Polar World

I didn’t get much sleep as the yacht was rocking quite a lot. The rocking motions kept me awake but surprisingly that I didn’t feel seasick at all. I heard something fall and rolled around on the floor of our cabin but I couldn’t be bothered to get up and see what it was.

Most of the passengers would be leaving today so the wake up call was at 6am. I felt a bit grumpy at the thought of waking up one hour earlier. Even though back home, this was the same time I woke up on a normal workday. I ate a lot for breakfast. Today could be the most I ate for breakfast on this trip. Hee, it’s good to get my appetite back again.

Today we would be spending the whole day at Santa Cruz. In the morning, we took a 45 mins bus ride up to the highlands. The air felt cooler and more damp. Quite different from the sunny coastal areas. We stopped at a nature reserve where all of us changed into rubber boots. The rubber boots were covered in dried mud and kept together in one area. There was no order and all the sizes were mixed up. We spent quite a while looking for the other half of our pair. I had no experience wearing these rubber boots that reached up to my knees and had a bit of difficulty putting them on. I think we spent too much time looking and putting on our boots because Hernan told us to hurry up and reminded us that we had a plane to catch.

Once everybody had their boots on, we walked out into the reserve to try and look for giant tortoises. The ground was squishy and muddy. Sometimes our feet would get stuck so we need to use a bit of strength to pull them out.

We found two giant tortoises in this muddy patch. They had roamed out of the nature reserve and onto private land. But I think there was some kind of arrangement between the government and land owners so the tortoises were not chased away.

They were big. During the whole time we were there, they did not move from their spot. They seemed contented to just stay motionless for hours which makes them rather boring creatures to observe. One of them looked at us in a bored kind of way.

The other tortoise kept its head in its shell and refused to look at us.

We moved into the forest to search for more giant tortoises. The ground was firmer and not so muddy although there were puddles of muddy water. Green moss hung from the trees like hair. We were not able to find more giant tortoises so we went back. At the entrance, there were displays of the empty shells of giant tortoises that had died. An adult human was able to crawl into the tortoise shell quite comfortably. Some of the younger people tried. They crawled into the shell and then tried to lift it and walked on all fours. The shell was heavy so most people only managed a few steps. Hernan said that the shells were made of keratin which was the same material found in our fingernails. He also told all of us never knock a tortoise on its shell as the shell is connected to its backbone. So knocking on its shell would hurt the tortoise.

There was also a souvenir shop and most of us bought something from it. I bought three t-shirts; one for my brother and two for me. I wanted to buy more but the t-shirts cost around USD 15-20 each. I don’t think the price is cheap but I really wanted something about the Galapagos. Anyway, this place did not charge any entrance fee so the only way they could earn money was by selling food, drinks and souvenirs. I felt that if the people were able to earn some money from this, they would be more motivated to keep a place for the giant tortoises to roam.

All of us got onto the bus and took a short bus ride to the entrance of a lava tunnel. We saw a Galapagos owl sleeping inside the tunnel, just a few steps from the entrance, but it was too dark to take any photos. The tunnel was dimly lit with a row of lights. It was much bigger and wider than I had expected. Hernan said that this tunnel was 200m long. It could be much longer but the roof had collapsed at the 200m mark.

After visiting the lava tunnel, we said goodbye to the rest of the passengers. Hernan arranged for a car to bring KKH and I to the town while he would bring the rest of the passengers to the airport.

KKH and I walked around the town, Puerto Ayora. This is the most populated town in the Galapagos islands.

There were no tall buildings and most buildings were only two to three storeys tall. The roads were tiled, not paved with asphalt like in Singapore. They were also not very wide, at most two lanes but as there were very few cars, it was not a big problem. Maybe because it was a Sunday morning, most of the shops were not opened yet. We saw a lot of shops advertising cruises or diving trips to the Galapagos islands. There were also some hotels and restaurants in the town.

There was a race in the morning. There were different age categories so different age groups would start at different times. The participants ranged from little children to adults.

KKH and I spent most of our time walking along the seaside as we had little interest in shopping. There was little point in going to a cafe or restaurant as lunch would be provided on the yacht.

