Bartolome Island
There isn't a better way to start a year than dancing, smiling, sharing with others the joy of being alive, inhabiting a wonderful planet together with amazing species still to discover, anchored in front of a volcanic island, Bartolome.
There isn't a better way to start the year than with physical activity, swimming through the waves, kayaking against the current, from islet to islet in a relay where both guests and crew participated. Six teams, people cheering up from the Zodiacs and from the ship, great prizes, but above all, the reward of sharing, because it is when we are aware of others, when we identify in the wonder of friends, that we are truly fulfilled, sensing ourselves as part of a bigger whole.
Once on board the relays continued. Following the Ecuadorian traditions for a New Year's Eve party, the teams had to run around the ship with a suitcase (that's to travel a lot, with Lindblad and National Geographic of course, in the New Year). They ran through the lounge with an egg on the spoon, and there was a Pictionary episode, where the whole lounge, crowded with guests and the entire crew, tried to guess the words and verbs.
We had so much fun! We danced until midnight, when it was time to burn the puppet, another Ecuadorian tradition, the "old year" that we have to let go, in order to start a new one, refreshed and clean of any bad thought or prejudice. We had 3 puppets, and we burned the three, and the light of the fire brightened the hope in every heart and every face, for a good 2010.
But the party had to go on; now for the year starting, as the old one was already gone. So after a toast, we went back to dancing, under the Blue Moon of 2010.
Have a New Year, just the way you want it!
