So it was up with the sparrow's fart once more this morning, or maybe that should be the pelican's fart? 6am saw me covering myself with Australian Gold factor 8. Others are burning using factor 30 from well known sun creams. This is amazing stuff! Nobody can understand why I haven't been sunburnt!

Breakfast was immense, the usual fresh baked bread, fresh papaya and pineapple, french toast and scrambled eggs. Today there were dolphins off the starboard bow, me hearties!

Isabela is a volcanic island so this morning it is a panga ride for about 45 minutes and then a long walk across the lava rock with strong walking shoes, then deep water snorkelling which leaves me and others on the boat until after lunch.

Just back from an eventful morning!

We boarded the pangas and spent 45 minutes cruising the very rocky southern coastline of Isabela. We were all delighted to see marine iguanas, flightless cormorants (which are only found on these islands) and also a group of Galapagos penguins. I counted a flock, school, multi pack of eight penguins  - what is the collective name for a group of penguins? I know it's a colony on shore, but I think we'll stick with a multi pack.

We were also spotted by a very playful sea lion. She swam around and under the boat at high speed, twisting and turning and generally showing off. It's amazing to see how graceful they are underwater and yet how cumbersome they are on land.

We then all disembarked onto the lava rock. Apparently this lava field was only about a hundred years old. It was so desolate with the odd pioneering plant clinging to life in a crevice, a few cacti and the ubiquitous finches. It was very difficult to walk on, so uneven and with sharp edges, loose pieces of rock and deep crevasses. I had brought a bamboo walking stick from the boat which really helped. You know me, I am very prone to accidents on these holidays of mine, Grace is my middle name!

Nevertheless the inevitable happened.

I am very selfishly relieved to say that it wasn't me this time. Poor Madame Claude, I can't remember her name, tripped and fell face first. She is quite a big lady but extremely fit and she slid down a loose stoned slope, chin first. She has ripped open her chin, her leg and her index finger.

Marie, our guide had a basic first aid kit so she was able to stem the bleeding. Also as luck would have it, Michelle from the US is a neurological doctor, so she has been invaluable.

They managed to get the patient back to shore for a pick up with the panga. Four of the crew had also been sent out from the ship with a portable stretcher but Madame Claude was able to walk to the boat. To be honest I don't think that they would have been able to carry her on the stretcher without some of them being injured too. The terrain is bad enough to get over without having to carry an injured person as well. Their faces dropped a little when they saw me bounding over the rocks, I think they'd hoped it was me, as I am probably one of the lightest ladies on board!

Whilst she was being taken back on board, we hung around the shore line. A flightless cormorant was fishing in the waves and he decided to get out of the water right in front of me. I didn't want to frighten him by getting out my camera, so we just stood and looked at each other, then he slid back into the water and swam away. Marie said that it was most unusual for a cormorant to come that close of his own accord. I was truly honoured.

Meanwhile back on the Mary Anne, after Mme Claude had been attended to with a better first aid kit, it was decided that she should be evacuated by helicopter. Whilst we were waiting, they decided that the deep water snorkelling trip should go ahead for those who were confident swimmers. 

Of course, this did not include me.  I'm not sure how it happened but I somehow volunteered to look after 6 year old Poppy whilst the rest of the family went snorkelling.

This meant playing bingo apparently. After the first game, I decided to spice things up a bit and suggested that we play for chocolate. Poppy won the next game and was allowed to eat a chocolate .... then she told me, with a secret smile, that she wasn't allowed to eat chocolate! Oops! So having checked her face and teeth for any incriminating evidence, I returned her to her unsuspecting parents after their swim!

I closely monitored her over lunch for signs of hyperactivity or anaphalactic shock but I think I have got away clean.

The helicopter has now been cancelled and we are hurrying north to rendezvous with Celebrity Xpedition. They have a surgeon on board who can stitch up the injuries. If she had been evacuated by helicopter, their holiday would have ended as they would not have been returned to the ship. Hopefully this way, they will be able to remain on board. I hope she is OK as she is such a lovely lady and Claude is great fun with a littlr Gallic twinkle in his eye!!

We have transferred Mado, (short for Marie Dominique, I found out her name at last!) by panga to Celebrity Xpedition to be patched up and we now have an unexpected stay in this bay. We were due to come here on Thursday and I think the plan is to travel back tonight, in order to get back on schedule for tomorrow. The Galapagos authorities are very strict about how many visitors are in any one place at a time, so we are unable to stay here. The weather has been very grey and rainy, so really I probably would not have enjoyed any expeditions today and would  have stayed on board anyway.

Whilst we were waiting for Mado's return, we saw a pod of dolphins and a huge manta ray. The captain gave us all a complimentary glass of wine for the loss of our timetable but to be honest it could have been any one of us who slipped on that sort of terrain.

Luckily, she has now returned, all stitched up and is not allowed to do much for 10 days but she will be fine. There is a fully qualified doctor and hospital facilities on Celebrity ships, so it was a godsend that they were that close to us.

So now we wait for the revised itinerary for tomorrow, the scheduled timetable has gone out of the window!

We have just finished dinner during which we have been returning to our previously allotted position, in fact it only took us about 2 hours and it appears that we have arrived and are about to drop anchor. Tomorrow promises to be a very full day with an extra early start. We have a two and a half hour walk in search of the elusive yellow land iguana, then a swim/snorkel from the beach. Lunch will be on board as we sail to Fernandina, with a stop for the good swimmers to deep water snorkel. I strongly suspect that round two of bingo may take place at that point! Then it's off again for another hideously long walk and back before nightfall which is 6pm. On the equator you get 12 hours daylight and 12 hours of night.

Oh, I haven't mentioned before but up to about 2pm today, we have had no hot water in our cabins. A new boiler was brought aboard yesterday at Puerto Ayora and I was finally able to have a hot shower this afternoon. Having a cold shower was OK for the first couple of days, as the weather is so hot but hot water is so much better.

The Captain came round at dinner to thank us for being so cooperative about Mado's emergency. He donated wine to drink with our dinner. I have asked to have mine tomorrow but I suspect it will all be quaffed tonight by my fellow passengers.