Even at the jetties, there were still a lot of animals to see. There were marine iguanas basking in the sun. They were able to climb out of the water and up the rocky sides of the jetty with the help of their sharp claws.

We also saw some baby marine iguanas.

A pelican landed on the jetty. KKH thought it could be a juvenile because of the brown coloring. It remained wary of us and would fly away if we were too near for its liking. But it wasn’t too scared of us, as it would land just a few meters further away.

A short distance away from the pelican, a sea lion was sleeping. A lot of people stood next to it and took photos but it did not seem to be bothered by the attention.

It ignored us and continued sleeping.

A dinghy was sent to pick us up around 11am. KKH and I lazed in the lounge chairs on the top deck and read our books. It was quiet and peaceful and both of us dozed off after a while. The new batch of passengers arrived after noon. Lunch was at 1:30pm after everybody had settled down and the new passengers were briefed on the rules. I noticed that some of the new batch of passengers did not go barefoot and wore slippers on the yacht. Once again, most of the passengers were from USA. A few of them spoke Spanish well and were able to converse with the crew in Spanish. There were three Australians who lived in Peru for the past three years so their Spanish was quite good too. A Japanese man was the only other Asian, besides KKH and I, on the yacht.

The new passengers quickly discovered the top deck and when I went up after lunch, all the lounge chairs were taken. Tsk.

When it was time to disembark for our afternoon hike at 3pm, we found a sea lion resting at the disembarking area. We had to use that area to board the dinghy so Hernan and some of the crew tried to get the sea lion to go away. It took a while as the sea lion was reluctant to leave. After complaining loudly, it went into the water and swam away.

We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station in the afternoon. The bus ride to the station was shorter than the morning ride. The bus stopped some distance away from the research station and we proceeded on foot. Admission was free as it was included in the USD 100 park fee.

Hernan brought us to see the giant tortoises first. We found three of them motionless under the bush. We could enter the enclosure and go right up to them. Hernan said these tortoises were over 100 years old as their shells had become smooth. A baby tortoise had a shell with many wrinkles and folds so that the shell could expand when the tortoise grew bigger. The shell would be completely smooth when the tortoise reached 100 years.

Giant tortoises could live for 150 – 200 years. They moved so slowly and lived for so long that I felt that they must experienced time in a different way from us humans. Hernan asked us to look at their legs which he said were thick and powerful like elephant’s legs. The legs had to be strong to hold up the heavy shell. Hernan called them the 4-wheel drive of the animal kingdom.

We visited Lonesome George which was the most famous of the giant tortoises. It was the only surviving member of the Pinta Island tortoise. Hernan told us that in the past, many tortoises were killed by the sailors for food. The tortoises could survived for a year without food and water so the early sailors captured and brought them on board to be slaughtered when they needed fresh meat. They killed so many that some species became extinct. The tortoises had few natural enemies on the islands. Man was always the main and most destructive predator.

Lonesome George is a saddleback tortoise and his shell is different from the domed tortoises we saw earlier. The shape of his shell and long neck was because he had to feed on food which were higher off the ground. Hernan said Lonesome George is a young tortoise as he is only around 100 years old.

Lonesome George shared his enclosure with two female tortoises from Wolf Island in an effort to save the species. Genetically, they were the closest to Lonesome George and it was hoped that they would mate and reproduce. Although eggs had been laid twice, none of them hatched.

Next we visited the baby tortoises. The eggs were collected from the various islands and hatched at the research station. Each cage was labelled with the name of the island and the year they were collected. The baby tortoises were kept at the research station for two years before releasing them back into the wild. Hernan explained that it took two years for the tortoise shell to harden. In the meantime, the baby tortoises were kept in the research station so that they would not fall prey to the rats.

This batch from Pinzón Island would be released back into the wild soon.

At first glance, there did not seem to be any tortoises in the cage for Española Island.

Then on closer inspection, I discovered that they were all hiding under the rock. So cute.

Besides the giant tortoises, the research station also had one or two land iguanas. After showing us all the facilities, Hernan told us that we were free to roam around the research station and the town. As there was only one way out to the town, he told us do not even pretend to get lost.

