5-26
3 Dives at Darwin Island where there is a very cool above ground arch called "Darwin's Arch". Lots and lots and lots of Hammerheads!! Swimming all over..above us...below us...through us. Lots of sea turtles as well. Then we did 1 dive at Wolf island where there was more hammerheads as well as galapagos sharks.
I enjoyed my last night of being in the 20's by soaking in the hot tub as we sailed towards the sunset..
5-27-2013
My Birthday!! In the morning we saw dolphins out the window during breakfast. By the way, breakfast every morning included fresh fruit, granola, cereal, yoghurt, and milk, then there was a choice of 10 different things for hot breakfast. I usually had an omellette with meat, cheese, and mushrroms, with a side of bacon and toast.
We had sailed overnight to Cabo Douglas on Isabella. On my first dive, I saw 3 mantas! We did 3 other dives today at Cabo Douglas where some of the highlights were a spotted eagle ray. some sharks, turtles, and the ever friendly sea lions. We took a boat excursion where we saw galapagos fur sealions and flightless commorants. In the evening the boat sailed on, and I sat in the hot tub where I watched lots and lots of rays (most likely spotted eagle rays or manta rays) jumping up to 8 feet out of the water and then splashing down (they do this to remove parasites from their body). While sitting in the hot tub, I also saw a whale spouting off in the distance!
One of the other divers, Karen from the UK, also was having her birthday (her 50th). So for dinner, they decorated the inside of the boat with balloons and streamers. After dinner, they brought out a cake with candles where they had written happy birthday Karen and Travis on it. They sang for us, and then of course the bubbly was passed out and there was a champagne toast.
5-28
Overnight we moved to Isla Fernandina in the heart of the humboldt current. So today we had 3 very cold dives (17C = 62F). On the first two dives off of Fernandina, we saw lots and lots of Marine Iguanas feeding and swimming in the water. This was a pretty cool and special thing to see. Not many people get to witness it bc it is mainly on Fernandina and the sun has to be hot and strong for the iguanas to go into the water. Of course we also so sea lions. We did a snorkelling excursion into a bay on Fernandina where we snorkelled with baby sea lions, marine iguanas, flightless comorants, and a penguin. While we were snorkelling, the iguanas were marching from the beach down to the sea to jump in for swimming. It reminded me of some sort of army beach invasion bc there was just masses of them coming down to the water.
After the first 2 dives, we sailed back to Isabella to Punta Vicente Roca. Other than the dives with the hammerheads and galapagos sharks at Wolf and Darwin, this was my favorite dive site. On the dive we saw a Mola mola! Mola mola, which is also known as a sunfish is a giant fish that is very flat and appears to be 1/2 of a fish. It s one of those species that divers are always hoping to see. We also saw 3 cute little seahorses and an octopus. And of course lots of turtles and some sea lions.
After this dive, everyone voted to do a dinghy ride instead of a night dive since it was so cold in the water. On the dinghy ride we saw lots of baby sea lions playing, blue footed boobies, masked boobies, and 2 penguins.
For dinner we a whole giant turkey feast, like thanksgiving. Apparently it is only in the West where people eat drumsticks bc I was the subject of many photos from the east coasters and the europeans as I ate the huge drumsticks. We then had a champagne toast after the meal to celebrate a good trip.
5-29
This morning we did 1 dive off of cousins rock. We saw 3 white-tipped reef sharks and of course plenty of turtles and sea lions. Because it is dangerous to fly within 24 hours of your last dive due to the increas of nitrogen bubbling when you lose pressure, and most people were flying the next day, the rest of the day we did land excursions on Santa Cruz. We visited a place called the gemelos (the twins) which are two giant sinkholes. We then visited the lava tunnels and el Chato tortoise reserve where we got to watch the wild tortoises. From there we went to the charles darwin research station to check out the tortoise nursery.
