Up bright and early to get out snorkeling before the sun gets too hot. The head naturalist did a great briefing on how to snorkel and kept it light and humourous. His name is Carlos Romero Franco and in addition to being a registered guide he has a doctorate in biology and a great sense of humour. They have all the equipment organized on board with bags for us to keep our equipment in between excursions and a place on deck for them to hang by room number. Everything has been this organized and easy which is such a delight.
We head off for our first deep water snorkel experience just off Espanola Island (also called Hood). Our pool practice paid off and the whole experience was great and very relaxing. We saw lots of bright coloured fish, sea urchins, and a few sea lions swimming very deep down which totally ignored us.
After lunch the boat repositions to the other side of the island. Stan takes the long hike for photographers but I opt for the short excursion instead because this is the most difficult trail in all of the Galapagos and not for anyone with any walking issues. Good decision on my part!
I still get to see Darwin finches, American Oyster Catchers, flying blue boobies, frigate birds, lots of iguana, several kinds of crabs, mockingbirds and sea lions galore including nursing babies. One little pup gave me a kiss on the back of the leg! It was so sweet and again so hard to resist touching it. The guide told us that the mother will go out for 2 or 3 days at a time to feed on fish and then she returns for a couple of days to feed the pup. Her milk is quite rich and holds the young one that long and as there are no predators on land here the pup is safer on shore than in the water where there are many kinds of shark who feed on sea lion.
I also get to see all of Stan's pictures which are, of course, outstanding. He found nesting Nazca boobies and even has pictures of infants and eggs. He took so many pictures he had to change sticks part way through. Culling our shots down is going to be challenging!
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