Isabela Island Arrival - Wed, 6 Mar

Hello Isabela -- Hello Paradise !


up, packed, and out the door at 6:45 ... and waited and waited ... i tried not to panic ... but i like to be there early and now it's 7am ... long story short, a guy finally came and we walked to the ferry, .... cut in line,  ... and got on the boat .... i guess they just load up boats and when they are full, they leave ... bye bye Santa Cruz .. see you again in a couple weeks ....

iroically it was the same boat (D'Luis-the new one) that we took to Floreana.   nice ride here ... the seas are much calmer than i expected ... big soft swells, but not huge waves like between Utila and Honduras ... approaching Isabela ...

arrived at Isabela,  ....you have to take a taxi from the boat to the dock ..... here they charge you $1 for the ride  :(     ... and before you can get off the dock, you have to pay $5 fee   ...  :(

now on to finding a place to live ....  i only had 2 names .. the first one didn't work out .... now what? .... they helped me get another taxi ... and i went to the second place,  Volcano Hotel.   thanks to Andy, volunteer at Hacienda, stayed here ... and now i'm here too!     ....

my room ... with flowers on the bed .. well, not real ones ... but the thought is nice ! ....
 

i have hot water showers, and air conditioning  ... i really don't like AC; but i've been so hot in Santa Cruz, i turned it on ... plus, there is no fan, so it's the only option; ... and i can use the cold water for showers ... which i did immediately !

there is a little unfinished room, that looks out over the water ....
nice view !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     .....

i went for a walk to 'orient' myself.    they only have 'sand' streets here ... reminds me of Caye Caulker, .... really laid back ...

the streets on these islands never run perpendicular nor parallel.   i guess because they follow the land contours.     i ended up at the beach in town; but really wasn't sure if my place was north or south ...  

cute little bar at the end of the Pier ....Iguana Point Bar ... might have to give it a try ... a welcoming drink ...

i found this Catholic Church, ...but strange interior, .... Jesus on the beach, and a light house ? ...

and strange placement of the stained glass windows ... 

and unusual images in the windows ....

but it is an 'island' church ...

i found my way back 'home' ... put on my bathing suit and hit the beach ....

watched Marine Iguanas .... there are a lot of 'baby' iguanas here ... mostly i've only seen larger ones ....

and i watched while this Marine Iguana shared his space with this Lava Heron trying to catch fishes ...

got in the water, played in the waves ...then went for a walk down the beach ...

i'm in a tropic paradise ...... turquoise waters, beautiful beaches that go on forever, and coconut trees  .... the sand and shoreline reminds me of Michigan .... in the SUMMER !  ...

i found this little 'palapa' ..... with bananas hanging ... and i did not take one ...  

i think maybe the Natl Park uses this when they monitor Green Sea Turtle nests ...  there are a lot of these depressions in the sand, with a stick and a note on them that i think says 'Turtle Nest--Do Not Disturb"  .....  i guess they don't have to worry about people 'stealing' the turtle eggs here, or they wouldn't advertising where they are .... that's a good feeling !

i also might mention at this point that there doesn't seem to be any crime or violence on these islands ... people leave their stuff and don't worry about it .... very very nice !!!

walking the beach on the way back i saw these little balls of sand in nice artistic patterns in the sand ..... i remember seeing them in Australia also (they were much better artists there) ...

after some research, this is what i've learned:  
"The patterns are characteristic of the inter-tidal crab Dotilla. These very small crabs live in burrows, emerging at low tide to feed around their burrow's entrance by scooping up sediment with their claws and passing it into their mouthparts. Organic material is filtered out to be eaten, while rejected material builds up into a ball at the top of their mouthparts. Once this ball reaches a certain size, it is removed by the claws and passed underneath the crab's body. The crab then moves forward and repeats the process, dropping the sand balls as it goes and creating the pretty patterns seen ....

i watched this Lava Heron again, ... still catching fishes ...

back to my hotel ... the WiFi was 'down'    :)       .... took another cold shower ... and rested my back .... until the AC quit .... the power went out on the island ....  but it only lasted 20min and was back on  .... and, so was with WiFi    :)    ....

but it was getting time for Sunset, so i headed to the little bar at the end of the pier that i saw earlier today ..... .... decided to treat myself and a buy a drink ... don't usually do this coz drinks are $6-7 everywhere ... but they have a happy hour for $5 ... cute bartender .... i ordered a Long Island Ice Tea ... he brought it to me and then put on a Rolling Stones CD !!!!!!!!  ... do i look like an American white girl hippie   :)    LOVIN this !    ...... now playing The Doors .... i may just stay here all night and get drunk   :) .... well, as drunk as i can get on $20 coz that's all i brought out w/me  :)


.... and i watched the SunSet over Isabela Island ...

and asked someone to take my photo ....

ordered a second Long Island Ice Tea .....

so now it's totally dark ..... i'm feeling good, .....the bartender said this place comes alive around 9pm with dancing, etc ...... time to find my way home ....

stopped into a restaurant and had their $5 dinner special .... a piece of grilled fish, sauted veggies, rice, and a juice ...

got back to my room, and went to brush my teeth .... no water .... no water in other rooms either  :(