5-23
As a treat for an Antarctic season with a more stressful job, a 30th birthday (dirty thirty as Cassa would call it) present, and a last fling before the grind of grad school, I had reserved a space on a liveaboard dive cruise. I had actually found a deal on one of the luxury boats that made it cheaper than even the more budget boats (not that dive liveaboards are ever budget). I had booked myself onto the Aggressor I with an itinerary that reached the far far northwest of the Galapagos (Darwin and Wolf Islands) which has some of the best diving in the entire world.
In the morning, I said a sad goodbye to Elisha. She would have one more day in the Galapagos before flying to Guayaquil and then heading onto Cuenca and Vilcabamba. I know that she had an amazing time there and did some cool stuff, so maybe she will comment onto this blog a bit about what she did...
Took a taxi to Baltra Airport with one of the other divers, Tatiana. At the airport, we met the 12 other divers and the 2 dive guides (Richard and Rubin), and then boarded the boat. The boat was indeed luxury!! Super fancy! Especially for this backpacker. They gave us hot towels to freshen up upon arrival. The boat had unlimited and bottomless bowls of snacks, candies, and chocolate bars as well as fruit (which I filled up a pretty good bag to give to Elisha upon meeting up with her later as she loves S. American snacks). They had a refrigerator in the main lounge as well as on the top deck filled with wine, beer, and soft drinks which were free and unlimited. They had a fancy lounge area with nice and comfy couches, a flat screen tv with surround sound, and a DVD and book library. Right away we had an amazing lunch and then did our checkout dive to check our equipment and bouyancy (It would be the first time I would be diving with a 7mm wetsuit, gloves, and hood). After the dive (and of course each dive) they had scorching hot deck showers (which we also used before diving to warm up our wetsuits and fill them with hot water). After rinsing off, a member of the crew then gave you a steaming towel straight from their towel oven, a cup of hot coco, and a snack. The boat also had a hot tub up near the bow, which I often used at the end of the diving day. The ship also had satellite email, so I was able to let my parents and Elisha know during the dive trip that I was feeling 100% better and having a good time.
I was rooming with Vladimir (from NYC, originally from Bulgaria). Our room was really nice complete with a huge bathroom, nice beds, lots of storage space, and a flatscreen tv with dvd player. There was chocolate on our pillows and towels on our bed folded up to look like manta rays. Everyday they made a different design out of the pillows including turtles, sharks, and flowers, and of course added chocolate everyday and made our beds and such.
Before dinner, we all gathered at the back outside lounge areas where we met the entire crew who all came out dressed in the "Navy Whites" (like Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men) for a champagne toast. Then we went to the top deck for a a bbq with steak, chicken, and fish. The waiter was dressed in tuxedo, just like he would be everynight and he kept everyone's glasses full of wine (though I stayed with the milk and juice and pepsi on account of recovering from being sick and being extra conservative about being bent...OH leads to dehydration which can cause the bends. Though at the end of the trip when I was fully recovered I joined in a bit with the rest of the group.)
5-24.
1st real day of diving in the Galapagos! 3 dives. Still not to the good stuff yet, but saw some turtles, a shark, and some barracudas as well as diving with sea lions. I have a more detailed dive log that I keep, but on this blog I will mainly be sharing the big and cool stuff that I see while diving. Though I won't be mentioning it, you can assume that I saw lots and lots of tropical, pelagic, and other fish as the galapagos just has tons and tons of fish and some huge schools. Sometimes, the fish would be so thick that as you were trying to see something big like a shark, you couldn't hardly see it on account of so many fish being in the way! Incredible!
For lunch, we had a huge, huge fish with a tomatoe in its mouth. Everyday for lunch they made an animal out of food. Today, they made a frigate bird out of eggplant, with a tomatoe as the puffed red balloon part of their neck. For other lunches they made orcas, turtles, penguins, and manta rays.
In the late afternoon, we took a land excursion on Bartolome Island where we hiked to the peak for sunset and the most iconic view of the galapagos--the double beach peninsula with the pinnacle rock. I was stoked that our boat went hear as from Puerto Ayora, this was a $140 day trip, but it is one of the most famous views of the Galapagos. And it definitely was a sweet, sweet view! especially with the other islands and little volcanic cones around. We saw the sunset on one side and then to the other side, we saw the fullmoon rise! A stunning landcape for sure.
12 hours overnight sailing to Wolf Island.
5-25
5 dives at wolf island including a night dive. Lots and lots of hammerhead sharks!! as well as the large Galapagos sharks. Plenty of turtles and sea lions as well.
The Island of wolf was beautiful with sheer cliffs where we saw Nazca boobies and red footed boobies nesting. We saw a huge pod of dolphins on 2 ocassions from our dinghy, but when I jumped in to swim with them, they had quickly moved on. Lunch was kebabs on the deck where we enjoyed the island scenery and watched the sea lions playing below the boat. Dinner was lobstertail!! (early birthday dinner?) We then had a soak in the hot tub during sunset with cocktails. Quite the experience to be in a hot tub while bobbing on the sea in a boat!
