Long distance information, get me Memphis, Tennessee - 20 April 2009

We spent most of today in Aqaba, basking in the joys of civilization. We took our time getting ready and managed to miss the hotel-provided breakfast - DARN, no hummus to start my day!

We found our way to an internet cafe for Jennifer to take care of more of her fellowship related paperwork, which has turned into a real hassle along the way. Let's just say there will be significant unreimbursed work expenses on the taxes next year.

I'm not officially saying that we've mailed it in, but lunch was at McDonald's and then we found a gelato place for milkshakes.

We tried to visit the bookstore recommended by the Lonely Planet, but it was open from 7:30 - 12:00 and from 4:00 - 10:00. We got there at 12:30 and our bus left at 4:00. There was a special stop, though, at the liquor store since that's such a novelty.

A stifling bus ride later and we're in Wadi Rum:

Here are our luxurious sleeping arrangements. You'll hear more about them tomorrow:

There was a decent buffet and even some music and dancing:

While we were hanging out a guy came up and asked if he could interview me. It was a graduate student named Tony from Memphis, TN. He was working with an NGO in the region and basically gathering information about tourists in Wadi Rum.

What I found interesting is that while the camp we're staying in is owned by Jordanians, it's actually mainly staffed with Egyptians. Evidently the Egyptians are willing to work for less.

I like Chinese - 19 April 2009

Today we move on from Egypt to Jordan.

After the pleasant evening (did I mention how much food can affect my mood?) we woke up the next morning to find out that all of the water was turned off in the room. It eventually got fixed, only to find out that they must be pumping the water directly from the ocean, since it's salt water.

We were supposed to leave at 10:30 am, but it kept getting bumped. We ended up sitting at the ferry terminal until 3 pm. Basically 5 hours of waiting for a 1 hour ferry ride.

The ride was uneventful, but it was another time where we felt very conspicuous. As you'd expect in a Muslim country, the men and women are segregated and we're definitely getting some attention.

When we boarded the ferry we put our baggage along the wall in the cargo hold of the ship. I was confused - they had baggage carts and I thought it made more sense to put our stuff there. As we're disembarking (de-ferrying?), though, I see these carts being unloaded. Your average WWE match is less violent. Seriously, it's like the guys unloading the carts get bonus pay for how far they can throw people's luggage. I'm pretty sure that one of them threw a CRT computer monitor onto a box full of kittens.

Aqaba turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Very cosmopolitan. We spot a Chinese restaurant during the bus ride to the hotel, and decide that we'll go there for dinner. None of our fellow travelers join us, though, so it's just the two of us, having a delicious Chinese meal, in Aqaba. (The place is named Red Chopsticks in case you find yourself in need of good Chinese in Aqaba, BTW.)

Our hotel is not comfortable, and features an air conditioner that sounds like an outboard motor. Somehow we manage to turn this off:

The lock on the room's door is busted, and we have to jiggle it to get in and out. For a brief time we're actually locked inside the room.

I'm pretty sure the spines are God's way of saying "Do not dive" - 18 April 2009

It's our last day in Egypt, and we're spending it at a resort in Nuweiba. Before we get to the resort we're given an option: Pay some additional money to make it all-inclusive, or go a la carte for the meals and drinks. We elect to go the all-inclusive route, and at lunch it looks like a bad call. Think very average cafeteria food.

We also have the option to go diving, and decide to do so along with two of the other folks from the group. What we didn't know was that we'd have to walk about 50 feet in shallow water out to the boat. Or more specifically that we'd have to walk 50 feet where there are lion fish and snakes:I'm certainly feeling cowardly
The fauna are just too much for one of our colleagues - she basically runs out of the water and refuses to go. The other three of us, though, continue on. It's not one of my best or favorite dives - the water is freezing and there's no ladder to get back in the boat.



Laurier, shown below, was a real trooper. It was his first time diving and I think he swallowed most of the ocean, but he's just smiling the whole time.

We were supposed to hit two dive sites, but after the first one the boat started to sink. Instead we just got our one dive in and called it good.

I actually enjoyed dinner this evening - it's amazing how much that can improve your mood.

Seriously dude, if you offer her a camel one more time I will not be responsible for the consequences - 17 April 2009

We've been on the road so long at this point that's it's almost refreshing to wake up in a known place - even if it's the Santana Motel in Cairo. Since we're already acquainted with the breakfast offerings we know that skipping it is no great loss.

