FREE hit counter and Internet traffic statistics from freestats.com

Amused Muse

Inspiring dissent and debate and the love of dissonance

My Photo
Name:
Location: Surreality, Have Fun Will Travel, Past Midnight before a Workday

Master's Degree holder, telecommuting from the hot tub, proud Darwinian Dawkobot, and pirate librarian belly-dancer bohemian secret agent scribe on a mission to rescue bloggers from the wholesome clutches of the pious backstabbing girl fridays of the world.



Monday, June 11, 2007

Galapagos Diary: Day Two - Floreana

Before lunch that same day we enjoyed a lecture by Richard Dawkins, "Responses to The God Delusion," then one after lunch by Eddie Tabash, "The Present Threat of the Religious Right to Our Modern Freedoms." (I will summarize these in another post.) Then we landed at Punta Cormorant on the island of Floreana.
I remember that the island had three large volcanoes that reminded me of the pyramids of Gizeh. We were promised dozens of pink flamingoes on the nature hike, but I skipped the walk to snorkel for my very first time. My partners were my roommate, Jo Ann (below in the white hat) and Sue (in the green).

Did I mention that I've been afraid of water since I managed to barely pass Advanced Beginners swim class when I was ten years old or so?

Well. I'd never stayed more than a few hours on a boat before. So far so good - no seasickness - and to my surprise, I took to breathing through my mouth underwater pretty quickly. Immediately, in fact.

Almost as if I really wasn't afraid of water anymore - or in fact had not been for quite some time.

And I realized that I didn't need the floatation device at all - because I'm a pretty good swimmer. Hello, Kristine! Been hanging onto a useless fear long enough?

Among many kinds of fish, as well as sea urchins, I saw the beautiful King Angelfish. Following others' advice, I took out my contacts and didn't wear my glasses, and frankly, the water magnifies everything, anyway. What you cannot see you swim close enough until you can see it. The fish did not mind.
Snorkeling is fun! I'll have to do this again. (Note to self: Bikini bottom can hold half a pound of sand. Next time, head right upstairs to the shower next to the jacuzzi on the sun deck.)
Yes! The jacuzzi on the sun deck! So conveniently close to the bar!

Labels:

3 Comments:

Blogger Royale said...

I must have missed it as I just started reading your blog, but was Dawkins ON your yacht?

If so, j'aurais ennui.

June 12, 2007 7:21 AM  
Blogger Kristine said...

Yes, Dawkins was on this ship with us. I went with the Center for Inquiry Explorer's Club, and he was the featured guest. Paul Kurtz was also supposed to go, but unfortunately, due to his recent heart surgery, he couldn't. Eddie Tabash came in his place (which was really nice because I didn't get to see Eddie when he participated in a debate in Minneapolis last December).

Oh yes, the minute that I saw this trip I started planning to go.

Now I working to pay this trip off.
;-)

June 12, 2007 8:47 AM  
Blogger Kristine said...

Hey, you know, I take donations, too. ;-)

June 13, 2007 12:46 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home