A Way to Remember My Trips: Day 4 on the Samba

Friday January 27, 2017

If I remember correctly we had a super long overnight navigation. Sleeping on the boat when it's moving is actually really easy- at least for me. The motor and rocking is very soothing. The problem is when the boat stops and drops anchor. Our room is right next to the anchor and it is so loud! Some people were bothered by the diesel fumes but I didn't think it was too bad. There was a small issue with the fumes on the boat from the wastewater. I know Brandon's parents' room always smelled bad. Ours only occasionally smelled bad- I think when the tank got really full? I'm not sure how it's emptied but I suspect that when we're in open water away from land the ship can empty the tank so some days it was noticeable and others it wasn't.

I also can't believe I don't have a single picture of our room! It was a bunk bed and very small but cozy. You definitely need to back light for a boat trip. There were two drawers under the bunk and then a few hooks along the wall and some mini-shelves and that's you're only storage room. The bathroom had a small shower and sink and toilet obviously. It is really hard to shower on a moving boat! I really have no complaints about our room or bathroom though I do wish there had been a hair dryer though.

We packed super light and brought backpacks that didn't take up much space in our room. I also brought some travel packs of laundry detergent so I did some laundry in the sink a few times. There were clotheslines around the boat and the sun is so intense that you can hang something up and it's dry in a few hours. This was also my first trip using packing cubes which were a huge help since I could just throw them in my drawer and didn't even have to unpack. I definitely recommend them for any trip!

Our two stops today on Isabela Island in red. Punta Albemarle on the northern tip and Punta Vicente Roca towards the northwest tip (which looks like the mouth of a seahorse)

Anyway, we spent today at a few spots on Isabela Island. In the morning we were at Punta Albemarle where we went kayaking. I was actually pretty good at sea kayaking and had fun. The water was really rough though. There was a small cove we should have kayaked into but the entrance was small and the waves were huge so we transferred to the tenders and took those in. The cove was so interesting. We saw flightless cormorants for the first time and a few Galapagos hawks and marine iguanas. There were also sea lions and Santiago told us that the sea lions herd tuna into the cove and kill them on the rocks. Unfortunately we didn't see that! I don't have any pictures since we were kayaking and I didn't bring my camera.

We got back on the boat and had about 3 hours to navigate to Punta Vicente Roca (PVR) during which we passed the Equator. I guess it's a thing on the boat to celebrate this because the crew called us into the cabin and gave us pina coladas and we all counted down until the navigation equipment said 0.

The scenery during the trip to PVR

Celebrating passing the equator!

Anxiously awaiting the equator!

Once we got to PVR we went snorkeling. We had to wear wetsuits since on this side of the island we are getting the freezing current from the south. Even in a wetsuit the water was SO COLD. After awhile my hands started going numb! The snorkeling was fun though since there were penguins! We also saw octopus, sea turtles and sea lions. There was a huge cave to go into and it was interesting swimming along the walls with tons of birds and schools of fish.

After snorkeling we went on a tender ride so the pictures below are from when we were in the tender. I liked the combination of snorkeling and riding in a boat in the same area since you see totally different things in the same spot depending on whether you're under water or in a boat.