Ampurp85

But also Batman suggesting getting luggage this late in the game is why you need to check his underwear situation. That sounds so bad when I read it back.

But also Batman suggesting getting luggage this late in the game is why you need to check his underwear situation. That sounds so bad when I read it back.

But also Batman suggesting getting luggage this late in the game is why you need to check his underwear situation. That sounds so bad when I read it back.

Fancy people know Tar-Zhey doesn't have time for tomfoolery.
I did not shop at Walmart until I was almost 30, in Chicago it was only on the west side(horrible) and the south side (even worse)

Since it's going to be raining here on Sunday, Batman has just now decided we should go shopping for hard-sided luggage. Today. 
I'm not thrilled with this idea since he suggested Target or Kohls (because hey, i mean do they sell BEIS?!) and we already have 863 pieces of luggage we don't use. 
I say we live on the edge since we have free laundry. 
Stay tuned to see who wins this battle. 

Day 0.1 Seattle.
The Jetlag is really hard  I think it was 3 am when we were already up trying to force ourself to sleep longer. I guess that what happens when you go to sleep at 4 PM ... we search for place to eat breakfast and decided to give Starbucks reserve roastery a try. We both not big fans of Starbucks (we are from a city that Starbucks decided to close there branches after failing to compete with many much better coffee places). But this Starbucks is different and it's open on 7 am :-). I would recommend a visit there for sure. Very good sandwiches and cakes. The atmosphere is also very nice.




From Starbucks we went down the Pike street to the market to taste the famous grill cheese sandwich in the market at Beecher , as we were quite full we shared one sandwich and it was very good

After the two  breakfast we had a one our boat tour out of pier 55 just to verify the cruise pier is there and ready for us. It was also nice to see the industrial port and the big cranes in action. 
 





Post the cruise to recover from the disembarking feelings we went to buy some last thing we forgot to bring for the cruise (mainly warm hats) and roam around downtown (no, we did not went to the needle,  as I have been there and my spouse doesn't care for the high places) . For late lunch and pre dinner we went to Japanosa resturant,  they have happy hour on everything until 5 pm and there food was just delicious. As you can see they don't serve half rolls like some famous venue in RC ship :-). 

 
We again  went to sleep quite early , suddenly I was woken up by my spouse saying hey , we are missing  the boat we need to go it's already 11:30 . It took me few seconds to understand that yes , it was 11:30 but PM ... The Jetlag strikes back 
 

The baby Tortoises are kept safe within a breeding enclosure until they are old enough to fend for themselves.
The babies in this enclosure are from the island of Espanola and were born in 2020.  Soon they will be moved to the island of Espanola where they will live for the rest of their lives.


Another group from the island of Floreana born in 2023.


These are from the variation found on the island of Santiago also born in 2023.



Just a few years old but you already see they are miniature versions of what we have been seeing up to this point.

The Tortoises here are markedly different than the Giant Tortoises we saw in the morning.  There are a number of different species of Galapagos Giant Tortoises.  The breeding center makes a point of managing hatchlings from different islands to maintain and in some cases reintroduce a variation from a specific island.

After lunch it was back on the zodiacs for a ride into town for a visit to the breeding center for Giant Tortoises at the Charles Darwin Research Station.
A guide escorted us to waiting busses for a 10 minute ride through to the edge of town.
Busses are not allowed within the research station so it was a 10 minute walk into the park.

Lunch before we ride back to shore for the afternoon excursion, shopping, both or staying on board to do whatever.

 

We board our bus back to the harbor.

The bus was comfortable with air conditioning.


A Sea Turtle makes a meal cleaning the growth off the dock.

After our zodiac ride back to the ship Ecuadorian chocolate is waiting for us as we step on board.

Along with some sparkling wine.

We continue to explore the area.


The horses a bit closer.


Montemar also is a coffee plantation.  They host a coffee tasting for our benefit.



A Montemar representative walks us through the coffee tasting process.



Afterwards we are free to wander on our own, do some shopping with the local artisans they brought in or use the bathroom.
The view to the sea from our perch in the highlands of Santa Cruz.  The Tortoises make the fifty mile trek to lay their eggs. 

Tortoises are everywhere!



