Greetings from yacht Ensemble!
Yesterday it was an early start for the planned trip to the volcano. Magali decided to take a 'boat day' to do internet and household chores (and was a bit nervous about the climb and the horses anyway). So Mike and Carsen (Wind Dancer) and David, Peter, Bob and Linda (Serendipity) and myself all waited in anticipation for the morning water taxi at 7:15am, for our 7:30 meeting at the tourist shop. In the end the water taxi was late - so David ran Mike, Carsen and I in to 'hold the fort' until the water taxi arrived. It did eventually - but then took the others to the far dinghy dock - and they needed to catch another taxi to get to the shop. 8am and we were safely away, in two dual cabs for a 30 minute drive to the start of the volcano.
There were other groups of tourists waiting to do the 5 hour walk - while our 7 horses (plus two more for Maximo, our guide, and the horse handler) where neatly line up ready to go. I was given the 'lead' mule (nothing to do with the relative weight of the party). The mule's role was to make sure that no other horse came close to the guide's steed. This he achieved by bighting, kicking - and doing what horses do at the other end - to discourage any other horse in the group from getting to feisty. The other horses vied for position using a similar combination of skills - with the occasional rider getting caught in the cross-fire, much to the delight of all who rode them.
We eventually arrived at the horse turn around point. As I went to dismount, my boot caught in the stirrup, twisting the saddle, and dropping me attached (gently) on the ground. My embarrassment was short lived - with David landing next to me with a 'thump' as he landed flush on his back (his fall was fortunately broken by his lunch). We thus invented the 'David dismount' technique - no feet required (do not try this at home).
We noticed that many of the trekkers had reached the summit at a similar time to us - and realised that while the horses provided a more 'comfortable' means of getting to the top - they were no quicker (certainly
more character though).
We the did a 40 minute walk to the Chico (small) volcano. The volcano is reportedly the 2nd biggest active caldera (after Yellowstone) - and has a diameter of nearly 10 miles. It last erupted in 2005. The base of the caldera was steaming with the rain - and at the vents you could feel the heat coming off. We saw the usual finches, a lava lizard, mockingbird nest complete with 3 eggs, Darwin daisy, and soap tree.
The ride back was uneventful - but wet - and featured the same jockeying for position.
Back in town we went to the local restaurant for lunch (no pizza, hamburgers etc - it reminded me of a cheese shop in a Monty Python episode!) - but service was friendly and beer was cold.
Magali took the dinghy in and while she checked the internet I did the Zarpe exit formalities (with Paul's help). It turns out you have to pay to leave too!
Today we take the short sail / (motor) to Santa Cruz - the island with the biggest town / tourist centre in the Galapagos. Tomorrow we start our 4 day guided boat tour.
Cheers
David & Magali
23Feb2012 010