{"id":4816,"date":"2024-03-24T18:15:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-24T18:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=4816"},"modified":"2024-03-24T18:15:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-24T18:15:52","slug":"sabbatical-week-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/?p=4816","title":{"rendered":"Sabbatical Week 42"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been a week since I got back to the States. Finally got the whole house burglary under control and things are going in order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 week before I start working again – April Fools day. It’s not a joke but I will not get my first year bonus and rewards because of this tragic timing. Perhaps, partially this is on me. Had I chosen to come back home just 2 days earlier, I would have made before the cut-off. This is about $50k loss in 4 years. Not significant, but still making me really not happy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

(I think I messed up last week’s post that I posted Day 1 on the previous week)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Waking just before dawn to take the ferry to another island <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In just two hours we arrived at Isabela Island <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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They boobies!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I got to the hotel just passed 9am and the room wasn’t ready yet. I chit chatted a bit with some swiss and then headed out for breakfast<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For $6 this is amazing, the ball thingy is a local specialty with Plantain bacon <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bumped into someone from my previous hostel, we decided heading to the beach and bike to the viewpoints<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Random tortoise on the road <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The view is really nice, kinda reminded me of Hawaii <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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It’s extremely hot, and I still had my long hair <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The wall is something called Wall of Tears – a prison punishment <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Volcanoes at the far north side of the island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Time to head back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We stopped by a mangrove for a swim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some island giant iguana <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After some refreshment, I headed to the Flamingo lake in town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dinner was at a local fast food place<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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pretty good for $7 with fresh fish! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finally some long waited snorkled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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First was this seahorse. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a bit rough boat ride, we were ready get into water<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Actually it’s a pair, hmm. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I was actually pretty afraid of accidentally touching them, they get awkwardly close to us swimmers <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The sharks are definitely the highlight <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Those things are actually alive. I’ve only seen dead shells on shores before <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mr. Handsome <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Ray <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another highlight <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, we got on the land to see the tunnels which are formed by hardening from volcanic activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unfortunately, due to most of the guests could speak Spanish so the explanation was unfortunately also done in Spanish in which I didn’t quite get the geographical history<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dinner at a ceviche place <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cooking and relaxing day<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kinda nice to chill out on a beach with almost no one around <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Time slipped by rather quickly, it’s sunset time<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Check-out time from my hotel was early at 9am, I had nothing much planned but to hop on a plane ride to another island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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chill out time <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My plane and boarding <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First time riding a commercial one pilot plane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Landing!
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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View from my hotel!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Went out for a sunset walk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beer and sealions! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It amazes me that the most reliable internet provider on the island is actually Elon’s Starlink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Booked another island tour called 360 tour to check out every around the island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Wave is really rough, and the captain was trying to catch some fish for us to snack on <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We did catch half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A shark took the other <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Nice shallow water to swim <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We stopped and snorkled a bit – to be honest, it’s not too interesting and different than the one I had from a different island. I didn’t take many photos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Arriving at the stone arch <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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We snorkeled more around that rocks. Many dories and nemos. Saw some giant rays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The red bird is quite rare called Fargate <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I wish I had a better camera <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It’s the German guy’s birthday, we decided to go out for drinks and dinner<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The curfew was still going on, I headed back before 11pm. They were out to party more with the locals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Day 7<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Last day, a hiking day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Got up early to walk around the island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A complete empty beach just me and wildlifes <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Thanks Darwin! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lunch was at a local place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pork liver I think <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sunset walk<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Reminded me of home – the Pacific Coast <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Another gorgeous $5 dinner <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expenses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Week 42<\/td>Currency:<\/td>USD<\/td>1<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Day<\/td>Food&Drink<\/td>Lodging<\/td>Transportation<\/td>Other (tickets\/tours etc)<\/td>Day total<\/td>Country<\/td><\/tr>
1<\/td>$27.00<\/td>$36.75<\/td>$11.00<\/td>$7.50<\/td>$82.25<\/td>Galapagos<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>$20.00<\/td>$22.40<\/td>$42.00<\/td>$10.00<\/td>$94.40<\/td>Galapagos<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>$16.00<\/td>$22.40<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$103.00<\/td>$141.40<\/td>Galapagos<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>$12.00<\/td>$22.40<\/td>$140.53<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$174.93<\/td>Galapagos<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>$21.25<\/td>$28.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$135.00<\/td>$184.25<\/td>Galapagos<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>$46.00<\/td>$28.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$74.00<\/td>Galapagos<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>$20.50<\/td>$28.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$0.00<\/td>$48.50<\/td>Galapagos<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>$162.75<\/td>$187.95<\/td>$193.53<\/td>$255.50<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Total<\/td><\/td>Grand Total:<\/td>$799.73<\/td><\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
A rather expensive week with flights and tours.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a week since I got back to the States. Finally got the whole house burglary under control and things are going in order. 1 week before I start working again – April Fools day. It’s not a joke but I will not get my first year bonus and rewards because of this tragic… Continue reading Sabbatical Week 42<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sabbatical","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4816"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4889,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4816\/revisions\/4889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.buyuchen.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}