After putting our bad luck behind us, we signed on to a small cruise ship, for an eight day cruise to many of the uninhabited islands of the Galapagos. These islands are all a national park and are tightly controlled. Once you see the magical species that exist here and experience the volcanic geology you understand why this gem of evolution should be left as it is. Our boat was basic, but what was fantastic was our guide, Reuben, the crew of 5, and the other 14 guests with which we shared our experience. Without knowing it we had picked a great time of year to be here as all of the boobies were nesting as were the sea lions and the pacific green turtles. And the water was fairly warm. The days were so busy that I felt like I was back at summer camp. An easy day involved four activities, two in the water snorkeling and two on land walking. Some days had six. Under water we swam with sharks, sea lions, turtles in all stages of their breeding cycle, marine iguanas and all of the tropical fish you ever wanted. On land we saw the big yellow land iguanas, the famous Galapagos tortoises, blue, red and naska boobies with babies from one day old up to near maturity, and sea lion pups crying for their moms. We were also lucky enough to see two species of owls. Probably the most amazing viewing was that of a Pacific Green turtle covering the eggs that she had just laid during the dawn hours. We were up and out by 5:45 AM that day and had already seen the only warm weather penguin that exists. It was the trip of a lifetime.
Now we are back aboard Frannie B getting ready for a Saturday Feb. 2 departure for the 4000 mile passage to Chile. There might be a stop on Easter Island depending on how the wind gods treat us.