Galapagos - Afternoon Activities - 21 February

Back on board Tip Top II, we found glasses of fresh Guanabana juice and slices of fresh tropical fruit plus grapes waiting for us. It was just the kind of refreshment I was hoping for after a hot, active and somewhat stressful morning. I had to silently toast the hidden power of Neptune - or was it Poseidon - for returning my lost camera to me!

For lunch we had a yummy veggie soup with popcorn and fresh tuna plus all the usual trimmings then most people headed to their cabins for a nap. Marty and I  walked up to the covered sun deck  and began to pour over Galapagos guides to sea life in an attempt to identify all of the fish we had seen while snorkeling. Lynn settled down to finish reading "The Galapagos Affair"  by John Trehuene so she could pass it on to me.

 

Lynn reading with Marty resting in the background. She left me to do all the fish identification after suffering "a sinking spell".

The book tells the strange story of the Germans Dr. Friedrich Ritter, Dore Strauch, The Baroness von Wagner Bosquet,  her male companions Lorenz and Phillipson and the Heinz Wittmer family, who moved to the Galapagos in the early 1930's in search of various Utopian ideals. Only the Wittmers were even remotely normal, and they ended up the only ones who established permanent roots on Isla Floreana. Rolf Wittmer, founder of our charter company, was the first child born on the Galapagos. His children and grandchildren run the company today and are very important players in all endeavors to keep the Galapagos protected, pristine and intact.

 

This photo hangs in the lounge of all the boats in the Wittmer Fleet.

 

Our afternoon plan called for a dry landing on the neighboring island of Bartolome'. Hanzel reminded us to wear plenty of sun screen and protective clothing since shade was practically non-existent on the island. We would be hiking up to the lighthouse on the highest point where we would be treated to some incredible views. I was looking forward to some more extreme exercise in order to burn off some of the calories I had consumed at breakfast, snack and lunch!

 

The level of activity that afternoon exceeded my expectations. Bartolome' was indeed very hot, very sunny, very windswept and very weird. The terrain is otherworldly, and at least two relatively recent films, "Total Recall" and "Master and Commander" have been filmed there. It makes a perfect stand in for the red planet, Mars! We walked a long way up on a wooden walkway which was placed there to protect the strange and endemic vegetation and then climbed a steep 375 steps up to the summit. The views were incredible!

 

The path we had followed lay far below as we headed up the steep steeps to the summit.

 

 

 

Pinnacle Rock and Sullivan's Bay from the summit of Bartolome'

 

 

Endemic Lava Cactus

 

 

Dos Chicas on the summit!

 

 

We were greeted by this guy as we prepared to board our Pangas following the long, hot climb back down to sea level. Due to the rising tide, our embarkation was anything but dry thanks to rough seas. Several people actually fell back into the boat or rather into the helpful arms of Jorge and Mario who kept them from actually hitting the deck.

 

 

We took a cruise around the island before returning to the Tip Top II and met this family of penguins on their private point.

 

We were greeted with mini pizzas upon our return and several of us purchased cold beers to go along with them before hurrying off to shower.  Hanzel's evening briefing followed. He informed us that we would be leaving our Isla Santiago anchorage during dinner and heading north across the Equator to our most northerly destination, Isla Genovesa. Genovesa is also know as "Bird Island", and he told us that we would  be seeing an incredible abundance of birds during our two planned excursions. He also promised a snorkeling expedition for those so inclined. He also let us know the voyage north would be our first encounter with rough seas. Several in our group were in a slight tizzy about that. Wristbands, Dramamine and behind the ear patches became a major topic of discussion during our abundant dinner.

 

 

Since it was such a beautiful, clear night, Ken, Marty, Pete, Lynn and I decided to go up to the top deck after dinner for laughs, star gazing and at least half of the bottle of homemade Limoncello we bought at Le Arcate in Quito. Lynn had finished "The Galapagos Affair" and gave it to me to read. However, an active day in the pure fresh air, white wine with dinner plus several shots of Limoncello, the white noise of the engines and the delightful motion of the Tip Top II as she moved through open water kept me from completing more than a couple of pages before my eyes closed. I woke up a couple of hours later with my glasses and the light still on and the book on the floor!