North Seymour & Rabida Island
North Seymour is the result of a geologic uplifting process, due to the pressure of magma inside the volcano. This island is very small, with no more than 25 square kilometers; it is completely flat with cliffs all around, and soaring birds everywhere. The vegetation belongs mostly to the arid zone, and this time of the year it looks dry, with a ghostly appearance. But the plants have the unique characteristic of going dormant for many months of the year; this is an adaptation they have in order to survive in the harsh terrain of these oceanic Islands. The fauna is also adapted to deal with the same conditions. So when they have good conditions they have to save water for the dry months to come.
From the distance it looks so barren, but once we disembark, the abundance of wildlife is very impressive: sea lions, swallow-tailed gulls, blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, pelicans, brown noddy terns and many others. But our main interest was frigate birds because during this time of the year the males have fully inflated pouches and are looking for mates. This morning the frigates were at their best—we saw babies, immatures, new couples courting and some were incubating their eggs, making our experience so impressive and unique.
After this amazing adventure we went out again for deep-water snorkeling with great success; the number of tropical and cold-water fish is very large but the main attraction in the water was the playful Galápagos sea lions and friendly sharks.
We sailed about three hours over lunch to a different island to continue with our exploration; as soon as we arrived at Rabida Island we offered kayaking, deep-water snorkeling, glass-bottom boating and beach activities. Before our day ended we all disembarked at a red sandy beach for a short, scenic walk.
The encounters with wildlife were so impressive in all our activities today; everybody is back on board with great memories of this enchanted archipelago.
