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DAY FOUR ~ Departing Quito for the Galapagos

We flew from Quito to the Galapagos on Aero Gal. I think the trip was about 3 hours.
We actually stopped briefly at Guayaquil to offload and board a few new passengers.

As you might expect, the Baltra airport was rather minimalistic. I don't even remember seeing a Duty Free shop. But then, it was hot and I was eager to get to the Athala, so if there was one, I missed it.

There was a control tower, a huge ratio antenna tower, and lots of wires draped from here to there.

The drive from the airport to the dock where we would board a small boat to take us to the Athala was only about 5 minutes.

This is our first view of the Athala, at anchor in this protected cove. As soon as everyone was on board, the crew
hoisted the anchor and headed for Bartholome Island. It was pretty exciting, now that we were finally here.

The water was so calm that we thought we were on a lake, rather than the Pacific Ocean.

The first thing we did before we had lunch was to go on a Zodiac ride for a closer look at the island.

This was not going to be a relaxing vacation, but more on the order of our Antarctic adventures. Enough exercise was to be had each day so that when meal time came around, you had a ravenous appetite. Thank heaven the chefs were amazingly capable. The entire crew in fact was an amazing bunch of guys. Of course our favorite crew member was Manuel. He was the bar tender. He was also the one to greet us when we returned to the ship from a shore excursion, and he met us with glasses of various fruit juices, or an hors d'oeuvre tray with something interesting for us to munch on before lunch or dinner.

This is Artur, our Russian friend, taking a photograph in a very awkward position. It almost looks like that little
blueish bird is about to peck his eye out. It's amazing how fearless the creatures are.
Those orange crabs seemed to be everywhere we went. You'll see more of them later on.

No matter how close we got, this little guy was intent on doing what he was doing, which I presumed was fishing.

The Athala has 8 passenger cabins on two decks, so there were 16 passengers and 10 crew. We were in Cabin #3 on the Main Deck.

She was also equipped with two Zodiacs that could comfortably hold 10 passengers each.

This was our means of getting from ship to shore, or to go on our many snorkeling adventures

After the bright orange crabs the sea lions were probably the most prevalent creatures. They were
usually sleeping like this one. But on the beach, if we got too close, they would let us know.

The object of our landing on Bartholome Island was to hike to the top and watch the sun set

It was a long climb, but thank goodness for the stairs. That really made it considerably easier.

We made it to the top with time to spare before sunset.

The views were spectacular. We had the feeling that we were the last people on earth, and were so remote. Pinnacle Rock really is an impressive sight. I can see why they say it is the most famous view of the Galapagos.

A view up the hill towards the beacon, which was solar powered.

And looking back down the hill from the beacon. The shadows are very long now. Pete,
Fiona Black & Javier Rodriguez are coming up the hill as Peter Gallego leans on the rail.

To think that we may never pass this way again. Each moment in life is precious, and I've grown to cherish them all.

Far below you can see our landing point, and to where we must hike once the sun has set.
I'm sure dinner preparations are well under way, and my stomach is beginning to growl.

The chefs are very creative, and tonight we have a cucumber penguin guarding
the cheese tray. This art was to become a welcome addition with each meal.

There was a full moon tonight, low on the horizon and sending it's radiant beams across the water. It was a perfect night, one of many.

Javier, or guide, and a native son of the Galapagos, had an interesting game at our very first meeting aboard, designed to get us all on a first name basis very quickly. We were all seated in the lounge area, and he had us start by giving our names in sequence, but the next person in line had to give the name of the persons before them, so that by the time we had gone through all 16 of us, the last person was struggling to recite all 15 names that came before him, from memory. It was quite effective. Fortunately, there were 4 Peters in our group, which helped a lot. Actually, there were 5 Peters on board. The Captain's name was Pedro, which is Spanish for Peter.

Before dinner this night Javier introduced the crew. The Captain is on the right.
They served us a slushy drink they called a lava something or other. It was ok.

The bar tender Manuel Jimbo is standing to the right of Javier, our guide, at the far end.

Javier is giving us his orientation talk, instructing us on safety, and the do's and don't do's, and
letting us know what we should expect over the next 8 days. We had daily critiques each evening.

DAY FIVE ~ Isabela Island ~ Vicente Roca Point & Fernandina ~ Espinosa Point

During the night as we slept, the captain steamed to Isabela Island where we would spend the morning exploring this part of the island which was the largest of the Galapagos Islands, and was shaped like a giant seahorse.

Lowering the zodiacs for our morning tour of Isabela Island at Vicente Roca Point.

The glassy calm we experienced in that protected cove when we first boarded the Athala
was gone, and we knew now that we were on the blue Pacific.

As we headed for shore we saw something in the water, just below the surface. We circled around it thinking it was some sort of creature from the deep. It did not try to avoid us, which was very strange. Finally Javier got an oar and reached down to see if he could get it to move or something. It didn't, so he tried to bring it up.

The mysterious thing turned out to be a plastic shopping bag. Under a foot of water it was quite intriguing.

I've reached 8.9 MB, so I'll end this chapter. The next chapter will begin with exploring a cave by Zodiac.