As a treat for an Antarctic season with a more stressful job, a 30th birthday (dirty thirty as Cassa would call it) present, and a last fling before the grind of grad school, I had reserved a space on a liveaboard dive cruise. I had actually found a deal on one of the luxury boats that made it cheaper than even the more budget boats (not that dive liveaboards are ever budget). I had booked myself onto the Aggressor I with an itinerary that reached the far far northwest of the Galapagos (Darwin and Wolf Islands) which has some of the best diving in the entire world.
In the morning, I said a sad goodbye to Elisha. She would have one more day in the Galapagos before flying to Guayaquil and then heading onto Cuenca and Vilcabamba. I know that she had an amazing time there and did some cool stuff, so maybe she will comment onto this blog a bit about what she did...
Took a taxi to Baltra Airport with one of the other divers, Tatiana. At the airport, we met the 12 other divers and the 2 dive guides (Richard and Rubin), and then boarded the boat. The boat was indeed luxury!! Super fancy! Especially for this backpacker. They gave us hot towels to freshen up upon arrival. The boat had unlimited and bottomless bowls of snacks, candies, and chocolate bars as well as fruit (which I filled up a pretty good bag to give to Elisha upon meeting up with her later as she loves S. American snacks). They had a refrigerator in the main lounge as well as on the top deck filled with wine, beer, and soft drinks which were free and unlimited. They had a fancy lounge area with nice and comfy couches, a flat screen tv with surround sound, and a DVD and book library. Right away we had an amazing lunch and then did our checkout dive to check our equipment and bouyancy (It would be the first time I would be diving with a 7mm wetsuit, gloves, and hood). After the dive (and of course each dive) they had scorching hot deck showers (which we also used before diving to warm up our wetsuits and fill them with hot water). After rinsing off, a member of the crew then gave you a steaming towel straight from their towel oven, a cup of hot coco, and a snack. The boat also had a hot tub up near the bow, which I often used at the end of the diving day. The ship also had satellite email, so I was able to let my parents and Elisha know during the dive trip that I was feeling 100% better and having a good time.
I was rooming with Vladimir (from NYC, originally from Bulgaria). Our room was really nice complete with a huge bathroom, nice beds, lots of storage space, and a flatscreen tv with dvd player. There was chocolate on our pillows and towels on our bed folded up to look like manta rays. Everyday they made a different design out of the pillows including turtles, sharks, and flowers, and of course added chocolate everyday and made our beds and such.
Before dinner, we all gathered at the back outside lounge areas where we met the entire crew who all came out dressed in the "Navy Whites" (like Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men) for a champagne toast. Then we went to the top deck for a a bbq with steak, chicken, and fish. The waiter was dressed in tuxedo, just like he would be everynight and he kept everyone's glasses full of wine (though I stayed with the milk and juice and pepsi on account of recovering from being sick and being extra conservative about being bent...OH leads to dehydration which can cause the bends. Though at the end of the trip when I was fully recovered I joined in a bit with the rest of the group.)
5-24.
1st real day of diving in the Galapagos! 3 dives. Still not to the good stuff yet, but saw some turtles, a shark, and some barracudas as well as diving with sea lions. I have a more detailed dive log that I keep, but on this blog I will mainly be sharing the big and cool stuff that I see while diving. Though I won't be mentioning it, you can assume that I saw lots and lots of tropical, pelagic, and other fish as the galapagos just has tons and tons of fish and some huge schools. Sometimes, the fish would be so thick that as you were trying to see something big like a shark, you couldn't hardly see it on account of so many fish being in the way! Incredible!
For lunch, we had a huge, huge fish with a tomatoe in its mouth. Everyday for lunch they made an animal out of food. Today, they made a frigate bird out of eggplant, with a tomatoe as the puffed red balloon part of their neck. For other lunches they made orcas, turtles, penguins, and manta rays.
In the late afternoon, we took a land excursion on Bartolome Island where we hiked to the peak for sunset and the most iconic view of the galapagos--the double beach peninsula with the pinnacle rock. I was stoked that our boat went hear as from Puerto Ayora, this was a $140 day trip, but it is one of the most famous views of the Galapagos. And it definitely was a sweet, sweet view! especially with the other islands and little volcanic cones around. We saw the sunset on one side and then to the other side, we saw the fullmoon rise! A stunning landcape for sure.
12 hours overnight sailing to Wolf Island.
5-25
5 dives at wolf island including a night dive. Lots and lots of hammerhead sharks!! as well as the large Galapagos sharks. Plenty of turtles and sea lions as well.
The Island of wolf was beautiful with sheer cliffs where we saw Nazca boobies and red footed boobies nesting. We saw a huge pod of dolphins on 2 ocassions from our dinghy, but when I jumped in to swim with them, they had quickly moved on. Lunch was kebabs on the deck where we enjoyed the island scenery and watched the sea lions playing below the boat. Dinner was lobstertail!! (early birthday dinner?) We then had a soak in the hot tub during sunset with cocktails. Quite the experience to be in a hot tub while bobbing on the sea in a boat!
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