The Scent of Adventure

June 18, 2002

Welcome to Episode 2 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Galápagos…

Eden and Miko stop amongst a profusion of blue and white moonflowers to wipe the sweat off their brows. The humidity is stifling.

“Funky,” Eden pronounces, surveying the surprisingly lush landscape of this part of Isla Isabela.

Its inhabitants are even funkier. A large male land iguana, still yellow from the mating season, saunters across the trail. Giant tortoises munch languidly on the overgrown vegetation.

Medical necessity calls our intrepid heroines and their companions away from the funky flora and fauna and back to the landing site. Ariel, a fellow passenger, has been running a fever that shows no signs of abating, so arrangements have been made for the Mistral to rendezvous with a ship that has a doctor aboard.

The doctor determines that Ariel is in no danger and soon the Mistral is once again underway.

Isla Fernandina is a wonderland of sally lightfoot crabs and sea lions. Huge marine iguanas bask in the sun. A lava heron in search of a meal perches on the edge of the pahoehoe lava.

Our fearless females are lured from the tidepools by nesting flightless cormorants. The turquoise-eyed birds, endemic to just two islands, are among the world’s rarest; at last count there were fewer than 1,400 individuals.

As if to drive home the humbling awareness of the fragility of life that inevitably accompanies encountering an endangered animal in the wild, the explorers stumble across a newborn sea lion resting by its exhausted mother.

“Umm, what’s that?” someone asks, pointing to a gelatinous red blob on the sand.

“That’s the placenta,” Bolivar, the naturalist guide, explains. “Still untouched by scavengers. The pup is probably less than an hour old.”

The party lingers by the sea lions until Bolivar calls out, “Dolphins! They’re not far. Let’s get back to the boat. We might be able to catch up with them!”

The chase is on! Hopeful, eager, and anxious, the Mistral’s passengers lean over the rail, only taking their eyes off the dolphins long enough to admire a passing fin whale.

And suddenly, the ship is surrounded by a large pod. Dolphins are riding the bow waves and leaping acrobatically. Delighted, the watching humans point and clap and cheer like children.

Eden seriously contemplates jumping into the cold, jellyfish-infested waters for a chance to swim with the dolphins. Uncharacteristically, she demonstrates some common sense and refrains, though several of the other passengers do make the attempt. It is all for naught, though, and they return to the ship shivering and covered in jellyfish stings. To ease their pain, Bolivar douses the swimmers in vinegar; for the rest of the night, the Mistral reeks of it.

“Doesn’t smell too bad in here,” Eden notes as our intrepid heroines step into their tiny cabin.

“Only because for once you didn’t go overboard.”

© Eden Feuer

In Darwin's Footsteps

June 17, 2002

Welcome to Episode 1 of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Galápagos…

“Eek!”

Miko’s cry of surprise is only slightly muffled by her snorkel.

It is echoed by the other swimmers once they, too, spot the creatures that have materialized in the murky waters of Isla Isabela's Tagus Cove.

Playful sea lions cavort and frolic within touching distance. Clearly curious penguins come right up to masks.

Eden is entranced – and sorely missing her underwater camera, which flooded during the previous day’s snorkeling excursion.

Over lunch aboard the Mistral, the 74-foot motor yacht that is serving as home for the duration of the cruise, our intrepid heroines and their nine fellow travelers marvel and struggle for words to describe the experience. Amazing. Intense. Spiritual. None of them is quite adequate.

The promise of encounters of this kind, the opportunity to come face to face with species found nowhere else in the world – this is the siren song of the Enchanted Isles. It is that song that has beckoned to Eden over the years, sometimes loudly and insistently, other times quietly and gently, inexorably luring her to this volcanic archipelago off the coast of Ecuador.

But even Miko, who prefers a little more distance between her and a wild animal, cannot help but succumb to the spell cast by gular sac-inflating frigatebirds, dancing blue-footed boobies, and salt-snorting marine iguanas.

The magic does not dissipate in the searing midday heat of the Equator. The Mistral drops anchor at Elizabeth Bay and the travelers take to pangas (inflatable rafts similar to Zodiac boats) to view “tree lions,” Galápagos sea lions that climb mangrove trees and rest in their shade instead of hauling out on beaches and sunning themselves. Pacific green and hawksbill turtles, clearly visible in the shallow, clear waters of the lagoon, glide by gracefully.

