Friday, January 30, 2009
Day 16 – Jan 29 – Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Today was Easter Island, so named because the Europeans discovered it on Easter day. The local name is Rapa Nui. It is the eastern-most Polynesian island.
We are 2000 miles west of South Americas west coast, but since Chile owns Easter Island, we are still on eastern time (same as west coast South America)! This is weird because Galapagos (1800 mile east of us) was on central time. We will change one time zone each day on the ship for the next 5 days in a row.
In addition to being so remote, the unique item on the islands is the giant stone heads. These are called Moai (moe-eye). They weigh up to 80 tons (typically 20 to 30 tons), were carved in a quarry, then moved up to 9 miles and erected. They always face away from the sea. (Luke stayed on board, so we do not have pictures of him on the island.) The original ones had white coral outer eyes with black coral eye centers. Only one picture shows one that has this original reproduction. There are 887 of these giant monoliths round the island. Some had red stone cylinders placed on their heads. These “topknots” were carved in a single quarry and when standing next to one, it was at least 6 ft. tall. Hard to believe they were carved around 1000-1100 AD.
There are 4000 to 5000 inhabitants. The higher number is in summer when kids return from mainland. There are more wild horses than humans. So one has to be careful driving especially at night because of the horses crossing the roads!
They only have 57,000 tourists per year. This is not an easy place to get to.
Showing respect for those of you in Ohio and Chicago, I will not comment about problems with excessive sun exposure.
We are 2000 miles west of South Americas west coast, but since Chile owns Easter Island, we are still on eastern time (same as west coast South America)! This is weird because Galapagos (1800 mile east of us) was on central time. We will change one time zone each day on the ship for the next 5 days in a row.
In addition to being so remote, the unique item on the islands is the giant stone heads. These are called Moai (moe-eye). They weigh up to 80 tons (typically 20 to 30 tons), were carved in a quarry, then moved up to 9 miles and erected. They always face away from the sea. (Luke stayed on board, so we do not have pictures of him on the island.) The original ones had white coral outer eyes with black coral eye centers. Only one picture shows one that has this original reproduction. There are 887 of these giant monoliths round the island. Some had red stone cylinders placed on their heads. These “topknots” were carved in a single quarry and when standing next to one, it was at least 6 ft. tall. Hard to believe they were carved around 1000-1100 AD.
There are 4000 to 5000 inhabitants. The higher number is in summer when kids return from mainland. There are more wild horses than humans. So one has to be careful driving especially at night because of the horses crossing the roads!
They only have 57,000 tourists per year. This is not an easy place to get to.
Showing respect for those of you in Ohio and Chicago, I will not comment about problems with excessive sun exposure.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Day 13 – In the Middle of Nowhere
There is nothing by sea around us. You see no shore and no other ships in any direction, and it stays that way all day. At some point today we’ll be 1000 miles west of Peru, 1000 miles east of Easter Island, and further than that from anything north or south. Also, its 2-1/2 miles down to the ocean floor. You cannot get much more remote than this.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Day 12 – At Sea
We left Lima, Peru, yesterday at 1:00 pm and are sailing west, almost directly from the coast. We have 2000 miles of sea until our next stop at Easter Island. We have 4 sea days in a row, so we’ll not have a lot to post over the next days. This part of the trip will have the highest proportion of sea days. The end of the cruise, when we are in Europe, will have 5 or 6 port days each week.
Perspective from Galapagos on Managing Tourism
The Galapagos postings start at the bottom and run upward. After the daily logs are photos. You should read those items before this one. Here I want to share a perspective from the visit.
There are 14 separate islands in Galapagos. The one we were on for day 1 had 18,000 people, day 2’s had 2,000 people, and the day 3’s had only 125 people. The islands are far apart: about 40 to 50 miles of sea. That made it painful and time consuming to get to other islands.
One friend (Claudia Hale) said she heard that they want to limit or stop tourism in Galapagos. Our tour guide said that was partly true. They want to stop tourism to some of the less-populated islands, but keep it on the developed islands.
This opens the question of who “they” are. About half of all jobs are related to tourism, so tourism is important to the economy, and local governments want it to continue. However, 97% of the land belongs to the National Park Service. This ruling body would be happy with zero tourism. So they place lots of permitting constraints and fees on tourism.
