Starting Off With a Kick

We had a good night´s sleep, I only woke up once. As usual, I woke before the alarm, showering and shaving before the 6:30 wake up call. I had time for the continental breakfast buffet (croissants, tea, muffins) and then at 7 am, my father and I got on the zodiak for an early morning tour of Kicker Island.

This is a set of three monoliths rising out of the ocean. We got up close and saw the crabs and waves along the base. The guide asked if we wanted to go through the narrow channel between two of the monoliths, and all but two raised their hands for yes, but he was just joking. The naturalist got real excited, though, when we saw a peregrin falcon fighting some of the Great Frigatebirds in the sky. Apparently falcons are rarely spotted in the Galapagos. It was easy to spot the falcon as it was far smaller than the Frigatebirds, which look like smaller versions of pterodactyls (or the winged serpents that the Nazgul ride in the film version of Lord of the Rings).

We also saw blue-footed boobies, a pelican that dove right next to the boat, caught a fish and then came up and ate it. It was a terrific ride and well worth getting up early in the morning to do. After about an hour we headed back to the boat.

After a late breakfast we took the zodiak into the port at San Cristobal island. It was drizzling a little so we wore windbreakers. The Interpretive Center was painless, but ok. Back in town I looked at possible t-shirt purchases for my niece and nephews, and bought a cap for myself so I don´t have to wear this dorky ski cap.

I chatted with a couple from Baltimore (Simon and Dwight), who told me about a computer program that allows to one to make a coffee table book of your trip and then have it printed on nice paper and with a good binding. I may try it for this trip.

I convinced my father to try snorkling, so we picked up a full set of equipment. He didn´t want the fins, but I told him he could always decided not to use them later. We´ll only do beach snorkling for him.

He´s napping (third time) right now, and then we´re doing the short hike this afternoon on Esmerelda Island. He´s a bit concerned about all the boulders on the long trail (same boulders on the short trail, but it´s shorter). he´s taking his anti-sea sick medication, so he´s doing fine as long he´s not next to the diesel motor on the zodiak.