Tour to Pinzon: Galapagos Day 2
I asked our Hotel receptionist if he could call us a taxi for our tour the next day. He said we could also get breakfast at their restaurant right on the docks. It was great! It was open-aired and a few little birds tried to join the table next to us. We tried the maracaju juice yesterday so we tried the passion fruit today. Both are worthy of writing home about ;)
Breakfast finished, we walked right next door to our tour operator. Unfortunately, they hadn't sold enough tickets for the tour so they were waiting on a group that got their tour cancelled and turned into ours...about an hour later everyone was together. We had our own snorkel gear and wet suits, but they provided fins. By the way, because we booked this tour last minute or the night before it was about half off the usual price.
We all loaded into a small tour boat and were on our way. The view of the docks and boats anchored off shore are really beautiful. As we passed these the deep blue waters began to swell and the ride is bumpy, but if you have ever been on a boat in lake MI, you will be fine. Two guests needed to take some pills to calm their stomachs, but everyone else just oohed and aaahhhed at the rocky cliffs and birds catching fish.
I didn't know this in advance, but we stopped at La Fe on the way to Pinzon. I told Fierce that this would be a practice run snorkeling in the ocean off of a boat. He was all geared up, sat on the edge of the boat and jumped into the water. I jumped in next and held his life jacket while we went to look at some fish near the rocks. The tour guide showed us a couple of turtles. One was resting on the sandy bottom, but the smaller one swam right in front of us. It took me by surprise at first, what a fun moment! Fierce said he felt like he was losing his flipper and then he started focusing on the boat being farther than he would like and then he said he was cold. Ok, I did try to talk him out of it, but I also wanted him to enjoy the really nice snorkeling promised at Pinzon so I brought him back to the boat and got him a towel to warm up. I jumped back in for a little longer and saw some white finned sharks.
Back on the boat, we drove to Pinzon which was about 40 minutes away. I had to bribe my kid to get back in, but I didn't want him to miss this opportunity. He really didn't want to do it again, but I told him he didn't need to wear the fins and the tour guide said he could hold onto a floatation device that he would drag behind him. I also swam next to him in a life jacket so he could feel even safer. I showed him where the boat would anchor and all or most fears taken care of, he jumped in and although it took a minute, he settled down and enjoyed looking at all the fish. There were huge parrot fish of so many pretty teals and purples. There were little black fish with bright blue eyes. We saw another turtle too. Then out of nowhere, we saw a seal lion swimming back and forth almost putting on a show for us all. Soon, Fierce wanted to be back on the boat so I took him to the boat, but on the way, we found a sand dollar and big yellow and white stripe fish. Then schools of little shiny fish that seemed to go on for a hundred feet and ebbed and flowed with the waves.
After I dropped Fierce off, I joined the group again and saw six sharks in one of the bays. Then across the way, we saw a sea lion sunning himself on some rocks just above us. On our way back to the boat, we saw schools of larger fish. It was a great experience. When I got back on the boat, the driver had given Fierce some cookies and I asked him if he had fun. He said, yes and that he was glad he went.
When everyone was back on board, the guide asked us all to go to the front of the boat. This was no easy feat. There was a 5 in pass with very few holds and you had to navigate this for only a few feet and then land safely on the flat part of the front. Fierce pointed out that this was dangerous and I said, the worse thing would be that you fall in the water...his eyes got big and he made it with no incident to the front. Poor kid.
We found out that there was a delightful reason for us all to shuffle to the front. When we returned to our seats, there was a table set with a full spread of fresh fish in a cream sauce along with rice and veggies. It was all absolutely delicious. It was served with a sweet tea to drink, fresh bananas if you wanted one and wafer cookies to top it off. Somehow, we went from random tourists to a family dinner all smiling and talking over a good meal. Fierce and Sam were keeping us all very occupied with riddles and jokes. It was pretty cute.
On our way back, we slowed down at No Name Rock and did some fishing. Fierce tried it first. He wore a belt that the pole fit into and then held out the pole with a fifty foot line and a fake bait. The tour guide said that our lunch had been from the previous day's catch. Fierce met a friend on this trip named Sam and he tried it next. Then the adults all took a turn, but no such luck. I guess tomorrow's lunch will have to be bought at the market.
It was a long way back, but upon our return a seal greeted us on the dock. Fierce loved this so much that we stayed for a while. He and Sam were all laughs. Eventually, we left and Fierce picked out a sea lion and an iguana stuffed animals to bring home with us from a little shop. He definitely remembered my bribe from earlier...lol. We ended the day with crepes and ice cream. It was so fun and I was really proud of him for doing something totally new. It's a big ocean and he was brave.
