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Galapagos

By : don webb
Trip Begins January 26, 2007
Trip Ends February 6, 2007

When I got on the plane in New York City (Jan 26th) it was 11F and when I got off the plane in Quito, Ecuador it was 80F degrees.
See my photos : Galapagos

Want to go? Guantanamera: 10 Day Tour

I went to: Galapagos, Bartolome, Santa Cruz Island, Genovesa, Santa Fe, South Plaza Island, North Seymour, Espanola, Floreana, Bachas Beach, Rabida
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January 26, 2007
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Down I go

Quito, Ecuador

When I got on the plane in New York City (Jan 26th) it was 11°F and when I got off the plane in Quito, Ecuador it was 80°F degrees.

I flew down on LAN Air and quickly realized why I was able to get a cheap rate for this trip. Forgoing the fact that all my flights were on time, we arrived without incident (which is the most important point) and the flight attendants were very attractive, everything else about LAN Air (the food, the drinks, the service, the seats, the movie selection, the inside condition of the plane) was bad. I know that it sounds like I am whining and I understand that “It is not how you get to where you are going but that you get there in one piece that counts.” So I’ll stop whining.

January 27, 2007
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Quito

Quito, Ecuador

Before and after going to the Galapagos I was able to spend some time in Quito (the capital city which is located in a valley of the Andes Mountains). I was surprised that Ecuador used the U.S. Dollar as its currency and how cheap things cost – a four course filet steak dinner (with wine) at the Sheraton hotel restaurant cost only $24.00. I did find a British pub (just across the street from the Sheraton) where I ran into the U.S. Marines assigned to the U.S. Embassy. It was a nice coincidence because they invited me to their Super bowl party when I returned from the Galapagos. The next morning (Jan 28th) I was off to the Galapagos. I was outside the hotel waiting for the travel company to take me to the airport. They finally arrived at 07:20 am and during the 15-minute ride to the airport I found out that my plane to the Galapagos was departing at 08:00 am. It was close but my bags and I made it on the plane.

When I got back from the Galapagos on the Feb 4th I went straight to the U.S. Marine House to watch the Super bowl. They had about 100 people and a big American-style barbecue. For the past few years some Americans (from Texas) now living in Quito, who own a slaughter house and meat store, would go to the Marine House bringing with them homemade sausages, ribs, burgers, brisket, pork loin, etc. and cook up a massive barbecue for the Super Bowl. The barbecue was good enough to convert a vegan. What was an added plus was that I was able to watch the commercials during the Super Bowl because Quito gets satellite TV from Miami as opposed to watching the Super Bowl on the Armed Forces TV which is not allowed to show commercials. The next day before my 10:00 pm flight to Santiago, I went sightseeing with one of the couples (Chris and Nadia) that I met in the Galapagos. After walking around the city and through the shopping markets Nadia wanted to visit the living museum located at the equator. When we got there we found out that the museum was next door on the equator and not a part of the “Middle of the World,” a tourist trap built by the French, but not as gaudy as Rock City or South of the Border. The major problem with the “Middle of the World” is that it is not on the middle of world. The French, who would not listen to the locals, built this edifice 500 meters off of the equator.

The tour through the living museum was very interesting and I learned a lot about the local tribes and their past life. The four things that I learned were:

1. Old drums were made of human skin. When an elder or wise man would die their skin was used to make a drum and thus their sprit would live on in the playing of the drums.
2. If your enemy or friend shrunk your head after killing you or you were killed, it was a sign of respect for your powers. It was believed that the person carrying around the head of a valiant or wise enemy or friend would gain the power of that person.
3. The masks created by the locals for ceremonies were made to poke fun at the Spanish.
4. The water trick that the Africans would perform on the equator in Africa also works in Ecuador.

The water trick: Place a bowl (with a plugged hole in the bottom middle) on a stand in the middle of the equator, fill it full of water and put a few small leaves in the water. Pull the plug and the water goes straight down. Then move the bowl and stand a few feet to the North and repeat the process and the water goes down clockwise. Move the bowl and stand a few feet to the South of the equator and repeat the process and the water goes down counterclockwise. Even after seeing this same water trick on two different continents I still think that there is a trick, but now I am not too sure. On a side note: I was able to balance a raw egg on the head of a nail (that was nailed to a board on the equator) but have not been able to repeat this feat back home.

January 28, 2007
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The Galapagos

Bachas Beach, Galapagos

The Galapagos is an island chain (13 major and 6 minor islands) located in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 miles off the west coast of Equator along the equator. The Galapagos was made famous by the visit of Charles Darwin visit in 1835. The flight was uneventful and we landed on Baltra Island at an old U.S. Military Airbase built during WWII which was later turned over to Ecuador when the U.S. pulled out in 1950s. After I arrived and met my guide (Jorge), I was taken to the boat.

