A Humpback Whale Fluke is unique and used to identify the animal.
In the Ocean, Not all Entanglements End Happily
Don’t you love seeing whale and animal rescues on YOUTUBE or tv or the news? I know I do. Like the one with the whale that was freed and thanked her saviors by giving them a breaching display for over an hour? Not all of these stories end happily, though. In fact, most of them don’t. [Read more…] about In the Ocean, Not all Entanglements End Happily
The trip to Puerto Lopez was about 4 hours from Guayaquil, in a van filled with luggage and people. Kind of bumpy too, but we made it, so no problema! The hotel is nice and clean, with balconies overlooking the ocean. There are also hammocks on the balconies, which is quite nice. Upon arrival our group, which consists of Ralph, Larry, Peg and Tina, took a bit of a rest then headed out to meet with the dive masters and the scientific team (Marine Megafauna Foundation) to have dinner and get to know one another. Actually the group I am with has been here for the last four years and is well known to the teams. I guess I’m the newbie! Everyone is friendly and helpful, which is very useful because I knew my first few dives would be difficult. In a new place, they always are. I’m not sure why that is, but it just is. I have learned to prepare for it.
Our first dive day was slow, filling out paperwork, signing legal documents, making sure gear was correct, that sort of thing. The beach is filled with fishing boats, both on and off the water, surrounded by Emperor Pelicans and Brown Pelicans, Frigate birds, and yes, Blue footed Boobys! They are totally adorable…and so clumsy! Talk about big flat feet! They are cute, cute, cute!
Not so cute are the numerous fishing boats….as always, there is friction between the divers and the fishermen. Ecuador wants to make the most of being a country eco-friendly with national parks where no fishing is allowed….but the fishermen fish the national park daily, as we have seen. A lot of politics going on down here. There are only 3 dive companies as of yet, and change is slow when it comes to a clash between trying to change an economy based on fishing to one based on tourism, diving, and national parks. It is difficult to explain to them, but the fishermen don’t realize that a marine protected park is a valuable commodity….the fishing just outside of MPAs is excellent. It will take time.
The ride from Puerto Lopez to Isla de la Plata (where the mantas congregate this time of year) is an hour or more. Dive conditions were favorable yesterday, and so we suited up. The cold water hit my chest like a sledgehammer. I felt like I could not breathe. I’m not used to diving in more than a 1 mil wetsuit (or skin), and here I am layering a 3 mil topped with a 1 mil. After I acclimated we went down the line for the dive, and it was pretty murky….but out of the murk came huge manta rays! Absolutely amazing. These animals are really huge. My second dive was much better, and the mantas were everywhere. Beside you, below you, above you….where to look?? I took a few shots of them, and also some photos of eels and seastars. I slept on the way back…in the last few weeks I’ve had Dengue Fever and a kidney stone, so I’m not as strong as I am normally. Of course, I blew out an ear on the second dive….I’m calling it “manta ear”. See manta, get closer to manta, forget everything else including clearing your ears while looking at mantas. One of the scientists was a guy I had met in Mozambique, and he suggested vinegar. Perfect choice. I had no ear problems today. Good old vinegar, my gargling standby for sore throats (mixed with honey). It works on ears too.
Ah, today. The swells were much bigger, the boat ride harder, the diving was freezing at 15 degrees Celsius (that is 59 Farenheit.) This time I bumped my head on the boat, lost my mask from my face, and basically felt like an idiot. But there were plenty of mantas! Dr Andrea Marshall, or the Queen of Mantas as she is known all over the world, was on the boat today. Like me, she feels like heavy wetsuits are strangling her…and like me, doesn’t wear a hood since it constricts the throat. We must have been strangled together in a former life. She and her husband are absolutely wonderful. He brought me cushions to make sure my back felt okay on the ride out and back. What a sweetheart!
I’m taking the day off tomorrow….this is not the relaxing diving of Cozumel or the Caymans….this is hard work in comparison. Seeing huge mantas is worth the effort, though, and hopefully the water will warm up a bit. Today was apparently the coldest day yet! Brrrrr!
In the past few weeks I have had serious doubts as to whether I was going to be able to make this trip! I planned to come to Ecuador over a year ago with a scientific team and volunteers from Marine Megafauna Foundation, to help identify and conserve Manta Rays at Isla de la Plata, the Island of Silver. Also known as “the poor man’s Galapagos”. I tried to go to Komodo last January with the group, the Ray of Hope Expeditions, but last September my husband went into a shocking respiratory failure and ended up with a double lung transplant. I know, I still can’t believe it myself, but here we are, a year later, and Randy is doing very, very well! Well enough for me to travel. So why did I think I might not get here?
Well. I went to Cozumel, Mexico in August and came home with Dengue Fever. My advice? Stay away from mosquitos who carry the virus. It is well nicknamed, “breakbone fever”. And yes, one feels like one’s bones are BREAKING. So painful. I ended up missing my daughter’s engagement gathering. I can’t even stand to think about that.
Then, off to Florida to help out with relatives who are having issues. I came home, ready to prepare for my fabulous trip….and ended up in the Emergency Room on August 28 with a kidney stone! Luckily it was not my appendix. THAT would have really sucked. So, I’ve been feeling a bit weak and worried about another stone. However, I feel fine, and I decided to just get on the damned plane. So I did. And here I am. Looking around on the plane I couldn’t help but notice I was a rare commodity…a woman traveling alone. I rode to the hotel with a group of men from Argentina, all of them staring at me. I’ve traveled alone all over the world….and have yet to find other women traveling alone! Does anyone else get out and go on their own??
