Bob and Ann in Peru and Equador in 2008

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Marine iguanas


Land iguana

Today's tour started with a dry landing on Isla Santa Cruz where we found iguanas basking placidly in the sun. In a water-filled crater we spotted a flamingo which Harry told us was rare in this location. (Later when we passed another Island we spotted a group of flamingos in another water-filled crater. It was farther away but quite spectacular!). On the hike, we also saw land iguanas (the so-called dragons) and several species of birds.

After our hike around Isla Santa Cruz we returned to the Athala to cavort off the stern on a prelunch swim. Cheese enchiladas with good crunchy beans were the main dish followed by star fruit for dessert.

At 3:00 we took the Pangas to another islands where we spotted penguins, pelicans, iguanas, sally crabs and sea lions along the shore. We split up into two groups. One group decided to do some deep water snorkeling. Our group landed on a sandy beach for a swim. As we landed on the beach we were greeted by several sea lions sunning and we saw a large bull swimming off shore. Mindful of the unpredictability of sea lions we tried to give them a wide berth, but out of the bush crawled a crying baby sea lion that tried to follow us across the beach. Kelly, and Bob fended off sea lions from our gear as Zoe and Ann tried a little swim/snorkel, but we all soon retreated to the panga to head back to the boat.

Before dinner Harry gave us a geology lesson with his laptop pictures. He is well-versed on the Galapagos.

We sailed tonight to Puerto Egas so that tomorrow we can walk on black sand beaches.