Hello there! So, you want to come with us on our trip to Anacapa Island! Terrific! You are welcome to join us! We went to Anacapa Island in November of 1998 as a homeschool field trip. Our son was studying Biology and our daughter was studying life science so we thought this field trip would spark their interest in science and be a fun family outing. Our trip started in Ventura, California; a two hour drive from our home in the Mojave Desert.  We arrived about 9:30 AM and checked in with Island Packers along with approximately 60 other homeschoolers. We boarded the Vanguard after a brief safety talk. With that many children age 5-18 you can't be too careful. Even before we boarded the boat my kids saw an octopus in the Ventura Harbor. It was interesting to them to see how it moved about in the water. Okay, I think we are ready, come join us on our photo tour of Anacapa Island! If you would like to see any of the photos in their original size just click on them.  

	This is the Vanguard, the boat that brought us to Anacapa. Here it is anchored off of Anacapa Island. (In Ventura it was easily boarded from the dock.)
The trip across the channel is aproximately 14 miles and took us about an hour and a half. On the ride over the guide gave the group a talk about sea life. The kids got to hold star fish, sea urchins, and a sea slug. All the kids loved the boat ride. As we left Ventura behind we saw less birds and more water so everybody began visiting. This is my daughter, Kristen, on the boat. As you can see, once the boat was underway it got chilly and windy.
	This is my husband, Gary (on the right), with our homeschool group leader, David.
One of the things my daughter was hoping to see was dolphins. She loves dolphins and whales and our guide told us at the beginning that they see dolphins about 50% of the time. When we came to the dolphins it wasn't obvious to all of us land lubbers that they were out there. At first all we saw was this:
	But then as we came closer we began to see this:
In amongst the many gulls, pelicans, and other shore birds feeding on the school of fish we saw dolphins!
	It is hard to get a good picture of a moving dolphin from a moving boat. In this picture is a baby dolphin swimming with a parent.
Here is a little bit better picture.
	We watched the dolphins and birds for about half an hour as the Vanguard continued on to the island. This picture was taken into the sun but makes a nice silouette.
As we got closer to the island we began trying to guess what the different features were. There were lots of white things near the island that we misstook for the lighthouse. They were probably sailboats because they were down low and dissappeared as we got closer. The real lighthouse is on top of the island.

Here we are at the island!!  

	Anacapa Island has beautiful, rugged rocks and cliffs, mysterious caves, a picutesque arched rock and a lighthouse, many things to keep a budding photographer and lighthouse buff entertained!
The Vanguard took us around the east end of the island and to get there we had to go around the big arched rock stationed there.
	Many birds spend their time on and around this  rock. We saw mostly sea gulls and pelicans although I think I saw a killdeer or two and perhaps a merganser.
When we reached the southeast side of the island we saw harbour seals. I don't know if you can see them on the rocks below. I can but I know where to look and they are very, very rock colored. There are seven of them in all. I recommend looking at the bigger picture if you really want to see them.
	After we said hello to the harbor seals we went to the other side of the island to Landing Cove. I wish I'd gotten a picture of it but I was so busy making my way to the ladder that I forgot.  We climbed a short ladder up to a platform and then climbed the 153 steps up to the top of the island. Anacapa island is surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs which makes it quite a climb and quite picturesque at the same time.
The first thing I spotted on the island was the lighthouse. We couldn't go near it though because it has a very loud foghorn. This is because the cloud cover is very unpredictable there and the foghorn works better than the light.
	I think it is beautiful!
There are several buildings on Anacapa Island. There is a small museum and a gift shop and quarters used to house researchers. While we were there the gift shop was not open but I hear they have it open during the normal tourist season. There are trails around the island and people are urged to stay on them. Many of the plants on the island are unique to the Channel Islands and they are doing their best to preserve them. One of the more interesting buildings (not pictured) on the island looks like a church but it was built around two redwood water tanks. It was built in a church style to prevent people from shooting at the tanks. Fortunately, they don't have to worry about people shooting at them anymore.
	Most of the plants we saw were dormant. The one plant that seemed to be taking over was the ice plant. The dry, brown stuff in the picture here is dormant Coreopsis. I would like to go back in the spring and see Anacapa Island in bloom. I'm sure it is beautiful!
This is my favorite picture. In my photo at home you can see down in the bottom, righthand corner a group of sea lions. This was taken off of Pinniped Point. The barking of the sea lions can easily be heard from the top of the cliff and the view is spectacular! Sea lions were swimming in the clear blue water and basking on the rocks below.
	Here is my husband, Gary, with our two kids, Ryan and Kristen, at Inspiration Point. From here you can see all the other Channel Islands. Here, lets get these people to move out of the way so you can see what it really looks like.
Here it is! There are trips similar to the one we went on that go to the other islands. I'd like to try one of them another time.
	Here is a gull we met on our walk around the island. There was plenty to see and we stayed busy the whole time learning history, geography, biology, ecology and having a great time doing it.
Here we are back at the lighthouse and time to head back to Ventura. I hope you enjoyed your cyber-visit to Anacapa Island. Next time you're in California take a look around. You don't have to get on a boat to see some spectacular scenery. And if you get a chance DO get on a boat and visit one of the many islands off our lovely coast!

  Back to Songbird Meadows Back to the Glazner Family Homepage