Indefatigable

Indefatigable

We've got a lot of love

            On our week vacation of what you might call Equatorial Spring Break, we went as a group on an island hopping tour around the archipelago. The trip started only a few hours after we finished our final for Marine Ecosystems as we prepared ourselves for what was to be a bumpy 2 hour ride on a lancha. On Santa Cruz we were met with an unusual sight, a large city! Well no, Puerto Ayora is bigger than any other on the islands but it’s still pretty small. You could probably walk across it in under an hour. But it was a fresh new look at the islands. It was super touristy and the hotel we stayed at was super swanky and a little confusing. It seemed to be designed after an Escher drawing as my friend, David so aptly put it. Our time on Santa Cruz was spent having a lot of fun, and not that much sleep.

Terrestrial Iguana

The next day was a trip to North Seymour. The trip to North Seymour allowed us to pass the other airport on Baltra (or South Seymour) when we arrived at the other port on the opposite side of the island. While waiting for the boat that would take us to North Seymour, we did what we do best and started playing around in the intertidal zone. I GOT SUCKERED! We found some octopi and placing your finger near them prompted them to quickly wrap and suction you. It was the weirdly coolest feeling ever! But I digress. We journeyed by boat to NS and got to see lots of Frigate Birds, Blue-footed Boobies, Land Iguanas and the islands of Daphne Major and Minor. Riding back was beautiful, full of sun and a hammerhead and a manta ray. Our next snorkel was cut a little bit short for me and for others when we ran into a jelly, but we all braved up and jumped right back into the water. I love these people; I haven’t seen them run into anything that has been able to drop their spirits in the slightest.

Daphne Major

Las Grietas

Our next few days on the island involved visiting some very large lava tubes and plunging into water 60 feet below from the tippy tops of geologically formed fissures. Called Las Grietas, it’s a hoot and a half, but DON’T try to fly! My mistake it just hurts your armpits. After the plunge we went to plunge again into some wonderfully clear seas. It was pretty darn cold but no worries some Argentines that were accompanying us quickly ameliorated this situation with some travel mate that I expect that they go nowhere without. Our days were few on Santa Cruz, but it seemed that our sleepless nights made up for that. They were usually filled with street corner whiskey/friendship sharing (Old Times made it good times) and pool sharking it up. No worries this was heavily endorsed by the PA Police Department since their passage was always accompanied by a thumbs up thrown out a passing cop car. The next night was similar, just with the lack of clothes and the addition of floral headbands and togas, as we took the town in true Roman form on Halloween. When in Rome… We managed to get a few whistles, a lot of laughs, and one slightly knowing intake of air from an old man who saw what the rest of the night held for us as we roamed giving every passersby a Latin salutation.

 Pues…. Off to Isabela

Valete