Sorry to have been out of touch for a few days, our email via Iridium developed a fault the day before arriving in Galapagos and we are still trying to solve the problem. We arrived in Puerto Moreno on Wednesday as scheduled, once again World Cruising Club personnel and their agents did a fantastic job of helping complete arrival documentation which is considerable in the Galapagos! We went on a day-long snorkeling tour Thursday and saw many sharks, turtles, rays and fish. Perhaps the high point was swimming with the sea lions which are found throughout the area, both ashore and in the water. At first they seemed very cute but the charm wore off after the first day...
We visited the Galapagos historical and nature interpretation center which is housed in a somewhat contemporary building of a unique Ecuadoran architecture, very much reflecting the effort to preserve the natural beauty of the islands. Galapagos has had a very sad and painful history since its discovery in the 1500's but has enjoyed a new-found stability and prosperity since pursuing an eco-tourism economy for the past twenty years.
By thursday afternoon all of the fleet had arrived and we enjoyed seeing everyone for happy hour at the Miconia Hotel upper deck which has a very nice view of the harbor. Thursday night we went out for dinner with the Samsara crew, our girls were very happy to catch up with their friends after a week at sea. We compared stories about our respective equatorial crossings, more details to follow.
On Friday we motored over to Puerto Ayora (no wind again!) and met our friends Hubs and Diana who will be sailing with us to the Marqueasas in two weeks. Lew left early Saturday morning to fly back to Cleveland for the surgery on his hand, he is expected to return next Sunday. This week we plan to visit some of the Darwin facilities on the island and also to visit one or two other islands in the Galapagos, returning to Puerto Ayora next weekend when Lew returns.
BRIZO Crew