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| Isla Isabela, page two | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| The island is also a rookery for Tropic Birds, small, white tern-like birds with two long white ribbons for a tail, and for Heerman's Gulls, beautiful little sooty-colored gulls whose raucous "ow," "ow," "ow" calls earned them the nickname 'hurt-me birds.' We were fascinateed by these birds, but had little opportunity to observe them, as they nest high in the rocky cliffs around the periphery of the island. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mike | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| After lunch, we scrubbed a few barnacles and soft corals off the bottom of the boat, and then swam the short distance to "Las Monas" to snorkel. Las Monas are two huge guano covered spires of rock at the head of the anchorage on the east side of the island. Las Monas are "the mannequins" according to our cruiser's guide, but 'monas' also means monkeys, We think they resemble neither; rather, they look like Captain Nemo's headquarters or the throne of Poseidon. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Zugunruhe and Las Monas | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Underwater we were greeted by a Mardi Gras of costume and color. All sizes and shapes of fish dressed in every hue and combination of an artist's palette. We hung, suspended at the water's surface, and waited for the fish to come to us. A school of Sergeant Majors, in their bold black and yellow stripes, drifted just below me, seemingly indifferent to my presence, until I moved, just a little, and they darted away in unison as if they were one organism. A fat, Guineafowl Puffer, black with white spots, was particularly interested in me, probably fascinated with the fluorescent green frame of my mask. He approached repeatedly, with pouting lips, and gazed at me through a crystal orb of an eye. I saw the Polaroid negative of him nearby, a white Puffer with black spots. Nature most definitely has a sense of humor. |
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| As day gave way to night, we watched the birds returning from the sea, black silhouettes against a tangerine sky. Like commuters, they each seemed to have a preferred route home, Heerman's Gulls to our right, Tropic-birds to our left. Apparently we were parked in the middle of the Pelican highway; as they approached they parted formation, flying to either side of us, their wingtips gliding over a thin, invisible cushion of air atop the rippling sea. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Under a new moon, we lay in the cockpit and lookd out at a zillion stars. Most were strangers to us; we have so little opportunity to get to know them living in the city, but we took great delight in reacquainting ourselves with the few constellations we could identify, the big and little dippers, Orion's belt, and Cirrus, 'the dog star;' and we even nemed a few of our own. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Long after sunset, the island was quiet. The whales had gone to deeper waters, the birds were roosting, and the pitch black sea hid the colorful pageant below. Isabela appeared barren, desolate once again. We knew better, appearances aren't everything; Isabela is so much more than she seems. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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