Galapagos - September 2008 - The Ladles and Generators Tour!
Good morning Ladles and Generators! What is he going on about I hear you ask? Well hopefully it will all become clear. As you know, we ran one of our most ambitious trips to date – The Galapagos Islands. We arrived at Heathrow airport in dribs and drabs – check in was supposed to be the outrageous time of 4.30am and some stayed in the airport, some got taxis, some splashed out on hotels. When we arrived we were pretty much front of the queue – mainly because Lord Smith had gone straight to the front. It was a good plan until we got caught trying to get into the club class area. Anyway, Iberian airlines (our chosen provider) were still booking passengers onto the plane that left before ours so we were told we would have to wait – could have had more time in bed!!!. Eventually we boarded our luxury transportation to Madrid and after a whacky races style transfer across the runway, boarded another luxury airliner for the long haul to Quito. Now, I know you shouldn’t judge 
people by their looks, and I know we were flying to South America, but was it just me that thought that half the plane looked like some of the hoods from Miami Vice. Nobody dared to ask for a rum and coke for fear of what they might get! It was packed – the 3 TVs that came down from the ceiling of the ancient plane didn’t all work and those that did had some real visual delights …. such as Kung Fu Panda and a spanish sushi chef making food that was too small to eat. There was even a dog running around – much to Moiras concern. To be truthful, the journey was pretty painful and we all vowed never to fly Iberia again.
On arrival in Quito we eventually got our cases … once we had realized that they had not put them all on the carousel and that a huge pile of bags were hidden in a corner. We waded past people in ponchos selling pan pipes and then drove to our hotel. In stark contrast to most of Quito it was lovely with a mural on every wall and after some cow for dinner and a couple of Ecuadorian beers the altitude (3,500 m) took its toll and everyone flaked out. The following day we flew into Galapagos and all of us got excited by the first Iguana sighting … ooh and look there is a sealion on the buoy … by the end of the first week we had realized that these are everywhere and we need not have been quite so frantic about getting the photo. A bus ride over the hill on the one road from one side of Santa Cruz to the other saw us ensconced in the Red Booby Hotel – nice clean and friendly. Puerto Aroya (the town) is not the biggest place in the world – in fact you can walk around it in about 10 minutes if you speed up a bit. But is is quite quaint. Pelican Bay is full of …. well Pelicans. Iguanas sit on the rocks in the harbour and we saw our first Eagle Ray in 2 feet of water by the ferry. Frigate birds are more common than starlings and the other avian species are all peculiar in some way or another.
On the first evening we all went down to the dive centre for that ubiquitous PADI paperwork and to get hold of some kit – it was included in the price of the package which was nice. Then we all met at the “Rock” which became our local haunt for the duration. The next day it was an early start and we were split into our 2 groups for diving. We boarded the bus and went back over the hill (a journey that was to become very familiar) to the jetty to meet our boats. The smaller group were in “El Canoe” …
while we were in “El Pallet” which had the hydrodynamics of a 30 ft skip. We also met our guides, Quike, Jimmy and Paolo. Quike spoke excellent english but struggled with “ladies and gentlemen” Every day was a new surprise, be it Lattes and Giggerybum, Labtrees and Generalmum. It was simply hours of amusement (so now you know what the tour name was all about). What he didn’t struggle with was dive briefings which were excellent. So, day 1 of diving – and according to Quike we were going to see, possibly, manta rays, sharks, eagle rays, sealions, hammerheads. Doubt it we all thought.
We knew it was good, but surely not on day one. But it was true. During every dive during the trip, someone, or everyone, pretty much saw all these big animals. It was only the quantity and proximity that varied. By the end of the 9 days diving we were getting spoilt – you know that stage has been reached when you are trying to shoo away turtles that are getting in the way of the hammerhead photos that you are trying to take. I think the other indication of how good it was, was the lack of air that most people were coming up with. Neil was ok – his dive buddy and wife doesn’t breathe. The rest of us just got so engrossed in the watching and taking photos that we often had a little under the required 50 bar. Ah well, that’s what buddies are for!!!!!!
