Wednesday, April 9. I wanted to give you a view into life on the National Geographic Islander. Carol and I had never been on a boat for any length of time so this was a new experience for us. The are about 40 passengers on the boat and almost as many crew. Here’s the layout.
Our cabin is #402. Lisa and kevin are in Cabin 401. We both get a great view of where we’re going
The boat is a bit of an antique but has been well restored. While on board we spend most time in the lounge (for talks) or the dining room for refueling (the body). The food is quite good with a strong Ecuadorian / Peruvian theme. Water is de-salinated from the ocean. We’ve been drinking gallons to no ill effect.
There’s a PA system which alerts us to all the events. The typical schedule is early morning rise (~6am) for a walk or some other activity. This is followed by breakfast. Then we choose a main morning event - snorkeling, kayaking, walking, or nothing. This is followed by lunch and a break until around 3pm. Then we go on more activities plus, maybe a hike to watch the sun set. It’s a busy schedule and you have to be really keen to do everything.
It’s fun to wake up in the morning to find that the boat has moved to a completely different island overnight. You can’t hear the engines so the only way you know your moving is that the boat rocks and rolls a bit while in the open water.