I know its morning by that strangely bright light creeping up over the horizon. On the airplane the captain told us the time here was an hour behind Quito. So I set my watch. At 7:15 on my cell phone I head to the curb. I was told the Santa Fe Yacht bus would pick me up at 7:30 in front of my hotel. Ok cool. At 7:45 I was wonder if maybe I missed the bus. I waited until 8 and then asked a guy for the time just incase I had the time wrong. He told me it was 7. I looked at my watch. An agreed with him. With a polite thank you I went back to the curb to wait for the 7:30 bus. Apparently I didn't bother to set my phone to the correct time and also didn't bother to look at the hour hand on my watch. So I was just a little early for the bus. Oooops. When the bus finally did arrive I hopped aboard and rode all the way back across the island to the canal I had to cross yesterday. As our required naturalist guide calls our attention he leads us to a little motorized dingy. I'm thinking I actually paid money for this. As I look around I see the cabin cruiser out in deeper water. Ok this isn't bad it's a nice cabin cruiser called the Santa Fe 2. We headed west to the area of this island called Cerro Dragon. While aboard I acquaint myself with my fellow passengers making small talk to pass the time. The cook is on the back deck preparing the red snapper he will be cooking later. Can you guess whom shows up for lunch. I half expected to see seagulls myself but here they are replaced with frigate birds. There is always some one around looking for a free lunch. At least the frigate birds are not as pestulant as seagulls. Maybe I only say that because I don't live here. We arrive to the lagoon were we are going to stop. The boat drops anchor and we pile aboard the dingy for a ride to shore. Here the guide takes us on a walking tour to see marine and land iguanas as well as give us the 50 cent tour of the local vegetation and a little history of the islands. Damn it, I learned something to day. Don't people realize I am on vacation and learning is not on the agenda. I hope I didn't pay extra to learn something. Oh well, I will just pile this in the attic of other information forced upon me. Kind of like where I put everything I learned in high school. Was I supposed to be paying attention back then? I was only slightly disappointed in the small number of iguanas I saw but I have more land tours to do so I am sure I will see more. After all this is a really large island so there is lots of space for the animals to spread out. And the information the guide gave us was pretty good. Ok so I actually like learning something but if you tell any one I will break your fingers. We finish our tour back at the beach. As everyone prepares to go swimming and snorkeling I catch a ride back on the dingy. As I get back on the Santa Fe I ask the captain permission to dive off of his boat. He says no problem have fun. so I did. Up to the top of the boat which makes a perfect 4 meter platform into beautiful clear 70 degree waters of the pacific. After a dozen or so dives I don a mask and snorkel to get a closer look at the fish swimming under the boat. With camera in hand its time to swim with the fishes. In a good way that is. As I'm floating there taking photos I am holding my camera with my thumbs and index fingers. Now my other fingers are extended out of the way and I am not looking at them but rather the screen on my camera. Just because I am not watching my fingers doesn’t mean some one else can't have their eye on them. A really large blow fish thought my left pinky finger would make a really great snack. Not just the tasty tip but the whole thing. I tell you those little bastards are sneaky. Fortunately it wasn't one of those shark fish wanting a taste. I would have had trouble pressing the A, Q and Z buttons on my key board. You don't relie just how improtnt tht finger is untill some little critter comes long nd tries it for lunch.
