The day started out well enough. We sidembarked after breakfast and endured a sunny and hot hike over lava fields and past tidal pools. We saw several large fish, sea turtles, a shark ( to be honest, I didn't see the shark, but Lou did), sea lions and sea birds. It was an OK hike, but not teeming with abundant wildlife like we thought it would be. Two members of our team tripped on the uneven lava suffering minor cuts and scrapes.
Then, a deep water snorkel. We panga-ed out to a rocky shore and plunged in. The water was cold and made me wish I'd rented a wet suit like my snorkel mates. It was very murky with algae etc. suspended in the sea like it was some kind of ultra organic soup. A few large sea turtles were visible, but it was a rough snorkel, fighting waves and currents and the cold water. Then, abruptly, one of our team suffered a type of distress due to acute dehydration and we had to retreat to the ship. It was a "no one is left behind" mentality, and, of course, it was entirely appropriate: safety must be maintained at all times, although we suspect our guide was late in realizing the potential trouble our snorkeller was in. Fortunately, she made a good recovery when we got back to the ship, and we are all glad of it.
Finally, we took a panga boat to a mangrove lagoon in the strong afternoon sun. The area was wonderful, with several sea turtles, golden rays and birds. We were enjoying it perhaps too much. On the way back, our panga hit rocks, not once, but three times, bad enough to slightly damage the propeller. But it was the second scrape that was most dramatic. Harry, our guide, was in the bow of the panga when it hit. He was standing up, looking for rocks when the impact occurred. He was immediately pitched forward into the ocean. I was right behind him and tried to grab him when he became airborne, but failed. I leaned over and saw him floating over the rocks. I thought he was hurt or dead, but he began to start laughing. I helped him back into the panga and the laughter in our and the other boats began. Thank goodness he was OK. But the tension between Harry and boat's skipper was so thick you could cut it. To fully appreciate this, you have to understand Harry's personality. He looks like an Hispanic Henry Fonda and speaks like Ricky Ricardo. He sings constantly and, when he led our snorkel group this morning, he was all over the ocean scaring up turtles and fish from the murky depths. He is on constant adrenaline. Yet, he reads Sun Tzu's "Art of War" and plays "El Condor Passa" on a flute and speaks 5 languages. So, he's not a clown, but he is a showman. Perhaps he deserved his dunking, perhaps he even engineered it. But it has certainly given our group something to think about.
It's an impressive list of wildlife we've seen. But, at lunch today, some of us expressed a slight sense of disappointment. Something's missing about this Galapagos adventure. Maybe we have expected too much. We have more activities coming up. Let's hope for the best.
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