#FotoFriday

Every Friday I will be posting a picture of some of my latest adventures along with a short story. This post is, the first of many to come, and is about my trip to a secluded beach here in the Galapagos.

Sometimes rocky starts can throw us off our original plan. Sometimes this happens for a reason, and, other times, pushing through the difficult beginning can lead to an amazing ending. This is a story about pushing through.

Quick plans came together for a small group of people to go to a slightly remote beach (~45 mins away via truck and with no services nor cell signal) called Playa El Garapaterro. We would arrive mid-afternoon on a Sunday and have a driver pick us back up on Monday morning. Ideally, this would have been after a relaxing night of camping on the beach.

As the Sunday of departure unfolded, things began looking uncertain. Ominously dark clouds were swirling around and some people were expressing their confidence that it wouldn’t rain (both sure signs that it would indeed). Sure enough, as we are collecting people to leave, a loud clap of thunder announces the beginning of a torrential downpour. Half the group scattered as myself and two other brave souls decided to push through, cover our gear with a tarp, and head out to unforeseeable camping weather.

Being so far away, there was a chance that the weather would be drastically different at Garapaterro. However, the drive proved to us that clouds can indeed cover the small island of Santa Cruz. We arrived to grey skies, but, a slight relief from the rain, so we ran to set up our tents. With our shelter set up and a place to keep our gear dry, a collective sigh of relief was had by our adventurous trio. It was at this moment that the weather permitted me bringing out my camera and taking a few shots, one of which is the featured image of this story. A stunning shot of clouds, balanced by craggy volcanic rocks sunken in the beach, separated by a strikingly aqua-colored ocean.