Lietuviskas aprasymas zemiau
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Day 106: Seven Days in Darwin's Footsteps. New Acquaintances.
May 24, 2006
(Day #1 Itinerary: Boarding 'Free Enterprise' at noon - Lunch - Trip to Las Bachas Beach - Dinner - Welcome Aboard Party)
No matter how vibrant, spontaneous and fluctuating Latin America is, even
here some things always stay the same; like something that happened to us
this morning. Since this was the first day of our cruise and we were supposed
to meet our guides and the rest of the co-cruisers at 10AM at the Baltra airport,
we decided to take the earliest morning bus from Puerto Ayora so we could
be at the meeting place on time (we had been warned that later in the morning
the bus station gets so crowded with the people trying to make it to their
morning flights that you will most likely have to stand a long line to get
on a bus). Thus, the 7AM bus to Baltra it was, which dropped us off at the
airport some 45 minutes later.
Another hour went by while we were busy with speculations about the co-cruisers-to-be
--out of the 50 or so people hanging out at the airport 16 had to be our future
cruise-mates. (No need to say that a significant part of the success of a
cruise depends on the folks you are going to spend time with, so naturally,
very curious we were!) At around 10AM we got slightly bored with the 'guess
who' game, and started looking for a "fellow holding a clearly visible
Free Enterprise sign" - that was how our cruise guide was supposed to
look like.
At around 10:30AM the first morning flight from the mainland arrived - still no fellow with the sign we would love to see. Slightly (to say the least!) worried that we had missed our guide, we decided to call Lonesome George, the tour agency. Guess what? Turned out that no Free Enterprise passengers were arriving from Ecuador on the morning flight, therefore the guide decided to show up only at noon, after the arrival of the second flight :) The tour agency girl could not really understand what was all the worrying about… (Hey, nice of you to finally let us know that we have not yet missed you but have to wait for 2 hours more! :)). On the other hand, only in Latin America you can agree on a meeting at 10AM knowing that in reality it means '10AM +/- 2 hours'…
2 hours later the second aircraft from Ecuador arrived, and soon after that we heard the long-awaited magic words: Free Enterprise! This was the moment that put the end to our curiosity, as we finally had a chance to meet Franklin and Angel, our guides, and the rest of the cruisers: Fabian, Pia, Khen (Elvis), Michelle, Bruce, Anna, Tal, Sharon, Joerg, Pier, Sandy, Eitan, Tommy, Carl, Jorge the Divemaster and others… we will be mentioning these names again and again throughout the following 7 days (and after!), but here is a 'secret' we would like to reveal in advance: one could hardly wish for a better company on a cruise ship!
When we saw Free Enterprise, our floating home for the next 7 days, it was love at first sight! Out of all the pretty boats we had seen around the islands, Free Enterprise was definitely in the top 5. In addition to being a beautiful sailboat, she also was a diving ship - must admit this was one of the major criteria why we preferred her to all the others. USD75 for a one-tank dive was a lot (in fact, outrageous even for the Galapagos standards!) but this was our only chance to do some diving at the more remote dive sites of the Galapagos, so we booked another 2 dives each :)
After a quick introductory briefing and the first collective lunch onboard we all jumped back into the 2 little transfer boats and were taken to Las Bachas Beach where we saw another thousand of marine iguanas and colorful crabs, then snorkeled for a while and finally rushed back to the boat for dinner and the welcome aboard party with salsa dancing and margaritas on the house.
