EQUATOR           

Just to prove we have crossed the equator, here is the proof – GPS reading of 00deg00.00 or almost as

there was a shutter delay, and the man doing the honours with the bottle of wine. And it is hot!!

Soooooo…..Where are we now?

Brrrkkkkk!barrrrrkkkk!Grokkkk!ArrrrrkkkArrrkkkArkkkkk!

Barkarkarkark bark bark aaaaaarrrkkkkkk!

And very loud it is too – the sounds of sea lions

We are anchored off Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (Shipwreck Bay) San Cristobel, Galapagos. And lovely it is too, if a little on the warm side for me as temperatures wander between 30 and 38 degrees C  each day. I have sent Dave ashore for an adventure of his own to get a bit of peace and quiet to do a little writing. He is not affected by the heat at all – maybe he is a cousin to the iguanas sunbaking on the rocks. I am more like the sea lions, a dip in the water before drying off before a dip in the water etc.

We are delighted to be here. It is a small community, but exceptionally friendly and incredibly safe – we have no need to lock anything or fear for our possessions as we did in Panama, and it is an open and very clean town. In fact it must be the neatest and cleanest place we have ever been in. It is also the only place we have been where the sea lions share the park benches with you and accompany you down the street. In fact there are sea lions everywhere – the childrens play area, the beaches and rocks, steps leading to the water taxis, and any dinghy afloat or low slung boat of any kind. Our friends on Fifi, a catamaran, were a prize place for a sea lion as the steps up the back of the pods were an easy jump.

There are brown pelicans  everywhere, and various as yet unidentified sea birds around, manta rays in the water and big spotted fish and the occasional turtle. We are constantly visited by sea lions swimming around us, probably looking for a sleeping place, but we have too many bits of hardware for them to get a purchase. But they delight with their grace and agility, so different to the laborious struggle up the beach and onto the rocks.

THE OUTING

We have had a superb day out as a reward for a not so superb day of engine maintenance and diesel antics. The engine work is always a nightmare – it has to be done I know – as it always involves mess, spills, spurts and leaks, despite Dave’s best efforts. So after a sweaty day sorting it all out so it is ready for the next leg which is the longest of the lot, we had a treat. Our agent, Bolivar, arranged for his friend Wilmer to take us around the island. We assumed Wilmer would have had a bit of English – wrong, but I was chuffed to bits as he conversed with me in the broken Spanish I have supplemented by lots of arm waving. He took us everywhere and walked with us too. We went up the side of the volcano, (which nearly did me in!) and Dave took off around it as well. We cannot get the pikkies of the camera he used as the battery charges won’t work and the battery is dead – grrrrrr. We then went to the tortoise conservation place.

The last giant tortoise is now dead, and with his demise the species became extinct after being hunted and eaten out of survival. There is a strong breeding programme for the other tortoises , and the place was fascinating.

Tortoises take so long to reproduce. 14 eggs a year, 25 years to sexual maturity, then well over 100 years of life. There was one we met yesterday who was 167 years of documented age and there was a bit before that – he was a family pet handed down the generations. The pikkies from the hatchery are not very good, but they stay small for ages and it is 5 years before they can be put out into the wild.

After the tortoises we drove to the other end of the island, back near where we are and along a bit, to the place where the marine iguanas are. 

They are so primeval in their looks, but not fussed by our photo shoot. Dave reckons one of them returned his good bye wave with a paw shake.

Along from the iguanas is the loberia, or seal lion nursery (Spanish for sea lion is lobo) and we watched the babies cavort and play rough and tumble in the shallows. The mums were a bit further back in the deeper water keeping a watching brief – bit like mother and toddler groups for us I guess. The photos did not show them up I am afraid. People were swimming along in the same place, and a bit further out there was a good surf for the board riders.  And it was baking hot  with no shade and the sun reflected mercilessly from the sand and the rocks.

Then home again after picking up the laundry (what an excellent way to do the washing – give it in and receive it all back clean and neatly folded!) That was icing on the cake!