Espanola--June 10

I woke up excited and ready to see what the day would bring. We had an idea of the schedule, but it's hard to really "know."

Our first stop was Gardner Bay on the Island of Espanola. Again, we saw lots of sweet sea lions. They were all over the beach. While I'm still taking pictures of this cute sea lion and that cute sea lion . . .and oh, look, another cute sea lion . . .it is surprising how quickly you get used to things and take them for granted. I could honestly watch them all day as they are really very funny, but there is so much to see and I don't want to miss it. 

They took our spot

On this beach, we saw another Galapagos Hawk and a very interesting bird called a vampire hummingbird. It gets nutrition from blood . . .often from carrion, but if times are hard, it will use it's sharp beak and poke another bird in the tail causing it to bleed. Very strange, indeed.

Then just a quick trip across the water to snorkel at Gardner Island. Yesterday, I said it couldn't get better, right? Today, it must be true. The fish were truly spectacular. We swam into a cave, which was very cool.

And, this time, even more sea lions came out to play. Probably a dozen of them. Apparently, dogs evolved from sea lions and I believe it. They are just like puppies playing, spinning, blowing bubbles. They are very curious little guys. And, like dogs, they all seem very attracted to The Musician. They couldn't get enough of him.

After our swim and lunch, we had our longest (2 hour) hike of the trip. We saw a few Blue Footed Boobies, but also found another Booby species . . .the Masked (Nazca) Booby. I think the Blue Footeds are really sweet, but the Masked are really beautiful.

I had been wondering when I would see iguana pictures like the ones in books. You know, where they are all piled up on each other. They really are here. And, a different species. I think these, with the red backs, are truly beautiful. Well, so incredibly frightening, that they are beautiful.

This was a rocky terrain, high on a cliff that dropped into the ocean. Pretty impressive blow-hole at the bottom. The sea lions we found here had a long hike to "get away" from it all for some peace and quiet.

We saw a rare male fur seal who must have been out of his element. No others around. Really a sea lion, though . . .check out his ears.

Identified a few more small animals, but I'm saving the best, and most beautiful for last . . .

This one eats carrion

Finch

Lava Lizard

Darwin's Dove

Beautiful pair of hawks

 The Waved Albatross!!!

Look at the size of the egg . . .

The chest feathers form a wave-like pattern. They have the most beautiful faces and eyes.  I could look at them all day long. And, like a good female, the females have even more beautiful features . . .like fluffy eyebrows. This was nesting season and there were so many. This is their only island. Because they were nesting, it was hard to get one flying, but their wing-span is over 6-feet. Just absolutely incredible.

Today, I decided it was time to brave the marine shower. I figured this is as good a time as any. Before our trip, we diligently shopped for all organic and biodegradeable soap and sunscreen. We did find some very cool products, including a soap that can be used for everything . . .washing hair, washing body, washing clothes, washing dishes, washing floors, washing fruit, even toothpaste (if you don't mind the taste of soap). All plant-based (I can recognize every ingredient without alterations) and biodegradeable. I used it to wash clothes, hair, body, and shaving cream . . .but not toothpaste. It is important to conserve fresh water on the boat, and I love a long hot luxurious shower. It wasn't to be. Hold the hand-held shower head and get wet. Shiver while soaping up, and hold the hand-held to rinse off.  I'm not sure the layers of zinc oxide in the sunscreen came off until a few days after I came home. But, I didn't get sunburned.  There are no pictures of the shower, sorry guys.

San Cristobal Island--June 9

Every day had a pretty similar schedule because sunrise is always at 6AM. Breakfast at 7 AM. Morning activities. Lunch at 12. Afternoon activities. Afternoon snack. Set sail. Dinner at 7 after the next day's briefing. The first full day in the Galapagos and we were on San Cristobal Island. It was a very full day of activities. Apparently, the guides have to register their schedules and permits are issued for certain locations in certain windows of time. Can't get to a national park site too early, or stay beyond an allotted time. This is how the government tries to protect the islands from overcrowding.

Our first sea lion of the day. We had to wait
for him to leave the steps before we could land

 We started out with a hike at Isla Lobos/Loberia. There are no wolves, in case you were wondering. It's named this for the numerous sea lion colonies. We took a hike and saw so many sea lions. I could have taken a million pictures. Each one is so cute, sweet, and unique. Who could resist their cute faces?  They really are "tame" with no fear of people. You are not allowed to touch them, but it is hard to resist. However, especially the super cute babies . . .if you touch, and they smell different (which they will), their mother will reject them and they will die. Hard to fathom that a simple gesture that seems so innocent could be so deadly. But, because they have no fear, they may approach people. We are required to back away and give them space.

This was our first sighting of Marine Iguanas. I think they must be the inspiration for Godzilla. Darwin describes them as "hideous and stupid." I disagree. They also don't really fear people and spend time sunning. But, if you see them swim in the water, they are so elegant. Of course, as much as I want to swim with a sea lion, I think I would run screaming from the water if I encountered one of these while snorkeling. 

And, more sweet blue-footed boobies. Full courting season, so lots of dancing and an amazing cacophany of whistles.

Next was a short sail to Kicker Rock (It looks like a boot). 

This was our first snorkel of the trip. And yes, it was cold enough to warrant a wetsuit.

I guess I never thought about it, but the rock also goes underwater and the formations below the water are as amazing as the formation above water. The fish were absolutely incredible, but highlights were sea turtles, galapagos sharks (no cage), stunning tiger rays, and sea lions. 

This was one of my shipmates photos. She was focused on
the pretty yellow fish and got photobombed by a turtle.

Yeah, I swam with sharks without a cage.
I feel badass!!

Eagle rays are beautiful. Look close and
you'll see another shark

Sea lion and turtle in one shot.

Turtle

The Musician tried out his GoPro for the first time. Near the end of the snorkel, about a half-dozen sea lions wanted to play with us in the water. They seem to love the Musician. But, we were past our time limit and couldn't stay to play longer. I couldn't imagine any possible way that snorkeling could get better than this.

After lunch, was a short sail to Cerro Brujo where we hiked and snorkeled off the beach. 

Lava gulls. Only place I saw these.

We saw more sea lions and marine iguanas.  My fascination with the beautiful multi-colored crabs began here. In the water, we saw fish again along with coral and anemones. The coral here is not in big reefs and is not very brightly colored. As we were swimming back to the beach, a blue footed booby dive bombed for fish and nearly took out The Musician. In his excitement, he threw off his mask and snorkel to try to snap pictures. Sadly, we violated the "leave nothing but footprints" rule. He needed a new mask and snorkel anyway and the boat had loaners for the rest of the week. 

Brown Pelican

When I went to bed, exhausted and happy, I couldn't imagine that it could get any better.