KKH and I stayed at the research station for a while longer and saw one of Darwin’s finches. The curve of its beak made it look grumpy.

We also saw a Galapagos mockingbird which landed quite close to us.

KKH and I dropped by the souvenir shop before we went into town. I bought a t-shirt with the Charles Darwin Research Station logo on it. We exited out into the other side of Puerto Ayora. We did not walk to this area when we visited the town in the morning. There were a lot of souvenir shops in the area. KKH and I took our time to visit most of them. There were also some expensive-looking art galleries but we did not go into them.

Back on the yacht, we had a welcome cocktail for the new passengers before dinner. This time the cocktail was a creamy, minty drink that was called Grasshopper. It was very nice. I only had grasshopper once before and it didn’t taste great then. I wondered if it was because the previous bartender was lousy or my taste buds had changed. KKH and I sat opposite a couple from Portland. The wife liked the cocktail so much that she wondered if she should keep it for dessert. I was able to eat my normal amount for dinner, yeah!

At night, I saw pelicans fishing again near the yacht. I could also see stars in the sky which got me quite excited. Back in Singapore, I can’t see the stars as Singapore is too bright. When I commented to KKH that there were a lot of stars tonight, KKH glanced up and said, “You consider this many stars?” I forgot that KKH had been to more exotic places than me so my comment was like the frog in the well. I looked at the twinkling stars and remembered reading somewhere that the stars don’t twinkle, it’s our atmosphere that made them seemed to twinkle. Then I chuckled because it was such an unromantic thought.

I woke up later today at 6:45am but still before the 7am wake up call. I must be getting used to sleeping on the yacht. This was my fourth day on the yacht and life seemed to have settle into a comfortable kind of routine.

• Wake up call at 7am
• Breakfast at 7:30am
• Morning hike
• Read a bit
• Lunch
• Laze around, read, nap
• Afternoon hike
• Bathe before dinner
• Dinner at 7:30pm
• Briefing for tomorrow’s hike
• Went to bed at 10pm

We also got to know our fellow passengers a little better. Besides the two of us from Singapore, there were a father and son from Israel, a couple from Australia and a couple from UK. The rest were from USA. A couple from New York was here for their honeymoon and there were moments when KKH saw an expression on the wife’s face that was something like “why is it so siong?”

There were pancakes available for breakfast. They were about the size of my palm. I took two and drizzled them with maple syrup.

We went to Bartolomé Island in the morning. It was a small island created by a volcano. It was right next to Santiago Island, the island with the black sand. But the soil on Bartolomé wasn’t black; it was brown with some gray areas because of the volcanic ash. It was a dry landing and it was perhaps the easiest landing we had. We landed on a man-made pier so it was easy to get off and on the dinghy.

Near the pier, a pelican was preening its feathers. The neck had turned red, displaying its mating colors.

Bartolomé felt rather bare as it was mostly just brown soil and rocks. There was not much greenery although some plants were growing.

It was an easy walk as there was a wooden platform and steps. It was built to prevent the visitors from eroding the soil. This was the first time we met other tour groups on the same island. I guess it was hard to avoid as there was only one way up and down.

It was a long climb to the top, all 365 steps. I was glad that Hernan stopped halfway to talk a bit about the formation of the Bartolomé Island. It was an opportunity for me to catch my breath.

Hernan told us that those big lumps of rock that we saw on the way up were called spatter cones. It was formed from the giant fireball was spitted out by the volcano. These balls fell to the ground and spattered, hence their name.

Finally we reached the last flight of stairs. Hernan told us that Jorge held the record among the guides for running up this flight of stairs. Jorge’s record was 9 secs. Some people tried running up the steps to see if they could break Jorge’s record. The best time was from a 20 year old guy who reached the top in 18 secs. All of us urged Jorge to demonstrate running up the steps but he declined, saying he’s too old already.

Then the rest of us walked up the steps at our own pace. From the top, we could see the beach that we would visit later. It was the one on the right, next to the pointy rock called Pinnacle Rock.

