Pinzon island - how do you say "Are there sharks in the agua???" ?

With the previous days success with Floreana island, and only one more day before catching our cruise, we decided to plunge back in and do one more day trip.
The entire Galapagos islands cluster is an Ecuadorian national park, and a UNESCO world heritage site. Given the fragility of the various ecosystems, the governing bodies are very cautious on which areas to grant access to humans...
Pinzon island has been a closed, off limits area for years, and only recently reopened.
The snorkeling and diving was meant to be out of this world GREAT.
Second island day-trip, Pinzon island... and it did not disappoint.

A two hour ride out from Puerto Aroyo to the sweet snorkel spot on very small, very fast boat.
Second day on the water, sea sickness 0, Heather's tummy 2... we are winning!!!

A great time on a tour in a far away land boils down to one single thing... not the boat, not the place, not the food, not the comfort... you know these things going in, and are usually out of anyone's control. The single thing is the quality of the guide, and by quality I mean that certain je ne sais quoi.
Camilo had it in spades... he was funny, engaging, charismatic, did I mention funny?
As the boat slowed down to the first snorkel spot, he began to fiddle with his backpack. We assumed he had a water temperature gauge, or his own snorkel gear, or something relevant for the excursion.
With great care and tenderness, he gently removed a giant framed photo of his new baby grandson, Maximilian. He proudly displayed it and wanted us to photograph, he, the beauty of the Galapagos and of course, little Maxi.

A single rock in the middle of the trip, Roche sin Nombre... sounds wicked and ominous, come to find out, there are literally 100s of small rock outcrops all around the Galapagos, all named, Roche sin Nombre.
Why are they ALL named Roche sin Nombre?
Because Roche sin Nombre means rock with no name... ugh I so need to learn Spanish.

We were ready and prepped for all conditions for this trip... wetsuits, flippers, sound snorkel gear and a giant orange life jacket, not for me so much as to give my dear mother calm as I slipped into the cold dark ocean.
In a small sea cave, we encountered the elusive Galapagos penguino...

Heather, our snorkel mate, Dan the Englishman and senior penguino in the middle.

As I said, Pinzon did NOT disappoint... literally every time I put my head in the water, we were greeted with another amazing view.

The majestic and elegant giant sea turtle...

A mischievous and playful adolescent sea lion showing off with a couple of loop d' loops.

So far, so cute... not this guy... white tipped reef shark, way way too close for comfort.

Excuse me?!?... I am swimming through here... sheesh, acts like he has swam these waters for a few hundred years or so.

The most beautiful view all day... Ariel has nothing on her.

After Pinzon, on our way back home, we took a little detour to a mangrove covered inlet, where we hiked out to the islands rugged coast line.

A smaller version of Godzilla... just wish I had packed my model city of Tokyo so he could wreak havoc and destruction...

So I got to thinking... the haters might think I simply Google Imaged a pic of the blue footed boobie and claimed it as my own... oh the lies of the interweb... well I will show them... that is ME and my friend the boobie.

And for good measure, Heather, Camilo AND Maximilian... all with boobies.
Take that Interweb.

Camilo, you are a great guide, and an even better man.
We were lucky to have you as our guide, and Maxi is very lucky to have you as his abuelo.



An amazing day ended with good food and great company with our new buddy Dan.

Floreana Island - nice pair of boobies

There are two primary ways in which to experience the islands… day trip from a port city or get on a boat.

The port city route is advantageous as it minimizes costs but limits what you can experience.

The boat route is advantageous as it allows you to travel to areas inaccessible by land or smaller day tripping boats but of course can be very expensive.
Most people go the boat route, book ahead through an agency paying a small fortune. They are picked up from the airport, shuttled from the airport into the warm embrace of an anointed cabin.

I understand that having it all worked out before stepping on to the plane can appeal to some, most in fact, but we are not most people... the BEST part of traveling, especially to off the beaten track places, is just figuring it out, seat o the pants style.

There we were, port city, more than a few boats in the harbor... so we just started asking around... "hello mate, have a boat and a cruise available for 3?"
A few hours later, after some interesting negotiations that included my wrist watch and a promise for a sweet TripAdvisor review, we had secured a ride.
A few important caveats for anyone wishing to follow suit... Heather ALWAYS researches the options, reading travel books, guides and blogs, we knew it was low season, we knew the islands we wanted to visit, we knew the kind of boat we wanted to stay on and most importantly, we knew our limits on what we would pay.
Never go in blind, and always be willing to walk if you can't secure what you believe to be a good deal.

Unfortunately, we would not be able to set sail for another 2 days, which meant we had some time to kill... what to do? what to do?
We decided to hit a few of the closer islands that our cruise would not be travelling to.
The day-trip island runs are done on relatively small, open, fast boats, with a captain and a guide.
All of the day-trip islands are within a few hours range, although open water, this time of year, the water is relatively calm, protected from the intensity of the mighty Pacific by the Equatorial position and the Humbolt and Cromwell cross currents.

First island day trip, Floreana island.
Nervous smiles leaving port, Heather worried about turning green and puking like a pelican, my mom worried about basically everything else (shark attack, rouge wave, Poseidon Adventure, trapped on an uncharted desert isle with Gilligan, the skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the moooovie star, the professor and Marianne...)

Half way there, and we are greeted and accompanied by a massive pod of dolphins... dolphins to the left, dolphins to the right, dolphins in the front, dolphins in the back... 10s and 10s of dolphins... so fun, so playful.

Stepping off the boat, we were immediately greeted by the local ambassador... soooo freakin CUTE!!!

