Playa Estacion, Santa Cruz - Tues, 26 Feb

Playa Estacion


my new office .... not bad as long as i can find some shade !   ...   sat out here awhile this morning and worked on my blog ....

then went looking for a $3 breakfast on the back street.   i found one; i don't know why i just can't stomach eggs at a restaurant here    :(   ..... and i had some kind of juice that i cannot identify; and i'm not sure if i liked it or not  :)

then went to the ATM to get money out to pay for my cruise .... but, the ATM wouldn't complete my transaction ... again.   so i had to truck to the other end of the Malecon to the bank and wait in line ... they had all us 'foreigners' in a separate line, with one teller open.    the guy at the window was having problems cashing his Travelers Checks .... imagine that.    i never bring Travelers Checks for that reason.   :(  

went home, laid down, and took a nap   .... not sure why   :~   ...except that i didn't know what to do  .... ?

i finally decided to at least go to the beach, a close one.   there is a beach, Playa Estation on the way to the Darwin Center.... i still love these trees .... i guess they aren't finished blooming on Santa Cruz ...

i got in and snorkeled for awhile, but i didn't even take my camera, and didn't see anything new.     i got out and sat under the shade of the tree, nice breeze, quiet .....  

and then the families with their kids started showing up.   it was time for me to go ... but there were 3 little ones playing at the edge of the surf, ....

and each time a wave came in, they giggled and scrambled back up shore .... i was entertained for awhile ... the little girl in pink was just as cute as she could be, and that is a BLONDE Barbie Doll that she is holding by the hair!  .....but i finally 'forced' myself to leave   :)

went home, showered and walked to the Travel Agency and made another deposit on my cruise.

sat in park again with pretty good WiFi service for an hour or so .... 

then i noticed a guy with a cart selling sandwiches .... i think it was a pork roast, and he cut nice pieces off and put them in a nice bun ... it was the best meal i've had in a few days ... $3  ... then down the street to a guy that was selling watermelon slices for $1 .... that finished off my 'dinner' 

stopped at 'super' market and found some wonderful 7grain bread  YEAHHHHHHH !!!!!!!!!!    ... and a coke for my rum .... :)

when i got back home .... people were in the reception area with their iphones, ipads, etc. ..... WiFi was back up   :)      ... spent 2 hrs out there, frustrated at losing the signal and the slowness of it .... but it was nice sitting here rather than in the park with the mosquitos   :)

they had some 'God-Awful' spanish reality show on the TV, blaring .... i finally turned it off when they cleared out ...

still unbelievably hot in my room ....

Mon, 25 Feb

Tortuga Bay and Decision


i had a plan to get up at 7am, get a real breakfast with WiFi; then re-visit the Travel Agencies at 9am; then go to Tortuga Bay.       but, no breakfast places were open until 8am.    while i waited, i sat in the 'park' and got out my computer ... guess what?   ....there's free WiFi here ....   :)     the restaurant opened at 8:45 and i ordered French Toast and Bacon .... woops, i forgot they do not have Maple Syrup here  :(      ....but the bacon was good   :)

finally started my Cruise 'chore' around 9:30 ..... but still did not find anything new ... i have my eye on one place that made a really good offer ... i need to make a decision today to reserve my spot.

returned to my room and 'rested' while i 'contemplated' my choices.   at 2pm i finally got organized to go to Tortuga Bay.    it was rather late in the day to tackle this expedition; but i got a taxi to take me part way there.    

i registed with the Natl Park Office at 2:25pm .... it's a LONG walk to Tortuga Bay .... with a nice stone walkway ....

saw these Lava Lizards ... with the beautiful red markings .....  for the Lava Lizards, the Females are the pretty ones ....   :) ..... 

they are so much more colorful than the ones on San Cristobal ... check her out !   ....

along the trail i learned more about the Opuntias Cactus .... they are the only cactus species in the world that grow like a tree and are able to hold large amounts of water and grow directly ON the volcanic rock.     an Opuntia Forest is also the habitat of the Cactus Finch which pollinates it's flowers, feeds on it's nectar and fruits and uses the cactus as a protection to build it's nest ....

it's a 45 min trail ... which i am sure i can do in less time .... NOT !    ....it is 30min to Tortuga Bay .... which is a bay with a HUGE beach ....

not for swimming because of the huge waves and currents ... although there were surfers out there    :)

then another 15min walk along the beach, which slows you down considerably because you can't walk fast in the sand ... even at the water's edge, you sink in  ....


but it's not a boring walk because along the way, on the right are mangroves and sand dunes that the Sea Turtles use to lay their eggs .... you can see their tracks .... it's amazing they can climb up those vertical dunes ...

