Thursday, March 5, 2009

Is It Possible to Get Hypothermia In the Galapagos?

Hi everyone! We are now currently underway to the Marquises. This will be
the longest passage of any of our lives, 15-20 days long. So far the seas
are down and there is exactly 2.4 knots of wind at the highest. We are just
burning fuel now until we get farther south and find the trade winds
(trades).
Anyways, before we left the Galapagos we did some cool tours. One of them
was a day tour to the island Isabela. It was pretty cool. We woke up at
around 5 AM and then took a two hour boat ride with some friends on the boat
Carl Linne to Isabela. While there we did a nature walk, snorkeling, and
some sightseeing. There was a cute little town with dirt roads and few
people. Finally, after lunch, we got back on our boat and headed back to
Santa Cruz. While on the ride back Cole and I took naps and the folks on
Carl Linne invited us to come over to their boat for drinks. We all wanted
to see the boat and so we agreed. After an nice evening on Carl Linne we
finally got back to Zen and fell immediately asleep. It had been a great but
tiring day.
The other trip that I did was a diving excursion. Only Daddy and I went
diving. For multiple different reasons the others didn't want to go and so
they planned a snorkel trip. Anyways, at about 6 AM Daddy and I woke up and
got ready for our dive. About an hour later the boat came by Zen to pick us
up. After quickly shoving some pancakes in our mouths we jumped on the boat
and were off. On the boat we met the people we would be diving with. A girl
from New Hampshire who was on vacation to see her friend was coming to get
certified and another guy from somewhere in Europe who had done 150 dives
around the world already and hadn't yet been to the Galapagos. We would also
be diving with a guide and another girl from the dive place who was also
from New Hampshire and was taking a year off of college to live and work in
the Galapagos. After a 45 minute ride to an island off of Santa Cruz we
suited up and dove in. Since we had already been fitted for our gear it was
just a matter of pulling on wet suits (which if they happen to be two piece,
long suits, that is not very easy). Once we jumped in the water the first
thing I thought was "is it possible to get hypothermia in the Galapagos?".
The water was the coldest water I have been in since last spring. I was
freezing. Although we were all really cold, the first dive was pretty cool.
I saw three different sharks and a few rays. There wasn't any coral but
there were some colorful, little fish. Once our hour was up we all got back
in the boat and motored into another little cove where we would wait another
hour before diving again. After having a little sandwich one of the guys
jumped back in the water and swam around for a bit taking pictures of some
animals. When I noticed that he found a couple baby sea lions I jumped in
the water and swam over. The water on the surface was really warm and since
I still had my wet suit on I barely knew I was in the water. Once I got to
the seals I noticed that there were three babies and their mother was on the
rocks a little while away. They were so cute! They posed for a while and let
us take pictures while their mom played with us underwater. It was so cool!
Soon we had to go back and go to our next dive. On this dive I put on a wet
suit hat and gloves to be warmer. This was much better and I enjoyed the
second dive much more. On this dive we saw sea turtles, rays and tons of
little fish and starfish. I had a great time. Back on the boat again we had
lunch and then headed back to Santa Cruz. It was so much fun!
Well, we are still cruising a long, waiting for the wind. We are now trying
to figure out how to charge Cole's Ipod. Gotta go, bye!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am glad that you enjoyed your trip to the Galapagos Islands. It is considered to be one of the most important spots for diving in the world.

Also this archipelago is an incredible living museum of evolutionary changes, with a huge variety of exotic species (birds, land animals, plants) and landscapes not seen anywhere else.