We also had a good view of an underwater secondary crater from summit. Then it was back down the mountain. I was looking at the scenery around me and wasn’t watching where I was going, so I missed a step and sat down suddenly on my butt. Only my dignity was hurt. I quickly got up again. The group behind me was very far away so I hoped nobody noticed anything. Back on the yacht, we were served some cheese and crackers.

At 10:30am we disembarked and went to the beach we saw earlier from the summit. Alex had finished his chores so he joined us for some snorkeling. I didn’t snorkel and instead walked from one end of the beach to the other. There were not many animals on the island.

Everybody stayed near Pinnacle Rock. I was the only one to walk to the other end of the beach so there were only my footprints.

I spotted this strange worm-like thing on the other end of the beach. It moved a little and then was still. It seemed to have died. I didn’t dare to touch it with my bare hands as I’m not sure what it was.

Moving back towards Pinnacle Rock, I walked into the water until it covered my knees. The water was so clear that it looked like it came straight from the tap. Even so close to the shore, I was able to spot some fishes. I’m quite sure one of them was a puffer fish as it had a distinctive shape.

Alex chatted with KKH and I while we were waiting for the dinghy to pick us up. Alex is an Ecuadorian but he looks a bit Caucasian with his fair skin and brown hair. He told us that he had worked on other cruise ships previously and had been to places like the USA and Caribbean. But he would be staying in Ecuador for a while as he just signed on to this cruise not long ago. He told us that the rest of the passengers would be leaving tomorrow and he would be picking up a new group at the airport. It was news to me. I had expected some passengers to leave but I did not expect that KKH and I would be the only ones staying on. I had gotten used to my fellow passengers and I’m not sure if I like the thought of getting to know a new group of people all over again.

The yacht began moving after we returned. The waves were quite rocky and I felt a bit seasick. I stayed on the top deck and by lunchtime, I felt better. The yacht was still rocking when we went to the dining room so all of us were extra careful when we went back to our tables with a plate of food. Nobody lost their balance or drop the food so it was all good. There was a lovely chocolate cake for dessert but I only took a bite as I was afraid that I would eat too much and be (sea)sick.

The sea took on this shade lovely shade of greenish-blue after lunch.

At 3pm, we went for a dinghy ride at Black Turtle Cove which was a mangrove estuary on Santa Cruz Island. There was no landing sites so all of us did not bother to put on shoes and went barefoot into the dinghies. There were clusters of mangrove trees forming little islands. Sometimes we had to go through narrow channels and had to duck our heads to avoid the low branches.

The first thing we saw were two pelicans sitting in a tree at the entrance of the cove.

We also saw brown noddy. It was a plain brown bird with a whitish forehead. It was from the tern family.

In the cove, all of us kept our eyes peeled for any sights of animals in the water. We briefly saw some baby sharks which quickly disappeared out of sight. We also saw green turtles popping their heads out of the water to breathe. Most of the time they were far away and only popped up their heads for a few seconds. This photo was the best I could do.

We saw lava herons perched in the mangrove trees as well. They looked funny with tufts of hair sticking out on the top of their head.

We saw a blue-footed booby standing on a rock covered with Sally Lightfoot crabs. All this time I kept seeing blue-footed boobies but I was not able to get a good photo of its blue feet. I hope I would be able to have the chance before I leave the Galapagos.

As we were leaving Black Turtle Cove, we saw more pelicans. This time they were feeding. They dived into the water and scooped up the fish in their huge beaks. Jorge said that sometimes a pelican would break its beak on the underwater rocks when it dived. They were unable to feed with their broken beaks and would die of starvation. On one of the islands, they gave these pelicans a replacement beak, like giving someone a prosthetic limb.

The birds seemed to be more active and we saw several brown noddies flying around.

On the way back to the yacht, we saw a big sailing boat. “Pirates,” Jorge said but he was joking. KKH and I thought that it could be another ship for touring the Galapagos Islands. When we were planning for this trip, we checked out the cruises and there were a few sailing boats listed.

