North Seymour and Rabida Islands
It is 6:00 a.m. The prevailing winds from the south are strong enough to produce “garua,” a drizzle present on the islands during the “cold-dry” season. So our day looks cloudy and chilly, but bit by bit the warmness of the fierce sun on the equator will take its place on the sky, the fog is gone and the day clears up.
Today our travelers start to see the real dimension of Galápagos. It is our second day and North Seymour is a great place, full of nature. Photographers and adventurers come to have a walk on this island, and the first impression is phenomenal. I have no chance to interpretate the nature, because everybody brings their cameras out and starts to take pictures of creatures moving around: sea lions, swallow tailed sea gulls, frigates nesting and displaying on the trees, blue footed boobies, finches, warblers, lava lizards and land iguanas everywhere. It is amazing! We found at the end of the trail a female sea lion with a newborn pup from just few hours ago, as we found part of the afterbirth. We walked for about three hours here, learning about the natural history and the geology of North Seymour Island, taking pictures, observing the animal behavior, and contemplating the great scenery. Of course we enjoyed every single minute on this magical place.
Now we are heading to Rabida, the “red island” indeed! It is red because of the quantity of iron found there. This afternoon we have many activities, such as kayaking along the coast, using the glass bottom boat to observe the incredible marine life underwater, and deep water snorkeling to have the chance to dive and to find creatures so close to our eyes. All these activities ended with great success, bringing our happy travelers back to the National Geographic Endeavour.
Then our 5:00 p.m. walk on Rabida was special. A colony of sea lion were resting on the beach and some Galápagos mockingbirds were disputing their territory, flycatchers and finches were working very hard to find insects and seeds to eat, and brown pelicans were plunge-diving along the coast to eat dinner. Our eyes and the lenses of our cameras captured all these moments, all these scenes, and all these actions were recorded in our memories.
There is no other place like Galápagos, and this is why we try to have a lot of fun and to enjoy every second in this enchanted place.