There are about 600 to 1000 tourists on the islands at any one time. The truth is, I don’t think the systems could support tourism at a level of 5,000 per day. Sewage is a problem. Too many people would also overwhelm the animals. The sea lions would probably no long swim with guests. The tortoises would probably catch illnesses from that many humans.
So what happens longer term? Do you have to apply for a visit permit and get assigned a slot? Picture being told that you were approved for a visit, but it was for July, 2017. I can see this happening in future decades. This makes us feel lucky that we are seeing all that we plan on this cruise.
There are 14 separate islands in Galapagos. The one we were on for day 1 had 18,000 people, day 2’s had 2,000 people, and the day 3’s had only 125 people. The islands are far apart: about 40 to 50 miles of sea. That made it painful and time consuming to get to other islands.
One friend (Claudia Hale) said she heard that they want to limit or stop tourism in Galapagos. Our tour guide said that was partly true. They want to stop tourism to some of the less-populated islands, but keep it on the developed islands.
This opens the question of who “they” are. About half of all jobs are related to tourism, so tourism is important to the economy, and local governments want it to continue. However, 97% of the land belongs to the National Park Service. This ruling body would be happy with zero tourism. So they place lots of permitting constraints and fees on tourism.
There are about 600 to 1000 tourists on the islands at any one time. The truth is, I don’t think the systems could support tourism at a level of 5,000 per day. Sewage is a problem. Too many people would also overwhelm the animals. The sea lions would probably no long swim with guests. The tortoises would probably catch illnesses from that many humans.
So what happens longer term? Do you have to apply for a visit permit and get assigned a slot? Picture being told that you were approved for a visit, but it was for July, 2017. I can see this happening in future decades. This makes us feel lucky that we are seeing all that we plan on this cruise.
Tortoises 3
1) Kathleen and Dave with a tortoise.
2) A close-up of a big guy.
3) Luke meets a big guy.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Day 11 – Jan 24 – Return to Ship
We had to get up at 5:00 am to catch a 2-hour flight to Lima, Peru to rejoin the ship. We are tired and will do little today other than catch up on the blog and other “ship stuff.”
We are now back on the ship. That’s why all of the posts you’ll see today.
We are now back on the ship. That’s why all of the posts you’ll see today.
Day 10 – Jan 23 – Leaving Galapagos.
We went to the Darwin Center in the morning before leaving for our flight back. Darwin had done a lot of his work in Galapagos because it had unique species that were undisturbed by outsiders. Further, each island evolved independently. For example, there are 14 distinct species of giant tortoises. The ones in the highlands have short necks and a shell that is not too high in the front, because food is easy to reach. The ones in the lowlands have long necks and an arch in the front of the shell because they have to reach upward for food higher off the ground.
I've read that the science community think Darwin may have made more remarkable contributions than even Einstein. The popular summary that the public often sees that he said than man evolved from apes upsets me because it misses the important parts. I say a quote that I really liked that seems a better summary: "the successful species long term will not been the most intelligent nor the strongest, but the one that best adapts to environmental changes."
We saw lots of tortoises here. There was one section where 6 males, all at least 2 feet wide, 3 feet long, and 2 feet high were active and eating. We have pictures of us within a foot or so of them.
We had two flights back to Equador. We spent the night in the capital city of Quito.
We had a nice dinner at a local hotel, and had a surprise half hour of opera singers at our table.
I've read that the science community think Darwin may have made more remarkable contributions than even Einstein. The popular summary that the public often sees that he said than man evolved from apes upsets me because it misses the important parts. I say a quote that I really liked that seems a better summary: "the successful species long term will not been the most intelligent nor the strongest, but the one that best adapts to environmental changes."
We saw lots of tortoises here. There was one section where 6 males, all at least 2 feet wide, 3 feet long, and 2 feet high were active and eating. We have pictures of us within a foot or so of them.
We had two flights back to Equador. We spent the night in the capital city of Quito.
We had a nice dinner at a local hotel, and had a surprise half hour of opera singers at our table.
