Holidays

I've wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands, ever since studying the
Origin of Species at school and finally got the chance. Just back
from a fortnight sailing in the islands on a barquentine sailing
ship. Awesome, just awesome.

http://www.takkatakka.co.uk/ship.html

If it's somewhere you want to go, my advice is do it soon as I reckon
tourism there will be heavily restricted before much longer.

 

The rising seas will put paid to it anyway.
--
Dave
GS850x2 XS650 SE6a

Teach a man to fish and he and his pikey mates will have the
river cleaned out in a day.

 

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote

They'll have to rise a good bit...some of the volcanic peaks are 5000
feet+ above sea level.....

 

In message

What did it cost then ?

 

That really is most excellent, it's somewhere I've wanted to go 'for
ever'. Looks like you did it in real style too.

--
Paul - xxx

'96/'97 Landrover Discovery 300 Tdi 'Big and Butch'
'98 Suzuki DR 200 Djebel 'Small but perfectly formed'
Dyna Tech Cro-Mo comp "When I feel fit enough'

 

3.5K each all in for a fortnight, 7 nightsd on the boat, 2 in Quito
and 2 in a hotel on the islands so I could get some Scuba in, not
incuded in the cost but it did in include all food on the boat. Not
cheap, but frankly worth every penny.

 

Decided I wanted to do it on a trad styled ship and that one had the
advantage of being largish but only taking 16 passengers. Most of
the time it was motoring as they tend to do the transits between
islands overnight but they did sail under canvas a couple of times.
Really, really worth doing.

 

In message

Yeah - considering how remote and not a "bulk" holiday destination it is

Definitely worth looking at then

 

In message

What was the company ?

 

http://www.audleytravel.com/

 

Definitely - they impose a limit of 100,000 visitors per year and you
*can't* do it alone as there are only certain parts of the islands
open to visitors and you have to have an official guide with you with
a limit of 16 visitors to each guide.

 

Hah, thought I recognised the name.
I surveyed their comms room for aircon.
Unbeknown to me, so did my mate (the one with the red VFR who came to
one of the OSM's with me).

Bastard got the order too.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


http://thebikeshed.spaces.live.com/
1996 Kawasaki ZR1100 Zephyr

BOTAFOT #140 (KotL 2005/6/7)
X-FOT#000
DIAABTCOD #26
BOMB#18 (slow)
OMF#11

 

Ooh, me too.

Very, very nice, you lucky sod.

<starts planning>

--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

A guy from my local has just come back from a diving holiday there. He
said the place was awesome, both above and below water level.

 

Mick Whittingham wrote

The diving we did was a bit....disapointing. Very murky waters and we
had a big problem on the last dive when we came up in very choppy
waters, low on air and the boat didn't spot us for nearly 10 minutes,
by which time I was out of air (you needed the reg on the surface, it
was so choppy). I was beginning to think I could drown as I was
getting very tired and the current had swept us apart. Ditched my
weight belt but it was probably a close thing by the time the boat
found us. Nasty.

 

He did say there were good days and bad days but the dive guide would
often go to one site then after jumping in come out and say NO WAY and
they would go to another site. Most of the time this was because of the
current.

I normally carry a snorkel in my BCD and not on my mask as I find it
gets in the way. But I have *needed* it twice. Once diving off of Africa
I surfaced with a German guy, he was completely out of air and the guys
on look out in the boat were asleep on the benches. In the end as we
drifted away, he bellowed at the top of his voice (I was impressed by
the volume) and described the two guys in detail as to their work
ethics, nature, genetics, genealogy and colour. They woke up and got us
just before we disappeared in the chop. Worrying............

When it gets that bad it *is* bad.

 

Mick Whittingham wrote

I usually have the snorkel but this time but being hampered by the
hood, a double layer wet suit, gloves and so on, all stuff I'm not
used to, I left it behind....well, that's a mistake I won't make
again.

 

Anything that takes you out of your 'normal' routine plus at a little
stress and mistakes happen even with the safest diver.

 

Mick Whittingham wrote

Indeed. And I've just bought an SMB to stick in my BCD in case
anything similar happens again.

 

My Buddy Commando BCD has a built in pocket in the back for an SMB (A
big Beaver one[1]). I even stuff it in a side pocket in my light weight
Latitude when diving in warm waters.

It's a bit like safety gear when you are biking. You hope you never need
it, but if you do...............

[1] OK so it makes life simple to hang off of one during a safety/deco
stop and in theory the boat should be there when you surface. But a
*big* red and yellow one, plus a whistle and a shinny CD in your pocket
makes for a safer dive when you are surfacing in swell 18 miles off of
the Norfolk coast, after diving on a wreck and wondering where the
f**king boat is.