and there are Marine Iguanas in the surf, attempting to get out to the sea ... only to be washed ashore by the waves .... i felt sorry for this one ... it wasn't making any progress ....

as you approached the quiet secluded 'swimming' bay; .... you were further delayed by the desire to observe the MANY MANY Marine Iguanas, everywhere .... ok ... so now i've seen a LOT of Marine Iguanas ...

i've never thought of them as 'cuddly creatures' ... but here they are 'cuddling' ....  i'm sure is another reason for this ... but they look like they are 'cuddling' ...

strange how they've 'flopped' down, with their legs weird, like a human's ...

and this guy with a Lava Lizard on it's back ... and his arm folded back .. weird ! ....

their faces are very prehistoric looking ....

these guys looked like they were dead ...

finally arriving at the nice calm quiet bay .... a beautiful swimming beach ... but snorkeling ?????????   ...... maybe around the edges by the mangroves  ?  ...

Andy said he snorkeled with Black Tipped Sharks here ..... so in i go to find them .....   but the water wasn't very clear and all i saw was a few little baby sharks ...

the next time i guess i need to rent a kayak and go out further to snorkel with the big boys ....

i walked around the area with the Optuntias  Cactus before leaving ...

then back through Marine Iguana territory ... this guy has been laying here so long, he's almost been covered up with drifting sand .... i almost stepped on him ...

on the walk back, i was passed by runners going to the beach, and then they passed me on the way back out   ... i should have gotten in better shape for this trip   :(    .... i also i heard 'American' English being spoken behind me .... 

i signed back out with the Natl Park Service ... i asked them how many visitors signed in today .... over 400 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!     ...and it's a Monday !!!!   ...the tourist business is good on the Galapagos !

i found those "American-English' people .... from Western New York ... a whole family.     we talked and they invited me to go on a day tour to Floreana Island with them on Wed ....

went to their Travel Agency and signed up ... ($5 cheaper than what i had found)

to dinner ... Asian ... curry chicken ... not only was it not curry ... it had NO flavor at all ....   disappointment since the last meal i had there was really good.  

to the park to use the internet ..... mosquitos drove me home ...

worked on blog, and at 12:30  .... power went off ...  i looked out the window .... there were no lights anywhere

thanks to the light of my laptop, i could find my headlamp

Sun, 24 Feb

Info Gathering and a Reverse SunSet


up at 7am, what to do today?  ... i was going to head to Tortuga Bay first thing this morning, but stared working on my blog, and before i knew it, it was 10am ...

so i decided to devote the day to serious fact gathering about cruises ... unfortunately, not much is open on Sunday ... especially in the morning .....  so now i'm hungry and needed to find a WiFi place.    there is a nice restaurant El Giordino ... but when i got there, i realized i only had $10 ... so i ordered a ham, mushroom, hollendaize sauce crepe, $6.50 and used their WiFi ... it was good, but heavy and very 'un-island-like' .... but the view was 'islandy' ... i sat upstairs with a nice breeze and view of the bay ...

i strolled past the Fish place again and spent over an hour observing since they had just unloaded a lot of some kind of tuna, i'm assuming ...

i watched as they cleaned the fish,  .... and tried to keep the Sea Lions at bay ....

Frigit Birds  ...

and Pelicans were unwelcome guests as well ...

you know how i feel about kids, but this little kid was dressed so cute, all color coordinated, as he watched the action ...

later in the day i visited 3 travel agencies that i thought might be able to find me something ... i'm thinking on their offers, and will return on Monday .... 2 speak English and 1 does not ... :(


i have a new addiction   :) .... one that at least is better for my heart than the Flan ... they make popsicles out of fresh fruit juices they call Helados (actually i think that is the general term for ice cream)  .... they taste REALLY good when it's hot and you are thirsty ... it's seems to be the ONLY way to get something that is REALLY cold!  ... there is no such thing as 'ice' in a drink  ....  and it's a bargain at $.60  ....

the other bargain here is an ice cream cone, anywhere, for $1 ....   :)   ... but then you are usually thirsty afterwards ....  :(


it was sunset time and i found myself at the pier where i landed ... it was much less intimidating than when i arrived here 2 days ago.... funny how easily we adapt ...

i also noticed that the Blue Footed Boobies were flying overhead and then diving into the water for their evening meal ....   i tried to get some video of the activities; but i wasn't very successful ... again, i had the video 'off' when i thought it was 'on' ....  :(

since we're on the south side of the island, with hills to the West of us ... there aren't any sunsets here ....  only reverse ones ... and since it was the night before a full moon .... it was quite pretty ...  this is looking East ...

and West .. over the buildings ...

