Snorkeling by Sombrero Chino

Black-striped Salema

Sea Cucumber 

Bluechin Parrotfish

King Angelfish

Bluechin Parrotfish

Mexican Hogfish

Scarlet Frogfish

Great Blue Heron looking for a snack!

Blue and Gold Snapper fish  (the yellow tail fellows)

Stand-off with a Sargent Major fish

This Mexican Hogfish is eating his lunch.
Terry is that you in this photo?

Yellow Spotted Starfish

Azure Parrotfish

Leather Bass fish

Sergeant Major fish

Parrotfish

Our snorkeling adventure story around Sombrero Chino, Chinaman's Hat or Chinese Hat, did not have the same beginning as our other snorkeling outings. You see our naturalist guide Alex had an injury on his foot from the day before that kept him from snorkeling, so the Captain of the Grace, Jacinto was to lead the group and snorkel with us. Tatiana and I being the least experienced snorkelers in the group had paired up as snorkel buddies and we shared a lifesaver style buoy for extra added confidence. During our previous outings Alex had always stayed near us but for today's snorkeling adventure he instructed Captain Jacinto to keep an eye on us.

The entire group was also instructed not to snorkel past the point of land at the far end of the cove where we were to explore. In fact he gave us this instruction three times. "Do NOT snorkel past that point of land as the current gets too strong". Most of the group had gotten into the water and Tatiana and I, with our buoy, joined up and we were quickly met by the Captain who not only kept an eye on us but decided to take one of the buoy ropes in hand and with a quick pace he began swimming through the cove. I quickly lost sight of my dear husband as all I could see of the others, when I picked my head out of the water, was unidentifiable snorkel tubes. But he knew I was with Tatiana and the Captain and must be safe and I knew he was back with most of the group and had the camera so he would be enjoying our water outing.

Before we knew it the captain and his buoy tethered snorkeling buddies had reached the point of land we were not supposed to swim past. I could feel the current was swifter and looked up to see Pablo steering the panga our way and Alex yelling "Swim to the panga! Swim as hard as you can!" So I swam. I swam my little heart out, but with the strong current I could only keep pace with the same spot of land on shore. Alex soon realized this was not going to work. We couldn't swim fast enough and the panga could not get any closer for fear of crushing us into the rocks. "Stay with the captain" he yells, and the panga sped away, back to the rest of the group to stop them before they too reached the point of no return.

I told myself “Self this will be okay. Surely you are safe and there are pretty fish to look at, just breathe easy and look down at the pretty fish”.  The only problem was that I was still a little out of breath from my attempt to reach and panga, oh who am I kidding, I was a lot out of breath. I was trying to ease the panting when I looked back down into the water for the little fishies that would distract me from my current situation. There I was in the ocean, clinging to a buoy with two other people, we had been swept away from our group around the point of no return, and were being carried away by the current at a rate that was far beyond any comfort zone or any courage I possessed. Oh and those fish, the ones that were supposed to distract me…GONE. They too do not swim past the peaceful little cove. They do not venture out where the current is strong and the bottom is gray.

My fear turned to laughter. At this point all I knew was that I did not want to have a break down and become a hysterical mess nor did I want to show my true fear, as that embarrassment might be hard to live down later. So what do I do? I started laughing and pointing to where we should be, back with the group that we could no longer see, and saying “I want to go back there.”

It is this point in the story that I should tell you that Captain Jacinto does not speak much English. In fact my Española might be better than his English, and I do not speak Española.

I kept laughing and my laughter now has Tatiana laughing and then the Captain joins in, we three have our heads above water, because there is nothing to see snorkeling anyway, and we are all laughing. The Captain is not sure what I am laughing at so he decides to make a joke. He points his hand off to the distance, puts his hand on his head to emulate a fin out of the water and says “shark”, and laughs even harder. To this my response was more laughter with a bit more hysteria in my tone and in an excited voice I say “Not funny! Not funny!” as I try to crawl into our buoy from the bottom up to get out of the water. “Shark”, he says again and laughs. Oh man this was so NOT funny and at this point I was incredibly petrified, all I could do was laugh while in my head I was screaming “I'm going to die! I'm going to die!” Die out here with my snorkel buddy Tatiana, and the Captain who doesn't speak English. All the while the Captain thinks that I think he is funny. Talk about a language barrier that will be the death of me, and that buoy was obviously not going to save me or Tatiana if there really was a shark.

Just in the nick of time, when I thought I was going to throw-up and then die, we see the panga round the far edge of land with a few of our fellow snorkelers safe on board. When the panga reached us I had flashbacks to our first days snorkeling outing and I again found myself in a panicked rush to get into the panga as quickly as possible. Having learned my lesson from that first day, as I was still sporting the large bruise on my leg, I knew I had to get my fins off first before I could safely get back into the panga. So with my hands on the ladder my left leg came shooting out of the water up to the top of the panga almost hitting Pablo in the face as he gave a ‘wow’ look of surprise. I don’t think he thought anyone could lift their leg that high. He took my left fin off and in a wink my right leg was up just as high so that fin could too be removed with haste.

Once safe on the panga I scanned the faces onboard, only to not see Josh's. I took the towel that was handed to me as a flush of relief to be out of the water swept over me, and I started to sob. Quietly at first but my sobs did not go as unnoticed as I had hoped they would. Tatiana came over and offered me a hug saying the sweetest kindest words, none of which I remember now, but at the time I felt her comfort and was calmed. She also pointed out that we had motored back into the cove and there was Josh. All was about to be right again. I know the others were a bit bewildered when they caught sight of me crying, and both Alex and the Captain looked concerned. But I smiled my best smile to show them that all is well. All is well.