While Jen finishes packing I go in search of the almighty ATM. We've become seriously cash focused during the trip, a combination of places that just won't take credit cards, places that won't take American Express, and CitiBank's decision to cancel our card due to a security breach at one of their retailers. Just for the record - those commercials where the credit card company manages to get the world-traveling couple a new card the next day in some out of the way place, not so much. After they failed to get them to us in Bangkok, Phuket, Iguazu Falls, and San Francisco (so that Jeremy could bring them to Peru) we gave up on them.

We're taking a bus to Mt. Sinai today so that we can climb the mountain for the sunset. We get caught in traffic, though, and end up getting to the resort later than expected. Instead of a nice leisurely opportunity to change and clean up, we're scurrying to get ready. Jen is extremely irritated by this, and I'm irritated by her irritation. Alternate blog title: Like the Robert Frost poem, only if you skipped to the part about the ice...

We get to the Mt. Sinai parking area and start up the trail to the summit. Almost immediately we're set upon by camel jockeys, offering us a ride to the top on their camel for a modest sum. Kylie (whose birthday is today) is the first to take advantage:

We're not making good time, and I'm worried that we won't make it for sunset, but Jennifer IS NOT going to get on a camel. The dudes are insistent, though, and I'm seriously concerned about their safety for awhile. They finally take the hint, though, and leave us alone. Thankfully, my fears turn out to be unfounded:

The excitement's not over, though. On the way down there are these French children who insist on running down the mountain in front of us, then turning around and shining their flashlights in our eyes. Then, Jen falls down and tweaks her knee, meaning that it takes a long time to get down.

But hey, at least there was a crappy buffet dinner waiting for us at the hotel.

Can you tell we're getting homesick?

A wretched hive of scum and villainy - 16 April 2009

No, not Mos Eisley. Instead that's how another American in Luxor described Cairo while I was enjoying my McArabia as described in the last post.

I'm not going that far (yet) but we returned to the Santana Hotel this morning and dropped off our laundry.

During the day we visited the mosque of Saladin:

And a market. Since we're not really shoppers Jen and I sat at a sidewalk cafe enjoying falafel and tahine (and strawberry juice) while watching stray cats (not the band):

Remember, as the holiday season approaches, that plastic bags are not toys!

Afterwards we returned to the hotel while the rest of the group visited Coptic Cairo. You'll recall that we visited this on our own while staying with the Deutsches, and were able to spend a lot more time there than the official visit offered. They didn't eve go to the Coptic Museum, which was my favorite part.

For the evening we went on a dinner cruise, complete with a belly dancer and whirling dervish. There are pictures (and video), but I'm not going to post them here.

You can go your own way (Luxor) - 15 April 2009

One of the optional activities on the trip is a hot-air balloon ride, which is hyped as the definitive experience of the trip. It's supposed to happen this morning, but it's expensive and Jen and I are both tired, so we elect to sleep in and skip it. Instead of getting up at some insane hour, like 4 am, we'll rest and meet up with the group for a donkey ride to the Valley of the Kings.

Karma is kinder to us than our companions, though. When we show up for the donkey ride it turns out that it was too windy, so they didn't get to go.

If you're a long-time reader of the blog you may be asking, "Why on earth would he even try to ride a donkey? He hates animal rides." And you'd be right, I do hate animal rides, and this one ended up being a doozy.

It started off well enough. I got on the beast without issue and, like the guides told us, he seemed to know the way to go. The constantly jostling was unpleasant, but endurable. Then, for no apparent reason the donkey decided he wanted to veer left, out into the road. He persisted in doing this for what felt like 3 hours, although it was probably only 45 minutes. I'm not ashamed to say that I took to handling the reins in a way that can only be described as animal cruelty - and even that wasn't enough. At one point one of the guides rode up to marshal my donkey back over to the right side of the road and asked me why I kept veering to the left. I was not happy.

Here we are after the ride, with our donkeys:

Figure 1: Real Smile

Figure 2: Fake Smile

After the ride people were petting their donkeys and asking the guides what the donkeys' names were. Someone asked me what mine was named and I said "I don't know but I call him ..." Well, since my Dad gave the URL of this blog to his Sunday School class this morning maybe I won't repeat what I called the donkey.