The weather was weird as well. A steady and constant wind direction over the humboldt current (which was bloomin cold!) meant that on one side of the island it rained, the top was always in cloud and the other side was generally fine. It was not hot, in spite of being on the equator, and the thermoclines were interesting!
The evening’s entertainment would begin with a stroll past the fish market to watch the pelicans and sealions try and grab titbits from the fishermen as they prepared their catch on the counter. It then generally involved trying out the various restaurants on offer in the metropolis that was Puerto Aroyez!
Once we had sampled all 5 restaurants we started back round again! Glen managed to double the Island’s tequila consumption during his stay, Mike did the same for the Cuba Libra quota. But, although there were a couple of late nights, in the main everyone was shattered after the days diving – was that anything to do with the 620 metre hill we drove over after diving each day? I enquired about decompression sickness and the issues of going over big hills … however you will be glad to know the good news is that it is not a concern in Galapagos because “the bus goes quickly over the hill and then back down the other side”. Well that’s ok then. The laws of physics redefined – by Paulo from Galapagos.
The dive sites all lived up to their names and reputations – Gordon Rocks was a favourite – simply because of the sheer numbers of hammerheads that drifted by – sometimes tantilisingly close. But Daphne was wonderful because of the playful sealion that was messing around in the cave when we went into it, the cavern next to the Arch was full of marbled rays, Beagle Rock had lots of Galapagos sharks and the opportunity to snorkel with galapagos penguins and galapagos sealions. (By the way, everything is a Galapagos animal in the Galapagos – so dogs we renamed Galapagos Cats, horses were infact Galapagos cows and so on – well you have to do something when you are driving back and forth on the only road in the island twice a day for 1 ½ hours! At every site, there was plenty to see – almost too much.
Currents were variable and while the ripped through Gordon Rocks there was nothing too difficult for an advanced diver with a reasonable amount of experience. The diving was amazing – more so than I think we thought it would be. El Canoe saw Orcas (Galapagos ones obviously) on the surface on 2 occasions and we spent 30 minutes on one trip just watching hundreds of Galapagos dolphins mess about in the Galapagos bow waves while we tried to get the whole thing on camera. At the end of 8 days of diving and with a few sore ears going around, 8 of us decided to see a different island and went on a trek to Isabella. The island has 3 Galapagos Volcanoes, one of which erupted a few months ago, so we thought it would be a good idea to climb one. The ferry was remarkably similar to the boat we had been diving on so no surprises, except getting wet when you are not planning to go diving is an interesting concept. Isabella was lovely – much bigger, no proper roads, just dirt and sand tracks.
The evening we arrived we all went to see the Galapagos flamingo – yes it was solitary. Not sure where the others had gone. After that we tried to find a beer, hung around in Galapagos hammocks, drank Galapagos beer and pretended we were in an Enid Blyton book … “Adventures in Galapagos”.
The next day, it was an early start as we set off by bus to the “base camp” – it was raining (wrong side of the island obviously) and this was were we picked up our Galapagos cows for the day. Joe had bought a hat specially and looked the part, Stuart spent the journey posing like a cowboy with me adjusting shutter speed to make it look like he was going quickly ….and Ruth just hung on for dear life. “Whoay horse, don’t do that you horrible thing” were the words of command. It speaks Spanish Ruth! Mine decided to collapse in a heap as soon as I got on it – either through disgust or fatigue at the weight I know not. And no, stop the rumours, I didn’t fall off, I had to get off because the horse was sitting on my leg. The lady in the blue towelling tracksuit did not appear to be appropriately attired for the journey – and looked even less so after she was unceremoniously dumped in the mud by her equally disgusted mount. It was an hour up the hill and by the end of it some rather sore thighs and bums climbed down with a sigh of relief. We then decided to trek on foot up to the Volcano’s “hole” so that we could peer into it and have lunch while taking in probably the best view
in the whole of Galapagos. The walk back took its toll, as did the ride back down the hill, but we all survived and were glad we had done it. Meanwhile, the Santa Cruz 10 got in another 3 dives and saw more Orcas – its just not fair. The penultimate day saw us doing another land tour and going to see the giant Galapagos tortoises. And we are talking BIG. Lonesome George (who it is rumoured may well be gay) has just reached his sexual prime at the ripe age of 80, but is not getting that warm feeling about a couple of 70 year olds that have been thrown in with him. Well of course not – he is looking for something more racey!