I haven’t even seen Guayaquil ( the largest city in Ecuador and a World Heritage Site ) yet as I arrived in the dark, at night. So, tomorrow I see the city and drive 4 hours to Puerto Lopez to prepare for diving over the next two weeks. Can’t wait! I will be posting as I go!
Buenos Noches, mi amigas!
Fabulous food should be part of everyone’s vacation. Good food cannot be confused with fantastic food. In Cozumel, the restaurant to go to is La Cocay. La Cocay means “dragonfly” in the Mayan language, but it’s food is distinctly Mediterranean. Here is some good news: they have enlarged their menu!
I confess that La Cocay is my favorite restaurant on the island. I love the location (3 or 4 blocks off the oceanfront, in a non-descript area) because you would never expect to find such a gem there. When my friends walked in, they said, wow, this is beautiful. I was kind of worried about this when you drove by here! No worries, Mexico has all kinds of hidden surprises!
There is inside seating, which is lovely, but my favorite place is the garden seating. In August it can be a little warm, but the evening we were there wasn’t bad at all. I loved hearing my friends and their “ooooo’s” and “ahhhh’s”. La Cocay has wonderful artistry in their presentation of every dish.
We gobbled the tapas before I could photograph them!
Next up were the Phyllo Rolls…..they melted in your mouth!
And my favorite salad in the world, La Cocay’s Napa Salad! Loaded with fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts,
it has to be tasted to be believed!
Leslie ordered Mahi-Mahi served with potato augratin….a culinary masterpiece, truly. I’m not a foodie, I have no idea how it was prepared, I only know it was an explosion of flavor! Kamailie and Lana enjoyed a Margharita Pizza from the wood oven. I had a bite of each….muy delicioso.
But I was waiting for the coup de gras! Chocolate Torte! I haven’t had any of their other desserts, though they look delicious. I HAVE to have my torte!
I have so many photos of our family and friends enjoying wonderful evenings at La Cocay. Once all of our kids were old enough to appreciate it, we’ve spent birthdays there (instead of at Carlos and Charlies). I hope our family will continue to enjoy La Cocay for many years to come!
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It has been a while since I have blogged! My last post was from beautiful Cozumel, and it was a great trip (for the most part). I was joined by two yoga buddies, and my roomie from my volunteer stint in Mozambique in 2012. How lovely it is to have a girl trip! We did a lot of yoga with Tammy Cervantes (THE yoga guru on the island) who came to our house to teach us a workshop, two classes, and meditation. She is also a wonderful masseuse! It would be quite difficult to find a better teacher…she is excellent. We snorkeled, Leslie and I went diving, we had wonderful meals (another blog on that one!), and talked, talked, talked. It was relaxing as well as fun. Well, until I came down with Dengue Fever!
Okay. I never had the blood test, so I don’t know for sure that I had it, but I don’t know what else it could have been. I had the symptoms, and I now fully understand why they call it “break bone fever”. Your bones and joints hurt like bloody hell! I had fevers over 102 degrees, and was sick, sick, sick. I really don’t know how I made it home last Friday I was in so much pain. The saddest thing about it: my daughter’s boyfriend (now fiance) proposed to her last Saturday and had a little surprise get together for her…I couldn’t be there. And yes, it just killed me. I tried, but I couldn’t stop shaking long enough to even put on make-up. To add insult to injury, my son and his fiance came into town for the event, and I could barely even visit with them. It was awful.
So, I missed my daughter’s proposal party, my son and future daughter-in-law’s visit, and it has only been in the last couple of days that I have truly come up for air. After the pain and fever goes, one is completely exhausted. Oh, by the way, you get Dengue from a mosquito, it cannot be transmitted any other way. It is miserable…wear bug spray!!!!!! The diving was absolutely fantastic on the trip, as these photos will prove! Now I’m getting ready to go to Florida…but that’s a long story, and I don’t know yet how it will turn out. Midlife, it turns out, is full of twists and turns!
Ah, I love being in Cozumel. I feel very at home here (except when all the cruise ships are in, then I stay underwater or away from town!). Next to diving, my favorite activity is snorkeling, so I headed out yesterday to check it out, and there wasn’t much happening. When I say that I mean there weren’t a lot of fish around. The current was quite strong, and the freshwater from the cenotes (underground rivers) were pouring into the ocean, creating cold water areas, and hot water areas. Not much to look at, really.
Today, I had a lovely massage and met with the managers of our property, then I decided to go out and play with my wide angle lens. I thought, not much going on out there, so I’ll just practice with the lens. Of course, whenever you aren’t fully prepared, you see awesome marine life.
There’s a small, open coral head that has been here forever, and I always look in it because I’ve found porcupinefish in there, and for a year and half, a small Hawksbill turtle made it his home until he grew too large. Well, it has a new resident: a 2 1/2 ft nurse shark baby! I couldn’t believe it! Exciting! I took photos, but of course, I had no strobe, no light, the wrong lens, so I just took a couple of photos (not that great) and let the baby sleep. So precious!
From there I saw a couple of yellow stingrays, always pretty, a lot of fish, a lot of tiny silversides, and an octopus! Again, I certainly didn’t have what I needed to photograph it, but I gave it the old college try. I also saw an anemone crab in an anemone, and a spotted moray eel. Mostly I just practiced with the lens, but it was a surprisingly great snorkel today! You just never know.
My mission this year is to find a seahorse while snorkeling out in front of our house. I didn’t spot any today, but next time I snorkel I’ll have the right lens and strobe!
Diving tomorrow! Can’t wait!
