2 Engineers Retired

Lots of skaters on the canal In Ottawa this past weekend we just finished Winterlude. An orgy of skating, music, ice and snow sculptures and BeaverTails.  Plus a whole bunch of things we don't participate in (😉) Maple Taffy hardening in the snow The ice sculptures are an international competition with sections for duos and singles.  Luckily (?) this year the weather has been cold enough that the sculptures basically lasted through the entire festival.  Here are a few of the sculptures (in a bit of a tent to keep them from the rain).  From a team of Canada and Philippines Japanese Carver Russian Carving Team Ice skating on the canal was very busy with refreshment stands at various points along the way (plus bathrooms and skate rentals).  Unfortunately we decided to go on the last day of Winterlude, which turned out to be a warmish day, and the ice surface was not great.  So we, along with many ...

This day started with what was billed as a long steep walk.  And, yes it was long, and yes it was steep.  And frankly the walk on the way up did not have much to recommend it.  But at the top – well not only was there a wide ranging view there were blue footed boobys - Plenty of blue footed boobys. The Blue footed Booby is probably the poster bird for the Galapagos. I mean, blue feet???? Well we were lucky enough to see quite a few of these up at the top and most were in pairs.   Not only in pairs but doing a mating dance which to me appears to be : Walk around a bit and show off your feet -           Spread your wings wide and coo at the sky -           Hand the lady a stick Ok - there is probably more to it than that – but not much I think The feet really are blue, along with the beak.  They are very attractive birds. ...

Getting started on our dream journey was relatively uneventful.  We flew to Baltra, one of the Galapagos islands where the airport is.  Apparently this airport was a US airbase in WW2 charged with protecting the Panama canal.  The landing was initially aborted (and my heart skipped a beat I think) but landed easily on the second attempt.  They claimed wind at ground level but I have my doubts.  Then we cooled our heels for a bit in the VIP lounge at the airport while they waited for the next plane which also had people destined for our boat.   Our home for the week The boat itself was a 48 passenger (and 40 crew) arrangement which I think was perfect for what we were doing.  The various boats in the Galapagos seem to be grouped as taking on 16 people (many of these), a few mid -sized (like ours) and a couple of large (100 person ones).  We were very happy with our choice – neither too big nor too little.  There were usually ...