Guest post: mother + daughter reunited
“Penned by my beautiful mum, Lynne Phillips.”
Remember when you were young what it was like waiting for Xmas. It had been 11 months since we had seen Lady Client disappear with her Sherpa for a life changing year of adventure.
We were counting the sleeps. And now we were flying from Cartagena to meet her in Guayaquil. There she was, big smile and a welcoming balloon. In true Phillips fashion, it wasn't long before we were devouring a bottle of champagne to celebrate then heading off to the Galapagos for our cruise on The Beagle.
Nothing had prepared us for how overwhelming and beautiful this trip was to be. The Galapagos is like no other, with its abundance of birds, tortoises, sea lions, marine iguanas, penguins and fish. You are never alone, brown pelicans, blue and red footed boobies, frigate birds are some of the ever present birds that soar around you. As you skim the horizon from our boat or the shore it's not long before a tortoise head, a sea lion or penguin pops its head up.
The family (sin son)
The Beagle
Welcoming sea lions
Now I am a fairweather swimmer. My nails brush the sand as I cling to the shoreline when swimming at our local beach. I found myself donning on a wetsuit and doing deep water snorkeling from a dinghy, sometimes twice a day. ‘Go now’ our guide would shout and I found myself in a colourful marine world floating above inquisitive yet indifferent tortoises, head to head with marine iguanas, being pulled towards a cruising shark by our guide, floating over sting rays and following penguins. Countless coloured fish inhabited this world as did starfish and sea urchins.
Our daily encounters were memorable but who could forget our last night when we visited the charming town of Puerto Ayora and went to the jetty to return to our sailing boat. Three sea lions had settled for the night on some of seats on the jetty. No one was game to move them on and they were oblivious to our presence. One was snoring. How wonderful to see such beautiful creatures interacting in their territory with humans.
Hiking craters
Lady Client was in her element as the Galapagos is relatively newly formed with active volcanoes, many which we hiked. What a treat to be invited to share the last month of her travels before returning to Australia. Sherpa was much missed. Thank goodness Alan has been working-out at the gym and was able to step into the role as he hurled our cases and backpacks around.
- Lynne Phillips
Instagram: @thelisaphillips #somedaysherpa
