Isla Isabella to Isla Santa Cruz: Not Cruz-ing with Pleasure
Isla Isabella to Isla Santa Cruz: Not Cruz-ing with Pleasure.
June 15.
I was up at 4:30am to catch my 5:20am check in for my boat from Isla Isabella to Isla Santa Cruz. A solid four hours of sleep. I know the world thinks that I live this glorious life of just travelling and sleeping in late and hanging out at the beach and partying at night. It is a good gig that I have, but it is not the lazy relaxing vacation of an all-inclusive in disgusting Cancun. It is one busy adventure and to take it all in means to sacrifice sleep daily because money only goes so far and you have to get everything you can when your money takes you there. It is not much to complain about, but sleep would be really nice to share my life with! It seems to be a lot less important on the road as there are only so many hours in the day to use and sleep takes up many and although it is great for battery recharge, it is too time consuming. But I sure miss it.
My bags were searched by Galapagos officials at the Puerto Villamil dock to go from Isla Isabella to Isla Santa Cruz, and then special zip-tie sealed so that I could not get into them again until they zips are cut by officials on the next island. I got on the Isla Isabella to Isla Santa Cruz boat and the seas were incredibly rough. Thinking I was clever, I got on into the taxi-boat to the main-boat last so that I would be the first off the taxi-boat when it arrived at the main-boat in the harbour and I would have first pick of a seat. I chose a seat at the front in the corner so that I would be able to put my head against the wall and sleep on the two hour ride from Isla Isabella to Isla Santa Cruz…
I was thinking ahead of the game, but I had not considered the game conditions so well. It was so rough on the seas that it was like being on a ride at a theme park for two hours, where you stomach had that drop feeling. But the drop feeling on this ride was at least once every 30 seconds. Then I considered my seating position and realized at that the front of the boat my rise/fall levels as the boat crashed into waves was the pinnacle of height of the entire boat. Those at the back could recline with barely any incline. Subsequently after about an hour of the Isla Isabella to Isla Santa Cruz ride, I was the first and only person to vomit. Clever thinking alright… I knew better as well being that I was probably the most experienced sailor of the entire group of the entire boat because of my trip from Guam to Japan. I blame lack of sleep for my un-clever cleverness.
I checked into a hostel with no hot water or working wifi for $15, and I crashed for three hours; necessary for functionality. A hike to the Charles Darwin Research Station was highlighted by mating turtles, saddle turtles and a visit to a grave-yard where a possessed bird dive-bombed my cowboy hat three times in front of a crowd, perhaps interested its straw make as a nest. The bird was actually stalking me around the graveyard and would swoop at me when I was not making eye contact with it. It was awesome and funny.
I called Beaner to check in at home and found out that a young lady of about 30 had died from a blood clot. Actually I knew her having met her at a party close to home in Pangman at the homecoming, after Travis and I returned from Alberta in the summer of 2005. I stayed up partying with her until sunrise in hopes of peeking her interest that was never to be. Her and I had been trouble makers together at the party. Earlier in the evening our friend Jeremy wanted his long locks shaved off his head and someone obliged his wishes, leaving a pile of hair in the kitchen. As the sun was rising and the girl and I were being mischievous, we decided to take Jeremy’s hair, roll it up in a ball of peanut butter and shoved it down his pants when he was passed out. The things drunk people do… I went to bed after our bad behaviour assessing that she was not going to be coming with me. When everyone awoke in the morning, Jeremy was confused. I can not imagine how it is to wake up with your pants full of your long shaved hair rolled in peanut butter, but I am sure it was unpleasant. I just remember Jeremy’s concern, “Who would do that to me?” I confessed with laughter that it had been Robyn and I. That was all ever knew of her; just a short moment accomplice.
Talking with Bean, it makes me wonder, are we at that age where the weak ones die? I mean, young people in their 20’s die in car accidents, but they do not die of a semi-natural death very often. And when you are 20 and you hear that someone who is 30 has died, you think of them as semi older and a 20 year old thinks it could happen at that age. But now that I am that age, I feel that it is so young and it freaks me out. So, is that where I am at now, age wise? Twenty year old’s are too young to die, but maybe at the age of 30 your system begins to weaken because your quick to repair childhood is over, and now I will see a lifetime of losing people in my age bracket at too early of an age? It is a morbid and terrifying thought…
- Really, Che and Charles… Someone needs to be fired…
- As a man who has to have answers for a difficult name, imagine having to deal with this one every day. Or maybe this is where he spent some years long after Thriller…
- Giant tortoise romance.
- I like the numbers on these little guys. They look like they are part of a team.
- This is what is a breed of tortoise called saddle-back. Really cool, although I would like an evolutionary explanation.
- This is what is a breed of tortoise called saddle-back. Really cool, although I would like an evolutionary explanation.
- See the little lizard collecting heat from the large iguana? Nature is awesome.
- Beer Balancer. Someone had a personality.
- Little sleeping torpedo…