I am bringing my mom everytime...

Big thanks our faithful readers, friends both new and old.

As always, should you like to connect, please don't hesitate to email or call...
Heather 949 887 5693 and heatherzhere@hotmail.com
Riad 714 931 3985 and riad_bacchus@hotmail.com
Also, please check our instagrams...

@riadbacchus and @heatherbacchus

Love, Peace and God Bless
Heather & Riad

Crossing over to the other side

The Equator runs smack dab right through the Galapagos islands and we bounced back and forth several times between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, each time, chasing that elusive sweet point on the GPS of 0 degrees latitude... every time, either asleep, or eating, or chillin... just kept missing it.
So back in Quito, with a half day to kill, we decided to take my mom to Mitad Del Mundo or the middle of the world moment designating the specific line.

Sometimes I feel it is like my mom and I are hemispheres apart...

I swear, Ecuador new pitch line... welcome to Ecuador, land of the ridiculously beautiful sunset/sunrise... Don Draper, you got nothing on me.

And of course, the obligatory goofy tourist shops, with this AWESOME knitted face warmer, perfect for those chilly SoCal evenings, robbing a 7-11 or finally returning to the underground Canadian Lucha Libre scene.

With an early flight out, we would usually crash at the airport, or a cheap hotel nearby.
Our friend Scully knocked it out of the park with this little hacienda in the hills outside Quito, a stone's throw from the airport.
It was a family getaway from the sweltering city in those hot August months, but with the new airport, they decided to turn it into a guest house... it was literally like staying at the family's house... beautiful room, delicious meal, stunning views... we could have spent 10 days here and had a killer vacation... oh well, next time.

Disembarking is the hardest part

Getting off a boat is never easy, physically and emotionally... saying goodbye to our new friends, both cast & crew was much much rougher than the seas of the islands.

Goodbye beautiful morning sunrise off the bow, over Mosquera beach...

Adieu ridiculously tiny cabin with bunk beds preventing a single nights snuggling...

Bon voyage weirdly comforting Christmas cushions in the lounge area...

Ciao Eduardo, the constantly smiling, wiping and generally cleaning up after our sloppy selves, waiter, buser, bartender, and candlestick maker.

Arrivederci life jackets, although you often made us look ridiculous, you provided much appreciated buoyancy whilst snorkeling, and for the most part, calmed my dear mother.

auf Wiedersehen fellow passengers and new friends, especially ze German... yep that is him on the end, looking off in the distance, completely oblivious to the photo, still rockin his stripped brautwurst hammock.

And finally, Adios Johan, a better, more knowledgeable, and engaging naturalist / guide, the islands have never known. His father became a guide many years ago, and he was raised with a love and respect of the islands, that shone through every interaction.

Ecuador and the Galapagos should be proud to count amongst themselves, Johan.

And with that, we were out...

You literally CANNOT sink

This evening had us on the longest sail, through the roughest waters, as we rounded the northern tip of Isabel island, exposing us to the Pacific.
There were some serious sea sickness concerns, but all was for not... the oceans said, we are gonna give you a pass tonight, rest well Heather's tummy, rest well.

Johan, our guide, decided to treat us to a super, pre-breakfast early morning snorkel off Santiago island, in a little spot called Buccaneer cove and again, not disappointed...

I was able to capture the elusive, hot American Cali girl... very rare this far out of her natural habitat.

The morning sun highlighting a delectable little morsel in the form of a small fish, offering a perfect morning brekkie for our ole friend the sea "furry missile" lion

A little change of scenery back on a small beach called Espumilla, where we stumbled upon...
Sea turtle tracks after laying eggs.

A Galapagoian hawk, carefully watching over our gear...

And our ole friend the blue footed boobie and some mates fishing together...

Finally, late evening, we moored at tiny Rabida island for a little hike and snorkel.

Talk about adaptive, this little guy can re-grow his entire tail... in the clutches of danger, snagged by the tail, no hope for escape, ha, screw you predator, I will drop it and get me a new one later... the catch, he gets only one shot... after that, it is his tail for life.

My mom is terrified of water, bath water, glass of water, lake water, especially ocean water, heck she doesn't even trust soup... traumatic near drowning incident as a child will do that to you.
To her credit, she never let her fear of the water stop encouraging us to play in the sprinkler as kids.
You might be thinking... umm so your mom is afraid of water and you take her for an ISLAND getaway, islands are surrounded by water, and then stay on a BOAT, again, surround by lots and lots of water... are you INSANE? insane no, perhaps lacking empathy yes...
Regardless, she bottled it up, buried it deep, and muscled through the trip... with only a few genuine panic attacks.

Of course, as her reckless, first born, it is my responsibility to constantly push that envelope.
I was obsessed with getting my mom in the damn water and snorkel.
Every day, from the moment we landed... mom, gotta get in, water is beautiful, so much to see, wetsuit, flippers, life jacket... you literally cannot sink.
Every ask, met with "yeah, so no, not today, definitely tomorrow"

Well today, we were out of runway and out of excuses... Rabida island, late afternoon, dead calm sea, snorkel off the beach where you could touch the bottom, multiple rescue dingys and strapping young Ecuadorians ready at a moments notice to dive in a rescue...

And... she DID it... she geared up, splashed around, and looked damn good doing it.
Very very proud of this lady right here... overcoming fear, and constant harassment from her jackalope son.

A little further out, Heather caught this beauty... eagle ray in full flight.

 A very happy mom... I would say the fear is conquered but she did look pretty sharp in the wet suit.

Final night on the boat... the crew baked us a cake... seriously... who bakes a cake on a freakin boat... loving these guys.

