My first job off a cruise ship was working for the Ecuadorian company QUASAR NAUTICA in the sales and marketing department of their Miami office. I loved this job – the company owned and operated several yachts in the Galapagos islands in Ecuador and it was my job to to promote and market to the travel agent and tour operator community. What an awesome job!
Pinnacle Rock
911 happened while I was working here and it seemed our world as we knew it was coming to an end – but somehow we just got busier and busier. People wanted what we had – small boats (8 to 48 pax) and a villa you could rent in Puerto Ayora
My employers were generous (as well as gracious) and made sure I experienced the product, and they made a point to include my oceanographer husband. This was a time before internet arrived. Pre cellphone, pre selfie, pre streaming. Pre email to the vessels.
And it was magic. Every moment of every day spent in the archipelago and to this day I am convinced God lives here. The animals are so close, yet so oblivious to your presence. Birds have evolved differently on the different terrains of the volcanic islands and the sea life is rich from the cold Humboldt current skirting the coast.
I developed a particular fondness for the marine iguana – once you have been snorted on (salt water) by a marine iguana – well then you can call yourself well traveled
Post Office Bay
Evolution at Sunset
At sunset blue footed boobies dove from the sky and a full moon rose from the ocean – dolphins and turtles created a wake in the magical evening light. It was surreal.
I was alone on deck enjoying a glass of wine and listening to my fav piece of travel music – Vivaldi Four Seasons. My knees went from under me right there onboard Alta and I knew I was having a ‘life moment’.
That second in time where it all stands still and you know why you came here. The peace, the tranquility – the feeling of exquisiteness that starts in your gut and explodes out of you. You experience magnificence realizing how truly small you are.
If you’ve experienced it – you know what I mean.
And that is what travel does for me. I’ve felt it many times….in Tanzania, I had a moment in time at the Alhambra Palace in Spain, in Petra, crossing the equator (yup) …and more than one truly magical moment recently in Antarctica. So many to sustain me
And when I need to ‘go away’ I simply pour an ice cold glass of white and crank up Le quattro stagioni. L’Chaim.