To be fair, they were quite fascinating, so much so that Lisa spent hours on her hands and knees waiting for one of them to open its mouth, and then missed the photo when it did. Finally we all wondered through lava tunnels (well why not) before getting back for some more food and beer in …. Yes, the Rock. We seemed to have been away for ages and suddenly it was all over and time to return. The morning we left, the hotel brought out a huge cake – which was blue – just what you needed before starting out at stupid o’clock in the morning for a 24 hour journey! Eventually we got onto the domestic flight (although this time we all got charged excess baggage – except for Lord Smith who had more than everyone else!!!) The flight was interesting – it went from Galapagos to Guayerquil, then to Quito, then onto another plane, back to Guayerquil, before flying back over Quito to Madrid. Baggage was checked and rechecked (at least 7 times) and we all resisted the temptation for asking for anything with coke in it once again. At least there were no dogs this time! Around 24 hours later, slightly hungry and smelly we were back home. To be honest I could write pages and pages about the trip – it was that amazing. So how about a few Highlights 
– the sheer number of fish and marine animals. Looking over the second biggest caldera in the World was also pretty special as was looking at Glen the morning after he had 12 margeuritas (but for completely diffrerent reasons), The speed that Lisa could get out of her drysuit when she was desperate was incredible and waiting to see if Glen and Stuart had actually been shown any marine life at all by Jimmy was always awaited with anticipation – we wondered what the penalty for murder was in Ecuador. Watching dolphins swim in front of the boat was wonderful, as was seeing hundreds of Blue Footed Boobies dive in after shoals of fish without hitting any other birds – but did they know you could have an eye out with one of those beaks. And finally …. wondering whether Glen would actually get through the hole at the end of the lava tube! 
By comparison there were no real Lowlights – except for realising you only have 10 bar left and a 10 miinute deco stop (schoolboy error), breaking a couple of ribs (yes ribs, as in chest and breathing) without being under the afluence in Inkerhol, tomatapple juice for breakfast, pungent wetsuits on a hot day, having baggage checked about 15 times by security, Iberian Airlines, Iberian Airlines …. and … oh yes, Iberian Airlines. Did I mention that they were pretty grim by the way. In contrast to the airline the dive company we were with was Scuba Iguana. There are about 5 operators on the island and they came up with the best package. Marie-Lou is the person who you speak to to organize things and she could not have been more helpful. Quike and the guides were very good with varying levels of english and knowledge of dive sites and the hotel Red Booby was perfect. We would defintely recommend the hotel and the dive company if you were thinking of planning a trip. Was it another awesome club dive trip ….. yet again we have to say yes – but if we ever go again, next time we are going by Continental Airlines!
Malta 21 - 28 June 2008
No sooner have we come back from a successful week away on a liveaboard than the next group of club members is off on the next trip – this time it was to Malta. 16 decided to join us for some early summer fun in the Med. It was a really good week. We arrived at a reasonable time, drove past the hospital where Chris was born (to comments of “what was it like then with all those Italian bombers coming over”) and dropped our gear off at the dive centre to be told that they were expecting a heatwave for the week we were there – it was 30 degrees by 9.00 in the morning so the forecast was right! After settling into our various apartment blocks The first night we unloaded dive gear at the centre, and set about developing a taste for the local brew “Cisk”.
There was no messing about and the first day saw us straight down to the Gozo end of the island for a 30m dive on the newest wreck in Malta, the P29 (above). Although it has only been there a year there is already a lot of life on it and some easy penetration. On the way back we stopped off along the reef and found the first of many tunnels and swim-throughs. Nigel set the standard for air consumption but to give him his due it got better through the week although he was the determining factor regarding dive time during all the briefings. In fact poor Nigel got quite a lot of stick, with shouts of “Save the Whale and “call Greenpeace” being banded about far too readily. It’s the neoprene mate, it shrinks every year. The second dive was through more caves and swim through – not much life but nice nonetheless.
