It was after a wet landing onto a coral beach that our walk began alongside Opuntia cactus and mangroves. We were on the lookout for courting male frigatebirds -- which as you can see from the photograph we were successful in spotting. In our picture is a male frigate, very distinguishable by his large, bright red gular sac. His female companion, no doubt attracted to this virile display of manhood, looked quite smug as he casually draped his wing around her back. She seemed to be saying that he was a definite "keeper."
While the courting frigates captured most of our attention, we also saw a heron and many red-footed boobies, including fluffy white babies in nests balanced precariously in the mangroves. Lava gulls were also present. And as Mother Nature continuously acts out life and death in front of us, we witnessed a frigate tormenting a gull by grabbing at her wing several times trying to get her off her nest. Fortunately, the gull outsmarted the frigate -- this time.
At the end of our walk the sparkling water of Darwin Bay looked particularly enticing and some of us went swimming, while others went snorkeling. The snorkelers were in for a real treat: they discovered about 10 hammerhead sharks swimming slowly below them. One of the snorkelers was so surprised that she gasped and inhaled some water, but not without first taking an underwater photo. "His head took up most of the picture frame," she said.
And all of this took place before lunch!
