Ok, so I got cut off.
Anyway, we had three choices when we got to Isla Victoria and not very much time in which to do anything. The three choices were to take the chairlift to a high point where we could get a scenic view, walk up to the same point, or go with a guide who would identify the trees on the island. We decided on the chairlift.
Michaela didn´t take too long before she was bored with the chairlift and we were singing to her to calm and soothe her. We saw the couple (Argentine woman/US man) as they walked up to the top. Once at the top, we looked around, and as usual, the surrounding mountains (cerros) and lakes (lagos) were beautiful. There used to be a place to eat (confiteria) at the top, but it had burnt down some not too long ago as debris from the fire was still around and the building foundation had not been cleaned up yet. Michaela doesn´t have much patience for beautiful views, however, and we soon set her down to play going up and down the stairs to the viewpoint. She caught the attention of what we thought was a group of Japanese tourists and I told her to say ´Konichiwa´ but then learned that they were Chinese. Whoops. Margarita and I both then thought about SARS - scary stuff.
The way down was the same as up - us singing to Michaela to soothe her. At the confiteria at the bottom, Margarita ordered food and drinks while I attended to Michaela. I got out our last jar of baby food that we had brought from the US and set it out on the table. Michaela was hungry and attempted to grab the jar, sending it over the edge of the table and breaking on the floor. Not all of it spilled, so I grabbed it and attempted to feed what was left to Michaela. Yes, I carefully avoided any remaining glass :-) While she was seated on my leg being fed, I noticed my leg get warm and wet. Yes, her diaper had become displaced enough for her bathroom break to escape. Of course, just about then, a guide came in to tell us that it was time to go. I barely had enough time to wolf down the food and hurry out towards the boat. After we rushed back to the boat, it didn´t leave for at least another 20 minutes. We were annoyed - I was slightly more annoyed because of the broken baby food jar and the urine that still dampened my pants.
Back on the boat, we changed Michaela´s diaper and let her loose on the boat again, where she enchanted some of the other tourists. One group of 20-30 tourists, we learned, was a group of local grandparents and their grandchildren with chaperones. While we thought that was nice, we also learned that the grandchildren pretty much ignored their grandparents and in fact, five of the kids ended up staying on Isla Victoria as we left to return to the mainland.
Posted by mike at May 14, 2003 04:48 PM