The End of the Cruise .....
--More Fun Continues ...
we caught the morning sun rise before 6:30 .....
then we had a boat tour on our slow return to Baltra ......
John, and my roommate, Claire, on Deck ....
it was sad saying goodbye ... but we all had a wonderful time .... the Yolita II Cruise Ship, Crew, and Guide Washington are highly recommended !
i was apprehensive about taking this Cruise ... what kind of people would be on it? ... what would it be like living on a boat? ... would it really be worth the money spent? ... would the Guide speak good English? ... would we really be able to see all the things they say you'll see? ....
i really can't think of anything that would have made the trip any better .... (well ok, ... more snorkeling ... but really, i can never get enough snorkeling, so that doesn't count).
if you, or someone you know, is considering a visit to the Galapagos Islands ... let me know, i can help :)
***
so, some of the group got on a plane, some got on the Ferry to another island; but there were several of us going back to Santa Cruz. we shared a couple of taxi's back to town and agreed to meet at 6pm for drinks and dinner.
Lior was leaving in the morning and wanted to go to Tortuga Bay for one last snorkel before he left ... snorkel? ...i said i would go with him .... we would be looking for the Sharks that i attempted to see several times, but was never successful .... he had a camera, so i told him i was NOT going to bring mine, so not to jinx us ....
i had made a room reservation at the same place i stayed before, Lirio del Mar, so got checked into, grabbed my snorkel gear and met Lior. we were hungry since we are used to eating 3 full meals a day; .... so we ate Fish Ceviche from my gentleman-friend on the corner ... great as always.
we ran into Sarah from the Cruise and she wanted to join us ... so we all walked to Tortuga Bay ... it's still a long walk .... but easier and more enjoyable if you can share it with friends, .... and still beautiful once you get there, ... well worth the journey.
we started snorkeling ... it's a long way out there .. but the water is calm .... nothing to see, but calm .... when we got to where i thought the 'bouy' should be ... there was nothing. we snorkeled the area for 45min not seeing much, and definitely no sharks :(
i suggested we try along the Mangroves, maybe we would see some Black Tipped Sharks there. once we got there, i recognized the area, the shallow flat rocks were the bouy was ... and i remembered there was a big sandy depression nearby. let's go look there together, in case there is a shark, then we both will see it before it swims away.
we approached slowly and i saw the sharks! ....i looked at Lior, and he was off to the right taking a picture of something. i grabbed his fin ... he came up ... all excited ... telling me he saw a TrumpetFish! ... i said, 'yeah, but did you see the sharks?' ... that got his attention .... and we snorkeled back to the spot....
yes, we had sharks alright ..... a couple here ... and several more there, and there's more there ... and if you go a little further there are more over there .... and there too ....
i confided in him that i was a little nervous about being here without Washington ... he agreed .... but neither of us wanted to leave .... and before long, we were diving down to get a closer look at them ....
we kept saying we 'needed to go', and 'just one more photo', and 'just a little longer' .... but they wouldn't leave, and we didn't want to either. we 'hung' with them for 30min or so, and then finally left them to their slumber, or whatever they were doing down there ....
so, i didn't have my camera ... and i am waiting for the photos that Lior took ... he's currently doing some serious hiking in Peru; ...he promised to get them to me when he returns to Israel ..... until then ... you'll have to trust me .... there were TWENTY-FIVE WhiteTipped Sharks!!!!! .... he took a running video of all of them at once, so no one could accuse us of a 'fish tale' :)
back to the hotel, got cleaned up ....
met the rest of the group, 10 of us, for drinks and dinner .... and an ice cream .... and called it a day .....
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