Today we had our first official full day. We started our morning with some stretching sessions conducted by our wellness specialist, Hilda. After we enjoyed a delicious breakfast, we went on land to visit North Seymour, where we spotted the very popular blue footed boobies and the male frigatebirds with the big red pouches. The blue footed boobies are the most famous of the three different species of boobies that we have in the Galapagos, their great blue coloration really captures people’s attention. This is especially true today since we were able to witness several couples doing the very famous courtship display, the male is desperately showing off his bright blue feet to get the female’s attention. Male frigate birds with their inflated pouches were definitely a great thing to watch, these guys were desperately trying to get the females’ attention! Dozens of newborn baby sea lions were all over the intertidal zone, playing around and waiting until their mothers come back from fishing. We also got to see amazing land iguanas all over the island, as well as learn about all their behaviors and adaptations to be able to survive to this hostile environment. Marine iguanas, finches, mockingbirds, and lava lizards were also part of our walk.
In the afternoon we enjoyed a delicious Andean lunch while doing a short navigation all the way to Rabida Island. Here our guests got ready for the water activities, a few groups went to the beach and the rest went to do deep water snorkeling where sea turtles, white tip sharks, and sea lions were in the water and huge schools of fishes were a great part of the experience.
We finished this great day with two options, a stroll along the red beach of Rabida Island with the photography group or a hike inside the island where we spotted a group of ten flamingos in the lagoon. Watching the sunset was a very relaxing way to finish the day. Once we came back on board, our guests had a wonderful surprise from the hotel manager, the Super Bowl was live streaming in the lounge. What a wonderful day we had!
