Bartolomé & Santiago Islands
Dark clouds hovered ominously on the low horizon as I woke up the early birds for the hike to the top. The objective: reach the top of Bartolomé Island, 359 feet in altitude; the mission: take in the best view of the archipelago; the means: leg power.
And plenty made it, some in record time (forty-five minutes up and down the 372 wooden steps)! But the sun was shining, the air was clear and the islands visible from a great distance: our beginning was in sight, only six days ago, memories still strong, North Seymour to the east. The profiles of the Bainbridge Islets, Santa Cruz and Isabela wrapping around our thoughts and bodies as we stood on top of the world.
Santiago was the largest presence in front of us, less than a mile away and still in the future. When the afternoon brought our landing into view, the black beach beckoned to the hard-core snorkelers who were rewarded with turtles, rays and sharks, never mind the bright tropical fish. The afternoon walk along the shoreline of James Bay was exquisite in its timelessness. Iguanas basked, sea lions snoozed, oystercatchers napped (even the teenager) and the waves whooshed in and out of fissures in the lava.
A few days ago I opened up a competition for poets among our guests of all ages, and the haikus were phenomenal. The top three anonymous haikus were selected after an agonizing process by the staff, and here we would like to share them with you (the authors having spoken up at final recap).
Giant tortoises
Enormous shell with long neck
Moving quite slowly
(Cat Orman, age 9)
In flight, with full red
Glorious pouch of seduction,
I will soon find love
(Eileen Stukane)
A small bare island
Lonesome can’t bear staying here
Shipwreck long ago
(Lulu Russell, age 10)
Dark clouds hovered ominously on the low horizon as I woke up the early birds for the hike to the top. The objective: reach the top of Bartolomé Island, 359 feet in altitude; the mission: take in the best view of the archipelago; the means: leg power.
And plenty made it, some in record time (forty-five minutes up and down the 372 wooden steps)! But the sun was shining, the air was clear and the islands visible from a great distance: our beginning was in sight, only six days ago, memories still strong, North Seymour to the east. The profiles of the Bainbridge Islets, Santa Cruz and Isabela wrapping around our thoughts and bodies as we stood on top of the world.
Santiago was the largest presence in front of us, less than a mile away and still in the future. When the afternoon brought our landing into view, the black beach beckoned to the hard-core snorkelers who were rewarded with turtles, rays and sharks, never mind the bright tropical fish. The afternoon walk along the shoreline of James Bay was exquisite in its timelessness. Iguanas basked, sea lions snoozed, oystercatchers napped (even the teenager) and the waves whooshed in and out of fissures in the lava.
A few days ago I opened up a competition for poets among our guests of all ages, and the haikus were phenomenal. The top three anonymous haikus were selected after an agonizing process by the staff, and here we would like to share them with you (the authors having spoken up at final recap).
Giant tortoises
Enormous shell with long neck
Moving quite slowly
(Cat Orman, age 9)
In flight, with full red
Glorious pouch of seduction,
I will soon find love
(Eileen Stukane)
A small bare island
Lonesome can’t bear staying here
Shipwreck long ago
(Lulu Russell, age 10)