We hiked a few miles across the island to the Devils Crown, a sweet little snorkel spot.

Unfortunately, there were some seriously strong currents, and with my mom still pretty freaked out about the boat ride, I elected to stay out of the water.
Heather, of course, the master floater she is... got right in and crushed it.

But there was plenty to see stumbling around the rocks...
Seriously?!? Could baby sea lions be any cuter???
Caught this little monkey snoozing in the warm afternoon sun, completely oblivious to random tourist taking his pic... a study in chill.

Second day in the islands and BOOM, not one but two two two Blue Footed Boobies.
I can fly home right now and be content.
Just look at them... you know they are saying "Yeah, my feet are blue, whatd up?"
I want blue kicks and I want to own it like my boobie friends.

After a light lunch, we headed into the highlands for a hike and a few giant land tortoises transitioning back into the wild.

We also stumbled upon this ancient stone craving of a lost to history Islander king... ummm that would be negative ghost rider...
Actually, it was craved in the 50s as a prank, by a German kid (more on him shortly).

Back to the docks for the ride back to home base, but not before a goodbye from a couple of curious marine iguanas.

The first ever official person born in the islands, is not a Ecuadorian, not a pirate, not random pacific islanders, nope, the first official birth was a German named Rolf Wittmer.
He is kinda a local legend who craved a stone face in a big rock (as seen above) and then convinced a Norwegian anthropologist is was ancient stone craving of a lost to history Islander king.
Fast forward a few decades, and the Ecuadorian government builds a giant bronze statue of the man himself...
The lesson kids?
If you are going to vandalize a UNESCO world heritage site, go BIG and sucker a few world renown scientists and maybe, just maybe, the Ecuadorian government will build YOU a giant bronze statue one day.

Santa Cruz Island - a long to the beach

First full day, lots and lots to do... we set off bright and early with a visit to the Charles Darwin Research center.
The center is most famous for the successful captive breeding and reintroduction of the giant Galapagos land tortoise through out the islands.
The center has now turned it's attention to the endangered land iguana.

Large photo mosaic of Mr. Origin of a Species himself... 

Slow and plodding, but still exuding a sense of wisdom... tortoises can live to almost 200 years.
During Darwin's original visit in 1835, he took 3 small babies as samples... the last one died in 2006 in Australia at 176 years old.

Chillin with my boy... Chuck D.

At the edge of the research station, there is a perfect reef break and the locals were ripping it up.

A morning of intense science calls for a relaxing walk to the beach... Tortuga beach is about 2 miles out of town and on a Sunday, pretty much had the place to ourselves.

We met up with a few locals...

who let us take a pleasant dip.

Ended the day with a little spelunking in el Mirador lava tunnels which form when the outside of a large lava flow cools and hardens, while the inside runs through. Once the dust settles, there is a long cylindrical tube, excellent for having your mom scramble around.

A natural skylight, offering a small sanctuary from the darkness.

Darwin & my mom

In 1835, a young, bright naturalist on the good ship HMS Beagle stopped in a smaller cluster of islands 2000 miles off the coast of Ecuador, South America called the Galapagos for a few months.

What he observed would form the foundation of a scientific theory that would shape our understanding of life on Earth... he didn't take his mom.

Your friendly neighbourhood adventure loving couple, Heather & Riad, ready to set out into this great big world again, bring you, our faithful readers all the fun and hijinx.

But wait, there is more... this time friends, we have brought along a special guest... that special someone who lovingly brought me into this crazy world, who nurtured me, guided me, instilled the lessons that made me the man I am today, and whom I have repeatedly tortured with breathtakingly silly and downright stoopid decisions over the years... all captured for the world's entertainment on this blog.

What better way to say I love you Mom, than inviting her to bear witness, first hand to my shenanigans.

So unlike Darwin, on this trip to the Galapagos... I am bringing my MOM.

This one broke the record… Uber from the OC to LAX, flight from LAX to Quito Ecuador, flight from Quito to Guayaquil, flight from Guayaquil to Baltra island, bus from Baltra airport to ferry, ferry from Baltra to Santa Cruz island, bus from ferry landing to Puerto Aroya (the main port city)… well anything worthwhile has to be difficult right?

A random bump from cattle to first class had Heather all smiles... 

And an even bigger smile when we found our first night hostel had air conditioning...

The first day is always about getting settled and meeting the locals... we met this nasty bit of work down by the docks. Apparently he did not appreciate having his picture taken.

I have been puked on plenty of times before; friends, family, children, random acquaintances... adding pelican to the list.

My Spanish is not great, but pretty sure Xeroxcopia is not a thing, but I was pleased to finally find a place where I could actually rent the Internet. This will really come in handy one of these days.

It goes without saying I love Boobies... exclusively the ones attached to my lovely wife.
In my recent research on the Galapagos, I must admit to have fallen for a new set of Boobies... the famed blue footed Boobie, standard looking bird except their feet are a beautiful aqua blue, and not only that, they do a super cool mating ritual where the guy bird dances whilst showing off his blue feet to possibly interested lady birds... literally exactly how I met Heather.
This trip essentially turned into a fanatical search for the blue footed Boobie.

Not just a happy hour, not just a crazy happy hour, not just a super crazy happy hour... no an all capitals, block, multi colored SUPER CRAZY HAPPY HOUR

Finished an exhausting 2 days of planes, boats and automobiles, with some delicious Ecuadorian street food... why so sad dear Grouper?

cuz you are going into my belly... YUM!!!