Sterling’s Blog

Sterling’s Galapagos Cruise

This luxury boat has pools, ping pong, miniature golf, gyms, ice cream stands, and more.

On our kayak trips, we will be paddling along beautiful beaches, seeing boobies, sea lions and other magnificent creatures.

While snorkeling you will see many tropical fish and playful sea lions.  Sea lions will whirl and twirl all around you.  And the many tropical fish will swim all over and give you excellent pictures.

You are money-back guaranteed to see the many Marine Iguanas, tortoises, Blue-footed Boobies, and sea lions which may come up and sniff you because they are not afraid of people.

You will see many funny acts by animals.  This sea lion has rolled over and gotten sand on half his body right after swimming.

We will go hiking and see huge cacti and other amazing desert plants.

On Sterling’s Galapagos Cruise, we also go to a city on the mainland where there are many native Ecuadorians who wear beautiful woven skirts.

If you would like to come aboard Sterling’s Galapagos Cruise, call 002-364-0369.

Activities:  Snorkeling, Scuba Diving, Bird Watching, Zodiac Rides, Hiking, Swim with the Sea Lions and Turtles, Whale Watching, Gym and Exercise Classes, Spa, Pool, Kayaking, Lectures, and More . . .

Total Cost for One Week (Includes Everything)

Children:  $1,000

Adults:  $1,500

Pet Hotel:  $150

Cacti are in the succulent family.  Cacti are native to North and South America and also the West Indies.  All species of cacti live in North and South America and the West Indies, but only one species lives other places.

The tallest cactus was a Pachycereus cactus which was 19.2 meters tall!  The smallest fully-grown cactus was a Blossfeldig one which was only one cm in diameter!  A cactus that is 12 cm high could have roots two meters in diameter.

Cacti have a short growing period.  If a cactus seed is in rain for just two hours, it will already have a root system by the time the rain stops.  When it rains a cactus will store water.  They absorb water through thorns and they can also absorb fog.  The stem of a cactus will store the water.  They have a waxy coat like a rain jacket to keep water from evaporating.

Some species of cacti make it so only certain animals can pollinate them.  An example is one species has a long tube leading to the blossom, therefor only moths can pollinate.  Others bloom at night to attract moths and bats.  Cacti get pollinated by bats, moths, insects, bees, and even hummingbirds.

Cacti like hot dry places and we have been to many and seen cacti in South America.  I hope to see the penguin cactus in Antarctica . 

We were in the Amazon and as part of our school work I interviewed our guide.  His name is Jose.  He has been a guide here for three years, but has guided nine years.  His friend told him about guiding here.

His favorite animal has been the Silky Anteater.  They are really small and really rare.  The biggest animal he ever caught is a huge five meter Ananconda.  He has been bitten by snakes and bullet ants while guiding here.

The biggest group he ever got was a group of eleven South Africans that were obsessed with diamonds.  Every year he says he gets about 15 kids.  Once he was guiding a group of kids obsessed with video games and all they wanted to see was big stuff, so he caught a huge anaconda.

We have been on a big ship that holds eighty people.  I decided it would be interesting to interview the assistant captain.  This is what I learned from him.

The assistant captain of our ship always drives this boat from 12-4 a.m. and p.m.  He has been training on this boat for six years but still needs five more years!!  From his six years of being on this boat his favorite animal has been an orca whale.  He has also liked the dolphins which swim and play all around the boat.

The assistant captain is allowed to go on any hikes or swims he wants.  He likes all the islands and has been on ten of about 130 islands.  Thankfully he has not yet crashed or been lost while navigating the Galapagos so I think he is an excellent captain.

Shopping in Asia is different from shopping in the United States. This is why.

In the United States in most cities people go to big supermarkets like Walmart and Stop and Shop but in Asia it is different. In Asia people go to the market every day because there are no refrigerators and they think the food is healthier and fresher. At the market there are tons of tiny stands with people selling stuff. It is often easy to get around in a market because it is usually in categories. Fish is in one section and vegetables are in another. There is also a bigger variety of things. These are the ways that Asian Markets are better than ones in the United States.

There are also some reasons that the stores in the United States are better than in Asia. In Asia you have to pay each individual person.  In the U.S. you can walk around a grocery store with a cart and only pay once.  We have cars in the United States and we can go to the grocery store once a week and store it in our refrigerator, too.  These are the ways the grocery stores in the United States are better than the ones in Asia.

I have been to both the markets in Asia and the markets in the United States but I like Asian markets better because they have the most interesting things like pig noses and tails, chicken heads, and other things.

Once upon a time there was a Baby elephant named Meea and her mother named Ella. There was a drought and the jungles were dry. Ella decided to take her baby to the nearest city, Bangkok. There were plenty of pipes of water coming in and it was near a river. The only thing they didn?t think about was that they would have to eat human food.