Under the watchful eye of a circling Galápagos hawk, the panga makes its way out of the mangroves. The sun is low in the sky, the light golden and glorious, as the small boat passes three tiny islands in the bay where endemic penguins and sea lions pose next to giant prickly pear cacti. It is, Eden notes, a surreal juxtaposition - one that is only made possible by the odd alchemy of the Enchanted Isles. 

Be sure to tune in to Episode 2, when Yumiko and Eden go in search of that most symbolic of Galápagos fauna, the giant tortoise.

 © Eden Feuer

Spin the Bottle

Original airdate: March 9, 2008

Two Crazy Chicks Productions is pleased to present the seventh and final episode of The Adventures of Yumiko and Eden in Mexico. 

Joking and laughter dominate the group's final evening together. Most people are sensible enough to go to bed at a decent hour, but, as has become their custom, our intrepid heroines party with their hard-drinking cronies until they are kicked out of the hotel bar.

Thus it is quite late by the time Miko and Eden return to their room. Yumiko falls into bed exhausted, but Eden, aware that the damiana bottle is at stake, forces herself to stay awake and work on the word puzzles. She solves the first 36 with ease, but soon must concede that she is too tired to continue. Reluctantly, she turns out the light with a vow that she will tackle the rest first thing in the morning.

But between the howling of the wind and the caterwauling of the hotel's resident cats, there is little rest for the wicked and the weary. Bleary-eyed, our fearless females fumble through breakfast and stumble onto the bus at 7:30.

They perk up during a short hike to see some cave paintings. Several local school children and the more able-bodied among the tour group assist the elderly and less agile and everyone negotiates the trail without mishap.

To keep the natives from getting too restless on the long ride, Karla puts them to work making origami whales to decorate the bus' windows. Naturally, Yumiko's whale is the sexiest of all, its crisp folds and perfectly curled spout made with the precision, patience, and creativity that only an anal-retentive, detail-oriented, Tokyo-raised architect can muster.

Seeing others working steadily away on the word games, Eden ignores her tendency to get sick when reading on a moving vehicle and hunkers down, all her focus centered on solving the puzzles and winning the damiana bottle.

But will it be enough? Her competition is clever, highly educated, and well-traveled. And the clock is ticking away relentlessly. Yumiko tries to reassure her, but by the time the bus stops for lunch, Eden is anxious, uncertain, and uneasy (not to mention a bit nauseous).

Lunch comes to and end and the bus resumes its journey north. The moment of truth has arrived. Karla reviews the answers to the word puzzles. With bated breath, the tour group awaits the final tally and the announcement of the victor.

It is… Eden!

Karla hands over the bottle to an exultant Eden, who cradles it in her arms and caresses it lovingly. "I'd just like to thank all of the little people who made this possible," she says, pretending to choke up.

Lively conversation and friendly banter help pass the time. All too soon, the bus pulls in front of a hotel in Estero Beach. It is here that most of the group from California's central coast disembarks; 20 of them have arranged to extend their stay in Mexico for two days to allow them to explore Baja's wine country.

"Hey, why don't you join us?" The invitation is extended by the group's de facto leader and is echoed by the others.

"I wish we could."

"Well then, when the whales migrate back north, we're having a party at a Mexican restaurant overlooking the ocean. We'll drink margaritas and toast the whales. We'd love for you to be there."

With genuine regret our intrepid heroines say their goodbyes and reboard the bus. It makes its way to Ensenada, where the remaining passengers decide to forgo shopping in favor of drinking. They head for Hussong's Cantina, birthplace of the margarita.

The floor of Hussong's is littered with peanut shells. The air is scented with smoke, sunscreen, and lime. Cruise ship passengers and locals alike crowd small tables. A mariachi band plays loudly for two comically drunk Mexicans.

Downing margaritas here, where the drink was invented, seems a fitting final activity. The group finishes its libations. It's time – unfortunately – to bring this epic journey to a close.

© Eden Feuer