At 5pm, Alex invited all of us to the lounge to watch a video documentary of a BBC series on the Galapagos Islands. All of us watched the first episode. At the second episode, those who were not interested in documentaries left. But half of us, including KKH and me, stayed behind and watched the second episode.

Then it was time for dinner. It was a special treat tonight. We had dinner on the top deck and one of the chef cooked fish and prawns on the grill. Besides the grilled food, there were other sides and sauces. There were two kind of sauces; a green avocado-based sauce and a white sour cream-based sauce. It seemed that the avocado sauce was very popular as there was none left when I went for a second helping. It was windy up on the top deck and some of the crew were around to bring us drinks and desserts. All of us were given sangria to drink and music could be heard the speakers. It was a festive mood. I went for a second helping of grilled prawns because they were so tasty. It looked as if I was getting back my appetite. But maybe it was the open air which always helped to improve the appetite. KKH reminded me that we were on the top deck so maybe that was why I felt better.

After our usual briefing about tomorrow’s hikes, I got some seasick pills from a couple from Montana. They were leaving tomorrow and offered to give us the pills as the sea would be a bit rocky around one of the islands KKH and I would be visiting. I thought it was safer to have some on hand in case I needed it.

I was hanging around outside our cabin at 8:30pm and saw pelicans alongside our yacht. They were hunting the flying fish that would leap out of the water. We also saw sealions and sharks swimming around the yacht. Looks like a fishing night for the hunters. It was the first time I saw animals around our yacht at night.

Then Alex brought us on a tour of the kitchen and the engine room. I think one of the passengers requested for it. First we went to the kitchen. It was narrow and cramped. All of us had to walk in a single file. It’s really amazing that the chefs were able to whip up all the tasty food in a small kitchen like this. Alex said that 90% of our meals were cooked in the oven. We also saw the large walk-in freezer that stored all the raw ingredients. Then we moved to the engine room. We could only go into the engine room one at a time. The engines were big and noisy and the room was hot. I didn’t stay long inside.

I went back to my cabin after I came out of the engine room. When I came down to refill my bottle a few minutes later, I found the some of the passengers (including KKH) chatting with Alex and asking him questions about the logistics. I stayed to listen as well. Alex told us that there were various ships or supply points located at various locations in the Galapagos Archipelago which would supply the yacht with food and water. There were also desalination facilities on the yacht. He said Ecuadorians would say “Ecuador AND the Galapagos” instead of grouping Galapagos under Ecuador. Tourism is a big industry in the Galapagos and what the people earned on these islands helped to support the people back in Ecuador. So all Ecuadorians understood that protecting the environment in Galapagos was to their benefit.

All cruises were only allowed to throw food overboard. All our uneaten food would be thrown overboard for the birds and fishes. But first, all the food had to be blended until they were in small pieces. There were also certain food, like bones, seeds and banana skins, which had to be removed as they could not be thrown overboard. All other waste and sewage had to be stored until it could be unloaded at the proper disposal plants. Sewage would be stored in a tank on board the yacht until it could be unloaded at a sewage plant on one of the islands.

It was interesting that almost everyone who stayed to listen to Alex showed some expression of approval when he told us about the strict rules to protect the Galapagos environment. I guess we all enjoyed visiting such a unique place and we would want to preserve it so that even years later, there would still sea lions sleeping on the beaches, marine iguanas basking in the sun, blue-footed boobies diving for fishes and water so clear that you could see all the way to the bottom.

I woke up at 5am but I continued to lie in bed as 5am was too early to be awake. When I found myself still awake at 6am, I concluded it was unlikely that I would fall asleep again. So I got up and went up to the top deck. It was chilly so I wore a sweater. The yacht wasn’t moving so the only sound was just the gentle lapping of waves. I was a bit surprised that I could still see the moon.

In the morning we would be visiting Fernandina Island, the youngest island of the Galapagos islands. It was located on the western edge of the Galapagos Archipelago while the oldest island was on the eastern edge.

KKH and I saw one of the crew members preparing the dinghy that we would take to the island. There was a crane at the front of the yacht where it would lift the dinghies onboard when we were not using them during the night. Then every morning, the crane would lift the dinghies and lowered them onto the sea and the crew would drive them to the disembarking area at the back of the yacht.

