Friday 15th April:
At last the engines stop, the anchor is dropped, and calm returns, although it seems we have slept better than most. Up at 5.30am for a 6.30am breakfast and off onto the zodiacs by 7.15am, and it's already hot. Amazingly the very first bird we see is the blue footed booby, then some Galápagos penguins and a few small seals.
I discover some more features on the very flexible Panasonic camera, namely the digital zoom, which gives me a x2 and a x4 multiplier for the already handy 140mm zoom. As the camera has a half size sensor, 140mm is a 280mm equivalent full frame which times four, gives an incredible 1120mm focal length. Now having said that the quality is not too great, but it does get used to snap a flycatcher, which everyone admires, and even photographs off the iPad.
We see frigate birds, seals, land iguanas, and even white tipped reef sharks, which are apparently harmless unless you call them names. Definitely getting used to the Panasonic, it is becoming a little more second nature, and does seem to take good panoramic images.
And then it's time to climb the volcano, Negra, which has the second largest caldera in the world, over seven kilometres in diameter; Mira tells us that it erupts every six years or so, the last time in 2009. The walk is up a moderate gradient and rocky ground and Lorna decides to give it a try after much consideration. She finds it very tough going, and we fall behind the main group who are up the trail like gazelles. Delight and Steve kindly stay with us all the way, and when Lorna demands I leave her and get to the top, Delight stays and keeps her company until I come down again.
Once again luck prevails and I get to the rim of the caldera, as the cloud lifts for no more than a couple of minutes and time for one good panoramic shot. Then the cloud returns and I leg it back down to Lorna and we make it back to the bus. As ever Lorna's magnetic personality gets people onside supporting her, nothing new there then. Our bus is an old open design with four bench seats, and with the best possible air conditioning system.
We end up in Peurto Villamil, an extremely laid back back-packerish sort of resort for a beer and a stroll before boarding the wrong bus back to the jetty. Lorna manages to get a Wifi signal to the iPad, but not sufficiently strong to get an email away a to Hanna and Lucy. A good evening meal, and in bed for 9pm, and a repeat tomorrow.
At last the engines stop, the anchor is dropped, and calm returns, although it seems we have slept better than most. Up at 5.30am for a 6.30am breakfast and off onto the zodiacs by 7.15am, and it's already hot. Amazingly the very first bird we see is the blue footed booby, then some Galápagos penguins and a few small seals.
I discover some more features on the very flexible Panasonic camera, namely the digital zoom, which gives me a x2 and a x4 multiplier for the already handy 140mm zoom. As the camera has a half size sensor, 140mm is a 280mm equivalent full frame which times four, gives an incredible 1120mm focal length. Now having said that the quality is not too great, but it does get used to snap a flycatcher, which everyone admires, and even photographs off the iPad.
We see frigate birds, seals, land iguanas, and even white tipped reef sharks, which are apparently harmless unless you call them names. Definitely getting used to the Panasonic, it is becoming a little more second nature, and does seem to take good panoramic images.
And then it's time to climb the volcano, Negra, which has the second largest caldera in the world, over seven kilometres in diameter; Mira tells us that it erupts every six years or so, the last time in 2009. The walk is up a moderate gradient and rocky ground and Lorna decides to give it a try after much consideration. She finds it very tough going, and we fall behind the main group who are up the trail like gazelles. Delight and Steve kindly stay with us all the way, and when Lorna demands I leave her and get to the top, Delight stays and keeps her company until I come down again.
Once again luck prevails and I get to the rim of the caldera, as the cloud lifts for no more than a couple of minutes and time for one good panoramic shot. Then the cloud returns and I leg it back down to Lorna and we make it back to the bus. As ever Lorna's magnetic personality gets people onside supporting her, nothing new there then. Our bus is an old open design with four bench seats, and with the best possible air conditioning system.
We end up in Peurto Villamil, an extremely laid back back-packerish sort of resort for a beer and a stroll before boarding the wrong bus back to the jetty. Lorna manages to get a Wifi signal to the iPad, but not sufficiently strong to get an email away a to Hanna and Lucy. A good evening meal, and in bed for 9pm, and a repeat tomorrow.
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