When they got to Bangkok they decided that since they were there anyway they should do some touring. First they went to their hotel, the Oriental. The Oriental is on the water so they took a long skinny boat out to feed the catfish. There were tons of catfish all squirming to get some bread. They splashed water all over the boat. Next they went to the Royal Barge Museum and saw all the king?s boats. On the way back their boat sank because they weighed too much. They swam back and then jumped into the hotel pool. The pool overflowed because they were enormous. When they finally got out, there was no water left in the pool. What a disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next day Meea and Ella did the buffet breakfast. Since they eat 450-650 pounds of food a day, they ate the whole buffet! After breakfast they went to see the Royal Palace. They had never seen so many colors and mirrors at the same time. They were shocked when they saw the huge temple guards. Meea had never seen anyone bigger then her mother. They relaxed when they found the guards were just statues. As they walked back they found themselves in the middle of the flower market. Meea and Ella loved to eat flowers. They bought a huge clump of flowers so they would not have to eat the whole buffet for dinner and have the hotel get mad at them again.

The next day they went to the China Museum and saw lots of ceramics and pots. Then they went to Thai Kick Boxing. They did not stay long because the people behind them could not see, since the elephants had front row seats .

Then the drought was over, Meea and Ella returned back to the jungle. It felt good to them to eat fresh fruit and leaves but sometimes they would come back to Bangkok to buy flowers and do other things . They always remembered the first time they went to Bangkok. But they never stayed long because they knew cities were a place for smaller things like people who don?t eat or weigh so much.

Once upon a time there was a family of Elephants. The baby was Sammy. Sammy and his family lived in a big jungle that had tons of leaves. One day they woke up and found every plant in the jungle was a fern. ?Yay!,? Sammy yelled. Ferns were their favorite food. Much to his surprise as soon as his little wobbly trunk (baby elephants can?t control their trunk) poked at the fern and it wilted. Soon all the other babies were poking the fern and killing it. The little ones thought it was fun but their parents were serious.

That afternoon the head elephant ordered every elephant to evacuate the jungle. They ran and ran and ran until they saw a river. They got a drink but then realized it was too deep to cross. Then Sammy grabbed a vine hanging from the sky and swung over the river and bumped into another vine and swung to the next vine and so on. The others followed. If you had seen them you would think they were big grey monkeys.

Then they reached a city. They did not know what to do. Luckily Sammy spotted a big building with scaffolding on it. They climbed up the building and then jumped to the roof of the next building. Soon, they were across the city. Finally they reached the end of the dead fern jungle. They were at a banana plantation. They munched on the bananas at the edge of the forest until a lady ran up and screamed at them. Then they continued to live in the jungle next to the banana plantation just in case the forest turned to ferns again but it never did.

Once there was a tiger named Bella. She lived in Beijing. She went to Beijing Academy for tigers age 6-10. She was 6. Then one day Bob B. Panda (The Emperor) got robbed by a tiger. He ordered every tiger in China to leave the country in 6 months. Bella and her family had no clue what to do.

Then her father did some research. They found out that Hong Kong is right near China and was a nice place to live but there are lots of differences. Bella and her parents got straight to work packing. After that they went to school. They had to learn a whole new language. When they reached Hong Kong she did not see a single ancient Chinese house or temple, only skyscrapers.

Suddenly, she thought of something! She would miss the Olympics. She had been waiting for years and she could not go. She would have to deal with it. As she drove down the street she thought of her new bike. What a waste! Hong Kong had no bikes at all. Just too many hills.

When they reached the grocery store they could not by anything because they did not have Hong Kong dollars. Fortunately there was a bank machine so they were OK. On the positive side she found a great tiger school that she loved. Hong Kong is also on the water so she could go to the beach every day! Bella missed Beijing but Hong Kong was a new adventure.

We went on a cruise in the Yangtze river. When we reached the dam it looked small but is really huge. It is the largest dam in the world and is 1.4 miles long. It was made to control flooding but also makes 40% of China?s electricity. It could power 4 or 5 New York Cities!!!!! It costs 25 billion dollars.

There are locks and a ship elevator. The ship elevator is not done yet and our boat was too big to go through it. It was a lot of fun going through the locks. First, you sail into the lock. Then they pull the plug and the water drains to the point where you can go to the next lock. There are five locks but we only went through four of them because the water level has not raised to its full height.

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Because the dam blocks water it will flood many waterfront towns and villages. That will cause 1.3 million people to move!!!! Some are unhappy but most are glad because the government gives them bigger houses with running water and other things.

It was really fun going on the cruise in the Yangtze River, and seeing the dam was a big highlight.

Cast

Elephant Head (Elly)

Horse (Thunder)

Demon

Elephant with Rider (Titto)

Prince (Hindu)

A group of friends are having a party. Thunder gives Titto a flower and Titto gives Thunder a lotus blossom. Hindu and Elly also dance at the party. Then Thunder and Titto got into a fight over whose flower was prettier. Soon, the other animals joined sides. They were Titto and Hindu versus Elly and Thunder. They fought all day. While they were fighting, a demon attacked. They forgot all about the war and helped each other fight the demon. After that they were good friends and continued to have parties and exchange gifts but this time no fighting.

Check out the video of this excellent shadow play!