Monday, March 7: Santiago and Rabida Islands

The day started at Santiago Island where we had chosen the “Long walk and optional swim/snorkel” activity.  This was a “wet landing” with the tenders getting close to the beach, letting down their boarding ramp, and us stepping into about a foot of water to wade to the dry sand.  The morning “long walk” was a little less than two miles long in total, but with all the sightseeing, it probably took about two hours.  We discovered the colorful crabs, watched the Pelicans and Boobies, and got a general introduction to the Galapagos environment.

These colorful crabs were all over the Galapagos.

We looked at the snorkeling conditions, just off the beach with dark sand and no interesting rock or coral formations and decided to take a pass.  We headed back to the ship and relaxed until time for lunch.  You could take lunch in either the Seaside Restaurant or the Ocean Grill and we choose the grill this time.  We found the food to be good, but the menu was limited and service seemed to be a bit slow.

During the lunch break, the Flora repositioned slightly to be off the island of Rabida, also known as the “Red Island” because the soil has a high iron content causing the land to take on a rusty red color.  We had chosen the “Long walk and kayak paddle” as our activity.   The walk was interesting, seeing some new kinds of plants and birds and walking around the island, but nothing outstanding that I can remember.  The kayak paddle was completely different and I remember it well.  There were 16 passengers (two to a kayak) and one Naturalist included in the paddle.  The wind had come up and the water was getting a bit rough by the time we got started and I think there was a discussion among the Naturalists whether to do the paddle or cancel that activity, but we went ahead.  We boarded the kayaks differently than I had ever done before: two Naturalists held the kayak alongside the tender, we crawled over the side of the tender and into the kayak, while bouncing in the waves.  The process made me a bit nervous, but everyone made the switch OK.  (One couple decided to skip the paddle and stayed in the tender.) We had to paddle at an angle to the wind and waves, continuously correcting our course when the waves pushed us around.  You could not really relax and take a breather as you would quickly end up sideways to the waves, which is not a good thing.  Moving forward, with your paddle in the water, makes you more stable in a kayak.  It was a tiring paddle and we really were not able to look around and sight-see any: we didn’t dare.   We made it to the end of the trip, reversed the boarding process to get back into the tender and breathed a sigh of relief.  It may have been good exercise, but it really was not an enjoyable activity.   It probably would have been fun in calmer water, but the conditions made it more like work.   We got back to the ship and had a drink (or two) to unwind. 

After resting for a while and getting cleaned up, we headed down to the lounge for the next event on the ship, a wine tasting to introduce the passengers to the wines that were available (and included in the cost) on the cruise.

 Our friend Luis, is waiting to pour us some wine at the tasting.

After the wine tasting we attended the briefing on the next day’s activities and then headed for dinner.  But there was one more activity for the day.  There was an ongoing eruption at the Wolf volcano and we would be passing by it about 9:00 PM.  No one could say how visible the lava flows might be, but we were going to take a look (from an appropriate distance). 

OK, time for a bit of a disclaimer.  I normally only use photographs that I took on our trips.  But, this time, the Flora crew, mainly the Naturalists, took lots of photos and put them on USB Flash Drives that were given to all passengers at the end of the cruise.  Most of the Naturalists have very good camera equipment and know when and how to get the best photos, so sometimes their photos are significantly better than mine.   I will sometimes include photos taken by the crew/Naturalists, and when I do, I will include a (F) in the description to identify them.  The photo below is an example of a Flora Naturalist photo:  in this case, they knew to come out early to get the moon and clouds in the picture.  I have photos of the lava, but not nearly as impressive.

 Flowing Lava from Wolf Volcano reflected in the clouds with the moon (F)

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