Ruby Slippers

We expected to arrive at a lava-rocked, desolate set of islands in the middle of nowhere – instead we are anchored in Academy Bay, right in the heart of a bustling city! There are restaurants, internet cafes, interesting tourist shops, and people everywhere! All of the goods here come from Quito, Ecuador, and the bay is full of barges unloading boxes of food and equipment onto the docks.

The only way to get from our boat to land is by water taxi, at a reasonable 50 cents per person. The US dollar is the currency here – it is quite exciting to know what coin 50 cents actually is!

It was a 700-mile sail from Golfito, Costa Rica to here. We had a nice stop in the Cocos Islands, about 300 miles out. The diving was beautiful there – both Molly and Jessie went scuba diving with Jim and saw eagle rays, sharks and lots of big fish. Cocos Island is a National Park, and is protected for a circumference of 12 miles around the island. There is supposed to be no fishing at all within that boundary, but the rangers on the island have a barn full of miles and miles of fishing nets, hooks, and floats that they have confiscated in the park area. There is a very active volunteer program on this small island. Students and would-be park rangers wait for up to a year to help here on Cocos Island. The eco-system is very fragile here, and they are trying desperately to save the island. It is over- run with wild boars and goats that were brought here many years ago by Germans who thought they might want to colonize Cocos. They soon found out that it was too remote and hard to manage, so they left, but the pigs stayed.

 We had a “crossing the Equator” party on Monday morning on our way here. Everyone swam across the invisible line and received little gifts. The ocean was as flat as a windowpane. In fact, it looked like it had been polished with Windex, and you could see your reflection in it. Is this the same ocean that slapped me around like a redheaded stepchild just 24 hours earlier?

We are busy trying to organize a few tours while we are at the Galapagos, and are going to go scuba diving on a dive boat. Our friend Dave Dow from Hawaii will be joining us here for the long trip to the Marquesas; 3600 miles of nothing but ocean! It is cooler here than in Central America; the Humboldt current runs through this area and keeps the water about 10 degrees cooler that we have been seeing. The sky is kindergarten blue, and the people are helpful and friendly.

 At an outdoor restaurant yesterday, a seal walked up from the bay, past the customers and into the kitchen. He must have been a “regular”, because the cook just tossed him some food and kept on cooking. I’ve never seen that in Seattle…

We will try to post another update before we leave these enchanting islands – we can’t wait to see tortoises, big iguanas, penguins and blue-footed boobies!

There is so much to do and think about. What if I don’t buy enough food? What if we haven’t really checked every weak spot on the boat, and something breaks at sea? What if we don’t have enough books/popcorn/propane/fill in the blank to make it all the way to French Polynesia?

We have been provisioning all day today; many trips by water taxi back and forth to town. Yesterday we bought about 15 pounds of fresh fish and vacuum-packed it for our freezer. Today we bought fresh fruits and vegetables, and Jim rigged up hammocks and bins all over the boat in which to put it. We bought a big bunch of bright green bananas which are hanging off the back of the boat, and will ripen in unison in about a week. We still need to pick up the laundry, check out of the country through Immigration, find cabbage and coconuts, get 10 dozen eggs, and update our website. I know people will start looking at me about dinner time as if to say, “Well, what’s for dinner?” and I will be clueless.

We figure this next leg will be about 25 days of nothing but ocean. It will be our longest passage yet. We are praying for good trade winds, since we only have enough fuel for about 10 days. Our friend Dave is on board, which will help a lot. He is an experienced sailor, a great cook, and loves to play games. Something for everyone!

The Galapagos Islands have been an amazing experience. Some say their whole lives have been changed by visiting these islands. I wouldn’t go that far, but certainly life-enhancing. I have never really believed that blue-footed Boobies had bright blue feet, but now I can attest to that fact – their feet look like Tupperware lids, or those floppy kitchen drain plugs. The male has the brightest feet; during mating season, he does a little dance for the female, showing his feet off as if to say, “Look at these beautiful feet! They are a gift to you. Do you like them? See how mine are the bluest?”

In contrast, the male Frigate bird during mating season, displays this huge red air pouch on his chest. When a female flies over him, he sits on a low branch and blows air into his pouch and waves his wings and screams at her. “Hey Baby! Look at this cool pouch! Aren’t I gorgeous? Come on down!” Often two or three males will all sit on the same branch and wave their wings and blow up their pouches and try to knock each other off the branch. I find it all a little too junior high, and prefer the gentle dance of the Booby.

We have seen a lot of marine and land iguanas. We have been told there is also a hybrid iguana. They mated a marine one with a land one, and got kind of a “mule”. It doesn’t live a long time, and cannot reproduce, and prefers land over water. We have seen huge tortoises – including the famous Lonesome George – he is the last one of his species, and is about 150 years old. When he dies, there goes that species.

We went scuba diving and saw white-tipped sharks, turtles, eagle rays and lots of fish. The water here is a lot colder than in Central America, due to the Humboldt Current that runs through these islands. That current brings all the food that feeds these rare animals, and is why the Galapagos is such a center for rare species of birds and mammals.

We went snorkeling and got to swim with a whole bunch of sea lions. There were babies and mammas, and a huge male was patrolling the area, barking out instructions about how close we could come to his harem. The babies would swim just under us and turn in circles, and invite us to do the same. They would swim right for our faces, and just before bashing into us, would swerve sharply and flip their little tails.

I longed to touch one of the dry sea lions, but there is a strict no-touch rule here. The whole eco-system is so fragile here, they are very careful to protect each plant and animal. Fortunately, when we got back to town, there was a sea lion “walking” down an alley by our favorite restaurant, and he settled down on his belly and let me pet him for a long time. So very soft! Sea lions, by the way, have actual ears sticking out of their heads and very strong front fins so they can walk on land. That is how they differ from seals. School’s out…

We have been working on getting a cruising permit while we are here, to allow us to anchor at some of the other Galapagos Islands. If it works, we will stop at Isla Isabella tomorrow for one more day of exploring before our long trek. On that island, there are hundreds of penguins and flamingos.

I was standing in a very long line at the bank the other day; it must have been payday or something because the line was at least 2 hours long. All of a sudden, the guard pulled me out of that line and stood me in the very short line that was reserved for the aged and infirmed. I didn’t know enough Spanish to ask why he chose me, but I figured it was a). He wanted to be kind to a tourist, b). He liked my dreadlocks or c) He actually thought I was aged or infirmed. I choose to believe option A, and appreciated getting my business done in a short amount of time.

There should be new pics in the Media Gallery – we hope spring has finally come to the Northwest!