After lunch Alex found a moment to speak with me when no one else was around to ask if I was truly scared, and if I was upset at the Captain. To the first question my reply was yes - I am very afraid of sharks and swimming in the ocean, and each day our snorkeling adventures are a big accomplishment for me. As to being upset with the Captain, no way, absolutely not. He did not know about my fear of sharks or my newly discovered defense mechanism, to laugh in the face of my extreme fear. Add in the language barrier and the day’s events would surely be misleading to anyone.

Since I did not speak Española very well I asked Alex if he could give word to Captain Jacinto that all is fine and that I am not upset with him in the least. The message was delivered in earnest as was evident by the Captain making sure to seek me out when Josh and I were by ourselves on the front deck of the Grace. He offered his apologies, and I offered a hardy handshake and a heartfelt smile in return. For the remainder of our voyage we received extra attention from Captain Jacinto. Extra smiles and a few shark jokes followed up with “not funny”.

When we first met Jacinto I could tell he was a kind person, now we know he is the very best of kind people. And as it turned out we met his son and wife, his wife by the way is a fabulous city ninja driver that I can only aspire to be, but that is another story.

In truth this tale might be better told in person, complete with hand gestures and the influx that conveys the necessary impact of the true fear I felt but I hope I have written it well enough as to reflect the mornings events. Truth is I cried when I was writing this story’s end, I guess the fear and relief are still very vivid.

Bachas Beach Santa Cruz

Just another gorgeous day in the Galapagos exploring Bachas Beach on Santa Cruz Island. Did I tell you it would have been a smart move to invest in the sun screen business stocks before we left?  Nope, well it would have been a smart more.

Life is better when you have to wear sun screen.

Puerto Ayora Santa Cruz & High Five Friday for Free Fish

A Medium Ground Finch (I think)

These two customers are hoping to collect on the Friday free fish.

Happy Friday my friends.  Enjoy your weekend and each day remember to share the love, always and often!

Lonesome George

The story of Lonesome George is a sad one and when you first learn of his name, which hints at his past status on this earth, the lonely only skims the surface. All stories should start at their beginning and Lonesome Georges story starts in the late 1700s when the whaling ships first starting passing through and around the Galápagos Archipelago. These buccaneers, whalers, fur sealers and pirates discovered that they could collect the Galápagos giant tortoises for food and oil with the added benefit that these animals can survive up to one year without food or water in the holds of the ships, thus providing a supply of fresh meat on their long voyages. When word of this spread the exploitation of the species resulted in the loss of between 100,000 to 200,000 Galápagos tortoises over the next century to today. There are 14 different species of Galápagos giant tortoises, three of which have been extinct for some time and the fourth, well you guessed it, it was Lonesome George, the last known Pinta Island giant tortoise, who died on June 24, 2012.

It is also worth mentioning that the Galápagos giant tortoises were at risk of extinction from the introduced invasive non-native feral goats, pigs, and donkeys that created competition for food. They are still at risk from rats, and the feral cats and dogs that dig up the nest to eat the eggs. It is estimated that only 20,000-25,000 wild tortoises live on the islands today.

In 1846 a Canadian by the name of Abraham Gesner had found a way to distill kerosene from petroleum, which started the reduction of the world’s dependency on whale oil and triggered a rapid decline in the whaling industry. However by then the Galápagos Archipelago had suffered immense and irreparable damage but with the continued conservation works there is good news, in January of this year there was the discovery of wild clutches of tortoise eggs hatching on Pinzón Island.

As for Lonesome George he was spotted on Pinta Island in 1971 and when the news of his spotting was shared in 1972 there was much rejoicing as it was thought that the tortoises on Pinta Island had already become extinct many years before. It was then that George was collected from Pinta Island and taken to the Tortoise Breeding and Rearing Center on Santa Cruz Island where he lived for the next 40 years. Lonesome George was thought to be more than 100 years old when he passed away which would mean that he spent over 60 years on the island and most of this time it is thought that he was all by himself, based on the fact that when they placed him in the pen with other tortoises Lonesome George was very aggressive and unsociable. Too much time alone on his island had changed his behavior to dislike his fellow tortoises so they built him a pen of his very own.

There is a very good story about Lonesome George and the days following his death to his new legacy at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, New York U.S.A. Read that story by clicking the link HERE. It is also worth noting that in January of this year, 2015, Lonesome George was to be returned to Quito Ecuador but Alex, our Naturalist Guide, mentioned that the Ecuadorian government has decided to leave Lonesome George on permanent loan to the American Museum of Natural History.

Charles Darwin Research Station Santa Cruz

We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station at Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, where they are conducting research in an effort to preserve the Galápagos and each islands environment and biodiversity. Our main focus of the visit was to see the breeding areas of the Giant Tortoise and hear about the success stories.

The Charles Darwin Foundation, the Galápagos National Park Service, and the Galápagos Conservancy, along with several other local and Ecuadorian agencies are working together to restore the Giant Tortoise population in this archipelago.

These young tortoises were hatched in 2014 and are of the Genus/species/subspecies - Chelonoidis nigra hoodensis – Española Island Galápagos tortoise.

Land Iguana 

All around the world there are GIANTS! Giants to be saved, treasured and visited.

This fella is over 100 years old and each year the proud Papa of a new clutch of hatch-lings.

Rancho Manzanillo Santa Cruz

High on the misty mountain tops of Santa Cruz roam some of the Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos.  At Rancho Manzanillo they have provided the ideal grounds in which these giant creatures can graze for food and find prospective mates if the season does arise.

The boots are for protection against the fire ants that have invited themselves to stay, and on this day they came in handy on account of the rain.

These are incredible creatures to be amongst as they roam free in their native land.  We saw six this day and we count ourselves blessed that we could visit them and that they are not all extinct.