HIgh Speed and High Excitement on the High Seas

June 19, 2002

Welcome to Episode 3 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Galápagos…

Isla Santiago’s fur seal grottos are bustling. Dozens of the marine mammals, smaller and darker than sea lions and with big eyes adapted to nocturnal feeding, play and rest. A lava heron preens. Oystercatchers, bright bills tucked under their wings, sleep standing. Two yellow-crowned night-herons hunt.

“We’ve got to move on.”

“Already?” Eden pulls her eye away from the camera’s viewfinder to look at her watch. She notes with surprise that more than an hour has passed.

“C’mon. Let me show you Darwin’s Toilet.”

Curiosity piqued, Eden scrambles to her feet and joins the others.

“That,” Bolivar points to an old lava tube, “is Darwin’s Toilet.”

Our intrepid heroines watch in fascination as the action of the sea moves water in and out of the vertical cave. It looks – and sounds – just like a flushing toilet. (To see and hear Darwin’s Toilet flush, click here.)

Making crappy jokes the whole time, the audacious adventurers hike back to the beach and don their snorkel gear.

Puerto Egas’ waters are bustling. A sea lion glides by nonchalantly. Colorful fish dart to and fro. A shark prowls the shallows. A sea turtle swims alongside Eden, who is thrilled and awed.

“Everybody in!”

“Already?”

As our fearless females rest and refuel, the Mistral cruises past lava islets sprouting giant opuntia cactus to anchor at Isla Bartolomé, where a hot, sweaty schlep up 370 specially built wooden steps rewards the dynamic duo with a fabulous view of iconic Pinnacle Rock.

They return eagerly to the landing site to board the “photographer’s panga,” which lingers long amongst the penguins and white-tipped reef sharks that dwell along the coast.

“We’d better get back,” Bolivar says, revving the engine.

“Already?”

The race is on to return to the Mistral before the last of the light fades from the sky.

“Whoowheeeee!” the panga’s five passengers holler gleefully each time the little craft hits a wave and goes airborne.

The Mistral’s decks are bustling. Fernando, the cook, serves another mouth-watering meal he miraculously manages to make in the ship’s tiny, rocking kitchen. Eden and Miko chat comfortably with their fellow travelers. Bolivar briefs the group on what to expect tomorrow.   

Another glorious day in Galápagos comes to a close.

Yes, already.

© Eden Feuer