Monday morning in Cuenca

Courtyard at the Hostal Macondo

Hostal Macondo, Cuenca 6:30 am

A rooster has been crowing incessantly for the last half hour, joined by a multitude of bird voices, but otherwise it is very quiet: it's hard to believe that we are in the middle of a city of about 350,000.

It's hard to believe that we are here, too, on firm ground, at 2500 m altitude: yesterday morning at this time we were sitting in the dinghy, the ocean smooth as silk, surrounded by red mangroves. The absolute stillness, a very different kind of silence than this morning, was broken only by the occasional splash of a sea creature.

It was our last morning on the 'Guantanamera', the 16-passenger cruise boat that was our home for a whole week. Instead of starting the day with breakfast at 7 we were ready to go out in the dinghy by six for a special treat to conclude our Galapagos adventure. As every other morning before the sky was overcast, but the temperature was pleasant, and not the slightest breeze stirred the water.

Once again we put on our life jackets and took our place in the boat, every step of the procedure routine by now. The 'Guantanamera' was anchored a few hundred meters from shore, and we quickly covered the distance. When we neared the mangrove forest Renato slowed down the engine and skillfully manoeuvered us slowly along the shore.

Mangroves

There! Xavier, our guide for the second part of the week, pointed out a black shape: the first sea turtle. We had seen many sea turtles during our trip, even swam with them when we snorkeled. Today, however, they were more numerous than we had ever seen them in one spot: it was mating time. It wasn't long before we found the first couple, the male's shell rising out of the water, every once in a while both heads showing. This would go on for a long time, our guides had told us, and could take up to three hours. Other males were waiting nearby, ready to take their turn: a female can be engaged in the mating process with different males for three days. By then, of course, she is totally exhausted.

Sea turtle

 

They didn't pay attention to us, just like all the other many animals we encountered this week: it was as if we didn't even exist. We watched for a while and slowly tuckered into the next little bay, where we found more turtles. Now, however, we entered deeper into the mangrove cove, had to duck to evade low branches. Almost enclosed by the trees we were in a very small, shallow pool. Renato had cut the engine, and he and Xavier were using paddles to propel us slowly. Excitedly Xavier pointed at something moving below us: a large group of white-tipped reef sharks! At about 1.5 m length they are not among the largest sharks, nor are they aggressive. On the contrary, they are usually shy, and when we encountered them – singly – during our snorkeling expeditions they were scared of us and swam off. Here, however, we could watch them in the clear, shallow water, their sleek bodies moving in a tight group. Nocturnal hunters, they come here to rest during the day.

On the way out of the cove, finally, we had the last marvellous encounter: a sting ray and several eagle rays. Both we had seen while we were snorkeling as well.

What a wonderful way to say good-bye to these islands that had amazed us time and again in the last week!



Good-bye, Guantanamera