January 29, 2007
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The Boat – The Guantanamera

South Plaza Island, Galapagos

The Guantanmera (just like the Spanish song which we heard sung at least five times a day) is a nice boat about 75 ft long with a crew of 6, and 16 passengers. The cabins were small and the bathrooms were smaller, about the size of a passenger plane’s restroom.

My Shipmates: Two older Polish couples who spoke very little English and no Spanish, two very old Dutch couples who spoke very little English and no Spanish, two younger couples (one from Italy and the other from Canada and Switzerland). Jorge (our guide) told me that there is one single Canadian woman and that she and I will be bunking together. I could not believe what I was hearing and could not believe that my luck was finally changing – and then we met. As we got on board and were putting our gear into the cabin my roommate said to me that the one thing she requested was to bunk with a person that did not snore and then she asked me, “Do I snore?” Now I am thinking in my mind, “Houston, we have a problem,” but what I said to her was, “No, I do not snore.”  I know what most of you are thinking and I know I told her a little white lie but what was I supposed to do? All the other bunks were full. Somehow it worked out and I only snored one night during the trip.

The food was OK – nothing to write home about, but the drinks were very cheap. Even though the boat was tight, it was not suffocating and we were not on top of each other. The only difficulty on the boat was the toilet space. Picture yourself trying to do your business (a #2 or Long Call) in a space the size of a phone booth while the boat is moving up an down and pitching side to side. Then being told that after wiping you can not/not throw the paper in toilet (because it will clog the pipes) that you have to put it in a small trash bucket. It was hard enough just trying to bend your body to get a good seat, now you had to figure a way to get the paper from your butt to the can – It was not pretty. 

Note: For those of you who do not know, I have had the worst luck when traveling. When traveling with a group or closed environment (like a boat), I will either be the only single person or the youngest person in group. But the other groups will have all the single women or young people or what will happen is the group that was there just before me or will arrive just after leave will have had/have all the single women or young people.

January 30, 2007
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Curse of the Canadian & The World is Cruel

Espanola, Galapagos

I learned that you need to be careful for what you ask for because you just may get it. The Big Guy up stairs finally answered my prayers and I got what I was asking for. Whoever said God does not have a sense of humor should hang out with me for a while For those of you who remember my trip last year to Pitcairn Island where I spent 14 days on a very small boat with a single 67+ year old Canadian woman who hated Americans and was not very friendly (even the crew was ready to throw her overboard by the end), well fast forward to 28 Jan 2007, as this single lady (who I was going to share a room with for the next 8 days) started to come into focus I had flash backs of my Pitcairn Island trip and I started to cry.
Could the world be so cruel as to have the same Canadian woman on this trip as well? Thankful that was not the case but they looked so much alike that I thought they were sisters and the first three questions out of my mouth were – Do you have a sister, Did she go to Pitcairn Island last year, and Do you hate Americans? The answers were no! Now the only thing I was thinking that I finally got what I was asking for. Now that I know the Big Guy will answer my prayers and I understand how it works, my request are going to be a bit more specific – I would like single lady, 21 to 41 so on and so on . I understand that the world is not fair or a nice place but I never realized just how cruel the world really is. The Big Guy upstairs wasn’t just content to set me up with a lady old enough to be my grandma, he had to really rub it in. Another boat sailing on the same course as us had a Dutch couple, 1 Japanese male, 1 British male, and 12 young single beautiful ladies – It is a cruel world.

January 31, 2007
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My Days in the Galapagos

Floreana, Galapagos

For the next eight days the Guantanamera would be my home as we sailed the Galapagos being followed by the Yoleta - the boat with the 12 young, single ladies onboard. As we set sail the air was sweet, the weather was warm, and the water was pristine with a visibility of down to 100 feet. Each day was a new adventure and a new island. Sailing to the islands was not bad and we only had one night that I considered rough. The days were hot (some days were very hot) and active (but not over done) and by the time the nightly meeting started I was exhausted.
Note: I even lost five pounds during this trip

Each island was unique and the islands we visited were: Las Bachas – Plaza – Santa Fe – Espanola – Floreana – Santa Cruz – Rabida – Bartolome – Genovesa – North Seymour – and back to Baltra. Each morning we would start with a walk on an island to view the plant/wildlife and to learn about the island, and then afterwards I would go scuba diving while the other non-divers would go snorkeling. In the afternoon we would take another walk at a different place and then go snorkeling. At night we would have a meeting to talk about the day’s adventure and what was going to happen the next day. I was very impressed with how the locals, the government, and the environmental groups worked out a very good balance between the need for tourists and the need to preserve the pristine nature of the Galapagos and the results of this hard work was apparent in how little a human footprint was left behind on each island and how pristine the islands still are and that the animals have no fear of humans.
Four days into the trip we docked at Punta Aryo (main city in the Galapagos and the home of the Darwin research center) to drop off the Dutch couples and pick up a couple from Canada and America.

