Thursday, 21 August 2014
It's funny how with the other group, I couldn't wait for this trip to end, but now in the company of better people, I am sad that tomorrow will be the last day and we have to say goodbye. Plus the 2nd captain who drives the dinghy is quite cute. There was another driver before this so I never knew him before. His name is Ignacio. My properly brought up self is chiding me for this observation, but my naughty self (who sometimes gets lost when depression sets in) tells me I am a hot-blooded girl on holiday, and I can certainly admire a man if I want to!
Last night we sailed about 10 hours back to Santa Cruz. I don't think I will ever get used to being on a boat. I had many dreams during the night, most of which involved sea monsters attacking the boat. When I was young I wanted to become, among others, a pirate when I grew up. Luckily I didn't follow that dream.
This morning we went to a small island at the west of Santa Cruz, called the South Plaza Island. There was a short trek around the island where I saw another species of land iguanas (there are only 2 species of land iguanas on the Galápagos Islands; the common ancestor of all iguanas, land and marine on the Galápagos Islands is the green land iguana), sea lions, lava lizards, swallow tail gulls, yellow warbler, and finches (there are 19 species of finches on the Galápagos Islands, 13 of which are known as Darwin's finches).
Baby and juvenile sea lions are very curious creatures. They will come up to you and sometimes try to touch you, but we are told never to touch babies of 3 months and less because we will inevitably transfer some form of chemical to them, and they will then be abandoned by their mothers because they are very sensitive to any extraneous smell, and the young pup who is still suckling and cannot fish on his own yet, will inevitably starve to death. I saw one that was dying, but nobody does anything about it, they just let it die. This is really sad, I wish I could pack him and bring him with me and take care of him and release him in Teluk Chempedak but I know that is simply not possible.
In the afternoon there was snorkeling at Punta Mosquera, about 40 minutes boat ride from the South Plaza Island, and then to the white sand beach for more snorkeling. This white sand beach is between North Seymour Island and Baltra Island (also known as South Seymour Island). According to the guide, a long time ago North Seymour Island and Baltra Island were one island, and then most probably earth quakes and shifting of tectonic plates occurred, and now they are separated, with a white sand beach in between. Fascinating stuff!
I was feeling off all day, and it worsened during the night, I had to vomit during dinner and didn't eat my dinner. Later, since it was the last day for most of us, we all danced on the deck with the crew, all Latin music such as salsa, maracha, merengge and reggaethon (not sure of spelling). In between I had to go vomit again. I was really feeling off but I managed to dance with Ignacio (ahem!) and we also talked a lot in broken English and Spanish, he has been sailing for 15 years now, he can tell which way is North and South just by looking at the stars! Ok I know all sailors can do that but I do have a crush on him, so everything appears impressive to me. I could've kissed him but I didn't, being the idiot that I am. And then it was too late.
It's funny how with the other group, I couldn't wait for this trip to end, but now in the company of better people, I am sad that tomorrow will be the last day and we have to say goodbye. Plus the 2nd captain who drives the dinghy is quite cute. There was another driver before this so I never knew him before. His name is Ignacio. My properly brought up self is chiding me for this observation, but my naughty self (who sometimes gets lost when depression sets in) tells me I am a hot-blooded girl on holiday, and I can certainly admire a man if I want to!
Last night we sailed about 10 hours back to Santa Cruz. I don't think I will ever get used to being on a boat. I had many dreams during the night, most of which involved sea monsters attacking the boat. When I was young I wanted to become, among others, a pirate when I grew up. Luckily I didn't follow that dream.
This morning we went to a small island at the west of Santa Cruz, called the South Plaza Island. There was a short trek around the island where I saw another species of land iguanas (there are only 2 species of land iguanas on the Galápagos Islands; the common ancestor of all iguanas, land and marine on the Galápagos Islands is the green land iguana), sea lions, lava lizards, swallow tail gulls, yellow warbler, and finches (there are 19 species of finches on the Galápagos Islands, 13 of which are known as Darwin's finches).
Baby and juvenile sea lions are very curious creatures. They will come up to you and sometimes try to touch you, but we are told never to touch babies of 3 months and less because we will inevitably transfer some form of chemical to them, and they will then be abandoned by their mothers because they are very sensitive to any extraneous smell, and the young pup who is still suckling and cannot fish on his own yet, will inevitably starve to death. I saw one that was dying, but nobody does anything about it, they just let it die. This is really sad, I wish I could pack him and bring him with me and take care of him and release him in Teluk Chempedak but I know that is simply not possible.
In the afternoon there was snorkeling at Punta Mosquera, about 40 minutes boat ride from the South Plaza Island, and then to the white sand beach for more snorkeling. This white sand beach is between North Seymour Island and Baltra Island (also known as South Seymour Island). According to the guide, a long time ago North Seymour Island and Baltra Island were one island, and then most probably earth quakes and shifting of tectonic plates occurred, and now they are separated, with a white sand beach in between. Fascinating stuff!
I was feeling off all day, and it worsened during the night, I had to vomit during dinner and didn't eat my dinner. Later, since it was the last day for most of us, we all danced on the deck with the crew, all Latin music such as salsa, maracha, merengge and reggaethon (not sure of spelling). In between I had to go vomit again. I was really feeling off but I managed to dance with Ignacio (ahem!) and we also talked a lot in broken English and Spanish, he has been sailing for 15 years now, he can tell which way is North and South just by looking at the stars! Ok I know all sailors can do that but I do have a crush on him, so everything appears impressive to me. I could've kissed him but I didn't, being the idiot that I am. And then it was too late.
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