The water is clear, the future: less so

January 12, 2009		 prior travelogue all travelogues and images next travelogue

The transition back to Santa Cruz was painfully early but uneventful. After a late morning arrival, Glenn and I settled into the new pad, and looked around for something to fill the afternoon. We settled on a brackish water swimming hole on the other side of the harbor. The trail was longer then expected, a bit awkward, and not quite as well marked as one might hope. Still, we only got seriously off track once and we did reach our destination: Las Grietas, a steep walled canyon-like structure filled with somewhat chilly water.



We swam, scampered over rocks to find two more chambers, and returned. Few who shared the experience seemed to speak any English at all. We chatted a bit with a bikini clad woman from Alaska (she thought the water temperature was quite nice) but ultimately parted ways.

 photo of canyon
The next day, we boarded the dive boat for the 2.5 hour trek to Floreana. The was quite clear, very photo friendly and nearly as transparent as the Santa Fe. Several rays at close range, semi-cooperative puffer fish. spotted eagle ray
On the second dive we swam through an enormous shoal. At one point it was difficult to see the other divers because of the thousands of fish blocking my view.

This was a rather experienced bunch of divers. I had to careful with my air consumption so that I would not limited the duration of the dive. 55 minutes, 1:05. It has been a while since I have been under that water for that long. I was a little concerned about the nitrogen exposure given that we were flying out the next day but that turned out OK.

There seemed a fair bit of camaraderie among the divers with Scuba Iguana. It felt a little sad and awkward that our first dive day with the group would also be our last.

 diver and fish

But that's what it had to be. I never seriously considered extending my stay in the Galapagos. It is much too expensive a place to serve as a hideout from the economic crisis. Mainland Ecuador and Peru, on the other hand, had potential. But that potential will not be realized.

It came down to a dollar and cents judgment: Was the value of an airline ticket worth the career risk of not being ready when my market value is highest? I judged that it was not.

And so here I am. I caught a glimpse of the Andes in the evening and morning twilight of Quito. I caught a taste of mainland Ecuadorian food (fried guinna pig of all things) but I explore no further. I go back home. I prepare for a new jobs. I do a bit of unpaid work to encourage my "current" job to live again. In parallel, I plan another low budget megatrip. If the best I can do is wait, then maybe it's time to finally do Madagascar.