Back on board, Cathy and Ed exercised (they are psycho gym rats after all), Maggi and Richard sat on lounge chairs and watched (the exercise equipment is located outside on deck 6 – right next to the lounge chairs for sun bathing!). We also watched big Manta Rays jump out of the water and breach. None of us had any idea they would do that – and found out later that it is their way of trying to get parasites off of them. Amazing!
Showered and casually attired ( tonight is the star gazing and animal watching from the deck night), Cathy and Ed headed to the lounge to grab seats for the briefing. We were joined by Bill and Kay, from Albany, New York (Kay originally from Florida), and struck up a conversation. They had been to Macchu Pichu before the cruise, and said it was breathtaking, but had a hard time getting out of Cusco due to civil unrest. They had a tough time in M.P. as well. The farmers were striking and they managed to shut down the railways, so the MP train wasn’t running the whole way. The only way to get to the ruins was by car for a couple hours, then onto a train at the Hiram Bingham stop. Getting back down was just a challenging, then their flight was cancelled from Cusco and they ended up spending an extra night there, flying out to Quito on Saturday. They missed the all day tour, but fortunately made it for the ship! Phew! Kay said she thought the protests were over, but that’s an interesting thing to be looking forward to next week!!!
Maggi and Richard joined everyone for the briefing and to celebrate Cathy’s birthday. They had printed out a picture of the 4 of them at the Baroness lookout point from that afternoon (the ship has a Kodak machine that allows you to print out photos) and given that to Cathy along with a chocolate from their room and an adorable penguin. It was such a wonderful surprise!
Dinner after the briefing was great as usual. We had a table for 6, and Jorge, one of the guides joined us for the evening. He was a great table mate, and told us all about his home town south west of Quito, and that he has a banana plantation for his “other job” (everyone has a 2nd job, as they are only allowed to work 4 or 6 weeks at a time in the Galapagos, then must take 4 weeks or so off). He told us all sorts of interesting things about the banana process, about Galapagos and working as a guide (22 years!). He has 3 boys (14, 9 and 7 – ages might not be 100% accurate, but close), and in Ecuador, they call his teenager, the donkey years! Great term for those stubborn adolescent years!!!
We had a very enjoyable evening with him, then at the end of dinner, here comes the Maitre’d, staff and all our friends – Helen, Michelle, Barb, the other Maggie, Pedro, Eleana and Anita, all singing happy birthday and giving Cathy room chocolates (courtesy of Maggi #1!!! Thank you Maggi!!)! It was truly a supermarket moment, and we are all amazed that Cathy managed not to cry! So totally sweet! A beautiful strawberry shortcake like cake with a candle finished off the meal perfectly!
Afterward, everyone headed up to the outside decks to watch the show in the water and the sky. Up on deck 6, they turned out the lights (much like they did at our request the night before on deck 4!!) and one of the officers pointed out different constellations, while Geovanna translated. You can see more stars down here than we’ve ever seen before. We were blessed with crystal clear skies in which you could see everything. Mars, Orion, the seven sisters, Perseus, even the Milky Way. But the real show was in the water.
We were at anchor and the crew turns on the outside lights to illuminate the water. We all stood mesmerized for hours watching sea lions and Pelicans fight for flying fish that moved across the water like torpedoes. Then came the sharks – big ones! One was at least 10 to 12 feet in length, with 2 others close behind. They trolled the waters, waiting for the flying fish as well. When an unlucky fish would happen to surface, all this commotion would begin – the Pelicans would lift off – quicker than you can ever imagine – the sea lions would take off like a rocket and the sharks would fly – all heading toward their quarry. Who ever got there first got the fish – maybe. It was truly amazing.
We could have stayed there all night. And actually, some of us did! Cathy and Ed retired a little after 11 - Maggi and Richard stayed up talking to Pedro and Eleana as well as the other Richmond contingent, Dick and Linda. No telling when they headed back down to deck 3!
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