We all grumbled as Casey woke us up at 4:30 am. It would have been worse, but we'd just recently figured out that we were one-hour ahead of local time, so it really felt like 5:30 am. Since there were no water taxis in the bay, I hailed one on VHF channel 14. After several hails, one finally answered and said something in very fast Spanish. I said, "Necessito agua taxi para el barco Adventure." The voice on the VHF spoke even faster Spanish words. I repeated my request. A few minutes later, in the darkness we saw the navigation lights from a water taxi. We flashed a light at it in the darkness. Javier, our agent, called on my cell phone and, hearing every other word, it sounded like we were suppose to pick up people from another boat, Szel (pronounced "sail"), and then take a bus trip to a boat called Atlantida. Guy, from Stel, was already in the water taxi, so we headed to the dock, where we met Guy's wife, Karen. Their clocks had been one hour ahead too and they'd been waiting at the dock for one hour.

Javier called again to see if we had made it to the bus. When I told him it wasn't there yet, he said he'd be down at the dock in five minutes. A minute later, a tour bus arrived and a short, dark-haired woman jumped lively from it's steps. With a smile from ear to ear, Nadine greeted each of us individually and excitedly told us she was our guide for the day. Even though it was too early in the morning for such exuberence, I knew that Nadine would make it a special and informative day.

Our "ride" was a middle-aged tour bus that had received special care from its owner, who was an old, thin man with a beak-like nose. The dash board was covered with white fake fur that you'd expexct to see on the abominable snowman, with gold tassles hanging as a fringe. The seats had been recovered with bright blue and yellow fabric and each had a matching head-rest cover that was removable for washing. A home-made PA system and separate radio and CD players were connected to shelf speakers placed along the overhead luggage shelves.

Casey and I sat in the front seat next to Nadine so we could talk with her along the way and better see the road. I didn't know if the road was curvy and didn't want to get car-sick.

From two different hotels, we picked up a French-speaking man, woman and two small children and then another man and woman. The twelve of us would be going on the tour together.

Born in France, Nadine had come to Galapagos and married. She'd been raising her two daughters on the Isands for the past 24 years and had just started working as a National Park guide for the past 2.5 years. Her husband, she said, is a pirate guide, one that does not work for the Park service, but takes tourists to the few unregulated places on the Islands.

The road we followed for one hour was as straight as an arrow except for two 90 degree turns. At each of these turns a village had settled, as if people and their belongings had been thrown from vehicles as they slowed and turned with the road.

As we proceeded, the driver gently honked his horn with short, barely-audible sounds to frighten small finches and lizards that rested on the road. If they didn't move, he'd tap on the brakes.

Nadine told us that, because they've been protected for many years, the indiginous animals on the Islands are not afraid of humans. If you approach a bird here and it flys away, it is most likely from the mainland. With 13 different spicies of finches, blue- and red-footed boobies, frigits, flamingos, and many other birds that let one closely approach them, Galapagos is a bird-watchers paradise.

We finally arrived at the other side of the island, where there was a dock, but no village. A dozen small tourist boats were anchored in the calm bay.

A dinghy approached the dock to take us to the boat, Atlantida, and we headed out of the bay as the sun rose from the east and a breakfast of scrambled eggs, bread, and cheese was served.

Our captain steered close to shore as we passed a small island where frigits and boobies nested. Two hours later, we approached Bartolome island, a vocanic wasteland. The water was crystal clear and we watched a sea lion feeding where we anchored.

Before going to shore, Nadine checked our shoes and washed the ones that had mud that may contain seeds or other organic material that could contaminate the island. The park service has rules in place to keep the islands as pristine and native as possible.

On shore, we began a hike to the top of the dormant volcano. Nadine stopped frequently to tell us about the simple food chain: with almost no rain, the island has a few scrub-plants that gather moisture from the air with their leaves, which are eaten by small ants and insects, which are consumed by small lizards and snakes. The only other life on the island is from visiting birds, nesting sea turtles, and tourists.

As we sweated and huffed and puffed up the steep steps, Nadine also covered in detail the formation and geology of the small island. At the top, she pointed out the beautiful island less than a mile away that had once been a series of small islands until, in the 1800's, the surrounding ocean waters had been replaced with a slow lava flow, that was flat and just above sea level. The result is a striking view of a black waterless sea surrounding peaks of small islands - all made of lava rock.

As we hiked back down, Sean began asking about lunch. It was only 10:30 am. Nadine talked to the cook and then told Sean that if he served lunch now, we'd have nothing to eat after snorkeling. Sean whined until the cook made him a sandwich from the cheese that was left over from breakfast.

Atlantida motored a few minutes and then reanchored in the next bay for snorkeling. As we dinghed to the sandy shore, Nadine pointed toward the lava rocks on the side, where two Galapagos penguins basked in the sun. These, the smallest pengins in the world, completely ignored us.

We did a short hike to the other side of the island and back before heading into the water to snorkel.

The colorful reef fish we saw were similar to those in the Sea of Cortez, except they were about twice as large. We saw butterfly fish, hog fish, damsel fish, wrasses, various schooling fish, surgeon fish, angel fish, giant parrot fish, moorish idols, puffer fish, trigger fish, cabrilla, and even the not-very-often-seen Galapagos tripplefin blenny, which hide inside hollow barnicles.

We all started yelling with excitement for the others to look when a small sea lion and several penguins swam around us, chasing schools of fish. Nadine took us to where sharks normally rested, but Sean was the only one to see one, a 2-footer. I thought I heard him scream like a little girl, but he says it wasn't him...

We went back to Atlantida, exhaused and famished. The crew served us a delishious meal of fish, rice, salad, and cooked vegies.

On our boat ride back to the bus, Nadine told Sean and me about the few places we could visit on our own, without a park guide. We have about three days of sights to see on our own and then want to visit another island or two, but tomorrow we'll rest!