Early in the morning we start our next adventure. Our destinations are two centric island that hold unique ecologies and species that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Plaza Island was named after a former Ecuadorian president. This small Santa Cruz satellite island holds a healthy population of land iguanas and prickly pears. Today we had a dry landing ready to take the 1.5 mile loop equipped with good walking shoes. We had fun encounters with our ever-present friends the Galapagos sea lions. We climbed from the shore smoothly to a cliff where seabirds-like frigates, shearwaters, and tropic birds-take advantage of the updraft as they zoom above and in front of us. Today we were lucky to see a fight in midair from a distance as many frigate birds were taking turns to feed on a placenta after a new sea lion was born.
Back onboard we jumped from the ship for a quick dive and it was a very fun social gathering, and refreshing of course. Soon after, we repositioned the vessel to our next site while our naturalist Cindy Manning presented specifics about Galapagos oceanography. Lunch was served and our culinary crew proudly presented delicious and flavorful cuisine.
After lunch we arrived at our next destination, Santa Fe Island. We started water activities like kayaking and deep water snorkeling and we saw sea lions, rays, sharks, and tropical and subtropical fishes (plural of different species of fish). We had a blast, for the underwater realm of the Galapagos is a colorful, impressive, and overall pristine place.
Back onboard and ready for our walk we landed on a white sandy beach full of sea lions of all sizes and shapes. Galapagos hawks and blue footed boobies greeted us as we disembarked form our Zodiacs.
Today we had closer encounters with sea lions when big males, 300 pounds approximately, sat right on our trail. We continued on and reached Santa Fe’s land iguanas. This species is very unique and specific and only our lucky visitors are able to see it, for this reptile cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Tonight we shared stories, pictures, experiences, and laughter. Our expedition is reaching its peak and we have bonded, for these islands have a magical aura of coexistence.