Tip #1: If you are shy about your dancing skills, a sailboat is a
perfect place to finally start dancing in public! The smaller the boat, the
better (small ships rock more)! You don't have to know a single salsa step
and your partner still won't notice that, as both of you will be struggling
to remain on your feet. A margarita or two helps, as it rocks you opposite
to the waves and enables maintaining better balance :)
Click on the pictures to enlarge
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"The Beagle" of our days
Burlaivis, 6 naktis ir 7 dienas neses mus Darvino takais |
Another look at Free Enterprise
Dar viena fotogeniskojo laivo nuotrauka |
Some of the people responsible for the 7 days of fun: Khen from Israel, or simply Elvis (the Elvis story coming up soon) - Fabian's photo
O cia keli sauniosios komandos nariai - Kenas is Izraelio, arba tiesiog Elvis (daugiau apie tai, is kur atsirado Elvis - artimiausiuose reportazuose) - Fabiano nuotrauka |
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Bruce from California, our own Charles Darwin onboard - Fabian's photo
Briusas is Kalifornijos - beveik tobula Carlzo Darvino kopija - Fabiano nuotrauka |
Tommy from Denmark, the healthiest man alive
Tomis is Danijos - garantuotai sveikiausias pasaulio sveikuolis |
Pia, the crazy Aussie, our daily doze of good humor
Australe Pia, pries septynis metus atradusi savo plauku spalva ir nei uz ka nesiruosianti jos keisti |
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Fabian from Switzerland, a serious world traveler and the creator of the Traveling Sock (visit Fabian's Blog to read more about his adventures! - http://fabiansblog.tunnelblick.ch) - Fabian's photo
Sveicaras Fabianas, Keliaujancios Kojines isradejas (aplankykite jo paties puslapi, tik Fabiano nuotykius teks skaityti vokiskai: fabiansblog.tunnelblick.ch) - Fabiano nuotrauka |
Michelle from England, who one day scared us to death with her "soup allergy" (the soup turned out to have contained some nuts Michelle was allergic to) - Fabian's photo
Misele is Anglijos, viena diena visus siaubingai isgasdinusi labai alergiskai sureaguodama I sriuba (kurioje, kaip veliau paaiskejo, buvo riesutu, kuriems Misele alergiska - Fabiano nuotrauka |
Jorge, our divemaster
Jorge, kurio prieziuroje nardeme |
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Zee, the king of the world :)
DiCaprio pavaduojantis Zi. |
Crab, the king of the beach
Didysis krabas, Las Bachas krantu karalius |
Three kings…
Trys karaliai… |
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… and the entire kingdom
… ir visa likusi karalyste |
Marine iguana is another common beach resident
Kartu su krabais papludimiuose seimininkauja ir juru iguanos |
Nuvesk pelyte virs paveiksliuko, spustelk
jos kaire ausele, ir paveiksliukas padides
106-oji diena: Septynios dienos Darvino pedomis. Pirmosios pazintys.
2004 m. geguzes 24
(1-mosios dienos marsrutas: apie vidurdieni lipam I laiva "Free Enterprise" Isla Baltra saloje - pietus - ekskursija I Las Bachas papludimi - vakariene - vakarelis "Pazink bendrakeleivius!")
Pirmosios kruizo dienos ryta nubudome sirdims neramiai plazdant - ne tik del to, kad pagaliau prasides ilgai lauktasis plaukimas I stebuklingasias, sunkiai pasiekiamas Galapagu salas - labiau del to, kad jau visai netrukus suzinosime, kokiam laive ir - svarbiausia - kokioj kompanijoj teks praleisti visa ateinancia savaite. Nes gi uzsisakydami kruiza apie busimus bendrakeleivius nesuzinojome visai nieko (nors buvom girdeje, kad gera kompanija - jau du trecdaliai kruizo sekmes), o ir apie pati "vandens busta" suzinojome tik tiek, kad vadinsis jis "Free Enterprise", laivelyje turesime savo dviviete kajute, uztektinai ivairiausiu temperaturu vandens gerimui ir prausimuisi (yra ir tokiu kruiziniu laivu, kuriuose silto vandens nebuna!), maistu patiems rupintis irgi nereikes, nes busime sociai pamaitinti tris kartus per diena, na o jeigu pageidausime, tai galesime net ir panardyti, nes siame laive yra visa nardymo iranga! Aisku, uz solidzia papildoma kaina ($75 uz viena oro baliona, I kaina ieina ir irangos nuoma), taciau vis tiek sis faktorius, ko gero, nuleme "Free Enterprise" pasirinkima. O galinga pagunda… tuoj pat ir uzsirezervavome po 2 balionus :)
"Free Enterprise" - labai fotogeniskas laivas. Nuotraukose sis burlaivis mums pasirode dailesnis net uz prabangiausius kruizinius laivus, taciau girdejome apie ji ir ne tokiu graziu atsiliepimu (butinas remontas, daznai genda ir pan.). Vis delto, galiausiai pasirinkome ivaizdi - fiasko atveju bent jau liks puikiu fotografiju su grazuoliu burlaiviu :)) (Is tikruju tai kelioniu agentura "Lonesome George" uztikrino, kad laive pries menesi atliktas kapitalinis remontas ir nemaloniai pagarseje techniniai nesklandumai liko istorija. Kaina taip pat viliojo - $700 zmogui uz 7 dienas truksianti malonuma tokios klases kruiziniame laive - labai gera kaina. Kaip veliau suzinojome, kai kurie musu bendrakeleiviai uz ta pacia kelione kitai agenturai mokejo po $900).
