Saturday 16th April:
We're up at the crack of dawn again and ready for our lava walk, 75 further minutes of hell for Lorna, but she does it with only a few scratches and no falls, in fact it's me that falls, but I think Lorna pushed me over truth be told. It's a fascinating location, a lava field with small green oases; the only real wildlife we see are two flamingos zipping by overhead, but we're told there could be snakes in the crevasses.
Another saunter in the zodiac, which I have to say I do enjoy, along the edges of the lava shore to meet another blue footed booby, and a colony of marine iguanas spitting at each other. It transpires that they are not really cross with one another, rather than are getting rid of the salty taste they have in their mouths, well if they must swim in the sea, what do they expect.
And then time for our first snorkel, most of us manage around 25 minutes, and I use the underwater camera for the first time, and without my glasses it's pretty difficult to focus on the marine life below. It gets better when a couple of turtles head my way, and I get some decent shots, we'll have to wait and see what Photoshop can do, give a little more contrast I hope. Lorna sits this one out as she is not confident enough to get in the water.
A difficult lunch, not due to the food, which is a very tasty lasagne, but for the fact that we have no way of getting the Saints v Tigers result, for several days yet.
Breakfast was fun with much discussion about The Donald. Pat and Delight weave a conspiracy story about The Clintons and The Trumps, best friends, and how they might get Hilary into the White House, get Donald to go for the Republican nomination and piss so many people off, that Hilary has to get elected, even if Donald gets the Republican nomination, interesting. I comment that it may turn out a bit like the surrogate mother, the one who eventually keeps the baby, we shall see.
We are still just off Isla Isabella, and surrounded by the enormous volcanoes, each one generating its own weather system. After lunch we motor more round to the western side of the island, and get ready for a couple of hours in the zodiac.
The first casualty of the trip, my beloved Sony Cybershot is kaput, the lens comes in and out but the screen is just blank, Lorna will now have to use the new Sony, the underwater jobbie. We spend two hours in the zodiac, cruising around a large rock and then through the mangrove inlets. Rays, turtles, seals, pelicans, boobies, and a solitary penguin are spotted, it seems that El Niño has been much more mild than expected with much less rain than previously and this has upset the life cycle of the penguins considerably.
At the debriefing, Mira tells us how the loss of three of the Galapagos supply ships has caused shortages on the islands as well as large price increases. They now have a much larger, single ship bringing supplies in but it cannot dock at any of the small piers, and so further cost is involved in transferring from ship to shore.
Mira goes on to explain the burgeoning demographics of Galapagos and how many young people go off to University on the mainland, get married and then return with a husband or bride, have children and hence grow the population; it seems that 35% of the population are between three and 18, which will continue the trend, and clash with the aim to keep the islands in their eco time warp.
One of the features of Galapagos is the lack of crime, perhaps that's why people return to the islands. It seems that if you were to commit a crime, then there'd be no escape, no way to get off the islands without being caught.
We're up at the crack of dawn again and ready for our lava walk, 75 further minutes of hell for Lorna, but she does it with only a few scratches and no falls, in fact it's me that falls, but I think Lorna pushed me over truth be told. It's a fascinating location, a lava field with small green oases; the only real wildlife we see are two flamingos zipping by overhead, but we're told there could be snakes in the crevasses.
Another saunter in the zodiac, which I have to say I do enjoy, along the edges of the lava shore to meet another blue footed booby, and a colony of marine iguanas spitting at each other. It transpires that they are not really cross with one another, rather than are getting rid of the salty taste they have in their mouths, well if they must swim in the sea, what do they expect.
And then time for our first snorkel, most of us manage around 25 minutes, and I use the underwater camera for the first time, and without my glasses it's pretty difficult to focus on the marine life below. It gets better when a couple of turtles head my way, and I get some decent shots, we'll have to wait and see what Photoshop can do, give a little more contrast I hope. Lorna sits this one out as she is not confident enough to get in the water.
A difficult lunch, not due to the food, which is a very tasty lasagne, but for the fact that we have no way of getting the Saints v Tigers result, for several days yet.
Breakfast was fun with much discussion about The Donald. Pat and Delight weave a conspiracy story about The Clintons and The Trumps, best friends, and how they might get Hilary into the White House, get Donald to go for the Republican nomination and piss so many people off, that Hilary has to get elected, even if Donald gets the Republican nomination, interesting. I comment that it may turn out a bit like the surrogate mother, the one who eventually keeps the baby, we shall see.
We are still just off Isla Isabella, and surrounded by the enormous volcanoes, each one generating its own weather system. After lunch we motor more round to the western side of the island, and get ready for a couple of hours in the zodiac.
The first casualty of the trip, my beloved Sony Cybershot is kaput, the lens comes in and out but the screen is just blank, Lorna will now have to use the new Sony, the underwater jobbie. We spend two hours in the zodiac, cruising around a large rock and then through the mangrove inlets. Rays, turtles, seals, pelicans, boobies, and a solitary penguin are spotted, it seems that El Niño has been much more mild than expected with much less rain than previously and this has upset the life cycle of the penguins considerably.
At the debriefing, Mira tells us how the loss of three of the Galapagos supply ships has caused shortages on the islands as well as large price increases. They now have a much larger, single ship bringing supplies in but it cannot dock at any of the small piers, and so further cost is involved in transferring from ship to shore.
Mira goes on to explain the burgeoning demographics of Galapagos and how many young people go off to University on the mainland, get married and then return with a husband or bride, have children and hence grow the population; it seems that 35% of the population are between three and 18, which will continue the trend, and clash with the aim to keep the islands in their eco time warp.
One of the features of Galapagos is the lack of crime, perhaps that's why people return to the islands. It seems that if you were to commit a crime, then there'd be no escape, no way to get off the islands without being caught.
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