SCUBA diving, cruising on the Beagle

September 8, 2009
Leon Dormido (sleeping lion) is a famous diving site known for being a monolith whose twin spires rise out of the ocean floor to a height of several hundred meters. Its more common name is Kicking Rock, for no reason that anyone knows, but perhaps it stands for the frustration some feel here in Ecuador. In that sense, perhaps it is what the Ecuadorian soccer team ('World Cup hopefuls') is doing to itself after losing to Colombia 2-0 last weekend.

Our guide is Victor, a bear-like man with a crew cut. AFter he helped me put on my gear, he asked me, "Tito, have you really ever been Scuba diving?" I had to admit that my last dive was in 1979. I did not want to add that I was unable to recall anything other than a primordial fear of the depths. He rolls his eyes, because we are already at the Rock, ready to somersault off the boat's gunwales. Patiently, he watches me stagger around, due to the 25 pound lead belt and air tank. I wonder if the weight will have the same effect as concrete boots attached to former friends of the Mafia. At a nod to warmth and buoyancy, and especially since the Humboldt Current makes the Equatorial waters as cold as Maine's Atlantic, we are outfitted with thick neoprene, from toe to head, even gloves, booties and a head warmer.

During our two dives of 40 minutes apiece, we see majestic ray, sea lions, and four species of shark. The hammerheads have an odd appendage on their heads, eyes protruding from the "hammer." The Galapagos sharks have big shoulder humps, making them look vaguely like bulls. The black-tipped sharks are long and lean, smooth-moving and slinky. At 90 feet depth, around the base of a volcanic pinnacle, there is a world of movement.

VOYAGE OF THE 2009 BEAGLE

It turns out that Alan Hesse, an Englishman and cartoonist, is my new friend, and we will share a double in the two-master called the Beagle. Alan is a practicing conservation biologist who has decided to put his childhood doodling ability to good use for conservation education. As he puts it, his aim is to "bring my grain of rice to reunite art and science... cartoons enriched by science and social content for educational purposes."

Check out Alan's website: http://www.alanhesse.co.uk/

We depart this evening on the Beagle, named after Charle's boat that landed on San Cristobal 167 years ago. Tonight, after a dinner with our 10 new friends, we will cruise to an island overnight. Since your mates determine how much good conversation occurs, he and I are hoping for some lively, youthful passengers. You might think this is an specious concern, but some tourists are animated; some are not. I did not think about this until I attended a history/ecology seminar by Felipe Der Ger. The 16American tourists seemed tired from their busy schedule, so, during dinner, heads rolled backwards. Alan looked for a feather. A man with a Pawley's Island t-shirt became comatose. During the fascinating and hilarious slide show, the tourists were pasty, silent. The only lively one was a Floridian with huge, gnarly mitts. Noisily, he told me that 'most of the problems today are caused by tree huggers.'

I guess it really does not matter who else is on the boat. After all, the crew of the original 19th century Beagle was a varied lot. Charles, himself, was an eccentric divinity student working as a volunteer. The captain was nutty.

NEW FRIENDS
Pedro: our tour guide to Los Lobos, an island known for its sea lions and iguanas. I grew up in Guayaquil but moved here 25 years ago. For a long time I was a barman on a cruise boat – three months on the boat and 15 days vacation. It was a good job but then I had a family. Now I like the day cruises better. I do one 4-hour bay cruise in the morning and one in the afternoon. Americans are the best tourists because they are humble and don’t say mean things. I married a woman from Nebraska. We have a three-year-old daughter. I am going to Nebraska this fall but need to learn English before I go. My wife does not like the island life so she comes here a few times a year. It is good you are working with the people of the Galapagos, since there is almost no connection between the FCD and the local people. We don’t know what the FCD does and they don’t know us.