It was a dry landing at Fernandina. The dinghy went right up to the black rocks and we got off. It was the beginning of low tide and the waters were receding. The rocks we landed on used to be underwater. So the rocks were wet and as slippery as hell. It was hard to get a grip on the rocks. I had to move slowly, testing each time I placed my foot to make that it would not slip before I placed my weight on it. At one point, I had to use my hands. I thought the problem was with my sandals and maybe if I had wore hiking shoes, the grip would be better. Then I saw someone else who was wearing hiking shoes but who was also having difficulty walking on the wet rocks. So I felt a bit comforted that the problem was not unique to me and wearing hiking shoes might not make it any better. The going was much easier once we reach the dry part and I was able to walk normally again.

The harden lava was still young compared to the other islands, about 150 years old. The folds of the molten lava as it cooled could still be clearly seen. There were great areas of black harden lava fields along the coast. The terrain was rough and jagged so I was very careful when walking. It would really hurt if I fall.

Fernandina seemed to be the home of the largest marine iguana colony we visited. This was the first time I saw baby marine iguanas. There was also a lot of poo on the ground.

It was easier to tell the young apart from the adult marine iguanas. Not only were the young marine iguanas much smaller, they also did not have any spikes along their back.

We saw some marine iguanas who had finished basking and were making their way into the sea to feed on the algae. Their body temperature could go up to as high as 52°C before they entered the cold water. They moved slowly and unhurriedly into the water. I thought that since there was limited time to feed, they would hurry into the water but I guess not. The sun was very bright so it was hard to see them clearly. All I could see were black moving shapes on the black rocks. A fellow passenger called the sight “the march of the iguanas”.

There were sea lions on this island too. I was starting to feel that they seemed to be everywhere.

We saw a male sea lion staking it’s claim on a pool of water. It sat in the pool and once in a while, it barked loudly, announcing to the world that this pool belonged to him. Sometimes it would swim around and patrol the edges.

The lava lizards on this island was not as brightly colored as the ones on the other islands. Maybe it was because the terrain was mostly made up of black rocks and having color would stand out.

Sometimes there were cracks in the lava fields. This was because the surface of the lava had cooled and hardened, forming a thin crust, but below were still molten lava. Don’t worry, that was 150 years ago. All the lava had cooled and hardened by now. Someone compared it to the icing on a cake which I thought was a good example.

We saw flightless cormorants drying their wings. Jorge pointed out the big gaps in their wing feathers which were to weak to carry them into the air anymore. As they had no predators on the Galapagos islands, there was no need for flight. Over the generations, these birds were slowly losing their flight feathers as they traded their flying ability for swimming ability. Maybe generations later, they would lose all the flight feathers on their wings and replace them with something that was more suitable for swimming, like what had happened to the penguins. I suddenly realized I was seeing evolution in process and that thought was mind-boggling.

We walked past this field of broken loose stones which Jorge said was made from a different type of lava. When I stepped on the stones and caused them hit each other, they made a kind of ringing sound that was similar to those made by good quality charcoal.

While Fernandina was still mostly made up of black lava fields, plants had started to take root on this island. There were mangrove swamps along some of the coastal areas and there were trees and bushes further inland where sand was available. On the lava fields, lava cactus were growing.

The lava cactus were short plants, maybe because there wasn’t much nutrients in the lava fields.

We also found this mark embedded in the rock which was left by the Ecuadorian army.

We came to this part of the island which was underwater at high tide. Parts of the rocks were covered in algae which was slippery but because the terrain was flat, it was still easy to walk on.

The waters here were clear and I could see all the way to the bottom. We were able to observe a few herons and pelicans in the area too.

The low tide had uncovered some of the algae and we saw a marine iguana feeding. Jorge said that the algae was lusher underwater so that was why most marine iguanas still dive underwater to feed.

One last look before heading back.

