Galapagos Islands - Dia numero dos...

Day two on the boat tour:

We started out with a "wet landing" (sounds kind of dirty...oh but I digress...) on Rabida Island. A wet landing happends when the dingy boat has to drop you off in the water and you have to wade through to get to the beach. Rabida Island has beautiful red sand beaches with plenty of wildlife. The red sand is due to the minerals in the rocks. There were sea lions, pelicans, marine iguanas and a quite a few dead pelicans...awww...such is the life cycle. The sea lions are similar to the ones at pier 39 in San Francisco except these are definitely not afraid of people. You can get really close to them, I guess they are used to it. We hiked around the island and took in some amazing views with gorgeous blue water against the red sand beaches of the island. It was pretty incredible. After the hike, snorkeling was next on the agenda. Wow, I have never snorkeled with sea lions. They were so close, maybe 3 feet away and they would sneek up on you. I was just cruising along and then all of a sudden there was one about an arm´s length away...my heart stopped for a second there! I saw an abundance of starfish and some really cool fish. After the snorkeling, it was back onto the boat to chill out on deck, catch some sun, eat lunch and motor to our next destination.

In the afternoon, we partook in another wet landing on Puerto Egas on the Island of San Salvador. Here on Puerto Egas was my first sighting of the famous BFB (Blue Footed Boobie). They were pretty far away, but it was so cool to watch them dive for fish. They circle around and around and when they spot something, they dive bomb into the water, are down for a few seconds and then bob up like "bloop...here I am"! We went on a little hike and at the end found fur seals in crystal blue water with a landscape of gray lava rock...Yowza! The lava rock is the perfect backdrop for the marine iguanas. There were thousands and they blend in perfectly with the rock. They have this funny little smirk on their face and when they get excess salt in their body, they spit out water. It is pretty clear that they have evolved from pre-historic times and are a resilient species. From there, it was back to the beach for more snorkeling...snorkeling with the sea turles! We saw a male and a female sea turtle along with more bright colored fish. We also saw a large group of dolphins swimming by (what is a large group of dolphins called? a school? doesn´t sound right...anyway...). I love dolphins, something about them makes me feel at peace.

All in all, it was a great day of adventure. The sun was shining and there was a nice breeze which was great because the forecast was rain and clouds...not so! I was enjoying being on a tour where someone else planned the itinerary. I just followed along like a baby duck...quack quack!