**This is an ongoing series recapping my last vacation. I am so freakin' bored of this blog recap you have no idea. Somebody kill me now.**
Hey! Time for another entry! Whoo hoo! Awesome! Our second day on San Cristobal was scuba diving day! We met Karla at the dive shop and she introduced us to a nice couple who'd be joining us. The guy was from Argentina and the girl was from England. They were staying on the island for 6 weeks to teach English. I'm always amazed at people who travel abroad to teach English. I couldn't do it. Don't you have to know the students' own language to be able to teach them yours? The only place I could go to teach English is England.
Although the couple were both divers, they were going on the dive boat just to snorkel. She was pregnant and he was foolishly selfless enough to want to stay with his wife. As Karla walked us to the dock, we asked questions about her life. She was born on the island, but spent some time in New Zealand where she met her husband Tim. Together, they opened the dive shop Galakiwi which is a clever combination: Gala for Galapagos and kiwi for a popular shoe polish made in Australia.
However, Karla said they are no longer a couple. That's unfortunate for Tim, I say, because Karla is pretty much the most awesome person we met on the entire trip. If the chicas fell in love with Carlos, then Karla was definitely the female version of Carlos for the chicos. Sure, she was attractive, but she also had the type of personality that lifts her rating on a 1-10 scale of attractiveness to about 26 or 27. Did I mention she also had wings and a halo?
Much like Las Vegas any time of year, we saw lots of campaign signs posted around town for an upcoming election. I asked Karla if she would ever run for office and she said she wouldn't mind, but she doesn't think she'd win because her fellow locals kind of disowned her ever since she married an "outsider". I guess Galapagos and New Zealand are like the Montagues and Capulets, or the Jets and the Sharks, or the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
At the dock, she introduced us to our divemaster, Victor, who happens to run his own rival dive shop on the island called "Dive & Surf Club". I don't know how that works between competing dive shops in the Galapagos. Could it be a collective? A real life conservative Republican nightmare? Maybe the motto is, "from each dive shop according to their available dive boats, to each dive shop according to their bookings". Let's hope town hall America never scuba dives in the Galapagos!
Besides an assistant dive master, there were two other divers. One was just some random dude and the other was a guy sailing solo around the world. Now, up until this point, I thought that "training dolphins" was the ultimate conversation dominator. But, no! It's not even close. Dolphin Trainer™ hardly talked about his job once everyone found out about the Around-The-World guy. He faced such a barrage of questions that in one hour I learned more about him than everything I've learned about Michael Jackson since his death. I also learned a lot about sailing around the world. You spend 98% of your time on maintenance because there's always something to fix, you never get a full night's sleep because you have to wake up every 20 minutes or so to check that you are still on course, and, most importantly, you have plenty of time to wonder why you have no friends or loved ones.
From the get-go we could tell that Victor ran a more professional operation than Sub Aqua on Santa Cruz. We did a pre-dive check at Isla Lobos which was our first stop with the Galaxy a week earlier. Victor was able to gauge our abilities from that quick check which means he probably made the following mental note: "Keep eye on shaved head guy...a diving disaster waiting to happen".
Our two dives were at Kicker Rock, otherwise known as Leon Dormido which means "sleeping lion" because it looks like one to people who are blind. Our first dive was a complete circuit around one of the large rock formations. Of course, I only made it halfway around with my lousy air consumption. The assistant divemaster came up with me so, unlike Sub Aqua, this dive operation actually kept track of their divers. How refreshing. I don't remember anything about the first dive, but I do recall they gave us tasty cookies to eat in between dives. I guess that pretty much sums up my scuba diving:
"How was diving in the Galapagos, Brandon? What did you see?"
"I saw a box of Oreo Double Stuf on the boat and I was hoping they'd pass it around and THEY DID! It was awesome!"
As we prepared for the second dive, I noticed the air tank they gave me was at 3300 psi. Usually it's always at 3000. I was so excited that I'd get to be underwater for a bit longer. I had a bonus 300 psi! That's like a whole extra minute for me! Apparently, air is a zero-sum game because Around-The-World guy had only 2700 psi. He was not pleased. Sorry, dude. I guess sometimes it pays to be an air hog.
