Day #2

We started with a 6:00 am hike up to the top of North Seymour Island. This is the spot that Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut, says most closely resembles the moon’s surface. I assume he’s right!! Up at the top it was pretty barren. In the short distance, thought, we could see the other islands.

Waiting for us at the dock was a sea lion, so tame that he sniffed Brett’s leg closely enough that Brett felt his nose!!! We have great photos of that, but no photos on the blog from the boat. Later!!

It was 479 feet to the top of the island. Whenever we go on these hikes, there is a naturalist with us. This is a National Park law, and as a result, there is NO graffiti, NO trash, NO foot prints anywhere but on the pathways. Also, it’s part of why the animals are not at all afraid of people. It’s very difficult to come here on anything but a tour. Even bringing your own boat – sailing or motoring from somewhere – there are huge landing fees, and you still have to join a group to look around. Even the naturalists cannot bring friends along. Each hiking group is around 12 – 14 people. It’s very well managed.
After the morning hike, and breakfast, we (yes, me, too!!!) went snorkeling. Someone on our flight here told us that we would be amazed, even the fish don’t seem to be afraid. All kinds of fish to see, but the most amazing thing of the day for me was a PENGUIN! ! ! They are the third smallest penguins in the world. This one was swimming back and forth along the shore. Brett saw one (maybe the same one) when he was starting out snorkeling – took him completely by surprise! ! ! ! It was wonderful!!
The food has been consistently wonderful, but today’s lunch was many Ecuadorean specialties. Ceviche was my favorite. After lunch there was a lecture on the geology of the Galapagos.
Brett went on a second dive this afternoon, and saw turtles that time. The water was not as clear as the naturalists were expecting, but it was clear for us!!! He was obviously able to move faster and see more with me on the boat.
Last of the day was a sunset hike on Puerto Egas. It was beautiful, along the volcanic coastline. There were land and marine iguanas everywhere. I thought that photos we saw ahead of time were wonderful advertisements for the trip, but not daily occurrences!! There were REALLY heaps of ten iguanas, and a little further along, a three foot wall – like sandstone, but Brett thinks compacted volcanic ash – maybe 30 feet long, COVERED with iguanas, getting their last sun of the day.
The sun was setting as we rode the zodiac back to our boat!!!!