Salinas - Galapagos
Salinas - Galapagos in Google Maps
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Moni and I are taking our first joint journey easy by sailing downwind to Ayanque. But there is a lot of shore break and the village doesn’t look inviting so that we decide to sail straight to Galapagos. The wind is untypically good for the first two days, but soon starts to get lighter and lighter until we are drifting on an oily sea. The last two days we are more drifting with the currents than sailing, but finally arrive in Galapagos after five days at sea.
I once more enjoy the tranquility at sea. It seems like the world is not bigger in the middle of the ocean, but smaller. My world is Blue Bie, the weather forecast and the way to Galapagos with my thoughts hardly ever leaving Blue Bie. While Moni isn’t seasick, she feels dizzy and very sleepy and we are having some quite days on board:)
Arriving on Galapagos we are exploring the town, being once more surprised how many people live here and how urban this nature paradise is. We are visiting the giant tortoises in the Charles Darwin Institute and go swimming to the La Griega beach. Beach? Wrong – it is not a sandy beach, but rather an amazing rocky canyon, where the fresh water is meeting the salty sea water. Great that we can be still be surprised!
Diving cannot be missed on Galapagos and we go diving to Gordon Rocks. The current is at times too strong to swim and I feel like an alpinist, hangling from underwater lava rock to lava rock. Never was diving more interesting. We are seeing also a lot of hammerhead- and white-tip sharks, spotting eagle ray families, one of which has a wingspan of at least 2m, and turtles grazing the sea. They don’t seem disturbed by our presence and over lunch I am snorkeling with sea lions, who accept me in their middle of their family as one of ‘theirs’.
Moni has the opportunity to train three employees of the dive centers. While this delays our departure to Easter Island, she can indulge in diving and earn handsomely rather than paying USD 120 per day:) We are spending most mornings on Blue Bie: I am studying to become a rescue diver while Moni is creating the homepage in Spanish. I am spending the afternoons in town – doing errands, in a restaurant watching the Champions League semi-finals, in a café with internet access or in the dive center.
It has been more than a year since I have been kitesurfing. It feels a bit strange: I have all the freedom of the world, but don’t manage to do what I like the best! Then again, the last 12 months were characterized by light winds in the late Carribean season, a long journey through South America and finally the windless doldrums. My desire to spend half a year kitesurfing somewhere is growing:)
But first of all, I look forward to set sail for the open sea and to arrive to new shores, to new adventures. We are planning to briefly stop in the Galapagos island of Isabela before heading towards Easter Island. Autumn has arrived on Easter Island and we have to expect strong headwinds under way or changing winds on Easter Island, which might prevent safe anchoring. In both cases we would be heading directly towards French Polynesia. There is only one way to find out and we will keep you posted on the Blog!