The second dive was excellent. Right as we descended there was a sea turtle waiting to greet us. We also saw plenty of sharks including an entire school of hammerheads! This was by far my longest dive in the Galapagos even though, unsurprisingly, I was the first to ascend. Once again, the assistant dive master came up as well. Poor guy. When you are the assistant dive master your dives are only as long as the worst schmuck. After a minute or two, Around-The-World guy came up as well. Again, he was very unhappy that he started without a full tank so his dive was "cut short". I didn't bother telling him that he outlasted me even though I had 600 more psi.
After the dives, we went back to Isla Lobos to eat lunch and snorkel with a dozen young sea lions. Dolphin Trainer™ had his waterproof camera and we took video of each other swimming with the sea lions. He didn't like the footage I got although he loved the footage he took of me. He said it was my fault. I say, rather than blame the camera guy, why not just admit that the underwater camera likes me better? It's not my fault he is a lousy sea lion snorkeler. Why not come to terms with the fact that I am the superior "leading man" when it comes to video of swimming with sea lions? Search your feelings, Dolphin Trainer™. You know it to be true.
Overall, the diving experience with Victor was fantastic (as was booking through Karla). I left the following feedback: Highly Recommended! Would do business with again! A+++++++++++++!!!!!!
Back at our hotel, we ran into fellow Galaxy passengers Jessica and Erica who came back from Isabela a day early because Jessica was sick. She probably came to soak in the healing powers of Karla's angelic aura which permeated the island. The couple we met during the dives recommended some beaches with good snorkeling further down from Playa Mann so we went to one via taxi. They were right. There were lots of sea lions, sea turtles and sea bears. Oh my!
As I was showering after the snorkel, Dolphin Trainer™ went to find an internet cafe to call his girlfriend to tell her about Around-The-World guy. He also ran into Karla. Now, we had previously discussed that we were both going to find her that night and give her a tip for being so awesome. Instead, Dolphin Trainer™ tried to give her money right there. At first she refused. He told her to use it for dinner and she confusingly thought he was asking if she'd join us for dinner. And she said yes! The newly single goddess of San Cristobal said she'd join us for dinner! So what did Dolphin Trainer™ do? That's right, he shoved the money in her hand and ran away like a wuss. "I didn't know what to say," he'd later claim. Congratulations, Dolphin Trainer™. Your award for the World's Worst Wingman is at the bottom of the ocean. Go get it.
So rather than spend our last night on San Cristobal in the presence of a sparkling female personality, we ended up at a nearly deserted restaurant on the outskirts of town eating with a cat named Gordo. That was the name of the kitty who roamed under the tables. We also ate with the owner of the restaurant. At least, it felt like it considering he came over to us so much. I felt bad for the guy. He was super nice and, apparently, we were the first customers he'd had in 10 years.
The only information I had gathered about San Cristobal before we arrived was that the Mockingbird Cafe had killer milkshakes. That was my "must do" thing on the island. Finally, on our last night, we went to the cafe only to find out that they couldn't serve any that night. Perhaps the machine was down or maybe it wasn't even on the menu anymore. I can't recall. Hey, this was almost 6 months ago! I can't remember everything! Instead, they had a tasty looking ice cream brownie on the menu. We ordered that. But wouldn't you know it? It was sold out. We ended up with those small ice cream cups with the lid you peel off and the flat little wooden spoon you use to stab the rock hard ice cream until it softens enough to become edible.
We wandered the streets the rest of the night in search of Karla. By this time during our stay on the island, the dark streets of San Cristobal, although much worse looking than Quito, felt very safe. We were almost tempted to give it the Muller/Dolphin Trainer™ backpack test. Besides the ubiquitous political signage I mentioned earlier, San Cristobal has another thing in common with Las Vegas--things are open late. Well, sometimes. Actually, I don't think any business on the island has regular hours. They just open and close as they please, even during the day. Damn commies!
Unfortunately, Karla must not have felt like opening up the shop that night, or going out at all. Dolphin Trainer™ really blew it by not taking her up on her dinner idea. That would have been a great way to finish off our Galapagos experience! Sometimes I imagine her sitting at a table that night, laughing and smiling, brushing her hair away from her face, and then leaning in closer to whisper, "So tell me more about sailing all around the world by yourself."
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