Santa Cruz & North Seymour Islands
I got up at 6:00 in the morning and managed to go downstairs to have some tea and two peach muffins. Six in the morning is definitely too early for me to get up, but when it comes to see giant tortoises, I’d do anything! We took a panga ride to the pier in Santa Cruz Island and then hopped on a bus to see giant tortoises in the wild. Every body liked it so much that you could hear the “clicks” of cameras taking pictures everywhere.
By eleven-ish we already had returned to the t-shirt capital of the world, Pto. Ayora. Our guests started to walk along the main street in the village for some shopping and by noon everyone had their pockets empty!
After a bountiful buffet lunch, we disembarked on the island of North Seymour. Immediately upon arrival, we found out that the cement jetty that we use on the island for disembarkation was a lot busier than what I though it would be. One of the steps of the landing area was occupied by a female sea lion. Her husband (a big, beach master) was situated at the top of the ramp and had positioned himself appropriately to assure that the photographs of visitors would clearly show his dominance and authority. Further along the trail, we came across with several pairs of blue-footed boobies on their nests. One of the nests was even right in the middle of the rocky trail with boobies sheltering a newly born chick. Frigate birds were visible throughout the island and quite a number of land iguanas as well. One male frigate bird put on quite a show for his potential spouse, to not avail, as she eventually spurned his advances. Along the south side of the island, we encountered several nursing sea lion pups and dozens of frigate birds on their nests. Some of them were also sheltering their rather “large” downy-white offspring.
A spectacular day full of wildlife ended with an equally spectacular, although short-lived sunset.
I got up at 6:00 in the morning and managed to go downstairs to have some tea and two peach muffins. Six in the morning is definitely too early for me to get up, but when it comes to see giant tortoises, I’d do anything! We took a panga ride to the pier in Santa Cruz Island and then hopped on a bus to see giant tortoises in the wild. Every body liked it so much that you could hear the “clicks” of cameras taking pictures everywhere.
By eleven-ish we already had returned to the t-shirt capital of the world, Pto. Ayora. Our guests started to walk along the main street in the village for some shopping and by noon everyone had their pockets empty!
After a bountiful buffet lunch, we disembarked on the island of North Seymour. Immediately upon arrival, we found out that the cement jetty that we use on the island for disembarkation was a lot busier than what I though it would be. One of the steps of the landing area was occupied by a female sea lion. Her husband (a big, beach master) was situated at the top of the ramp and had positioned himself appropriately to assure that the photographs of visitors would clearly show his dominance and authority. Further along the trail, we came across with several pairs of blue-footed boobies on their nests. One of the nests was even right in the middle of the rocky trail with boobies sheltering a newly born chick. Frigate birds were visible throughout the island and quite a number of land iguanas as well. One male frigate bird put on quite a show for his potential spouse, to not avail, as she eventually spurned his advances. Along the south side of the island, we encountered several nursing sea lion pups and dozens of frigate birds on their nests. Some of them were also sheltering their rather “large” downy-white offspring.
A spectacular day full of wildlife ended with an equally spectacular, although short-lived sunset.
