Hood Island
We arrived early this morning to Hood Island; this is the oldest island in the archipelago, the one that has a lot of endemic species found not only in the archipelago but on the island itself. We found the most colorful marine iguanas, the largest lava lizards, the most curious and inquisitive mockingbirds. We walked along the coast of Punta Suarez amongst colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs, and nesting blue-footed boobies. Some had newly hatched chicks, others had eggs. There were several adults and juvenile Nazca boobies, parents and youngsters trying to regulate their body temperatures under the equatorial sun. We also got a surprise, as we saw a marine iguana being lifted in the air; the iguana was trying to cross the fissure of the “blow-hole”, right at the moment a large column of water shot up! After a couple of flips in the air the iguana landed with no harm at all.
After that wonderful walk, we returned on board to navigate towards Gardner Bay, and on the way there was a large pod bottle-nosed dolphins that joined us for a while for some bow-riding.
For the afternoon we all enjoyed Gardner Bay in several ways. We went on the glass bottom boat and found several schools of fish, a shark, and a couple of octopi that gave us the impression that they were mating (!) Some of our guests went snorkeling in deep waters; other tried snorkeling from the shore for the first time, and we also explored Hood Island’s coastal area from the kayaks. Others just had a great relaxing walk along the coast that this afternoon was crowded with Galápagos sea lions.
After all the fun activities we returned to our beloved ship, and we had a great time during recap and watching the stars above our heads after dinner.
We arrived early this morning to Hood Island; this is the oldest island in the archipelago, the one that has a lot of endemic species found not only in the archipelago but on the island itself. We found the most colorful marine iguanas, the largest lava lizards, the most curious and inquisitive mockingbirds. We walked along the coast of Punta Suarez amongst colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs, and nesting blue-footed boobies. Some had newly hatched chicks, others had eggs. There were several adults and juvenile Nazca boobies, parents and youngsters trying to regulate their body temperatures under the equatorial sun. We also got a surprise, as we saw a marine iguana being lifted in the air; the iguana was trying to cross the fissure of the “blow-hole”, right at the moment a large column of water shot up! After a couple of flips in the air the iguana landed with no harm at all.
After that wonderful walk, we returned on board to navigate towards Gardner Bay, and on the way there was a large pod bottle-nosed dolphins that joined us for a while for some bow-riding.
For the afternoon we all enjoyed Gardner Bay in several ways. We went on the glass bottom boat and found several schools of fish, a shark, and a couple of octopi that gave us the impression that they were mating (!) Some of our guests went snorkeling in deep waters; other tried snorkeling from the shore for the first time, and we also explored Hood Island’s coastal area from the kayaks. Others just had a great relaxing walk along the coast that this afternoon was crowded with Galápagos sea lions.
After all the fun activities we returned to our beloved ship, and we had a great time during recap and watching the stars above our heads after dinner.