Today both of my ears had just been killing me and both of my jaws hurting as well. My dive guide thought that perhaps I had an ear infection because this is commong among divers because of the nutrient rich waters and plankton that we dive in and the fact that we dive so much that our ears hardly have time to dry. So I picked up some ear drops for my ears.
We went back to the boat for showers and such and everyone disembarked again to go back to Puerto Ayora for dinner and to party. I wasn't feeling much like going out, so I stayed on board and watched a couple of movies. The crew was nice and made me dinner, and I just chilled on the boat. The party was apparently pretty wild though bc Vladamir didn't make it back until 1am and some of the other people until 4am.
5-30
We sailed in the morning to Baltra where we disembarked. I took the bus back to Puerto Ayora. I arrived early in the morning, so I hiked to Tortuga Bay which is a beautiful white sand beach with also gorgeous turquoise water. I walked out to a rocky area where I sat amongst the marine iguanas and sally lightfoot crabs and watched them go about their business. It is funny bc sometimes the crabs crawl right over the iguanas, and they don't seem to care. From there I walked to another beach and then through a cool opuntia cactus forest. They cactus are pretty sweet because they have trunk like trees (with bark) and leaves like prickly pear cacti.
After my hike to the beach, I took a water taxi across the bay and then hiked to Las Grietas (the grottos) which are collapsed water tubes filled with pretty colored and very clear water.
My ears were still hurting a lot, and I was worried about whether it may be something else. Not wanting to take any risks with my precious hearing, I went back to the ER (the private clinic and regular hospital were closed at these hours). The guy looked at my throat (same flashlight into the mouth!) and found nothing. He then looked into my ears and said there was no infection but that there were small lesions on the membrane which can be caused by doing a lot of diving (you have to constantly be equalizing your ears while diving) which I was (averaging 4 dives a day on ears that hadn't been diving for years). He said it would heal up and just take Ibuprofen for the pain. And yes, after about 3 more days they did heal and are now (as of 6/5) feeling pretty good.
3 Dives at Darwin Island where there is a very cool above ground arch called "Darwin's Arch". Lots and lots and lots of Hammerheads!! Swimming all over..above us...below us...through us. Lots of sea turtles as well. Then we did 1 dive at Wolf island where there was more hammerheads as well as galapagos sharks.
I enjoyed my last night of being in the 20's by soaking in the hot tub as we sailed towards the sunset..
5-27-2013
My Birthday!! In the morning we saw dolphins out the window during breakfast. By the way, breakfast every morning included fresh fruit, granola, cereal, yoghurt, and milk, then there was a choice of 10 different things for hot breakfast. I usually had an omellette with meat, cheese, and mushrroms, with a side of bacon and toast.
We had sailed overnight to Cabo Douglas on Isabella. On my first dive, I saw 3 mantas! We did 3 other dives today at Cabo Douglas where some of the highlights were a spotted eagle ray. some sharks, turtles, and the ever friendly sea lions. We took a boat excursion where we saw galapagos fur sealions and flightless commorants. In the evening the boat sailed on, and I sat in the hot tub where I watched lots and lots of rays (most likely spotted eagle rays or manta rays) jumping up to 8 feet out of the water and then splashing down (they do this to remove parasites from their body). While sitting in the hot tub, I also saw a whale spouting off in the distance!
One of the other divers, Karen from the UK, also was having her birthday (her 50th). So for dinner, they decorated the inside of the boat with balloons and streamers. After dinner, they brought out a cake with candles where they had written happy birthday Karen and Travis on it. They sang for us, and then of course the bubbly was passed out and there was a champagne toast.