The Valley of the Kings is spectacular and even has my favorite feature - a model of the site in an air conditioned visitor's center:

With your ticket you are permitted to enter up to three tombs, excluding Tutankhamun's tomb. Tutankhamun's tomb costs an extra 100 Egyptian Pounds, or about $20 US, so we skipped it. As with so many attractions in Egypt you're not permitted to take pictures inside the tombs unless you bribe the guards. In this case, though, you'll also have to bribe the folks that check your camera when you leave. It seems they're actually serious about it here.

We visited the tombs of Thutmose III, Thutmose IV, and Ramesses IV. I guess we were just Thutmose'd out by the time we got to the last one. Our guide recommended Thutmose III, because the decoration is very simple, consisting of what I described in the journal as "stick figures."

We chose the tomb of Thutmose IV because it was off the beaten track and we figured it wouldn't be crowded. Not only was it not crowded, but we were the only people in it. Except for the "guard" who proceeded to tell us about the tomb and then demand a tip. *Sigh*

Ramesses IV's tomb was spectacular - intricately decorated with its vibrant colors still intact. There's one picture available on wikipedia.

After the Valley of the Kings we went on to Hatshepsut's Tomb. Hatshepsut is fascinating - a woman who became pharaoh of Egypt and ruled for almost 22 years. Here's the exterior of her tomb:

After the temple we were taken to an Alabaster shop. Since we're not trying to acquire more stuff to carry around, Jen and I stayed in the "car":

For our free/lunch time, we visited the Luxor McDonald's. Free Wi-Fi and blessed, blessed air conditioning. They had the A/C cranked so high that we were actually freezing after awhile. You can get the standard Quarter Pounder, but I figured why not live it up a little:

It was surprisingly good.

The day ended with the return train trip to Cairo. This time Jen didn't even touch the food.

And a factory in Chicago that makes miniature models of factories (Luxor) - 14 April 2008

We slept on our felucca last night, covered in the cheap blankets we bought while visiting the Deutsches in Cairo. I had hoped to sleep in this morning, but the crew was up at 5 am and breakfast was served around 6.

We take a motorboat to Daroud (?) and then a bus to Luxor. We're given the option of some side excursion (I don't even remember what it was at this point) but I vote for going straight to Luxor and the creature comforts of a hotel. Thankfully most people are ok going on to Luxor.

There's a moment of panic when we get to Luxor - none of the ATMs will take my card. Finally on the 4th try we're able to get some cash.

Continuing the theme of being whiny Americans, Jen and I elect to go to Pizza Hut for lunch. Now I love me some Pizza Hut, but I have to say that the Meat Lover's was a disappointment. How can you call it a Meat Lover's without the pig-based meats?

After lunch we took a carriage ride to the Karnak Temple Complex. Here's Jan and Colleen, two of the other folks on our trip:

My favorite part of Karnak was the air-conditioned visitor's center, complete with a scale model of the entire complex:

It's not that the real thing isn't spectacular, it's that (in the abridged words of Sam Kinison) "It's in the desert!"

Something I had never thought about was that the ancient Egyptians actually used paint - so the stuff we see today is not what it looked like when it was new. In some places you can still see remnants:

After the official guided tour we were given 50 minutes to wander around on our own. As part of this I circled the Scarab below 7 times, because you're supposed to get a wish if you do:

Of the 50 minutes we used 30 - and there was only one person that used more of the time. Like I said - IT'S HOT!

For dinner Jen and I bailed on the group and went to an Indian restaurant. It was expensive, but well worth it.

They keep showin' my hands but not my face on TV - 13 April 2009

If you've read the last two blog entries you can probably guess what's coming.

It's our last day in Aswan, and we're supposed to get on a felucca for a cruise, but first it's time to go round and round with the hotel again about hot water.

This time, in spite of 2 hours of talking to them and enlisting the help of our trusty guide, they just can't get it to work. So they offer to let us use another room - which sounds great, until Jen goes to the room to discover that someone just checked out of it. She chooses not to shower, and I take a quick cold shower.

We get on the felucca around 11 and spend a little time getting to know the other folks in our tour group. Then, lulled by the river we all nap - or at least I nap until I wake myself up with the snoring.

In addition to our feluccas there's a larger boat used for meals and the restroom. During dinner I get to proselytize about the Amazon Kindle. It's a great device, but most of these folks are Canadian, and I'm not sure they can (legally) buy one.

After dinner we sit around the table and have song time. When it gets to be my turn all I can think of is the "Dukes of Hazzard" theme song for some reason. I'm sure that left a great impression of America.

