**This is an ongoing series recapping my last vacation. It's taking a bit longer than expected, but don't worry, as soon as I'm finished I'll catch up with blogs on current events including my take on this whole Clinton/Lewinsky scandal.**
Each day before dinner, we would meet in the lounge for a half an hour and have a briefing where Carlos would recap what we saw and did and preview what we'd do tomorrow. Some passengers were very interested in writing down the names of all the things we saw while others just thought to themselves, "When I blog about my trip, I'll just make stuff up and no one will be the wiser." You know, just like that "sea lion" creature I made up that you bought into hook, line, and sinker. Yeah, like lions live in the sea. Duh!
When I went to Antarctica, there was a group of birders on board who always carried around binoculars and a checklist. Sometimes there'd be a shout and all the birders would run to the deck to see a "lifer" bird which is the term for when you see a species of bird for the first time and can check it off your "life list." I glanced at one veteran birders list and next to the word "Sex" was an unchecked box. If Peeping Tommery wasn't socially unacceptable, I bet birders would have much more interesting life lists.
In the lounge there were two menu-sized laminated charts of all the colorful Galapagos sea life so we could identify what we saw while snorkeling. Some passengers would study them intensely every day. The charts were loved so much that when they went missing for a day or two near the end of the trip, all hell broke loose until Upasana admitted to stealing them just to sleep with at night because she adored them so much.
On day 4, before our first excursion, Carlos forced us to watch a documentary on lava. We learned about the two main types of lava flows: A'a and pahoehoe. At least, I learned about them. Everyone else feel asleep. They were either too hung over from the equator party or had horrible flashbacks of trying to stay awake during one of their 8am college classes. Man, those were the worst!
With the Galaxy safely anchored in Sullivan Bay, our dinghies landed on the shore of Santiago island, home of a very recent (geologically speaking) eruption a little over 100 years ago. Carlos pointed out that we were walking on pahoehoe and so I excitedly checked it off of my lava life list. Even though the lava trail was very rough and jagged, Carlos walked barefoot which impressed the ladies to no end. They were even more impressed when we serendipitously came upon a bed of hot coals where Carlos executed a series of gymnastic flips and tumbles and nailed the landing without even a grimace.
During the hike, Sonia, Kim, and Upasana joined me for a group phoon (look at that lovely pahoehoe!). When the hike was over, we rejoined Robert, Janet, and Maggie who were told by Carlos to stay back since the hike would probably be too much for Robert to handle. I felt a bit sorry for Robert and Janet since, at times, they had a different trip than the rest of us. Plus they had to sit there and listen to Maggie go on and on about her undying love for me. I'm sure that got old after awhile.
After the hot hike, Matus remarked, "They say Galapagos is like heaven, I think it is more like hell!" Come to find out, Matus and Milena had never really heard of the Galapagos and were told by a friend that it was like Hawaii. They thought they were going on a nice, relaxing, scenic cruise through paradise. Instead, Carlos had them hoofing it through bleak, desolate landscapes and constant snorkeling like there's no tomorrow. It was a tribute to Carlos' personality that the King and Queen of Slovakia acquiesced to his itinerary and didn't order his head to be chopped off.
In Sullivan Bay, we had the best snorkeling of the entire cruise. We swam with sharks, sea turtles, and some marbled rays that were mating. Near the end, Carlos had everyone gather in a circle, hold hands, and face down into the water. He dove under us and held his breath for like 15 minutes while taking dozens of pictures for everyone with waterproof cameras. I have yet to see any of those pictures. Maybe I had my eyes closed and ruined them all?
As the Galaxy made its way to our next anchor point off of Bartolome Island, we passed other boats one of which was very small and shabby-looking. Suzanne recognized the name of the boat from her Galapagos cruise research and remembered that it was the cheapest one she could find. We were all glad we didn't choose the cheapest cruise as we watched their passengers swab the deck and fish for their meals.
On Bartolome, a wooden boardwalk with 358 steps leads to the top of the island where you can see this popular view and where we took a group photo. Although we appreciated the boardwalk, I bet whatever tourist accidentally dropped all that non-indigenous wood from their pockets got an earful from the park staff. Obviously, the park has since made peace with that ecological disaster.
We were accompanied to the top by some curious juvenile Galapagos hawks who occasionally stopped on the railing and forced us to violate the park's two meter distance rule. Carlos encouraged us to lean forward and let the hawks play with our hats. Sure, it's fun, ha! ha! until away your hat goes and your shaved head without sunblock is exposed to the sun. So I declined. It didn't matter anyway because the hawks weren't in a playful mood. Even Carlos the Beastmaster couldn't convince them to take his hat.
And trust me, he really was the Beastmaster because during the afternoon snorkel, we watched in stunned amazement as Carlos called out to a colony of Galapagos penguins using whatever language penguins use. I don't know what the conversation was about, but I assume they touched on the weather, the stock market, and all the latest Hollywood gossip.
That night, Dolphin Trainer™ and I played more card games with Kim, Sonia, and Upasana who by now were referred to as "the chicas". Carlos was the first to call them "chicas". They acted like they were offended by such "sexist" language but deep down they knew that Carlos could punch them in the face and demand a beer and they'd still love him because he doesn't really mean it and the bruises are just cause they're clumsy. Carlos ended up joining us at the table as gambling addict Kim once again taught us card games even Doyle Brunson has never heard of.
We even played the party game "Murder" or "Mafia" or whatever it is called (seems like everyone calls it something different). One time I thought for sure Carlos was the murderer because of his suspicious smile. I was wrong, of course. He was probably just thinking about the time he communicated with a mythical "sea lion".
It was a bittersweet night because it was our last night with Carlos. He was just filling in for a few days because the guide we were supposed to have had an emergency and couldn't do the first part of the trip. Our cruise itinerary had two legs. Robert and Janet only booked the first leg and would be leaving the next day (with Carlos) once we landed on Santa Cruz. We would not only pick up a new guide, but also some new passengers. Everyone else was staying for the entire week.
Back in our cabin, Dolphin Trainer™ and I discussed how much we would tip Carlos. Once we settled on a sufficient amount, we both got ready for bed. Before we turned the lights out, I pulled out my notebook and checked "Play Murder with the Beastmaster" off of my life list. Yeah. Beat that, birders.
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