Las Perlas, last stop before the Marquises

Topless in the Pacific! Look at this sea. Absolutely no wind. And it seems to be like that for a big part of the Pacific 😖 We get a great show from the Pelicans. They fly like stealth planes 😅

 We have a shark encounter, but were too impressed to get the camera. And as we arrive at Las Perlas we will have to zigzag in between about 30 fisherboats! What direction will they take, where are their lines, their nets?

As we made it through, Geoff and I take a beanbag up in the front. That's maybe the third time since we left La Rochelle 😳 We hear a big "splash" and "swouch". It's a whale!

It's amazing. What a great feeling to be able to see this incredibly gracious mammal! She stays around our boat for a while and we feel like we've been checked out. A bit scary sometimes as she comes really close and the water is so dark, we can't see where she goes!

 Anna shouts to Louise to go back now and watch their movie ... I hear her saying: "Loulou, this is the first time we saw a whale!". And Louise responds: "Oh no Anna, we've already seen a little one ..." So spoiled these girls!

 Look what's coming up behind you're back!

 As we come closer to Las Perlas, the smell becomes more intense. It's like we're sailing through a big fish soup! I guess that's why the birds and whales are so happy here!

Beautiful beaches. Only accessible at low tide.



We start at the beach between Isla Chapera and Isla Mogo Mogo.
The moon !

 Next stop is Espirito Santo
 We're all alone here. It's like no one stops in Las Perlas anymore and go straight to the Galapagos or Marquises. We do enjoy being here while take some time to arrange the last administration, cleaning and fixing stuff 😑 Only a pity there's too much phytoplankton in the water... Not so much fun to swim in, especially since there are a lot of jellyfish and mosquitoes 😳

So as beautiful as these islands are, we go back up to Isla Contadora to get internet, finish up the blog and all the paperwork (paiements, taxes, ...) and celebrate Geoff's birthday!
 

20/04 For Geoff's birthday the girls have made a banner and a crown! We spent 3 hours cooking chocolate mousse and macarons. A perfect combo not to spoil eggs as one needs the yellows and the other recipe the whites 😜 The macarons didn't work out that well, but they taste good anyway !

As we beach Bob to go for dinner we're surprised by the force of the waves. A bit wet, we enjoyed a very nice dinner 😍

 

While we enjoy a cocktail on the beach we think about how we're going to get Bob back into the water! We completely undress and that was good thinking as we got wet from top to bottom!

It's quite different to sail again in a place with high tide differences! While going back to LouiseAnna, there's a whale flopping with his tails and fins, really for a few minutes! Magical! apparently they do that to get the barnacles off their body, but I'm not sure...

In the evening we had a surprisingly "big" coming to Geoff's birthday party. Two boats came after we posted a message on facebook. One we knew, but the other boat not. "Very funny reply on facebook: "Where is the party? We are anchored where you try the first time! Lagoon 52.".
It was a very good night and a happy 40-1 year old husband that still looks 30 😍

With everything tidy, the girls prepared their house a quick last swim (the water is now jelly fish free and almost clear!), we are ready to go for 32 on the ocean...

SEE YOU SOON !!!