Beginning of the new year

Blog post - written Jan 10 - but not posted until now because I keep forgetting!

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my life! I figure that since I’m back in Cuenca and back to work, I should get back to blogging too.
What has come to pass... When I last wrote, we were in the Galapagos, which was an incredible week. We had some ‘adventure’ at the end, however. The last full day we were in Galapagos, we went to Isla Fernandina, the southern most of the islands. We left out about 8am, taking a speed boat from Isla Santa Cruz, the main hub of the islands. However, about an hour into what was supposed to be a two hour journey, we ended up having to turn around because one of the boat engines went out. Whoops!! So the told us another boat was coming to get us and would be there in 15 minutes. However, we ended up going all the way back to Santa Cruz (another hour), picking up another boat at the port, and then finally making our way to Fernandina.
We did get there and in one piece about noon, and we got to see the rock formation known as the Devil’s Crown. I believe that it was just another lava rock that was pushed up above the surface of the water in some techtonic event (not sure, our guide that day wasn’t very good - his name was Johnny and had braces, so avoid this guy when you’re in Galapagos). After that we went to snorkel, which turned out to be really cool - after I got past some unfortunate luck. First of all, I realized when we got to the snorkeling point that I had only been given one flipper (partly my fault because I didn’t check my equipment). So I got one of the extra pairs of fins and started on my way. Then, when I got in the water, my snorkel tube didn’t work, meaning I was trying to breathe in sea water. Uggh. So I went back to the boat, got a new tube and went on my way. But then (of course) the strap on my mask came out. Not really a big deal, but I was really pissed at this point already, and I didn’t feel like fixing it in the middle of the ocean. So finally (after some pretty good - and mean - Spanish on my part), I got all of my equipment fixed and working. Whew!! Finally, I could enjoy the multitude of colorful fish and star fish! A group of three sea lions even came over to play with us. One time I had my head out of the water, and Slocomb looked at me and pointed next to me. I had no idea what about, but I put my head underwater and there - less than two feet from me - was a sea lion. Scared the crap out of me, but it was amazing. So the snorkeling really was worthwhile, but I would have been happier with fewer ‘adventures’ at the beginning.
After that we docked on Fernandina and had some lunch. There are only about 100 people who live on the island, so I’m assuming we went to the only restaurant in town. We had the typical almuerzo: fish, rice, salad stuff, with a bonus dessert. Not anything to write home about, but it hit the spot.
After lunch in Fernandina, we went up to the highlands to see more Galapagos turtles and some caves where pirates hid out in the eighteenth century. We ended up riding on the top of the bus, with the other ‘young people’ who were backpacking across South America. Very chic. Anyway, the ride on top of the bus was very senic, but I don’t think that my tail bone appreciated the bumps. We rode in the bus on the way back...
Once you leave the beach in Galapagos, it looks like any other farming area. Lots of grass and trees, nothing really that exciting, except for the volcanic cones that pop up randomly. In the highlands, we saw a turtle protection area which was absolutely crawling with Galapagos turtles! Each island has a slightly different species, but I don’t have a discerning enough eye to tell the difference. I can tell the difference between sea turtles and land turtles, but that’s about as advanced as I get.
Next we went up to the pirate caves. The path up there was extremely muddy and slick, and we hadn’t been told we would be hiking in the highlands. I was wearing my chacos, but poor Slocomb was wearing flip flops. We both fell, so I guess it didn’t really make a huge difference. The caves were very cool (wish we knew a little more about them), but the hiking was kinda miserable.
The last part of the day made it all worth it though. We caught a boat back to Santa Cruz from the dock in Fernandina (that was covered by sea lions and crabs!). Slocomb managed to talk our way into sitting on top of the boat with the pilot, so we had a very relaxing drive back to Santa Cruz. On the way, some dolphins came up near our boat, so we stopped to dolphin watch. They are such beautiful creatures!! They are so quick and agile!! Its almost impossible to describe, but watching the dolphins was definitely one of the highlights of an incredible week in Galapagos.
The next morning, we and our guide/friend (who is hopefully going to come visit us in Cuenca in February), Juan, went to “los Gemelos” or the twins on the way to the airport. They are two huge lava caverns that collapsed several thousand years ago. They are connected and are very similar in formation, so geologists believe that they collapsed at the same time. We made Juan practice his English (an extremely necessary skill for Galapagos guides), and we had a good time just hanging out and talking about Galapagos, Ecuador, and the United States. Juan really wants to visit the States (like many Ecuadorians), so we told him a little about how it is for Hispanic people in the States. One thing we said was that people would automatically assume that he was Mexican. He said, “But I don’t sound anything like a Mexican. We speak completely differently!” We had to tell him that most people in the US don’t realize how different the accents among Spanish speakers are. I mean, I had no idea how different it was until I began to befriend Spanish speakers from different places and watch Spanish television. Completely different... Anyway, an interesting realization for me: the accents among Spanish speakers are as, if not more, distinct than among English speakers.
In order to get to the airport, we took a truck-taxi across Santa Cruz Island to a boat that took us across the canal to Baltra where the airport is. From there, we took a bus to the airport. Talk about needing plenty of time to get to the airport!
On one of our papers, it said that our flight left at 12:40. However, when we got to the airport at about 10:45, they said there was no 12:40; we were on the 11:15 flight!! So instead of having plenty of time, we had less than 30 minutes to get checked in, past security, and on the plane. There was another group of people who arrived as we did who were on the same flight, so it wasn’t just us. I still felt bad that we didn’t really have a chance to say bye to Juan, but we did manage to tell him what had happened. He understood, and hopefully we’ll see him in Cuenca in a few weeks.
We didn’t get upgraded to first class on the way back from Galapagos, but we did get to sit in the first row of coach, giving us plenty of leg room. It is interesting, the days when the big cruise ships leave and arrive, the planes are absolutely full. But on the days that aren’t cruise ship days (like the day we left) the planes are about half empty. Because we didn’t take a cruise ship, we had a different experience of Galapagos as many people do. It wasn’t as smooth or as well organized, but we got to do so much and also meet several very cool people. Slocomb has decided, and I agree, that on the ships, you get to see more wildlife and plants, etc., but if you stay on the islands, you get to do more. I think that we definitely made the right choice for our Galapagos vacation. However, depending on where I am in my life when I go back (which I hope I will), I might decide to go on a boat. It would be more relaxing and easier with kids, but it is a completely different experience than on land. But our trip was incredible and totally worth the expense and hassle!