We are in Quito right now and on the way to Lima. But while we were in the Galapagos, here's what happened....
Wednesday 4-23. We crossed the equator 4 times. Twice on purpose, once by accident and once as a "course correction". First time was at 2:22:54 a.m. We asked the captain if we could come to the bridge and watch the GPS count down to 0 deg S. He said fine but wouldn't it be better to see it the 2nd time when we crossed at 9:30 a.m??? No, we said, we wanted to be "there" when we crossed the first time. Ok, said the capt, we should cross at 1:00 a.m. We'll call you. So, being the trusting folks we are, we set the alarm, got dressed, and went up to the bridge at 12:45 a.m. We surprised Byron, the 1st mate a bit, he said we still had 14 seconds of latitude left. Come back in about an hour, we'll call you. So, being the trusting folks we are, we went to bed with our clothes on and reset the alarm and went back to see Byron at 1:55 a.m. Byron was surprised to see us so soon again. He set us up in front of the GPS, showed us the maps, gave John a tour of the bridge and was really very nice to two odd tourists who seemed to be fixated on being on the bridge at the exact moment they crossed the equator. Count down began and we got to video the GPS as it counted down to 0 deg S and changed over to North. IT WAS WAY COOL!!!!! Then we went back to bed. We had the Official Crossing of the Equator (north to south) - 2nd time at 9:30 a.m. When you round Isabela you cross the EQ coming and then going back down. Everyone was jammed on to the bridge, pretty much doing what we had done at 2:00 in the morning. We all counted down again, John and Janna and I had a glass of champagne to celebrate the 2nd crossing, and then we all got special certificates showing that we were no longer pollywogs but real shellbacks. It wasn't until much later and after much wine that one of the guides said that the captain crossed the EQ "early" and had to circle around so to speak so he could be in the right spot at the right time.
Island activities included snorkling with sea lions, sea turtles, sightings of flightless cormorants and penguins. Then we cruised off to Fenandina we we did a lava walk and saw lots of marine iguanas and got rained on.
Thursday 4-24. Southern part of Isabela Island. Was very cool as the captain moved the ship around as required to see Bryde whales. Amazing. First there is a big (like really big) air bubble that surfaces, then the whale comes up to breath 3 times. So we got to see this guy about 6 times. Estimate it was 25 to 30 feet long. Island activities highlight included flamingo sightings, a giant tortoise walking down the tourist path, a poison apple tree that bumped off a lot of English and Spanish people before they figured out you can't eat "street food". At one lookout point we called review rock, we saw just about everyone, sea lions, crabs, blue footed boobies, marine iguanas and 3 beautiful rainbows.
Friday 4-25. Floreana Island. This was fun. We landed at Post Office Bay, named because that is where the whalers used to drop off mail. Tourist do it now. You go to the post office, which is a barrel covered with a small roof, open the door and take out the mail. No stamps are required. If there is a post card going to an area near you, you take it and deliver it. We took cards for Lima, Brier WA, Poulsbo WA, and a couple for CT that we are going to send to John's sister.
Island sightings included more rainbows, penguins, a shark nursery, stingrays and our friends the sea lions and marine iguanas. Evening ended with a BBQ dinner and salsa dancing that was viewed by many surrounding ship. It was a very good time indeed.
Saturday 4-26. Espanola Island. More snorkling with turtles, sea lions, sharks, stingrays and trumpet fish. Later in the afternoon we hiked up dried riverbed to see waved albatross. Way Cool. Wing span of 11 ft and for the first 5 years of there lives they live totally at sea. Don't come back to the island until they are ready to mate. Got to see their mating rituals but didn't get to see any bird landings. They are quite comical from what we hear. We also got to see a larger flock of flamingo's and marine iguanas that were colored red and green. It was as pretty as a marine iguanas get. Dinner back on the ship with baked alaska and more salsa dancing. This ship has a really fun crew.
There is more to tell but we are running out of internet time. So we will continue the adventures later..
Over and out.
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The adventure continues. I thought you were already Shellbacks from other trips. Now you have to go for the rare Golden Shellback. It bothers me though because it looks like you were not summoned before the court of King Neptune. Seemed to be a too “civilized” ceremony.. I think that hardly is in keeping with seafaring tradition. I don’t see why the GPS didn’t count down to 0 degree NORTH then switches to South. Never heard of Bryde whale had to Google that one. .. pronounced “ bro-dress”.. geezzee… learn something every day! Thanks for the update, what fun!
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