Galapagos Islands, Eucador
Day 275
San Bartholomew Island
5am start this morning. We were told to be at the bus at 5.30am with our bathers and sunscreen! This time we remembered our towels (yesterday we had bathers but no towels!) Breakfast and lunch was to be on board.
After arriving back at Pueroto Ayora..and spending some time looking out over the port..and SEEING A SEA LION sitting on a chair on a boat that was docked at the small port.....we headed off to San Bartholomew in awe..
It took three and a half hours of cruising to get to our destination (and a bit of sea sickness by one of the group!). We were joined by huge gliding frigate birds hovering over the boat...
Wildlife is so amazing here..and friendly. We´ve found out there are no predators on the island..so they´re all friendly and just look at us as if we´re the curiosity!!!!
Breakfast was a fried egg in a bun..it´s so amazing how these guys cook and serve meals on a boat that holds only 16 people!
We wondered what we were going to see...
And what we saw was an island that looked completely volcanic! (Were we going to swim HERE??) Honestly, it was like walking on a crater! Was funny, because at one stage Greg said..this island is very young..the soil looks fresh..and the guide, with a straight face, said YES it is only a young island...about four million years old! I wondered if he was kidding or not! He wasn´t. Apparently the other islands are much older!
We still haven´t learned much history about the Galagagos..and there are no brochures available. The translation is not good..and the guides don´t give much away. All we know is there are not that many tourists that visit the islands..and they are beautiful. Perhaps we´ll find out more when we visit the Charles Darwin Centre. We were told today...King George lives there..a special tortoise. Can´t wait to see him..apparently he´s the rarest animal on earth because he´s the last of his species.
Meanwhile..we climbed up to the summit of Pinnacle rock, a small island inside Sullivan Bay. From the eastern side lies the most photographed and viewed island in the world..so we were told. And it is a panoramic view.
If you look at the pic, above, the left side is where all the sharks are..the right side is where the seals are...and that´s where we went swimming!
We saw a lot of penguins today..and fish..and Sally Lightfoot Crabs (SO colourful...bright orange with a blue bit on them!)
And snorkeling...
It was SO beautiful..because we hopped in, and it was a gorgeous day...and after seeing all the fish, some that looked like a cross between a groper and a bullnose shnapper...we then saw the sea lions. At first it was weird..but then they started playing with us..and we swam with them..and watched them dive in between huge masses of coloured fish...
I´ve never swam with sea lions before! I´ve seen them a lot..especially on Seal Is on the Abrolhos..but have never swam with them..it was SO special!
We were still on a huge high after this....
Then..we went for a walk to the back of the Island...and saw Sea Turtles mating!!!! Imagine that! They were huge turtles too.....it is mating season..but to actually see this is just a thrill! They duck under the water..well at least the female does, as if she´s drowning..and the male mounts her!
We ate lunch (fish) on the boat..and headed back for another three and a half hours...
We arrived home late..about 5pm..happy...and watched the sun go down...
And...oh yeah, the seal lion on the chair on the boat in the port was STILL THERE!
It looked so hilarious.......
No wonder... basking in the sun would be what i´d want to do if i were a seal lion too...so funny, there were a couple of his mates swimming about as if to say..c´mon sammy..come play!
We headed home again...and watched the cactus turn from furry brightly irredescent little desert cactus peeking out from the leafless trees...to huge green and tall cactus amongst the rainforest as we got closer to Santa Cruz township...
Dinner was a three course, soup, fish and fruit meal.......
Seems to me..we´re getting healthier and losing weight rather than putting it on..praps because we´re just eating what we´re given rather than buying extra´s!
It´s so nice not to feel we have to ´hunt´ for our food...which is how it feels sometimes when you´re looking for a healthy meal amongst all the restaurants on offer (like in the US!)
We´re happy...and feel so privileged to be here..on the most wondrous of Islands!