The very religious Maltese people like to deposit religious artefacts around the place and they clearly don’t think the sea should be an exception as we found our first Virgin Mary statue of the trip at 14 metres sharing a cavern with some small fish! Reckon they might be Monk fish! (ouch - sorry)
We also spotted a “HUGE” sea hare that decided to go off for a swim – some great video footage on that one. That evening some of us were having a beer – the sad slightly drunk looking bloke in the corner suddenly got up and picked up a microphone and started singing. Crikey he must be pissed we thought. But no, Eric, was actually the entertainment for the over 80’s club that suddenly appeared. The most worrying thing was that John, who is definitely not 80, knew the words to all the songs. The next day we were off to the Um el Faroud, a huge freighter and arguably one of the best wrecks in the Med. It was so good that we decided to do 2 dives on it, and is big enough that you will always find something new. I found treasure, a silver toe ring, obviously Byzantine Dynasty while Steve found a key ring of Korean origin, circa 2007.
Wednesday we got up a few minutes early and jumped on a ferry to Gozo, which was a bit of an adventure. A lot less chaotic than Malta, it was nice to return after a 2 year absence. Although there are now a few nice wrecks on Gozo it was decided that we should still do the classic Inland Sea and the Blue Hole. Both cavern dives the colours were amazing and with relatively few divers around we had some excellent visibility and a great chance for some good photography.
Classic moments – there were several but the best have to be Mel (Aussie dive guide) getting a ticket from a copper for having 11 in the minibus when it was only licensed for 8 – even though it had 11 seats which was a bit bizarre. The coppers were actually traffic wardens with somewhat draconian powers. The other moment was when John left his mum on the ferry as we drove off – well that was not very nice.. We’re missing one went up the call as we sped off – “its only my mum” said John.
The following day, the group split, with the more experienced divers opting for a boat trip to the Imperial Eagle at 42m and the others going for the Rosie at 30m. Both groups had a great day. The eagle group jumped on board Tony’s Dive Service boat to be greeted by a salty sea dog with an impressive Santa set of whiskers. Chris forgot to check his box and had no regs “they were there, someone has taken them out” – yeh right!. Thankfully the guide had a spare set. My computer was doing interesting things and as we got to the Jesus Statue it was reading 56m and still descending. By the end of the dive it read max depth 59m and a missed deco stop iof 79 minutes.
From the Jesus Statue we swam to the Eagle, which is a lovely wooden decked wreck with plenty of entry and exits points. A lovely dive. The final day of diving was the Caves of Comino – I have always wanted to dive on the Calypso, but have to say, this was not the boat I had imagined. Chris, managed to forget his wetsuit this time but there was enough spare time to get another. The first dive in Alex’s cave was the opportunity for Ruth to see the cavern she missed last time. At the top you can surface into a small air filled cavern – good fun. It was then a quick chug around the island to Santa Maria where the Comino Base Jumping Championships took place – those mad or brave enough climbed up through the cavern …. And then jumped off the top. Some great videos and photos and thankfully no-one was hurt!!!!
The last dive was a 60 minute classic, though the Santa Maria cavern, onwards through “Zorro’s” cave and then finishing off with morays, barracuda and the odd cuttlefish. A great way to finish. That evening saw the whole group out having a few beers to celebrate Chris’ 59th birthday. Conner made the acquaintance of several young fillies while his Dad Paul ensured that he wouldn’t get into any trouble by distributing “Dad pants” all around his room – enough to put anyone off. The last day was spent relaxing, drinking, eating and wandering around the “tat” shops, which were numerous. Chris and the lads managed to emerge at a reasonable time for a full-fried breakfast (everyone seems to offer that!) … and Sangria! Steve went for a dive on the Faroud – a group of us were going to dive the Blenheim Bomber but there were no boats available which was a shame – Steve bought the Blenheim t-shirt anyway! Talking of which, Nigel now has the complete 7/10ths t-shirt collection to his name. In the evening Chris proved how much alcohol he had consumed by eating a beetle that Becci had stepped on – gross. Sue was concerned it might have been Billy, the cockroach she had become friends with in her room! The whole Malta experience was a good one, but then lets face it, all our trips are!
