between town and the ship. It was a beautiful day.