Day 9 – Jan 22 – Galapagos 3
The schedule was to take a speed boat to a 3rd island: Floreana. This island has a population of only 125 people. It was going to be another 2 hour boat ride to and from the island. Kathleen and I decided to skip this trip and pay to go snorkeling instead on the first island.
This was a nice choice. It was only a 10 minute boat ride to a shore with lots of sea lions. We had wet suits and swam with the sea lions. One passed less than one foot underneath me, and he was bigger than I am. Kathleen had wanted to get close to one, but when I assisted her in getting closer than about 6 feet, she decided that was close enough.
We had some free time because of this choice, so were able to go to the place in town where they prepped the fish they caught that day. There were about 10 pelicans and 1 sea lion hanging around the workers. These animals were used as garbage disposals for the fish skins. They were funny to watch as they tried to sneak past each other to be the one that got the fish skins.
This was a nice choice. It was only a 10 minute boat ride to a shore with lots of sea lions. We had wet suits and swam with the sea lions. One passed less than one foot underneath me, and he was bigger than I am. Kathleen had wanted to get close to one, but when I assisted her in getting closer than about 6 feet, she decided that was close enough.
We had some free time because of this choice, so were able to go to the place in town where they prepped the fish they caught that day. There were about 10 pelicans and 1 sea lion hanging around the workers. These animals were used as garbage disposals for the fish skins. They were funny to watch as they tried to sneak past each other to be the one that got the fish skins.
Day 8 – Jan 21 – Galapagos 2
We traveled to the largest island, Isabela. It was 45 miles by water, so we were 2-1/2 hours in a speed boat for 15 people to get there. At the end of the day we had to return. This was “only” 2 hours due to current. This part was painful.
Isabela had been used as a prison, so we saw a 30 foot tall wall made from lava stone that had been built by prisoners. There was no purpose for the wall other than to make prisoners work. Lots of them died.
The highlight of this day was a Giant Tortoise Reserve where they bread the tortoises. They are very successful. They had about 700 tortoises, ranging from eggs and babies to 50+ year olds. (Again photos will be above later.)
We saw sharks and tropical penguins (only warm weather penguins know are in Galapagos).
There are also birds that look a lot like penguins that are about 15 inches tall, and have bright, light-blue feet. These birds are called blue foot boobies. When you take pictures of these birds, or any animals on Galapagos, you are not allowed to use flash photograph. That’s right ladies, in Galapagos you are not supposed to “flash the boobies.”
Isabela had been used as a prison, so we saw a 30 foot tall wall made from lava stone that had been built by prisoners. There was no purpose for the wall other than to make prisoners work. Lots of them died.
The highlight of this day was a Giant Tortoise Reserve where they bread the tortoises. They are very successful. They had about 700 tortoises, ranging from eggs and babies to 50+ year olds. (Again photos will be above later.)
We saw sharks and tropical penguins (only warm weather penguins know are in Galapagos).
There are also birds that look a lot like penguins that are about 15 inches tall, and have bright, light-blue feet. These birds are called blue foot boobies. When you take pictures of these birds, or any animals on Galapagos, you are not allowed to use flash photograph. That’s right ladies, in Galapagos you are not supposed to “flash the boobies.”
Day 7 – Jan 20 – Galapagos 1
Today we left the ship after it docked in Equador for 4 nights away on our Galapagos excursion. Getting there was half the effort, but not half the fun. We left the ship at 6:30 am for a 3-1/2 hour bus ride to the airport, then a 1-1/2 hour flight to Galapagos. Once we arrived, we had a 10 minute bus ride to a ferry, the ferry crossing, then another bus about 45 minutes to the hotel. But we had 3 excursion stops and lunch along the way.
Galapagos is an archepelgo of volcanic islands, similar to Hawaii. There are 12 separate islands. We stayed three nights on the island that we landed on: Santa Cruz. We visited Santa Cruz the first day, then had trips to two other islands scheduled for days 2 and 3.
As we left the airport, we were surprised that this part of the island did not look like the tropical rain forest that we expected. It looks more like Santa Fe: dry, brown, desert-like. As we drove onward, we went up the mountain. Now it looked like a tropical forest, and we had the typical tropical forest afternoon rain.