February 1, 2007
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Soccer

Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos

We also got the chance to walk around the city and visit the Darwin Research Center and that night I got the chance to party with the girls from the other boat. The next day we were back at sea for the second part of our trip.
One stop that was most enjoyable was the stop on Post Box Cove. In 1763 an English whaler set up an old wine casket to serve as a post box and it has been in use ever since. How it works is that a sailor would write his letters then put it in the box and when another ship would pass by if that ship was going to where the letter was addressed, the sailors from that ship would take that letter and deliver it to the address. Today the tradition lives on and I will be spending a weekend hand delivering the letters that were addressed to places the D.C. area.

What also made this a great stop was that I got the chance to play a game of soccer with all the other boat crews. While the passengers were chilling out on the beach, the crews from the tour boats would team up for a game of soccer and since they were 1 person short they asked if I would be a goal keeper. Not knowing my past and that I played goal keeper in High School and College, they soon found out that I was not a pushover. Two hours later (in 100 degree heat and sporting the goalkeeper raspberry scar on my right calf) the game was over and I was now being called the goal keeper. It made me smile two nights later when we stopped at Punta Aryo and I was taking the water taxi back to my boat and the taxi driver smiled and said to me, “You are the goal keeper.” Word got around that this big American played with the locals. By the way we won 7 to 6.

February 2, 2007
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The Animals

Bartolome, Galapagos

The Galapagos is a World Heritage Site and a vast majority of its plant, animal, and sea life is only found in the Galapagos. This was the first place I have been to where when the guide said this is what you are going to see, you see it. The wildlife is amazing and they have no fear of humans and not one time did any bird, reptile, turtle, or sea lion move away when we got close and even though it is the rule to keep at least three feet from the wildlife is was sometimes hard to do because the animals would come right up to you. It was an amazing time to be able watch the wildlife going about their business having no concern about us humans. Of all the interesting animals that I saw, my favorite was the Blue-Footed Booby.

February 3, 2007
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The Blue-Footed Booby

Genovesa, Galapagos

The Booby is a very entertaining bird especially during courtship. In order to attract a female or ask for sex from his partner, the male will perform a dance called the “Booby two-step.”

As the male is performing this dance by lifting up one foot then the other, spreading out his wings, baring his chest, and squawking; the female will pretend to not pay any attention and kinda do a sideways glance at the male with a look of boredom. Then the male will realize that it is not working and will go and present her with a gift, then wait to see if she accepts or rejects it. For the most part, the gift is rejected the male will have to start all over again doing the “Booby two-step” and giving gifts. This routine will go on for up to an hour or more until the female finally accepts the gifts and will allow the male to have sex with her (lasting only 3 to 5 seconds). Now I can only just imagine what you ladies are thinking at this time, but put the shoe on the other foot and think about how much work we men have to do for a little sex.

The other famous creatures found in the Galapagos are the land turtles. These turtles can get as big as 500 lbs and can live to be a few hundred years old. They are very gentle and laid back.

February 4, 2007
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The Scuba Diving

North Seymour, Galapagos

The diving in the Galapagos was very good. The water clear and warm and only once did we have poor visibility. It was on that dive that I ran into 14+ foot Hammerhead Shark. This shark came out of nowhere. I remember looking into darkness then looking down and then in front of me and that is when I saw this 14+ foot Hammerhead just below and to the front of me. After my eyes became as big as my mask, trying to take pictures, warn the others, and getting the hell out of there, he just swam off into the darkness. It was a wonderful experience to be this close to such a huge creature but once is enough.

Also on this trip I saw for the first time, sleeping sharks. It is said that if a shark stops moving it will drown because it needs water flowing through its gills, but we found a cave that was known to have white tip sharks sleeping in it and we saw three of them sleeping. I found out that the reason they can sleep there is that the movement of the water in that cave simulates the same action while they are moving. What was cool was having the sea lions play and swim with you while you are diving. Because of curious nature and their lack of fear it was fun to have them swimming and playing with you. I also had the chance to swim with the huge sea turtles. The diving was amazing but this was the first place I have been where the snorkeling was better than the diving and if I ever go back I will do fewer dives and more snorkeling.

February 5, 2007
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The End

Quito, Ecuador

As I left the Guantanamera on my last zodiac ride to land in order to catch my plane to my next adventure I had to smile, the Galapagos is a wonderful place and one of those places that you should visit.
PS – Next weekend I close the Galapagos trip when I hand deliver the letters that I pulled out of the mailbox – I have five delivery’s – two in Delaware, two in PA, and one in WV

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