Brian: you guys going to gallapagos??
me: for sheezeee
Brian: WEIRD ANIMALS coming up
me: I'm ready
Brian: it's gonna be hella weird seeing a dog with giraffe legs
me: LOLLL
Brian: Cheetah with an abe lincoln beard
me: OHHHHHHHHH
We sailed around these Enchanted Islands for 8 days onboard the AMIGO boat to hang out with the CRAZY WILD LIFE here - humans included. Our room was on the main deck where the Captain let us jump off and do cannon balls into the clear blue sea. We had one of the sickest rooms, with the sickest views and Jeff got the sea-sickest on the very first night. He had to leave dinner early and missed out on one of the best ice cream desserts of the trip. Queasy Boy. For reals though, there were some bumpy times when I had to use 'power stance' just to keep my balance while going pee or taking a shower in our cabin bathroom.
We snorkled almost every day (sometimes twice a day) where we explored life under the sea. The Captain was also our snorkel guide who rented out the freshest gear. I didn't even know they made HD goggles for snorkeling....freakin' dopest invention ever! We saw an ENORMOUS Manta Ray swim right by us the size of a full blanket. We watched marine iguanas chillin' underwater feeding off the corrals surrounded by hundreds of colorful fish. I got pretty hype chasing sharks and swimming side by side these HUGE sea-turtles and little quick penguins meeting them face to face above the water when they took breaths.
I was just kidding about the HD goggles by the way. That'd be sic though.
After these 45 minute snorkeling sessions, sometimes I would chill on the roof of the boat as we sailed to our next destination. I'd look out at His Amazing world and thank God for all His blessings. Thanks to Angela I listen to new Musiq Soulchild benzos and get my dose of Español lessons from Podcast Coffee Break Spanish.
As we sail, we are escorted by these birds with wingspans of about 9 ft. or maybe even more. They fly right next to the AMIGO and Muzz tries to give them a casual high-5. One clear night me, Jeff, and Melissa (Australia) headed up to the roof top to catch 'Meteor Hour.' Laying down and staring at the vast night sky, we actually caught several shooting stars. We passed around her set of binoculars as she tried to school us about astrology and stars and constellations which usually ended with a "...you'll have to drink more wine to see what I'm talkin' about."
We arrived on this one beach which was loaded with sealions - about 200+ just minding their business. These guys know about the lazies for sure with their bodies always sprawled out on the sand or rocks. And they may very well own the title of 'stinkiest poop known to man.'
- That's muzz passed out on a rock and he has no idea these sealions are making their way up to chill right next to him to get in the shade. Pretty crazy buddy status.
Here's a free lesson.
Big British passenger Jamie aka Phelps CHALLENGED (basically called us out) me and Jeff to swim back to the boat with him rather than being picked up by the Dingy (small boat) like a little wus. Peer pressure at its finest. Below is a picture of the island that was taken from outside our cabin door just to show you how far a swim it would be. If you clic on the pic and take a closer look, you will see that those black dots on the shore are the hundreds of seals I was talking about.
So did we accept the challege?? Oh MY LANTA...Why'd I try it? That has got to be in my Top 3 toughest things I have ever done in my life, possibly tougher than the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I wish I could've recorded the thoughts that were going through my head with each wild stroke and with every beast- face gasp for air. I even had to revert to Butterfly stroke at one point...OHHHHHHH. So yeah, basically it was further than I thought. When I finally reached the boat, the Captain pulled me up out of the water and I just sat there with my arms resting on my bent knees for like 15 minutes breathing like a mad man. So what happened to MUZZ you might ask??? Good question. But a magician never reveals his secrets. Magician?
Mock... "yeah", -ing... "yeah" , Bird..."yeah"
"The Pelican Underwear" I enjoyed watching these guy dive straight down into the ocean to catch their prey.
Albatross for you golfers out there. 'Talk about a hole-in-one'
Casual Road Block
Los Gallos SuperBurrito size Tortoise dook.
This is headquarters for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's also where we gather to discuss the agenda for the following day. Our guide, Wilmer, uses that whiteboard to record the schedule of events. DINNER is always at 19:00 but one night muzz decided to spice it up. Using sneak-attack tactics, he secretely wrote in parentheses next to DINNER - 19:00 (FORMAL NIGHT). It was a major giggle session looking at confused faces and listening to everyone talk about what they were gonna wear and how they didn't pack anything nice.
The Chef always delivers the goods but he went extra crazy on us cooking up a storm for a nice Christmas Eve dinner with champaign. BUENISIMO!!!! And then he ended up drinking up a storm as well...casual passout. We got him good.
After dinner we receive some shocking news:
'It seems that some of the boat operator permission papers had expired with the National Park and they had forgotten to update them.'
In other words, the AMIGO was no longer allowed to sail. OOOF! Instead a ferry had been arranged to pick us up on Christmas morning to bring us to Santa Cruz Island.
But the celebration must go on!!! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
The crew even hooked up a new stereo on the main deck (dance floor) for some salsa dancing.
Allan from London brought these 'crackers' from home for everyone to share an English Christmas tradition. Everyone gets one cracker in one hand and with arms cross form a circle so that everyone has their hand on a cracker. Wow, I'm sure you're having a great time visualizing this. Anyways, everyone pulls at the same time and all the crackers "POP!" Inside is a small gift and a gold crown to wear. Also inside are small square papers that have corny jokes to share like "tooth-hurty." I pretented that I was reading my joke right off the paper when I asked "What's green and has wheels?" A: Grass, I was just kidding about the wheels. And then I asked Muzz to share his 'joke' about a Pecking Duck.
Wilmer and I have something in common. We like pettites. I let him handle Lil' Tawainese Thu and he was spitting game all night.
Here we all are on Christmas Morning - 7:30am on board the Ferry back to Puerto Ayora. As soon as I hopped on , they were bumping the sounds of Rihanna's "Don't stop the Music." What a choice this early in the morning. But it was good fun calling out and watching the different country representatives dance it up soul train style. "Go Norway, Go Norway! Go Canada, Go Canada! Go London, Go London! Go Ecuador, Go Ecuador! Go Taiwan, Go Taiwan!" Everyone definitley had their own style. I love it.
We spent Christmas Day on the white sand beach of Tortuga Bay. It takes about a 20 minute walk down a trail to get here but once we touched down it was more than amazing. I totally passed out on the softest sand ever. We also saw someone build a 'sandman' version of Frosty that was pretty cool. The weather, the water, the breeze was perfect. H.O.E. status at its finest.
My Christmas Day footprints
I've always wanted to jump off a cliff into the waters and I got my chance to splash into a unique mix of salt and fresh water at Las Grietas in Puerto Ayora .
But there was a surprise when we arrived. In order to jump off the rocks, you needed to climb up them first. So we swam across to get to the rocky side. Then we would climb up those slippery badboys which are NOT labeled in anyway to help us locate the 'good grip' areas. The X marks the spot were we took our jumps!!!! Some kid, who was like 12, took jumps from the very top and another man would do the same but head first. CRAZINESS.
And last but not least: Congrats to Brian's 3 month break!!!
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