Our last full day! It is a bit sad to feel we have come to
an end, but on the other hand a few more days of this sloth and my brain would
turn to mush. Our first activity was a 6 am walk across Point Cormorant to
watch … flamingos (I know, the name suggests we could have seen cormorants, but
Santa Fe is in the south, and cormorants are only seen in the west coast of
Isabela). I also saw a fat, heathy rat; later I mentioned it to our guide
Robert and he told me we should have stopped and killed it, for they are particularly
pernicious invaders (sorry, but killing an animal was the thing farthest from
my mind in eco-minded Galapagos).
The highlight of the walk was the sea turtle we found on the
beach! To judge from the prints on the sand she was but one of many turtles who
had dragged themselves across the beach and in to the sand dunes beyond to
deposit their eggs. Our friend was not happy at being discovered and decided to
turn around and crawl back to the ocean. She was slow, and crossing the 10 m
that separated her from the shore took her about 10 minutes, even after she was
in the water. Apparently they are heavy enough that they have to be fully
submerged to take advantage of their buoyancy; once submerged, however, she
swiftly moved way into the blue yonder.
Our last snorkeling of the trip was around La Corona del Diablo, and eroded
volcanic plug whose jagged remnants stick out of the water has tall pillars
that, just like the high points of a crown, surround a small central bay. It
was a worthy last dive, even though we didn’t see any big sea life, because the
whole of the submerged rocks had been colonized by a barnacle reef, which gave
the submarine landscape a golden hue, where the many colors of fish and sea
stars shone like jewels.
After the dive we ate lunch while in transit to the island
of Santa Cruz. I had been a couple of days there, so the visit to the Darwin
Research Station was a bit of a repeat, and I actually declined the suggestion
of going to Rancho Chato to see the tortoises. Instead I went shopping for a
“Panama” hat, which as it turns out are not manufactured in Panama but in
Ecuador, where they are called “Sombreros de Paja Toquilla”. I found a perfect
one in the 30% off rack of a shop, where I only paid $49 for a $70 hat. I was
very happy with my purchase until Monica later expressed her opinion that it
was very expensive. Bah! Women. What do they know about fine hats.
As a sort of goodbye, the crew dressed up before dinner, and
shared a cocktail and toast with us. They cut a fine figure on their dark
trousers and white shirts with epaulettes. This made me think that Ecuadorians
are, in general, fairly short at an average of 5 ft nothing; Victoriano, our
cook, is a fine example of a small person. But there are a few who are tall; at
6 ft tall, our seaman Edison is a splendid specimen of the young and strong
seafarer. Quite naturally, the rest of the crew addresses him as “Grande”, or
“Grandote”, much to the amusement of our foreign visitors, who are puzzled by
the tendency of Latin Americans to hang derogatory monikers on their best
friends.
After the toast Roberto showed us a film he had compiled
with photos and short snippets of film. It was absolutely fabulous,
particularly in so far as it included some stunning submarine shots. He is a
great nature photographer. Now I must make a brief advertisement on behalf of
the Yacht Fragata. If you ever consider coming to Galapagos, I would strongly
recommend checking their website www.FragataYatchGalapagos.com
I was highly satisfied with the ship, the food, the
program, and—most importantly—the people who looked after us so well during
this week. Give them a chance and they are sure to wow you as well.
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