5-28
Overnight we moved to Isla Fernandina in the heart of the humboldt current. So today we had 3 very cold dives (17C = 62F). On the first two dives off of Fernandina, we saw lots and lots of Marine Iguanas feeding and swimming in the water. This was a pretty cool and special thing to see. Not many people get to witness it bc it is mainly on Fernandina and the sun has to be hot and strong for the iguanas to go into the water. Of course we also so sea lions. We did a snorkelling excursion into a bay on Fernandina where we snorkelled with baby sea lions, marine iguanas, flightless comorants, and a penguin. While we were snorkelling, the iguanas were marching from the beach down to the sea to jump in for swimming. It reminded me of some sort of army beach invasion bc there was just masses of them coming down to the water.
After the first 2 dives, we sailed back to Isabella to Punta Vicente Roca. Other than the dives with the hammerheads and galapagos sharks at Wolf and Darwin, this was my favorite dive site. On the dive we saw a Mola mola! Mola mola, which is also known as a sunfish is a giant fish that is very flat and appears to be 1/2 of a fish. It s one of those species that divers are always hoping to see. We also saw 3 cute little seahorses and an octopus. And of course lots of turtles and some sea lions.
After this dive, everyone voted to do a dinghy ride instead of a night dive since it was so cold in the water. On the dinghy ride we saw lots of baby sea lions playing, blue footed boobies, masked boobies, and 2 penguins.
For dinner we a whole giant turkey feast, like thanksgiving. Apparently it is only in the West where people eat drumsticks bc I was the subject of many photos from the east coasters and the europeans as I ate the huge drumsticks. We then had a champagne toast after the meal to celebrate a good trip.
5-29
This morning we did 1 dive off of cousins rock. We saw 3 white-tipped reef sharks and of course plenty of turtles and sea lions. Because it is dangerous to fly within 24 hours of your last dive due to the increas of nitrogen bubbling when you lose pressure, and most people were flying the next day, the rest of the day we did land excursions on Santa Cruz. We visited a place called the gemelos (the twins) which are two giant sinkholes. We then visited the lava tunnels and el Chato tortoise reserve where we got to watch the wild tortoises. From there we went to the charles darwin research station to check out the tortoise nursery.
Today both of my ears had just been killing me and both of my jaws hurting as well. My dive guide thought that perhaps I had an ear infection because this is commong among divers because of the nutrient rich waters and plankton that we dive in and the fact that we dive so much that our ears hardly have time to dry. So I picked up some ear drops for my ears.
We went back to the boat for showers and such and everyone disembarked again to go back to Puerto Ayora for dinner and to party. I wasn't feeling much like going out, so I stayed on board and watched a couple of movies. The crew was nice and made me dinner, and I just chilled on the boat. The party was apparently pretty wild though bc Vladamir didn't make it back until 1am and some of the other people until 4am.
5-30
We sailed in the morning to Baltra where we disembarked. I took the bus back to Puerto Ayora. I arrived early in the morning, so I hiked to Tortuga Bay which is a beautiful white sand beach with also gorgeous turquoise water. I walked out to a rocky area where I sat amongst the marine iguanas and sally lightfoot crabs and watched them go about their business. It is funny bc sometimes the crabs crawl right over the iguanas, and they don't seem to care. From there I walked to another beach and then through a cool opuntia cactus forest. They cactus are pretty sweet because they have trunk like trees (with bark) and leaves like prickly pear cacti.
After my hike to the beach, I took a water taxi across the bay and then hiked to Las Grietas (the grottos) which are collapsed water tubes filled with pretty colored and very clear water.
My ears were still hurting a lot, and I was worried about whether it may be something else. Not wanting to take any risks with my precious hearing, I went back to the ER (the private clinic and regular hospital were closed at these hours). The guy looked at my throat (same flashlight into the mouth!) and found nothing. He then looked into my ears and said there was no infection but that there were small lesions on the membrane which can be caused by doing a lot of diving (you have to constantly be equalizing your ears while diving) which I was (averaging 4 dives a day on ears that hadn't been diving for years). He said it would heal up and just take Ibuprofen for the pain. And yes, after about 3 more days they did heal and are now (as of 6/5) feeling pretty good.
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