i went to a rather nice restaurant for dinner that had WiFi, and ordered Ceviche .... 10min after i got there, the WiFi disappeared ... just as it did at my Hostel .... they don't even show up on the 'list' of networks ..... it's really strange, 'poof' and they are gone ... and, frustrating !!     ... grrrrr .... i could go to an internet cafe for less money if i'm not going to get WiFi with my meal   :(


back to my oven-room for the night    ... or maybe i had an ice cream cone first ...   :)

Sat, 23 Feb

Las Grietas

didn't sleep that well, it is really HOT in my room, and the fan only blows around the hot air.     i have to remember to keep the curtains closed during the day.

internet isn't working, it doesn't even show up on the 'network' list ...i doubt i'll have internet while i'm here .... :(  

what to do today .......i walked through town ... went to the only 'super' market, then stopped to ask about cruises and rent some snorkel fins.

i was thinking about getting a taxi into the Highlands today.    but as i was going into the hostel, Katharina and her daughter were just leaving to go to Las Grietas.    they invited me to join them.     yes, thank you!

i ran to my room, packed my stuff and met them at Hernan for an ice cream before we took off.

Las Grietas is a gorge filled with a body of brackish water (combination of salt and fresh water).    ....you take a very short $.60 water taxi ride across the bay, ....

then it's a 20min hike to get there, through arid terrain .....

with several lagoons ....

which aren't very pretty looking, but they provide a home for many little creatures ... although not sure who would/could live in this ....

eventually you get to the gorge and crawl down the rocks .....

to swim/snorkel ....

or you can jump off the cliffs into the water .... when i was younger i would have done this.... why do you loose your 'guts' when you get older   :)

it was cool water that was refreshing and felt really great after that hot walk ...

and it was deep  .... and the clearest water i've seen yet .... but other than these few large fishes .... this isn't the 'snorkeling site' as i had hoped it would be ...  :(

there doesn't appear to be an outlet .... so i guess these poor fishes are trapped in here ... they said they are ParrotFish; but only this one looked like an Adult Blue-Chin ParrotFish to me ....  

after an hour or so, we were ready to go.   these cactus have trunks on them as large as trees .... and such a beautiful carmel colored bark ...

couldn't help but hear this Galapagos Mockingbird along the trail ... they are really loud ...

interesting trail and scenery .....

we stopped at the beach we passed along the trail ... a small pretty beach, with mangroves on either side .... it is in front of Finch Bay Resort ... a really nice place with pool and bar, where friends Jim and Ann, stayed this fall ....

saw a Marine Iguana swimming, and grabbed snorkel again and went into the water, hopeful ... but i couldn't see beyond 2 feet in front of me .... this is quite un-nerving .....  but i persisted through it and found some less murky water out a little deeper .... but not seeing the Iguana, actually not seeing much ... did see this Diamond Stingray .....

and several small Tiger Snake Eels, and one larger one, searching under the sand and rocks for food ....

and a couple BullsEye Puffer Fish ...

i like these guys coz they don't hide from me :) ...

again, not the 'snorkel site' i was hoping for   :(


out of the water i walked through Finch Bay, .... and to a Land Iguana nesting site .... not much other info ...but i assume these holes are/were nests ...

then sat on the beach with Katharina and her daughter.   this was their last day here, and a nice way to spend it.   i wanted to get back, but it was comfortable under the shade of the small tree and nice breeze, and i could imagine how hot it was going to be back in town  ...  we left shortly thereafter.


i stopped at a few places to ask about a cruise, diving ... and now that i'm disillusioned about the near-by snorkeling .... snorkel tours .... she asked me to come back in an hour or so after she had done some research.


i walked into the oven-of-a-room, that i now call 'home' .... the hallway outside my room is much cooler ... i left the door open and got the fan going, trying to draw the cooler air from outside the window, hopefully pushing the hot air out the door ... while i did my un-snorkeling chores

i went back to see what they had for me on a cruise, but i wasn't interested in the one she showed me and she asked me to come back Monday ... then i headed for the 'fish market' for my fresh fish dinner ....  last night he told me to come as early as 4pm, which was my plan; but it was now 6pm and they were crowded .... but still frying fish, so i waited ...

along with this Sea Lion ... who got booted out shortly after this photo ... they really are like dogs ! ....

ok, the fish looked bigger and better than it was ... i needed salt and some lemon/lime ... so i pick the meat off the bones and walked my plate back to my room to finish eating .... this time i tried to draw the cool air from the hallway into the room while i ate ...  i want to try this again, i heard that some nights they have filets ....

then back to a restaurant to order a milkshake so i could use their WiFi  .... i was there for 2hrs ... ordering a coke as well to relieve my 'guilt' ....

home to a little bit cooler room ...  slept pretty well ...