Our first stop was at the top of the mountain. There were two twin craters where the volcano had collapsed when the lava stopped exiting at that point. The craters were about 100 yards across and 100 yards deep, with vertical walls.
We had lunch then went to a “farm” where there were the giant tortoises roaming freely. This looked more like a wild field with trees and shrubs, than a farm. There were cows and tortoises intermixed. We could go right up next to them, but were not supposed to touch them. It ends up we saw tortoises 3 times during the trip. (I’ll post photos later above after I enter the daily texts.)
Finally we went through a lava tube. This is an underground tunnel where the lava had flowed. It was like a miniature version of Mamoth Cave. It was about 500 meters long, 10-20 meters wide, and 10 meter tall, although there were places where the ceiling was low enough that we had to do the duck walk. The owner had installed electric lights, but in the US they would never have you go through this type of space without a personal light.
Galapagos is an archepelgo of volcanic islands, similar to Hawaii. There are 12 separate islands. We stayed three nights on the island that we landed on: Santa Cruz. We visited Santa Cruz the first day, then had trips to two other islands scheduled for days 2 and 3.
As we left the airport, we were surprised that this part of the island did not look like the tropical rain forest that we expected. It looks more like Santa Fe: dry, brown, desert-like. As we drove onward, we went up the mountain. Now it looked like a tropical forest, and we had the typical tropical forest afternoon rain.
Our first stop was at the top of the mountain. There were two twin craters where the volcano had collapsed when the lava stopped exiting at that point. The craters were about 100 yards across and 100 yards deep, with vertical walls.
We had lunch then went to a “farm” where there were the giant tortoises roaming freely. This looked more like a wild field with trees and shrubs, than a farm. There were cows and tortoises intermixed. We could go right up next to them, but were not supposed to touch them. It ends up we saw tortoises 3 times during the trip. (I’ll post photos later above after I enter the daily texts.)
Finally we went through a lava tube. This is an underground tunnel where the lava had flowed. It was like a miniature version of Mamoth Cave. It was about 500 meters long, 10-20 meters wide, and 10 meter tall, although there were places where the ceiling was low enough that we had to do the duck walk. The owner had installed electric lights, but in the US they would never have you go through this type of space without a personal light.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Jan 19
Today we sailed across the equator. This is an important event on ships. Anyone who has not crossed is a “pollywog,” and those who have crossed are “shellbacks.” Heavy hazing happens here as a right-of-passage aboard naval ships. We had some much milder silliness on ours.
Kathleen and I have been good about hitting the gym. We’ve run and lifted for 4 times out of the 5 days so far. It is difficult to weigh oneself since the ship rocking adds about a 6-lb swing in weight based upon the ship’s acceleration.
I expect that I’ll break my Diet Pepsi habit. You pay for soft drinks, and a “fill whenever you want” glass costs over $5 per day. I am not going to spend $600 on Diet Pepsi for the trip, so one minor bad habit will be broken.
We leave the ship Tuesday for our Galapagos trip. We’ll be off the ship 4 nights, so we’ll be even more unreachable. I’m not taking the computer, so no more postings likely until Sat.
This should be an interesting excursion. Lots of animals, and so long as we do not initiate contact, they are said to approach us. One event is snorkeling with sea lions, where they frequently brush against you. We’ll see.
Kathleen and I have been good about hitting the gym. We’ve run and lifted for 4 times out of the 5 days so far. It is difficult to weigh oneself since the ship rocking adds about a 6-lb swing in weight based upon the ship’s acceleration.
I expect that I’ll break my Diet Pepsi habit. You pay for soft drinks, and a “fill whenever you want” glass costs over $5 per day. I am not going to spend $600 on Diet Pepsi for the trip, so one minor bad habit will be broken.
We leave the ship Tuesday for our Galapagos trip. We’ll be off the ship 4 nights, so we’ll be even more unreachable. I’m not taking the computer, so no more postings likely until Sat.
This should be an interesting excursion. Lots of animals, and so long as we do not initiate contact, they are said to approach us. One event is snorkeling with sea lions, where they frequently brush against you. We’ll see.