9 valanda ryto jau sedejome sutartoje vietoje - Baltros oro uoste. Smalsiai dairemes I aplinkui besisukiojancius turistus, bandydami atspeti 14 busimuju bendrakeleiviu. Sutartu laiku - 10 valanda - turejes mus pasitikti gidas nepasirode. Uz dar geros valandos, kai jau buvom suspeje supanikuoti, kad savo vadova garantuotai praziopsojom ir laivas isplauke be musu, pasirode Franklinas - musu gidas. Dar siek tiek veliau apsireiske ir Angelas - antrasis gidas… I tokius reiskinius jau pradejome ziureti kaip I rysku kulturini aspekta - jei 2 valandas lauki I pirmaji susitikima su grupe veluojancio grupes vadovo, tai bent zinai, kad tikrai esi Lotynu Amerikoje!
Dvi nedideles valteles keliolika kartu sukursavo tarp kranto ir toleliau vandenyne inkara ismetusio "Free Enterprise" - pirmiausia I laiva nukeliavo du kalnai lagaminu, o paskui juos - ir mes patys. Apie 1 val. po pietu jau buvome siek tiek susipazine, pasiskirste kajutemis, isklause paskaitos - pirmuju gidu instrukciju kaip elgtis, o svarbiausia - kaip nesielgti, ir, susede jaukiame burlaivio restorane, laukeme pirmuju kolektyviniu pietu. O kolektyvas nustebino labai maloniai - galetumem sakyti, kad net virsijo lukescius! Is karto tapo aisku, kad su sia kompanija 9 valanda vakaro miegoti eit tikrai nereikes :)) Pietus irgi buvo labai skanus. Zodziu, kol kas - viskas puiku!
Po pietu dar spejome issilaipinti labai graziame Las Bachas papludimy, kur maloniai pasivaiksciojome krabu ir iguanu draugijoje bei panardeme su akvalangais. Issilaipinimas I kranta vyksta taip: laivas ismeta inkara apie 200 metru nuo kranto, visi sulipame I dvi nedideles valteles, kurios nugabena krantan, o sutartu laiku is ten mus paima ir parplukdo atgal I laiva.
Na o koks gi butu pirmasis vakaras be susipazinimui skirto baliuko??! Gaila
tik, kad nuovargis ir intensyvus rytojaus grafikas jau 10 val. vakaro visus
isvaike po lovas, taciau smagiai pasedeti ir linksmai prisijuokti laiko uzteko,
ir net gi keleta smagiu salsu Franklino isakymu susokome - labai idomiai atrodo
per bangas siubuojanciame laive atliekami dvigubi sukiniai - net nebeaisku,
ar cia kaltas laivo siubavimas, ar tos margaritos, kuriomis laivo barmenas
sivakar vaisino :)
