03/16/00 Thursday - Hooray! The seas were calm and we anchored in James Bay just before 5:45am. Beautiful black sand beaches look inviting and the remains of a house look incongruous on the clifftop. We had cheese omelette and toast with persimmon juice for breakfast and left for the beach at 7:10.

Another group had preceded us and they may be almost as slow as we are. We made our way along the rocky coast, the 3 birdwatchers ruling the rate of progress. Many waders along this path and we saw plovers, whimbrels, oystercatchers, ruddy turnstones, pelicans, boobies, frigates, and herons. In one spot we saw a new heron, a striated one, and we later counted a sanderling in winter plumage. The lava had formed tunnels and bridges into which the waves surged and foamed. At one point we encountered 3 sealion pups riding the elevator motion of a large blowhole-like aperture. Many marine iguanas and lava lizards and we watched a lava heron stalk, and dismantle a Sallylightfoot. A dusty, hot (but level) trail lead us back to the original beach.

Black sand beaches may be lovely, but they're darn hot to walk on without shoes. We grabbed our snorkeling stuff from the box we'd left on the beach and ran like crazy for the water's edge. The surf was very rough and, if not careful, you could tumble like crazy while trying to put on your gear. We had to fight strong currents so didn't go far along the edge of the bay, but did manage to spot a couple of new fish species in the short time we were in the water. Scott, D, Juan, Debbie and I walked up to explore the abandoned, cinderblock house which had been used to house the salt miners who had built it. Luckily a large deposit of salt was discovered on the mainland and this project was abandoned, never to be used again now that the island is a national park. Back to the beach to wash off as much sand as possible and throw ourselves into the heaving panga, fighting to avoid being grounded or yanked out to sea.

We were treated to more yummy persimmon juice on deck by Ricardo and were soon underway. We have a short trip to Rabida for this afternoon's exploring. We had sea bass for lunch with rice, a warm pea, carrot, bean and hard-boiled egg mixture, thinly sliced radish and zucchini salad and pasta with some yummy, but violently green sauce with mushrooms. Dessert was a healthy dollop of orangy-red jello with a large spoonful of sweetened condensed milk poured over it.

We were all yawning like crazy during the last half of the meal and had retired to our respective staterooms and bunks when the call came from above: "Dolphins". Now I had seen dolphins and was not in any great hurry to leave the comfort of my bunk just for one or two distant humps with fins, but the noises from topside were too excited to allow Patti and me to remain below decks. What a sight! At least 50 dolphins, as many as 5 or 6 at a time streaming under the bow, were all around. They leaped and smacked the waters loudly with their tails and put on a spectacular display. I hope our pictures turn out. I could have watched them swim just under the bow for hours--they're superb swimmers and look so much like they're enjoying themselves. We saw a juvenile leap high into the air several times. The Capitan circled around to maximize the contact, but eventually, one by one, the group who had been racing us sounded and the whole pod eventually just vanished. Happy birthday to Scott! Hard to sleep after that kind of excitement (though we all gave it a yeoman's try). We anchored soon after and were grateful for the breeze which cooled a hot afternoon. We've seen more clouds today than I ever have before here and even got a little rain on our way to Rabida. I guess it is the rainy season.

We arrived on a rich rusty beach in the heat of the afternoon hoping we would be lucky this last time and find flamingos in the lagoon just behind the beach. No flamingos. I just hope their numbers increase and we will see them in greater numbers the next time we come (Yes, the NEXT time!) We took the trail up to the edge of the cliff around which we will be snorkeling later. Juan and Mother had a discussion regarding the plants that had leaped from the mainland to a large rock which had broken away.

More of this day's log to follow... 9/14/00

Santiago & Rabida

(click for larger image)