You're sure this is the best restaurant in town? - 12 April 2009

Today was the visit to Abu Simbel, which I've spelled at least 3 different ways in my journal. Checking the old morale-o-meter, we find this comment: "6 hours on a bus for about 2 hours at the monument."

We got up at 3 am this morning to get ready, only to find that there was no hot water. Thankfully, though, it came on. Then the long bus ride as part of the convoy previously mentioned, to see this:

For some reason I convinced myself that this was the basis for Shelley's Ozymandias but Wikipedia says it ain't so. As with the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, you're not allowed to take pictures inside unless you bribe the guards, so no pictures.

There are two factoids about Abu Simpel that are particularly interesting:

First, the statues you see are of the pharaoh Ramesses, who was trying to deify himself as part of a power play with the high priest.

Second, the entire thing was moved so it wouldn't be flooded by the Aswan High Dam. There's an entire exhibit dedicated to all of the work it took to move the monuments piece by piece, including a discussion of what was considered an acceptable loss due to blade-width when cutting the statues up.

In addition to the temple dedicated to Ramesses in the picture above there's also a lesser temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramesses' queen, Nefertari.

In addition to letting you take pictures inside for a bribe, the guards will also let you hold the gold, ankh-shaped key for nominal consideration. Again, we declined.

After a long bus-ride back it was time for dinner. I don't mean to be judgmental, but I think I'd skip the first thing on the menu:

She's been through the desert on a camel with a stoner's name - 11 April 2009

I slept really well on the train, which was a surprise. Truthfully I've slept better during this year than I can ever remember sleeping - probably something to do with actually moving instead of typing all day.

Breakfast proved to be yet another disappointment, consisting of a selection of prepackaged breads, and the soap they gave us on the train was labeled "Good Luck." This causes a vague sense of unease.

Oh, and in case there was any doubt, we're no longer in happy-go-lucky traveler land. We thought that we'd be able to check into the hotel early and clean up, but it turns out that we can't check-in until noon. We have the option to go on a tour of Aswan for $35 US, but elect to sit (scowling) in the lobby of the hotel until we're allowed to check in. For the record, my journal does say "I need an attitude adjustment."

Once we get checked in and cleaned up, it's time to take a boat tour around Aswan.


Not to get all nerdy on you - but think of what people will find from our increasingly electronic civilization a few thousand years from now. Will they wonder if we even had written language?

After the boat tour, it was time for a camel ride. Now, in the interest of full disclosure I have to add that I don't like riding camels, or horses, or donkeys (the last of which will feature prominently when we visit the valley of the kings). My dislike of camels dates back to 2003, when I made the mistake of wearing boxer shorts for a camel ride on a camel named Simpson, after the Australian desert. I didn't repeat that mistake, but I'm still not a fan of being jostled around like a sack of potatoes in the name of having "fun". (Oh, and HEY YOU KIDS - GET OUTTA MY YARD!)

In case you were wondering, stoner culture is alive and well all around the world. Here's Jen's camel:

Yep, that's Bob Marley.

After the camel ride we visited a Nubian village, where we got to hold a crocodile:

Yeah, I know its mouth is banded shut, but it was still exciting.

Then we had a real Nubian dinner, and it was delicious. It's amazing the difference food can make in a journey. It doesn't have to be familiar, just enjoyable.

After a packed day, we returned to the hotel where our tour guide, Momdouh, made a heart out of a palm frond for Easter:


But the day didn't end on a high note, unfortunately. We're supposed to get up really early tomorrow to join up with a convoy to go visit Abu Simpel. Now I'm not talking about a cool mid-70's convoy - the kind you'd use as an excuse for a crappy movie. No, I'm talking about the kind of convoy that tourists join for their protection, with armed police at each end.

Since we want to look good in case we end up on CNN, we'd like to clean up the night before. Only there's no hot water. It takes 3 calls to get someone to the room, at which point I'm told that they have to replace the hot water tank, and that it will be 11:30 before there's hot water. Jen's already passed out from exhaustion at this point, but I stay up until 11:30 - only to find that not only is there not hot water, there's no water at all.

Good times...

The Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take you away - 9 & 10 April 2009

And so our time of rest came to an end. Mostafa (he of the car I was pushing in the previous post) took us from the Deutsch's to the Santana Hotel to join up with the GAP tour. Except he couldn't find the hotel - so we got a nice tour of the neighborhood.