Prius C vs. sea turtle

The islands offer an interesting contradiction... teeming with life, both on the land and under the sea... still utterly inhospitable for sustained human life.
It appears God said... "I am going to let you have almost every last square inch of this beautiful blue marble, but ease off on here... this one is for my friends the turtles, boobies, sea lions and their crew."

Anchored in Targus cove off the west coast of Isabel Island, we spent the morning hiking up to the top of a ridge line and took in the views...

Coming into the trip, I was a little worried about my mom's ability to keep up... while she wasn't terribly excited about the idea of humping it up the damn hill, she did beat most... yeah MOM!!!

And rewarded with some lovely views including the Darwin volcano in the distance.

Heather smiling at the thought, that if the zombie apocalypse started this very instance, is there a better place on the planet to be?

A quick snorkel before lunch and departure... Heather has a close encounter with a wet missile.
These guys can move and LOVE to play... like a Lulu with fins.

A short sail across the straits to Fernandina island, and Espinoza point, we found a massive colony of marine iguanas.

No worries mom... they don't bite... err I think, right, yeah no, well maybe... oh just go ahead and stick your finger out at them... worse case, you have 9 more.

I love succulents... in the most rugged and inhospitable places... you can always count on a little cacti love.

Same family of species, totally different outlook on life.... marine iguanas (as you can see) love the colony and togetherness, land iguanas, not so much, love their alone time.

So they had no issue with a couple of random Californians kickin back and chillin with their crew.

Ended the day back in the water with a flightless cormorant.
Due to the abundance of seafood, this "bird" evolved, losing the ability to fly, but became the Michael Phelps of the natural world...

I was one of the last ones in the water, as it was getting late and cold, so the photo lacks perspective, but this sea turtle was GINORMOUS... easily the size of my Prius C (yes I own I Prius C and I love my little electric car so piss off).

Dancing with my mom

We are creatures of habit & routine, and I challenge you to describe a better routine than life on a boat... sleep, eat, excursion, repeat.

The beauty of the boat is the excursions were far far away from the things of man, well outside the striking distance from any day-tripper boats.

And with a group of 16, swimming, hiking, exploring, snorkeling... you essentially had the place to yourself... Heck, even Darwin had more than 16 people to deal with on his faithful trip.
The boat sailed through the night, and we awoke to find ourselves alone in beautiful and isolated Elizabeth bay, off the coast of Isabel island.
Later in the afternoon, we continued north along the coast of Isabel, anchoring in Urbina bay for the evening.

Orange is the new Black...looking fine, styling the latest in flotation apparel.

He desperately want to play play play... get out of the boat and into mi Agua por favor!!!

Lost in endless mangroves, filled with sea lions, manta rays, sharks and turtles.
This was a highly protected area so no swimming, but saw plenty from above, with crystal blue water.

A calm sea is a happy tummy is a happy Heather is a happy Riad... I love math.

Afternoon chillin on the lido deck...

Beauty of the islands... wild yellow orchids.

Beast of the islands... wild land iguanas... both are highly protected and rare.

 Wonder what is on her mind?...

Another ridiculous sunset...

Rolled upstairs to find Maritza, the crew, my MOM and Beat, dancing the night away...

Cruising - who brings an iguana to a bar?

We woke early the next day to catch a ferry over to the next largest port town in the Galapagos, Puerto Villamil, where we would connect with our boat, the Guantanamera.
They had already been underway for a few days, and we were meeting up 3 days into an 8 day cruise.

We settled into our cabins on board, and met the crew and our fellow passengers.
The boat was full with 16 berths... Marcus & Sarah from London, Clive & Luke from Brussels, Hoda & Ramzy from Egypt, Pat & Martha from the Upper Pennisula Michigan, Maritza from Ecuador, Beat from Switzerland and Michael & wife from Germany.
The crew of 6 was led by Johan our naturalist guide, and Captain Juan.
A very diverse, eclectic group with whom we shared countless hours, chillin, snorkeling, sunbathing on the deck, and learning all about each other's hopes and dreams...

Wish I could share photos of everyone, but that would take up alot of valuable ME space.
I thought long and hard about what single photo encapsulates the essences of our fellow travelers... had to go with ze German rocking his dress socks, black dress shoes, a teeny, wheeny itsy bitsy stripped speedo that, quite frankly, I would be embarrassed to wear in the shower, but he proudly and without pause wore it EVERYWHERE... like breakfast, lunch and dinner, hiking around the islands and of course whilst swimming, shocking the poor unsuspecting sea life into retreating back into the depths, save being subject to his bratwurst.

This is not our boat. We stumbled upon this during a walk about town... broken, battered, forgotten, but beautiful when framed against the rugged island green, and churning grey skies.

This is our boat... the good ship Guantanamera, scrubbed clean and shining white in the afternoon sun.

Our view from right outside our door... first deck, cabin #6, port side.

Before setting off, we explored the area just outside Villamil.
Manzanillo is an evasive tree species, producing poisonous apples, poisonous leaves and poisonous bark.
Heather demonstrating the universal sign of ... Stay AWAY from the tree!!!

Apparently pink flamingos are not only native to Florida suburbs lawns, but in the numerous ponds across the islands.

Another giant land turtle sanctuary, where we learned a great deal about their breeding habits.
You would not think just looking at him, but this handsome rogue is quite the ladies man...

Just one of our boys, brand new, bouncing baby turtles... so cute, you just want to eat him up, which actually is what led to this whole endangered mess, so please don't do that.

Ended the afternoon in Beto Bar... where local are always welcome.

And you can enjoy an artisanal beer, on an artisanal hammock, perhaps head out for some artisanal fishing... artisanal artisanal artisanal.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Sleepy island town is an understatement... afternoon nap on a park bench.

The sea beckons, first night on a boat... the score still stands at turning green 0, Heather's tummy 2.
We will see if green can make a come back.