Ecuador - Galapagos Islands

After a fairly average nights sleep thanks to the rough seas we woke at our new destination, Rabida Island.

We went ashore and our guide, Rafael, took us for a walk around the Island to explore the environment. Each island has unique features, for example Rabida has red sand secondary to the Iron oxide content of the volcanic rock that has broken down to form the sand. It also has no land Iguanas or Tortoises therefore is the only island in the Galapagos that has cactuses with soft spines. All cactuses in the entire archipelago are endemic to the Galapagos which means they are found no where else in the world. Some of our group went for a snorkel off the beach but the water was a subarctic temperature so we just hung out on the beach.

After getting back on the boat we motored to Santiago Island and anchored in James Bay to enjoy lunch. We braved the cold water after lunch and went snorkelling in James Bay. It was an awesome experience to swim with Sea Lions, and a Galapagos Green Turtle, as well as many beautiful fish. There was one particular juvenile Sea Lion that was very playful and was swimming with us, sometimes straight at us, and flipping a sea urchin on its nose. She was very cute! We returned to the boat warmed up with a hot shower and then went ashore for a walk. 

James Bay is a black beach owing to the lava flows that constitute its make up. The bays landscape was extremely picturesque. The lava flow patterns combined with erosion from wind and the sea have formed some amazing natural rock formations. James Bay is also the home of the Galapagos Fur Seal and we enjoyed watching a large colony on the rocks. We also saw a huge number of Marine Iguanas, Sally Lightfoot Crabs, and a few different birds including the Yellow Warble, and the American Oyster Catcher. 

This afternoon we motored to Bartolome Island. On the way we passed some beautiful scenery and rocks including Buccaneer bay which is so named because it was a place where pirates used to hide their ships, Elephant Rock, and Monk Rock.