A neighboring part of land has horses.




Our guide has a seed pod from a local tree.  Since we are on private land our guides are able to show us some things they would not be able to out in the Galapagos park. 


We continue to explore the private land into an area with coffee bean trees.



Oh look, a Giant Tortoise is lumbering through the forest.

We remain in our small groups of ten or so with our guides from the ship who we pretty much know on a first name basis at this point.
Another group from our ship is with their guide who may have led a snorkel or land tour for me at one stop or another.


Tortoises love mud baths.  Since they are slow moving and low to the ground they are easy targets for ticks and other pests but a coating of mud helps to protect their underbellies.

Montemar is a private company so this will be the first time we aren't under the auspices of the National Park of the Galapagos. 

It is a bit of a cultivated experience compared to our other stops but I imagine that has a lot to do with ensuring guests can actually see Giant Tortoises on a consistent basis as opposed to taking a hundred guests to a field somewhere and hoping to see one Giant Tortoise.   

As it so happens the land of Montemar is on the migration path of the Giant Tortoise as they make their way to the sea to lay eggs before returning to the Highlands of Santa Cruz.  In this respect it's not a zoo with caged animals that can't ever leave.  These are wild Tortoises that do leave and make the 50 mile trek to the sea every year to lay eggs near the beach before returning to the Highlands.
It doesn't take long to find what we are looking for. 

They are everywhere in every direction.








Our guide offers to take photos with our phones after explaining how to circle around behind the Tortoise while keeping a distance.

Day Five - Santa Cruz Highlands, Puerto Ayora 
Morning greets us with the sights and sounds of an active harbor.  After days of seeing pretty much only our own excursions zodiacs filled with our own Silver Origin guests suddenly we are back in the real world.

Puerto Ayora is a busy tourist port for many fly in guests to the Galapagos Islands.  

The Silver Origin zodiacs bring us to the pier in town


We remain paired with our guide who was on the zodiac with us on the ride in just as we have been at every stop up to today.  We walk as a group to waiting busses dedicated to the Silver Origin.


We ride through town and start climbing up to the highlands.  The town begins to fade and the vegetation changes several times as we climb higher to our destination.
After 30 minutes or so the bus makes a left turn onto a dirt road.

After another six or seven minutes we start to see the reason why we came here today.  The Giant Tortoise.  This one and several others have been wandering the countryside outside the bus window.

Even Ertha Kitt oozed sex appeal.

I share @asquared17's affinity for homeopathic remedies, so this is probably just for you, A. 
I picked this up from my Total Wellness center today to take aboard. 
 

Batman found it in the fridge and asked, "oh are you making pancakes for dinner?!"

YES ELDERBERRY!! 😍
this liveblog has already run the gamut; from elderberry to porkroll!! we are a study in contradictions 😂

We started our journey on Tuesday evening saying good bye and took train to the airport.

12 hour later  we landed  in Newark for a challenging 1.5 hour connection,  immigration went very fast although there were some lines but one of the suitcases took it time to arrive which push us to the not do comfortable zone. Lucky for us there were zero lines at security and our flight to Seattle was from the same terminal. We arrived the gate just when they started to board . Flight to Seattle took another 5 hours but it went smooth. When we landed the luggage came very quick and we walked to the train. The train  departures every 10 minutes and has enough space for luggage.  It cost 3 $ per person. It took us 6 more minutes to walk to the hotel , although it was uphill. Around 12 PM we arrived to the hotel to find that our room already ready which was nice.


We quickly got refreshed and went to catch something to eat in Pike market which is 10 minutes from the hotel. We went to the market grill , I got the Salmon sandwich which was very good.

We checked some other places in the market before going to the nearby Target to stock up.

We went back yo the hotel and decided to take some rest which we all know  with the Jetlag meaning sleep until the middle if the night 🙂
 

I have brought wine onboard a couple of times. No corkage fee and if there was it would only be charged if asked to be opened and served in the MDR. 

You can use any night to upgrade to Chef's table. What you cannot/might not be able to do is prepurchase it and then try to change it on the ship.

I know understand the pork roll. 🤔
 

Even Ertha Kitt oozed sex appeal.

I know understand the pork roll. 🤔