The rest of the Galapaos

Journaling in paradise, is little more than a chore. Therefore, I did not do it very well. I can describe the rest of the Galapagos as a whole.
each day began in similar manner, with our guide waking us up at 6:00 in the morning. He called us each by name, and would often include a special and heart warming message. His repertoire of animal sounds is however extensive! He imitates to perfection the majority of the animals on the islands. He would call upon this most necessary skill to help us get out of bed. On the third day, he encouraged us to "wake up please, and bring the soul and body together to breakfast!" His wake up calls grew to be an excellent part of the trip for all of those involved.
I had only one incidence with sea sickness on the trip. This was a rather humbling incident for me given that I consider myself a sailor. I guess, in reality, I am 95% poser and 5% sailor. Either way, I had not expected to be showing any signs of land lubber, at least until I lost my land lubber lunch! Old man sea was furious and must have been heaving three to four foot seas at us! I mean, 70-80 foot seas. I walked out on the bow to observe the plankton, when all of a sudden, my stomach and I began to argue. "I do not want this dinner", it told me. "Well you wanted it an hour ago", I retorted. That is when I came to a realization. Like a three year old child in a toy store, my own stomach betrayed me and began to throw a tantrum. It also began to throw a little more than that. Without going into to graphic details, I spent just a moment looking closely at the water over the side of the boat before excusing myself to my cabin. Strangely enough, a strange sense of satisfaction came over me, and I heard some weird voice in my head mutter something about giving back to Poseidon.
The next day, I felt ten times better. Which is good because of all the adventure that was had. Primarily with the snorkeling. There were rumors of sharks cropping up amongst those of us who were preparing ourselves to dive to the unknown depths. Mostly because our guide told us there were going to be sharks. I was excited and wondered what my reaction would be when I was in the water with one. I did not have to wait long.
After a few minutes of getting used to the water, we were underway. I was brightly colored starfish, Incredible corals, and more than a few interesting looking fish. Then it happened. I saw a shark! I thought, "cool, I want to get closer" so I did. I dove and followed the guy for a few minutes. He was about six feet long, Galapagos shark. Very manly, very cool.
When we returned to the boat, the captain casually informed me that we could jump off of the top of the boat if we wanted to. I wanted to, so I did. I have always thought that scary things were easier to face, if you did not think about it. So after a few minutes, I stepped up to the edge, peered at the beautiful water more than 30' below, and leaped. I shouted a cheerful "wahoo!" on the way down. Later, all of my fellow students joined me.
The rest of our time was spent observing the incredible creatures that inhabit the Galapagos islands. Including but not limited to the elusive Blue Footed Booby (No laughing), Pink Flamingos, and one of my favorites, the Albatross!
I am not a good gift giver, but thought that I ought try to bring some type of souvenir back to the states for my lovely fiance. The problem is that she seems to want almost nothing...except a picture of the blue footed booby. Proud to say, I made it happen!
One of my favorite experiences in Galapagos was seeing the Albatross take off. This particular bird has a wingspan of 6-7 feet! It is simply to big to just start flying. Instead, it clumsily waddles up to the edge of a cliff, tests the wind, and flings itself over the edge. It uses the updraft of wind to gain its momentum. I got lucky enough to see this in action.
each day we would return to the boat and enjoy the best meals that one can imagine. This was an excellent way to allow the things that we had seen digest. Overall our time in the Galapagos islands was cut too short. We returned back to the mundane world. The world without albatrosses, boat jumping, and sea lions. But then I remembered, the world isn't mundane anyway. Just a different type of cool.