Panama Canal - Jan 18
We went through the Panama Canal Sunday. Here are a few pictures.
4) This is the Queen Victoria cruise ship going through the Atlantic-side locks with us. It had only 2 feet of clearance on each side.
3) This is a photo looking back from our ship as we were completing the final lock on the Atlantic side.
1) This is taken in the 9 mile channel one the Pacific side where the canal cuts through the continental divide.
2) This is a picture of me and my retired navy captain friend. The ship in the background is only about 20 yards away from us. It looked like a cargo container could easily drop on us.
4) This is the Queen Victoria cruise ship going through the Atlantic-side locks with us. It had only 2 feet of clearance on each side.
3) This is a photo looking back from our ship as we were completing the final lock on the Atlantic side.
1) This is taken in the 9 mile channel one the Pacific side where the canal cuts through the continental divide.
2) This is a picture of me and my retired navy captain friend. The ship in the background is only about 20 yards away from us. It looked like a cargo container could easily drop on us.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Entering Panama Canal
Sat (Jan 17)was a day at sea. We had an interesting guest lecture by Scott Ritter, the UN arms inspector in Iraq. Very interesting. He gave a lot of detail about what was known, and when it was known…and why it was known. He said that at one point James Wolsey, head of CIA, told him that it did not matter what they found or did not find, the US position was going to remain that there were 12 to 20 missiles hidden…in other words, the US wanted an excuse regardless of truth.
I’m posting this Sunday morning as we are entering the initial locks of the Panama canal. I’ll post more on this later.
I met a retired navy captain whose last trip through the Panama canal was when he was in command of a ship larger than our cruise boat. I promised that I’d buy him a beer for this trip through since that was not possible for his previous trip.
I’m posting this Sunday morning as we are entering the initial locks of the Panama canal. I’ll post more on this later.
I met a retired navy captain whose last trip through the Panama canal was when he was in command of a ship larger than our cruise boat. I promised that I’d buy him a beer for this trip through since that was not possible for his previous trip.
Friday, January 16, 2009
January 15
This is a “sea day.” About half of the days of the cruise will be at sea, and half in a port. We spent the day learning the ship and meeting other passengers. The ship rounded the western tip of Cuba late afternoon and headed south toward Grand Cayman.
The winds were strong during the evening and night…about 40 miles per hour into the bow of the ship. Kathleen does not like rough seas.
The winds were strong during the evening and night…about 40 miles per hour into the bow of the ship. Kathleen does not like rough seas.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Jan 14 -- It Begins
This was our departure day. Our friends, Gary and Carol Parnel, drove us from Naples to Ft. Lauderdale. This meant we had much less difficulty with luggage than the passengers who flew in.
We brought a lot: 15 items in all! We had 4 checked bags, 6 boxes (all the size of a wine carton), 1 bag containing a foam bed cover, a carton of water, a garment bag, and 2 carry-ons. I didn’t count our computers. This seems like a lot…and it is. But it doesn’t seem like that much when you think this is the only portion of our stuff that we decided we needed to live for 1/3rd of a year.
It took us over an hour to unpack. The room is nice. We are glad that we decided to get the larger room.
The ship looks like the big 3,000-passenger ships, just shrunk a bit…maybe 2/3rd the size in all 3 dimensions. The seas have been calm so far, but it is clear that the ship “rocks” a bit more than the bigger ones. Kathleen does not yet have her sea legs.
Dave
We brought a lot: 15 items in all! We had 4 checked bags, 6 boxes (all the size of a wine carton), 1 bag containing a foam bed cover, a carton of water, a garment bag, and 2 carry-ons. I didn’t count our computers. This seems like a lot…and it is. But it doesn’t seem like that much when you think this is the only portion of our stuff that we decided we needed to live for 1/3rd of a year.
It took us over an hour to unpack. The room is nice. We are glad that we decided to get the larger room.
The ship looks like the big 3,000-passenger ships, just shrunk a bit…maybe 2/3rd the size in all 3 dimensions. The seas have been calm so far, but it is clear that the ship “rocks” a bit more than the bigger ones. Kathleen does not yet have her sea legs.
Dave
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