Buddies Dive Centre in St Pauls were excellent and we would thoroughly recommend them as a dive operation. Audrey and Rupert run an excellent and efficient centre – hey just like ours – and nothing was too much trouble! The dive guides were also excellent – Karsten is an endless source of knowledge and amusement and laughs continuously! Dave, Reg and Mel were all very good and we wish Mel well when she goes off to Antarctica for 2 ½ years. And, although he is probably up to something because he is French, we even took to Reg from Burgundy. The whole team were great fun and we hope that the contents of the little envelope showed our appreciation. Another great club trip? Once again we have to say a resounding yes. Gozo and Malta are so easy to get to, such great value and have some of the best diving in the med, so we might make it a bit of an annual pilgrimage, a bit like Dahab. We are also thinking about running a few long weekends there – anyone up for that? Photos from the trip are on the gallery on the website.
Whirlwind, Egypt 10 - 17 May 2008
Day 1 - Saw us all arrive on time at Triton to be greeted with smoked salmon sandwiches and bucks fizz, which just helped to dull the hangovers from the ‘pre-holiday’ drinks the night before. So ramming nearly all of the suitcase into the trailer, and the rest in the minibus we set off for Gatwick. After all meeting up we proceeded to check in. Donk, being the slightly built chap that he is booked a seat with extra room, only to be told that as Mrs. Donk was on medication he couldn’t have it (well done Tina for telling the check in girl!). After passing through security without too much hassle, except to Mike Gear nearly being stripped searched, Chris found that the duty free shop had a special offer on for 2 litres of gin for only £15. A very upset Chris had to be dragged away protesting that ‘2 litres will never last, we’ll have to smuggle some more in’. Simon by now was starting to regret staying out till 4.30 the night before as the bucks fizz was starting to wear off, so decided that the best course of action would be to get stuck in at the bar.
Onto the plane after a couple of beers at which point Donk found out that he had the smallest leg room on the plane … thanks to his missus.
For those of you that have sampled the delight that is Sharm international airport you will be pleased to hear that is still the same and there are still huge queues to get through passport control. However it now comes complete with 5 (rather than the previous 3) people making sure that you’ve got you visa and stamp before you can get your bags. On the way to the boat there were at least another 3 passport checks and several baggage checks. The boat is very nice, almost like a gin palace, at which suggestion Chris decided to make himself a large one. After checking out the certifications and logbooks, it was time to retire to the cocktail deck, where Chris was now on his 3rd. A few beers and everyone was off to bed, ready for the ungodly hour of 7 o’clock dive brief. This is supposed to be a holiday don’t you know.
Day 2 saw us at the “Alternatives” for a quick check out dive followed by the “Carnatic”, a superb dive. The wreck lies on its port side, the deck has rotted away and the superstructure is visible allowing access to the inner parts of the ship. There is loads of life on the wreck now, and Donk nearly became a permanent fixture; after having a personal tour by one of the guides, Donk managed to get stuck in the doorway of the engine room. Third dive of the day was the Kimon M, another great dive. It is quite broken up, but has some good life on it. Simon was really looking forward to it, but found it quite hard to descend unfortunately. Apparently weightbelts can be useful in this respect. Buddy checks who needs ‘em?
Day 3 started with an early morning dive on the Chrisoula K. However, the rest of the morning was a bit chaotic after one of the boat boys was pulled from the water where he had been snorkelling. He was not breathing and showed no signs of circulation. Myself, Jules, Chris and Noel worked on him for 20 minutes, giving him O2 and CPR at which point he started to breath again on his own. The boat headed back to Travco to meet up with an EMS Rescue RIB. The last we heard he was in intensive care in Sharm, but was, thankfully alive. After restocking with O2 we headed back to Gubal Island, stopping on the way at the Dunraven, which is an old wreck with a lovely swim through. In the evening we did a night dive on the “Barge”. Not much to it as wrecks go, but it always has surprises, especially at night – this time it was a big photogenic octopus. After being thoroughly briefed on how to find the barge, Chris and Emma jumped in, only to find that Chris and his mask had parted company. After putting on his spare they went looking for it under the boat. Chris being not the best at navigating (he couldn’t find the boat from the platform in Horsea) went off in totally the wrong direction. As well as the “occy” a monster Moray eel and hunting Lion fish were all seen on the wreck, so a nice end to the day.
