Early in the morning we woke to San Christobal Island. It was so nice to be able to go to bed with the boat sailing most nights - I absolutely love the rocking and rolling of sailing when in bed. Our cabin was above and I had the top bunk so I could lay in my bed and watch the ocean rise and fall and see the stars.....oh so nice.


San Christobal has a town and an airport so, compared to the other inhabited islands, it seemed busy. Our first stop was the Interpretative Center.  
Usually I don't like these things but this one, sponsored by the Spanish government was really interesting. It outlined the history of the Galapagos - not so much the story of Darwin and the early explorers, but the last hundred years and all the characters that came to the islands - fascinating history of romance and intrigue...who knew? It was also very clear detailing the challenges of sustainability of the islands with the increased levels of tourism. It painted a pretty negative story and I hope it is proven wrong.

We had some free time in town to shop - that took 20 minutes - and just relax and bid farewell to our friends who were leaving and hope to hell their replacements were going to be as nice. Only Sammi -Jo and Nat (the young Aussies) stayed on and were happy for that. .

Back to the boat for lunch and to wait for the next passengers. The first guy was Dirk from Holland and he was soon followed by Noella and her sister Collette from Montreal, Ashley from New York City and her best friend Crystal, who now lives in Ecuador on a Peace Core assignment, and Roger, an American from Arizona or somewhere else???/Columbia????

Dirk, Ashley, Crystal, Collette and Noella and looked really nice and fun, Roger - the jury was still out - he certainly looked like one of 'those Americans' from the flight a week before. We would have to wait and see. We were only 10 and it was the 'singles' cruise - 8 girls and two lucky guys!

The afternoon was spent at a public beach called La Loberia. I have to admit after having the other beaches all to ourselves, it seemed nasty and crowded to find others using the beach - quite a few others. This is a surf beach and not everyone who comes to the Galapagos does the cruise thing. Some folks who are prone to sea sickness fly in to either airport and spend time on those islands and may do little day trips to nearby islands, returning to sleep on land each night.

When we got to this beach, the weather changed and it got rather chilly. I did go in but the seas were very rough and, as I was coming back up the beach to rejoin the group, Enrique offered to take Dirk and I out to show us something. And that kid can find anything there is to find! He took us way out - really hard swimming in the rough and strong currant but it was worth it. We got to swim in one of those massive clouds of fish you see on the underwater specials. It was my first time inside a massive black cyclone of medium sized fish - maybe 12-14 inch ones. Thousands? Millions? Not sure how many but the group formed a massive swirling black cloud and made no attempt to change course because of us. Again another first for me. We also saw giant turtles, rays and stuff but already they were becoming normal.

What I have learned with so many amazing firsts these last few years, is to really savor those moments because they are fleeting. That is why I keep moving - it is the first time in a new country/culture, with the different architecture, different clothing, faces, smells, ambiance/energy that continues to excite me and keep me on the road. It is the best. Then, a few days later, you no longer notice the pigs heads roasting, or the unusual houses or the scary night noises.....

Anyway, San Christobal was nice - not as amazing as the other islands simply because there are people there. And we were missing our old friends already.