Friday, April 21- Going for the Gusto

This was the last full day on the ship and there was plenty to do.  I signed up for another snorkeling expedition, this one in an area called the Octopus' Garden near the islands of Tortuga and Alcatraz.  There were octopus but a huge variety of fish, including some I hadn't seen off Panama, which wasn't that far away.   I couldn’t remember them all.   I knew to avoid coral but asked what would happen if I accidentally brushed some.  Not only were they poisonous- some carried harmful bacteria.  I doubled my efforts to avoid them.

Look out, fish- I'm coming in!

Later in the morning we had another beach party.  I enjoyed both kayaking and swimming, then went back to the ship for lunch, followed by a long hike over multiple trails.    Snorkeling, swimming, hiking, kayaking in the same day- may as well take advantage of opportunities!

We took all the trails except the Killer Trail, for which I was grateful.

Signs by this river warned us that if we went swimming the local crocodiles might welcome us.

View of our ship in the distance.

Waiting for the skiff back to the ship.

On the hike I encountered more new-to-me bird species- at one point a group of macaws flew overhead, squawking.  This area was called a "dry forest", but still felt darn humid!  I came back happy, greasy, sweaty, frizzled, 15 mins.  before happy hour- and there were two men in my head fixing a leak.  (If you're a landlubber, you should know that "head" is the marine term for toilet.)  Fortunately they weren't too long.  I had a Balboa beer in the bar- always have to have the local brew. 

After dinner there was a video showing pictures taken by the crew during the trip, especially enhanced by some of the shots taken by the video crew's drone.  One song struck me in particular- it had the refrain "there's only one way to mend a broken heart.  It turned out to be
Beautiful Dawn, by the Wailin' Jennys.  ("Take me to the breaking of a beautiful dawn... take where the ocean meets the sky and the sand.. Learning to cry is the hardest part.. There's only one way to mend a broken heart").   Wow.  This trip really had been healing.  They'd also done videos on our Alaska trips and I'm cynical enough to know it was meant to make us feel warm and fuzzy and make our credit cards fly out of our wallets with a deposit on a future trip.  Mine had already flown- the $500 discount helped.  I'm thinking the Sea of Cortez in early 2019.

Ended evening on the bench in front of the bridge watching the city lights.  I was reminded of C.S. Lewis' remark in "A Grief Observed" that, after the death of his wife, he felt like a ship missing its starboard engine.  Yes, I definitely miss my starboard engine.