Eventually we got where we were going and found that we were the only Americans on this tour. The rest of the group is predominantly Canadian. After watching the last new episode of Bones that we downloaded (and discovering that the "ru" in the episode of Lost I downloaded meant Russian) we turned in for the night.

The next day began with a breakfast best described as underwhelming - We're already missing Jared's bagels. Then the whole group moved on to visit the Egyptian museum. It's a good thing we went there earlier, because we only got 3 hours inside.

The Egyptian museum is both amazing and depressing. Given the thousands of years of Egyptian history they've amassed a lot of stuff. Unfortunately they've got more stuff than space for it - it looks like our house does after having just moved in. The other downer is that a lot of the "cool" stuff (like the Rosetta Stone) was pilfered during the days of colonialism (cue Mr. Garrison "Colonialism is bad, MMkay"). As with most things in Egypt pictures aren't allowed inside, unless you're willing to bribe the guards. We didn't. Here's the outside, though:

In one of life's little ironies a lot of the King Tut exhibit was on tour while we were in Egypt. What's ironic about that, you ask? The stuff WAS IN DALLAS!

After the museum we moved on to the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. We mistakenly assumed you could see the Sphinx from the pyramids, and kept looking around for it. Turns out that the Sphinx is surprisingly small (and getting to it involves fighting through quite a crowd).

Here's a shot of the Sphinx:



And here's Man-Ox with the Pyramids:
And here's the two of us, with all three pyramids:
After the pyramids we went to kill some time in a street cafe, before catching the train to Aswan. I'm not sure what it is with GAP and trains, but this one was much nicer than the train between Beijing and Lhasa. Jennifer didn't even have any early morning visitors.

Although the food leaves something to be desired:

When blogs collide - 5 - 9 April 2009

We spent the first 4 days in Cairo crashing with Jason, Katherine, and Luke Deutsch. Like I mentioned previously, they were teaching at an international school in Cairo. I say were, because they've since moved on to Venezuela.

Katherine actually keeps a blog, which is how I managed to track them down after not seeing them for almost a decade. If you're interested, it's at http://hkkath.blogspot.com.

We had a great time. We slept in late (the first morning Jen nudged me awake at 10 am and said "You gonna sleep all day?" in that tone of voice a wife will use when the correct answer is "Of course not, dear."). We ate Americanized food every night (and bagels every mid-morning) and we watched a lot of "Lost."

We visited Coptic Cairo, an early cradle for Christianity, and toured the Coptic museum. I didn't have the courage to bribe the guards so there aren't any pictures, but the ancient manuscripts were a high point of the trip. I don't know why I find them so compelling, but I do.

We also visited the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid.

Here's the Bent Pyramid:



I like to think of the poor contractor who had to explain why they changed the angle halfway through the construction. Can you imagine trying to spin this into a positive thing? "Oh yeah, this is the latest thing in Pyramids - everybody's dying to have 'em look like this."

We also got our first taste of baksheesh, the organized bribery that seems to keep Egypt's economy going. Some guards at the Red Pyramid came out and took our picture. Then, they shook us down for a tip. Peering intently into my wallet one of them said "that's very small bill, how about larger bill. How about American Dollar - for souvenir."

If you're into foreshadowing, let's just say that I'm going to respond less and less well to the shake down as our time in the Middle East continues. Here, though, is the resulting picture:



Here's another example of us being shaken down. This guy loves Americans:



And by Americans, I mean US Dollars.

I present for your amusement what happened when our taxi driver's car broke down:

You'll note that my lovely spouse is using this opportunity to take a picture.

We also had a lot of fun hanging out with Jason's son, Luke. He called us Mr. and Mrs. Hodges, and finally had to ask Jennifer if Chad meant Mr. Hodges.

Here he is during story time, cooking Jennifer in a pot (and stirring the pot with his bat):



And here he is with me:

It was great to relax and recharge before joining up with the GAP tour. That'll be next!

More of the business of getting from Point A (Galapagos) to Point B (Cairo, Egypt) - 2, 3, & 4 April 2009

After the excitement of the Galapagos we returned to the Sheraton in Guayaquil (Yay Starwood points!), only to find the latest packet waiting for Jennifer. In case I haven't mentioned it before, or in case you've forgotten, Jen ended up matching for a fellowship position at UC Irvine. So once we get home we'll be loading up the truck and moving to Tustin, Ranch that is.

