After breakfast, we visited the small islet of South Plaza which offered an excellent opportunity to spot Galapagos land iguanas that actively fed on the Opuntia prickly pear cactus fruit. The edge of the cliff is a popular Galapagos sea lion bachelor colony, and as we walked back along the trail, we found an hour old sea lion pup being tended to by its mother.
During lunchtime, we sailed south-east to Santa Fe Island. After some kayaking and paddle boarding, we had a chance for a hike. We hesitated to leave the inquisitive sea lion pups to move inland, but this decision proved right as we saw plenty of the rare Santa Fe land iguanas basking on the rocks along the trail, and even the very elusive “hamster-like” Santa Fe rice rat.
