The sea is relatively calm as we collect our snorkel gear and I buy a bagel for breakfast and eat tiny pieces of it to keep me going. I am allowed to sit on top of the boat for the whole outward trip because I can´t make it to the bow. I´m sure this saves me feeling too seasick, but if I need the loo getting down from the top on a moving boat I´ll never make it in a hurry!
We reach Punta Pitt after about 90 minutes and it´s a bit choppy I manage to get to the deck and into the water without drama. The snorkelling is glorious and I see so many brightly coloured fish. Jesse is so excited about seeing a green sea-turtle that by the time I get there he´s scared it away. I decide to stay away from him and just watch on my own.
We ride/sail to Kicker Rock but when we stop, the swell is horrendous and by the time all ten of us have faffed around getting sunscreen on and snorkel gear sorted etc etc, I am feeling very sick. I am "that" close to chucking but getting in the water saves me.
Swimming between the two rocks is amazing. The amount of marine life clinging to and living around the walls is rich as if on a reef and I see so many fish. I believe I also see a shark waaay below me but can´t be 100% sure. The others don´t see it.
I´m a bit of a plodder when it comes to snorkelling - I like to watch rather than just tick the box and move on. I quickly get left behind to observe in peace away from the swishing fins of my fellow snorkellers.
The boat follows us round the rock for our safety but the diesel fumes do nothing to extinguish the nausea.
All too soon we have to get out and move on to a beach where we´ll stop for lunch.It looks like paradise, except we all know paradise doesn´t exist.
Our guide shows us the mangroves and the frigate birds hover on the scrounge for scraps. They´re not called pirate or robber birds for nothing. We have rice with veggies and papaya juice but I can barely touch it as my tummy is still not good.
While we eat, I am pestered by green horse flies; the others are astounded at how many are on my legs while are not bothering anyone else. The flies follow me into the water where Jesse is trying to catch fish with his hands.
I don´t think I´m allowed to kill anything on Galapagos but hope the guide doesn´t black mark me for squishing as many of these nasties as I can before they get me.We move on to Isla de Lobos where we have our final snorkel.
This rock just 30 minutes out of Port is full of sealions, frigate birds, blue-footed boobies and brown pelicans and they´re all feeding on the marine life below us.
The pelicans and boobies dive in almost on our heads but they´re only interested on the fish. It´s amazing watching them feed. It´s amazing how the pelicans can fly after the amount of fish they swallow from each neckful.
Time slips by and after an hour of drifting and watching, it´s time to go back to Port. It´s been a long day but I´m so pleased I did it despite the backs of my legs being now visibly covered in horsefly bites, so many I can´t count. And sunburn! I can´t believe the Factor 60 doesn´t protect me!
We all go for a cheap meal but I only have chips and bread - they say you should eat what you fancy when you´re not well and this is what I fancy! It´s not quite the same as a chip buttie at The Harrow but for now, it´ll pass muster!
(I have to leave you again, dear readers - I´m now back in Quito but the internet café is about to close, so more tomorrow. My camera´s broken - more of that another time - I fell on it and broke the lense. I am obviously heartbroken and only have batteries for my compact camera to last a short while (didn´t think I´d need the charger as it was only the backup camera). Luckily, I have made friends with an Australian lady who has kindly agreed to let me have copies of her photos from this trip else I´d have virtually nothing to remember it by.)
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