The lion’s hidden treasures

The next morning was again an early one. I was beginning to get used to it. I had probably woken up before 6.30 a.m. way more often in the last 10 days than I had over the last 3 years. One gets used to it. And, if I dare say, one also learns to enjoy it. Yes. But please don’t come to any conclusions too soon on how I might behave in the future. I’m not going to make any promises on changing my habits.

For my last day on the Galapagos, I had booked one last excursion: snorkelling at Kicker Rock or, in Spanish, El león dormido – the Sleeping Lion – as this is how it looks from a distance. Or is supposed to look. I never saw much of a lion in it myself. From close by, the rock is impressive though. Because of its height of course, but also because of how it is cut out, the colours, … and its underwater fauna and flora. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see that much of it.

When we jumped into the water, it was blurry and didn’t allow us to see much of the treasures the lion is sleeping on. We were only three ladies and the instructor but we weren’t advancing very fast because one of us struggled to breathe with her snorkel. Eventually, she had to get back in the boat.

We crossed another group, who seemed to spot more things than we had done until then, and decided to follow them, which implied going back from where we came. The sight was slowly clearing up and we got to see a little more, amongst others a few sharks. But I have to admit I was still a bit disappointed. I expected some sort of a Disney moment I guess. With lots of animals, anemones, sea stars. A Little Mermaid or Finding Nemo kind of thing. Wearing a wetsuit with short legs and sleeves, unlike the other lady whose body was completely covered up, I was starting to freeze. So I went back to the boat too.

Once our small group was again complete, we went to one of San Cristobal’s beaches, inaccessible if not with a boat. And then, back to the port.

My flight back to mainland Ecuador was on Monday. It wasn’t easy to leave such a beautiful place. But surely there were plenty more surprising things to discover on this beautiful continent. Plenty of experiences to look forward to.