On the way back, we passed by this pile of bones which were collected from the coast. From the size, the body was likely the bones of a pilot whale. As the skull could not be found, a dolphin’s skull was placed at the head. There was also the little skeleton of a marine iguana. Then we walked back to the landing site at around 10:45am to wait for the dinghy to pick us up. I was a bit apprehensive when I thought of the difficulty I had walking on the slippery rocks. But I need not have worried because the sun had dried the wet rocks so they were now much easier to walk on. Someone else commented that same thing so I wasn’t the one only who thought that.

While waiting for the dinghy, we saw an adult Galapagos hawk in a tree along the mangroves. The coloring was different from juveniles Galapagos hawks that we saw on Isla Rábida.

I managed to eat a bit more for lunch but it wasn’t my usual amount yet. At 3pm, some passengers went snorkeling. The dinghy did not land at a beach and they just jumped into the water from the dinghy. KKH went and she said the water was quite deep and colder. I stayed behind on the yacht to read and nap. It was very peaceful as there were only a handful of us left on the yacht. Finally there were enough lounge chairs for all of us.

The snorkelers returned after an hour. At 4:30pm, all of us went to Tagus Cove on the northwestern side of Isabela Island. Isabela Island was the largest of the Galapagos islands. First we went on a dinghy ride around the area where we saw more flightless cormorants drying their wings. Because of the way they bent their necks, I thought they looked headless ha ha.

We saw some blue-footed boobies on a rocky ledge. As we watched, one of them pooed.

We saw a Galapagos penguin sitting on the rocky ledge. It was the second smallest penguin in the world at around 35cm tall. These penguins were the only penguins living near the equator. They were able to survive because of the cold Humboldt Current from the south. Hernan said that the El Nino killed a lot of sea lions and penguins. The sea lions recovered their numbers faster while the penguins took a longer time.

It was a dry landing but the incline was very steep. Hernan advised us to use our hands to hold on to the rock walls until we reached flatter ground. Apparently Darwin landed here which was why so many visitors came to this spot. We reached a rock wall where the early visitors carved their names. The earliest we saw was dated 1836. This was before Galapagos was declared a national park. Of course, carving in the rock walls was now considered vandalism and forbidden.

We continued up until we reached the top of the crater. It was hard work and I sweat a lot, probably the most I’ve sweated on the Galapagos Islands. At the top was a crater lake. Like the dead sea, it was an isolated body of water and the water in the crater was saltier than the sea water. Hernan said that he had dived in this area many times and he was sure that there was no underwater opening linking the crater lake to the sea. Yet he felt that water must be seeping into the lake from another layer because with the strong sunshine in this region, the lake would have dried up long ago.

We found ice-cream waiting for us when we got back to the yacht. I think the ice-cream were homemade and there were the basic vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors. We could have as much as we wanted and some people went for second helpings. On a small table nearby, were various toppings we could add to our ice-cream. There were raisins, chopped nuts, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, tia maria, almond liquor, chocolate liquor and mint liquor. I had vanilla and chocolate ice-cream and added lots of chocolate syrup, some raisins, a dash of tia maria and chocolate liquor.

The yacht left Isabela after 6pm. A pod of dolphins was sighted and all of us went up to the top deck for a better look. It was a large pod. The boat followed them for 30 mins or so. We saw some of dolphins jumped out of the water. Some were really good and jumped in a graceful arc, while some landed on their stomachs. After the dolphins dispersed, KKH and I went to bathe before dinner. I looked into the mirror and thought the back of my neck looked a bit red. KKH confirmed that the back of my neck looked sunburn and added that the tips of my ears were sunburn as well. She passed me some aloe vera gel for me to put on the sunburn parts.

KKH and I finally made it to dessert today. We shared a slice of cake. I also had some canned peaches. I loved them. Yummy!

We would be crossing the Equator line tonight. Alex announced over the PA system when it was almost time and all of us crowded into the bridge with the captain. It was dark in the bridge and the only light came from the data screens. All of us waited for the GPS to count down to zero. It was a long wait so a girl left, telling her siblings, “give me a holler when we crossed the Equator.” Can’t say I blamed her as it was quite boring standing in a dark room, watching the numbers slowly decreasing. When it was finally zero, a lot of people took photos. Then we thanked the captain and left.