In the interim, however, the program needs roughly 10 reams worth of paperwork completed. This would be challenging in the best of scenarios, but given that we spend roughly 4 days in a country it's turned into a logistical nightmare. Jen's mom has been a saint for sending us stuff and so far we've managed to find a UPS/DHL/FedEx to get it back to California. In this case, though, we needed to fax it, which the hotel was gracious enough to do for us.

5-6 pages at a time.

Each fax at an exorbitant rate.

But hey, it got there.

We also took this opportunity to ship all of our diving stuff back to the states. After Machu Picchu we shipped the camping stuff back, and after this we'll be down to what we started with - roughly 100 pounds of checked luggage and 30 of carry-on. It's a relief to be able to carry everything for a change.

We ended up on Iberia from Guayaquil to Madrid (and from Madrid to Cairo). For the most part I've dogged on American Airlines during the trip - literally every airline along the way has had better customer service and amenities. Iberia, however, makes American look outstanding. If at all possible I will avoid them in the future.

We got into Cairo around 10:30 pm where we were met by our friend Jason (who featured in the previous entry, and was there when Jen and I met). Jason's been teaching in Cairo for the last two years and we'll be crashing with his family before we join up with GAP for our tour of Egypt and Jordan.

Tomorrow: When blogs collide/Can we crash at your place even though we haven't seen you in over a decade?

The low point (Galapagos) - 30 March 2009

A little background information is necessary here:

Jennifer is the driving force behind our diving. It's not that I dislike it, necessarily, it's just that I'm not that comfortable in the water. It's not that I can't swim, it's just that I'm not proficient at it. My swimming could charitably be described as a rythmic thrashing motion that resembles a crawl stroke.

A long, long time ago (ok, 15 years ago) when Jen and I were just friends we were at the beach with our friend Jason (who'll make a guest appearance shortly). We were just hanging out in the ocean, treading water and floating. Jason was talking about how he couldn't float (probably because he was so skinny), I was getting tired from treading water, and then Jen mentioned how she spent her summers as a lifeguard. Oh, and was on the swim team in high school. She's basically a fish.

All of the above to say that while I'm not comfortable in the water, Jennifer is extremely comfortable in the water.

We did our first two dives without incident and then went on our third dive. The dive plan called for us to swim through a lava tube, circle around an outcrop, and then stick with the divemaster for the remaining of our bottom time.

We probably should have aborted the dive when our divemaster couldn't find the lava tube on the first descent. We all had to come back up so that he could get directions from the boat driver. Then, when we descended again we found it, but instead of going through and staying on the other side we went through and then came back out.

Then, we swam along the reef and swam into some shallow water between a rock and the shore. Jen went in first and then I followed. There was a lot of surge, and we had to hold onto a piece of coral to keep from being pushed up against the rocks. Thinking that Jen was a stronger swimmer, I waited for the surge to start to go out and swam back out into the ocean.

Once I was out, I looked back expecting to see her right behind me. Instead I couldn't see her anywhere. I looked around 360 degrees and then ascended. When I hit the surface all I could hear was her screaming.

She got caught in the surge and tumbled up against the rocks. Her regulator was ripped from her mouth, and the divemaster pulled her out of the surge. She was shaken up - as you'd expect, and we had the boat driver take us back to the boat.

Later, Jen shook it off and continued diving, so it didn't ruin the week, but it's the scariest experience I've ever had.

Yeah, it's hot (Galapagos land) - 27 - 31 March 2009

Iguazu falls firmly established that neither one of us is a jungle person, and the land "excursions" here helped us figure out that we're not really desert island people either.

I mean, don't get me wrong, the bugs are neat:



And the frigate birds are amazing, especially when they inflate their red chests:




But unless you're a lizard, erm, iguana (note to self: investigate Venn diagram regarding lizards and iguanas)





It's just too hot. Maybe we're biased - we did come here to dive after all, but I spent most of the time on land wanting to get back in the water. In contrast, the seal below is chasing a marine iguana out of the water and on to the land:



Of course you can't go to the Galapagos without seeing the tortoises (totoisii?):



One nice note - I got busted with the Man-Ox T-shirt. For the most part I've been able to surreptitiously slip it on, take the picture, and go on about my business - but the group caught me and we all got a picture together:
The next blog entry? The absolute lowest point of the trip. Bet you can't wait!