our last day on san cristobal. (nuestro dia ultimo en san cristobal.)

My last update post left off with the run to La Loberia and a breakfast of batidos, coffee and bananas. Well, that ended up being a pretty incredible day.

When Ashley was finally out of class, I had picked up the burgers and we began our trek to Frigate Bird Hill, named for the birds who live there. The evening before we had begun to walk the path we would spend the afternoon on, and I was in sandals that night. Thinking we had walked about half the path, I wore my sandals again. That was a bad idea. We had maybe walked about 1/5 of the path that evening, and things got rougher and rockier from there, far too difficult terrain for a $10 pair of sandals purchased two years ago in Hungary. But alas, such were my conditions. And I had to deal with it. (Days later, Ashley would very delicately remove small pebbles from my heel with her tweezers. The pebbles belonged on the trail, not in my foot. I didn't wear my sandals much after that.)

Despite the discomfort, the trail was beautiful. Some highlights from the walk:

A practice cannon used in World War II by the Ecuadorian Armed Forces. As far as I know, this never saw military action. Note the sandals.

A giant statue of Charles Darwin, joined by statues of a tortoise, a lobo, and behind him (and out of sight), an iguana. I'm in the photo as a frame of reference. The thing is huge. Note the rocks.

A view of Frigate Bird Hill from our path. We ended up on top of that after finishing the path and finding the stairs.

A view of the bay from the top of the hill. That little cove on the left was to be my first ill-fated attempt at snorkeling. Without fins, I was floundering. My excursion lasted maybe a minute and a half, but I would be more successful in future endeavors. Still, I've swum in this water.

Pensive. Lost in thought. How... existential. (Seriously... that water seems to never end.)

The lobos always take the good spots. Because of these guys, we had to find a different rock from which to jump into the water. Oh well. They looked comfy.

Out of place chronologically, but this is one of my favorites and a good one to end on. Ashley and I at a lookout on our way up the path. Behind us: the Pacific.

Even though snorkeling didn't quite work out how we had planned, I can say I tried, and things got better in the water the next time. But what a day. Another incredible experience in the Southern Hemisphere.