I just finished my 20 day stint on the Galapagos Islands. I cannot believe how quickly time flies. I am so glad that I decided to island hop before going on the diving live-aboard because it provided a different perspective and allowed me to meet some really great fellow travelers.
For example, on Santa Cruz I met Keith from Singapore who is traveling around South America for a year and only gave himself 4 days on Galapagos. Needless to say, he was on a whirlwind tour. We would meet in the evenings and discuss how our day went. Like the day I almost drown at Tortuga Bay. It is reported to be a great place to snorkel. I was stupid really. When you sign into the National Park (beach area) normally the man there tells you where to go surfing, where to swim and where to snorkel. However, I did not know this and when I arrived he was busy chatting with some surfers and said nothing to me. I arrived at the beach and walked to a rocky area (away from the surfers) where there was only one couple. I should have known snorkeling and surfing don't mix. I took three steps out and was swept up in a huge riptide that immediately pushed me out to sea. I tried to swim back but this was the moment my fins broke. As I was heading further out and being pummeled by waves, I called out for help. But of course no one could help me or they would have been swept up too. The couple in the same area motioned for me to head toward the rocks at the end of the bay. However, without fins this was not an easy task. Swimming at a 45 degree angle to the riptide I was eventually pushed into the very last group of rocks and hoped the strength of the surge would not break my legs. I had to endure the constant surge as I crawled my way back to the beach. I was exhausted and bruised but alive. I found the swim and snorkel area on an adjacent beach which was calm and surrounded by mangroves. It was quite pretty actually. At this point however, I had no desire to snorkel. After this experience, you would think that my snorkeling days would be over. You would be wrong however.
While on Isabela Island I met a wonderful couple from Brazil (Marianne and Marcus) and a friend I had met on Santa Cruz (Fenja) joined me for two amazing snorkel experiences.. At Concha & Perla I snorkeled with sea lions and penguins and at a place called Los Tuneles (the Tunnels), I had one of the best snorkeling experiences of my life. We snorkeled with giant sea turtles, sea lions, white tip sharks, penguins and giant sea horses.
I arrived on San Cristobal just in time to hanker down as a huge storm hit the island. The powerful tsunami-like waves damaged all of the piers. The coastguard prohibited all access to the port until May 6th. Unfortunately, I was supposed to head out on my live-aboard May 4th. After a couple of stressful days with nothing to do - it was pouring rain and all tours were canceled, things worked themselves out. Actually, I am then one who alerted the boat company of the problem regarding the port. I am not sure what would have happened if my hotel manager (Boris) at the Zayapa Hotel hadn't spent some time on the phone getting to the bottom of things. For that I am grateful.
More on my cruise later.
