The hitchhiker

On December 13, 2009 we left Isla Isabella behind and set sail at 6:15 a.m for the Mainland.  We originally planned to go to San Blas but as we got closer and thought about having to sail up an estuary late in the day we opted to go around the corner to a great open bay called "Matanchen Bay."  But before I get there let me tell you about our 8 hour trip from Isla Isabella to the mainland. 

I now undertand how pests migrate from one location to another.  I've been doing Ryan's science lessons with him and learning about how animals help disperse the seeds of various plants but now I know how the pests that eat crops migrate from place to place - Hitchhikers.  We had a moth the size of my hand land on one of our stantions on the boat when we left Isla Isabella.  It tucked its very large wings up under itself out of the wind and rode with us all the way to the mainland.  It didn't leave until it got dark and we were less than a mile from land. 

But our most famous hitchhikers were the blue footed boobies.  The dumbest birds I have ever seen.  One bird took up residence on the stern of our boat and rode for quite some time.  The entire time the bird was trying to figure out how it could get some of the lines/strings off our boat.  It seems that these birds love to line their nests with string.  Needless to say there are lots of "strings" on a sail boat.

This is the picture of the first hitchhiker to land.