Monkey's -- Santa Barbara Adventure to Anacapa Island

Czech Plush Monkey's Adventures!
Monkey sees and does stuff.	Return to Santa Barbara intro page.

Anacapa Island
Channel Islands National Park

Part 2 of 3 parts (for faster downloading). Don't skip(per) the exciting Boat-ride Over!

Part 1: The Boat (Captain Monkey)
Part 2: The Island (This part.)
Part 3: The Nasty Bits (Wait for it!)

Opice takes his favorite position atop signage--prostrate. "You should try it." he advises. "You can learn a lot lying down. And if you're skillful, you get a nap, too. Lukáš does it at college all the time."

Having already usurped Volunteer Ranger Ed Nelson's authority (not shown because he's usurped), Monkey lays down the park laws, "Preserve and Protect!"

Luke says, "More like hangs down if you ask me." [He's still torqued at being outted for napping during classes.]

Ranger Ed realizes he's lost control of his tour.

The island's story thus far:

Anacapa is volcanic. Basically it's a rock sticking out of the ocean. It's all cliffs. Monkey's boat had to dock precariously at a port which has stairs up to the surface.

Early human visitors came in canoes and climbed up the hard way. They were Chumash Indians. Their word for the place (anyapakh) means "mirage" or "ever-changing."
The National Park Complex. The Lighthouse is outta-bounds. It belongs to the Coast Guard. That's not why it's bounds-outta. Opice will tell you more about what you can't do later.

The National Park controls everything else except Monkey. Above is the park complex.

Map from: "East Anacapa Island Map & Guide / Channel Islands National Park" Illustrator: Jean M Keast

The island's story hence forth:

Technically, we're on EAST Anacapa. OK?!

"I've run out of island." Opice complains. "Now what? I've seen everything."

No he hasn't. What he did was run the length of the trail rather than wait for the guided tour.

Lukáš shows him where they're at on the above map.
#7 - Inspiration Point

Uh-oh. Monkey's getting that inspired look!
FYI: the islands above & below are collectively called "Anacapa."

Left is the narrow spit linking West Anacapa to Middle Anacapa. It's called Frenchy's Point. Asked why, Monkey guesses, "Seals go there to snog?"

NO! A French man lived there.

"I'll bet they do."

No, they don't. They go below (Pinniped Point) or probably out to sea.

Seals not snogging as seen from the sea (above) and thru a telephoto lens from the overlook at #3.

Notice the map has two 3s. Here's the other one: Cathedral Cove.

Ranger guided hike.

An Isle of Snide, quarter mile wide.
Ranger Ed (remember him? He's usurped in this foto.) leads us along a sunken trail within the Giant Coreopsis or "tree sunflower" forest.

Ed nature-interprets, "Does anyone beside Monkey know anything?" The other tourists glare at Opice cuz he never lets them answer the Ranger's questions.

"These plants are believed to have inspired Dr. Seuss when he drew the Snide bushes in his short story 'What was I Scared of?'." [The Sneetches and Other Stories]

"I had to do an errand,

Had to pick a peck of Snide

In a dark and gloomy Snide-field

That was almost 9 miles wide."

Click for BIG Snide in your face.

Monkey believes Dr. Seuss was the greatest writer who ever wrote and The Sneetches is his greatest novel.

"You should read it in the original Klingon," Opice advises.

Coreopsis(es) dry-up and play dead 10 months out of the year to save moisture. When the rains come they burst into foliage and flowers turning themselves into "Truffula Trees." But The Lorax speaks for those trees--not Opice or Ranger Ed.

The lighthouse trail has a sign and bench near it's end. Opice rushes ahead to read it. He reports it says, "Stop! Sit on the bench!"

A liberal interpretation, but not entirely misrepresented. Visitors shouldn't walk any further because the building is beside a Brown Pelican rookery, the West Coast's largest. If the birds are disturbed, they abandon their nests and the eggs/chicks die.

East Anacapa Island is a bird land. At times it's covered with birds, seagulls in particular. That's a clue as to what lies ahead for those daring enough to follow Monkey to:
The Nasty Bits.

Santa Barbara intro page

Boat-ride Over