Evolutionary Plume

Leipzig, Germany and Die Feen at the Oper

We were slugs. We woke up slow and by the time we were dressed, we were hungry so on the advice of the staff at the Radisson Blu, we sought out Meredo near Nikolai Kirche.

We bypassed Nicholas Strasse because for once the area wasn't mobbed since all the stores were closed so we backtracked and I wanted to see a building so we came in by the side to where a man was playing songs from Fiddler on the Roof on an accordian. Turns out he played right beside the restaurant Meredo where we planned to eat, so were serenaded throughout ourmeal.

After lunch we ducked into the Nicholas Kirke to see the beautiful decor and as we left we spotted a display of pictures from the 1989 uprising that started in Leipzig and spread to the rest of Eastern Germany during the fall of the USSR, very sad.

Then we continued on the the Hauptbahnhof to get Bob some limes and while we were there, we found the reservation center open and so made reservations on the ICE trains for several portions of our trip.

Then since it was nearing our early ticket time and I needed to get ready, we returned to the hotel and just relaxed.

Die Feen  by Richard Wagner turned out to be a wonderful opera. We bought a brochure telling the story. During the first break, we ran into Mary, our friendly Englishwoman who we'd met the day before, during the second break we played around taking photographs. Afterwards, we went to our room and crashed because we were moving on to Dresden, Germany the next day.

Day 7: Whale Watch with Whale Watch, lunch at Gables, church at St. Andrews Catholic Church, St. Andrews, NB

We find we get a $4 per person discount for going with Island Quest Marine Whale Watch, Bob also got a discount for being a senior. The entry to the boat is along the pier in the photo below, and down a somewhat steep ramp, depending on how far out the tide is. 

There's lots of seating onboard, and two levels where you can view the whales outdoors. The trip took us out through a gap to near Deer Island, where we saw whales, seals, American Bald Eagle and other birds.

Here's a video of a whale coming up: 

Here's a photo of a whale spouting:

I had fun taking pictures and movies. The back part of the trip we were on the upper deck.

Here's a photo of the fisherman working a sardine net:

Here's Harbor Seals:

And the staff letting us see many sea creatures--crabs, sea urchins, sea stars, scallops, mussels:

After the whale watch, we tried Gables for lunch. We asked about halibut and found none in stock; their fish for the day on offer was salmon. So I had a lovely chicken burger sans cheese and Bob a hamburger with cheese and bacon. Very tasty. The waitress was very nice. Tried out the Moosehead ale, very tasty.

After a brief nap, Bob and I attended St. Andrews Catholic church  mass at 7pm. I fell asleep early, short story and new scene in work.

Isabela and Fernandina Islands, Galapagos, Ecuador

Today was a more moderate day,  waking up to spot seabirds and dolphins. We didn’t get up fast enough to see the striped dolphins but we did see bottlenosed dolphins and identified several seabirds. Most of the day followed easily with only a zodiac cruise, one hike and one snorkel session.

We were allowed to go on the zodiac cruise with the photography group and I had the chance to get many excellent p having ictures of rocks at Punta Vincent Roca—with birds, crabs, coral, and other sea life. We were treated with Galapagos Penguins and Pacific Green Sea Turtles in the area along with the Galapagos Fur Seal  and Sea Lions and fun. Here's my penguin video.

The formations at this end of the Isabela Island are spectacular geologically, with lava areas, sand stone, lava tubes, uplift and interesting erosion patterns and layers.  The guide was especially helpful suggesting different ways to view the area and encouraging us all to take more and more photographs. The Zodiac driver though was a real helper because he managed to give us all a look from many different directions. I managed to get several videos, Brown Noddy’s fighting over territory and sea action.

The snorkeling was an athletic event, tidewater pulling us into the rocks and a lot of murk in the water, plankton looked like snow (a later lecture showed us many different types). We saw a Galapagos Penguin shoot past, zooming through the water with ease. Sea Turtles chased us down—appearing in our faces and lying in the sand and zooming up from below us. We spotted the green sea urchins that are a specialty of the Galapagos.

In the evening, we took a walk on Fernadina Island at Punta Espinoza, the site of the most recent lava flow (2007?). The area has many, many marine iguana, who lie facing the sun to keep their body temperature at a minimum and spit out salty water they’ve consumed. The eat off the green seaweeds exposed by the tides, nibbling them in a dainty manner. The sea lions and fur seals had a lot of fun in the area body surfing in moderate surf that sloshed into bays and pulled them out. We focused on photographic techniques for a second time. The sunset turned the area steamy and dreamy.

Birds: Galapagos Shearwater subspecies of Audubon Shearwater, White-vented or Elliot’s Storm Petrel, Southern Fulmar, Flightless or Galapagos Cormorant, Galapagos Penguin,  Magnificent Frigatebird, Greater Yellowlegs

Black or Pacific Green Sea Turtle, Galapagos Fur Seal, Green Sea Urchin

Bartolome and Rabida Islands, Galapagos, Ecuador

Energetic  day with so much to do. We started early, 6:00 am wake up call to go climb up a boardwalk to the top of a cinder cone on Bartolome Island. Along the way we saw many examples of volcanology at work—lava tubes, many varieties of lava, cones, fumaroles, and some recovery with several types of plants beginning to take root. Lots of lava lizards were spotted on our way up. The area features the famous rock that is used in many of the ads for the Galapagos.

Galapagos: Lava Heron

We followed the excursion with breakfast and then a briefing on what snorkeling equipment we would need, how to use it, how to signal for help, then we went up and was fitted with equipment: wet suit, snorkel tube for my prescription mask (we were offered the tip of using toothpaste to remove the oils they put onto them), and flippers—cool type that tightened on the ankle and slide up and down for easy fit.  Then we all went snorkeling off Bartolome, starting from a beach and following a coral reef along one side of the bay around the famous rock. It was excellent snorkeling with a good variety of fish and sea life like sea stars and sea urchins. We returned to the Islander for lunch.

After a traditional Ecuadorian lunch, we took a second snorkel at a deepwater site off of Rabida Island. At first I thought it would be punk because the site was shaded and cold but less than a minute later I was caught up in the iridescent underwater world with unique sea plants and creatures. I kept seeing new life while schools of fish swam around. I tried out a few videos and they turned out really well. The photographs are less good, its hard to get a fish before it moves.

Fish video

Later that evening we took a stroll along shore and saw a male sea lion fight off a competitor, a pelican argue with two young sea lions, two mockingbird packs face off against each other, and young pelicans in a nest gang up on another pelican trying to get back in. Everyone was crabby, I guess it was the waning of the full moon.

Crabby Sea Lion video

We checked the stars but it was overcast.

Birds: Lava Heron, Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown Noddy, American Oystercatcher, Galapagos Mockinbird, Lesser Yellowlegs, Galapagos Sea Lion