Puerto Ayora, Ecuador (Galapagos)

Saturday, November 20, 2004:

All is well in Puerto Ayora. The lapse in updates is due in part to the fact that I have been keeping quite busy and, moreover, to the incredible laziness that has taken hold of me in the last few weeks (guess that´s a bit of a contradiction). Do I plan to write more on my experience here, including accounts of the wildlife and the 6-day boat tour of the islands I took a week ago? Yes. Will I be posting a detailed essay on Darwin´s theory of Natural Selection and the process of volcanic island formation over millions of years? Doubtful, very very doubtful.

For now, here is the short of it:

In the last three weeks I have snorkeled and been scuba diving with giant green tortoises, dozens of sea lions, penguins, schools of hundreds of baraccuda, white tipped reef sharks, menacing-looking galapagos sharks, immense tuna, eagle rays, sting rays, lobsters, puffer fish, parrot fish, angel fish, yellow mullets, several species of moray eel, sea horses, five-foot wahoos and numerous other species of tropical fish, though the water temperature and currents have been anything but tropical --- much of the time its like being caught in a cold water washing machine. (As previously mentioned, I also saw one hammerhead but it was far away and so I have another several dives planned at the main location for spotting them.)

I´ve wandered over fields of black volcanic rocks, through rocky beaches teeming with fat, lazy marine iguanas and crawling with hordes of red, yellow and blue Sally Lightfoot Crabs. I´ve seen enough extinct volcanoes and calderas to last a lifetime, both above and below the surface of the water. I´ve been grunted at by 600-pound male bull sea lions as I´ve walked across beaches littered with females and pups. I´ve seen the last living subspecies of one of the 12 remaining types of giant Galapagos Tortoises, a 150-year old specimen called "Lonesome George" (though I prefer to call him "Old Turtle-y Bastard"). I´ve seen all sorts of rare and freakish bird-life including frigate birds that blow up enormous red pouches on their chests in order to impress the females (I assume they naturally adopted this ability because they can´t afford to buy Porsches or Cartier watches). I also saw pelicans, herons, flamingos, yellow warblers, Galapagos hawks, waved albatrosses and infamous blue-footed boobies. For only $25 you too can purchase a shirt with two blue webbed feet over the nipples and the caption "I Love Boobies" on it. Take it from me, however; there are cheaper ways of looking like a complete moron.

I´ve inhabited a tiny yacht cabin with a double bunk and the smelliest toilet ever. My skin has turned from light olive to red to decidedly brown and non-gringoesque. Another week here and I will fit in well on my trip to Africa.

I´ve been conned out of a cheap and measly $10 by a cheap and measly tour operator who sold me my boat tour. In turn, I developed the good sense to be cheap and measly enough to con the boat owner out of the same $10. Actually, I always was cheap and measly enough to con the boat owner out of $10, at least since I finished my first year practicing corporate law.

Being one of the few Americans around, I´ve apologized for George Bush 2,367 times and still counting.

There´s plenty more, but I suppose its about time I posted something after all this time. I´m diving again on Sunday (tomorrow) and Monday before flying back to Quito on Tuesday. After that, I aim to finally Escape From Ecuador (very very hard) and into Peru after another week and change hitting some stops in the south of the country. At this rate I will probably never get to Africa --- it certainly won´t be happening in January as originally planned. Late February would coincide nicely with Carnival, so, assuming flights can be rearranged for that, it will be nearly 5 months in all between Honduras and South America. If I can´t speak semi-fluent Spanish by the end of this period of time, I´m hopeless.