Floreana

As I’ve mentioned, one of my best memories from my first visit here twenty years ago is swimming with sea lions. That was during a dive excursion to an island 60 miles or so south called Floreana, so today we load up the full horde (except Travelin’ Gran who is not super excited about a boat trip that long) and head out. It is a much smaller boat than Nick and I were on yesterday, so not particularly comfortable, and the crossing is open water, putting a premium on the motion sickness patches. On the upside, it has two big engines, allowing us to make the trip in about ninety minutes.

Sam is joining Nick and I under the water today, and while he is a bit nervous early on, soon he is vintage Sam, being crazy and having fun.

Much like yesterday, what is on display is a mix of rays, turtles, eels and fish. One sea lion comes by to check us out, but after a few seconds heads off in search of something more entertaining. Meanwhile, up on the surface, Joey and Mom are over a shallow part of the reef, seeing a lot of the same as snorkelers. It is a good refresher for those of us that haven’t been in the water for a while and provides plenty to talk about over some snacks.

The real fun begins when we get back in the water and swim close to shore. The sea lions up on the rocks see playmates and pile in to join us, making for some wonderful, close up encounters. My wildlife-loving travel partner (I guess I need to narrow that down, so here I mean Angela) looks like Bugsy from the movie Bedtime Stories as she watches them swim all around her. She’s no stranger to amazing things, but of all those, she ranks this number one.

For our second dive we stick to a fairly shallow wall. The water is noticeably clearer here, and we get some good shots of numbers white-tip sharks resting in the various nooks and crannies.

And as a final highlight, we spend the last few minutes with more sea lions, which dart in and out of the air bubbles we make. One particularly curious fellow takes a fancy to my GoPro and makes a few valiant attempts to pry it out of my hands. Remember, this isn’t SeaWorld, these are wild animals in their natural environment. It’s awesome.

Back in the boat, the ride home goes a lot smoother, largely because we are exhausted and able to fall asleep on whatever flat surfaces we can find. Our trip includes lunch back in town, and as we sit down for a bite, none other than Travelin’ Gran strolls by. She’s part local by this point and has been out on her own shopping up a storm.

Most days, this would be the end of the story, but we still have one more thing to do. After days of ceviche and chicken with french fries, we decide to branch out and try some chinese food. The boys kick things off with a 3 liter bottle of cold, apple-flavored soda. Over the next 40 minutes, they pack their bodies with roughly 90 grams of sugar each. That’s the equivalent of 30 sugar cubes for anyone doing the math. By the time they are done, Sam and Joey are talking so fast I can hardly make out what they are saying.

And the award for Parents of the Year goes to…

The food itself is memorable only for how awful it is, ranking deep down with Captain Kidd’s, the granddaddy of barftastic meals that the boys still talk about six years later.

There’s a palpable sense that our time here is coming to an end. Just a few more days and we’ll be starting the long journey back to Redmond. Que triste.