The time has come to move to another place. There is still so much to share about the Galapagos, stories and pictures, but it will have to wait. I will post them when we return to the world of the internet. We are on our way to French Polynesia, specifically the Marquesas. This will be our longest passage yet, by far, 3000 nautical miles from the Galapagos to our next landfall in Nuku Hiva.
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| That's a lot of blue! |
When arriving in the Galapagos by a private vessel such as Rhapsody, there are only three islands at which we are allowed to anchor, San Cristobal, Santa Cruz and Isla Isabela. All other islands are off limits to protect the wildlife.
San Cristobal is the first of three islands that Rhapsody is allowed to visit, and coincidentally the first island that Darwin visited. We are allowed to venture onto other islands (with guides), but Rhapsody has to stay put in the three designated anchorages.
Kicker Rock, Leon Dormido, Sleeping Lion, Roca Pateadora. Most places in the Galapagos have at least two names, the English name and the Spanish name, and then sometimes the translation of each of those! It can get a little confusing at first until you figure it out. Friends who are in front of us were messaging us about sailing past Kicker Rock on their entry to the Galapagos, but all our chartplotter identified was Roca Pateadora.
Kicker Rock was our welcome to Galapagos spot and so it was nice to be able to return to dive it. It has a reputation of being the best dive spot around San Cristobal.
Kicker Rock is about 500 feet tall with many birds calling it home, Blue footed boobies, pelicans, frigate birds and tropicbirds among others. We had an approximately 2 hour boat ride to get to Kicker Rock because our motor catamaran had one of its two engines at the shop. It was a pleasant ride and we had a chance to talk with the other passengers. There were 10 of us, 5 were diving and 5 were snorkeling.
Getting ashore after a passage to a new destination is always a learning experience. Where do you take the dinghy? What can you access once you are ashore without a car? What if you can't take your dinghy, what do you do then? Among the many rules for private boats in the Galapagos is the rule that you cannot use your own dinghy, at any time, in any place.
What a flurry of activity!
Suddenly there are 9 extra people aboard Rhapsody, and one more underwater. All speaking at once, all asking us to fill out their forms first, please, all working frantically to fulfill their part of this dance. Such is the check-in procedure for the Galapagos Islands. The storm after our calm five day passage.