The next day we did the now famous Rosalie Mőller (twice) and then popped back to Abu Nuhas to do the Giannis D All excellent dives. In the evening having been practicing for the last day with his compass on the boat, Chris announced that he would show everybody the way to the reef on the night dive! With some trepidation the group set off. Apparently there should have been a wall at about 8 meters, but all that Chris and Lamby found were some small coral outcrops on a nice sandy bottom. Chris has had his DM cert revoked and is now booked on the next Navigation speciality!! The toll of getting up early and going to bed last was starting to show, with most retiring by 10. Lamby announced that he was getting worried that he wouldn’t have enough time to finish all of his vodka so started with utmost urgency to put that straight.
Day 5 started with a reef dive, then the wreck of the Ulysses and then … Thistlegorm. The majority had never dived ‘The Wreck’ before, so it was with great excitement that we made our way down the mooring line to the bow. After a quick look into Hold 1 and 2 we proceeded to the Captains cabin. Pete decided on the way that he didn’t need all of his weight and dropped a pouch. Thinking that his buoyancy was just rubbish he proceeded into the cabin closely followed by Simon huffing and puffing carrying an extra 6 kilos. After dragging Pete off the ceiling and refitting his weights, Simon decided to leave with the guide as he’d sucked his air down to 80 bar. I led the dive over to the ammunition and back over the superstructure to the shotline. During the ascent line the current had picked up and we “flag poled” doing a safety stop – except Mike, who decided to let go! We were lucky enough to do a night dive on the Thistlegorm and it took on a whole new feel, covered in Lion fish, Scorpion fish, Slipper Lobsters and the biggest Giant Moray that anyone had ever seen. Chris swore that ‘it was going to have my arm off’ and that he needed a gin to get over the trauma!
Day 6 and another 2 excellent dives on the Thistlegorm before heading off to Shag rock to dive the Kingston. This is an open wreck with only the ribs of the boat remaining, but what a beautiful dive. After exploring the site and being attacked by the hoards of Surgeon fish that were nesting on it, we drifted along the most pristine reef I’ve seen for a long time. At the end of the dive we were treated to a pod of 5 dolphins for nearly 10 minutes, coming within touching distance. Pete for the first time on the trip was speechless, declaring that he was quitting diving as nothing would ever beat this days diving and he wanted to quit while ahead.
Day 7 and we had steamed back towards Ras Mohamed to dive Shark and Yolanda. For those of you that have dived this site you will know that it can either be a superb drift or a fight against some wicked currents. It was the later. Silvi, the guide, assured us that ‘zer is no current, it eez calm’. He’s now booked on the PADI “How to recognise a current” distinctive speciality course I’m writing!! So we saw Satellite reef half of Yolanda, and then Satellite reef again. Nice big morays, some puffer fish and scorpion fish made up for the fight though.
The last dive of the trip was a lovely little drift dive Ras Ghaziani. Samhe got the current right this time, and it was a great way end what was some superb diving. Once we’d disembarked and had our passports and luggage checked again, (twice) we made our way to our hotel. I’d phoned ahead and booked the roof of the Camel Bar for 20 of us for some beer and food.
On the last day we lounged by the pool for most of the day. Tina and Donk returned with another suitcase full of Egyptian memorabilia and several market traders retired to the Seychelles on the profits. Before getting on the plane we even had time to watch Pompey win the FA cup and Phil amused the hotel staff with some very dubious celebrations.
Another good Triton trip – absolutely! As you would expect from the best dive club in the South. Going again? Yep, next year, same time (ish) boat is booked but this time we are heading deep South to see some more wrecks, reefs and sharks. Book early. (Thanks to Ian for this report)
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