(Written 9.30pm on Wednesday 5th January)
I already feel a bit like an old hand at this! After an early wake-up call, we disembarked to go to the island of Rabida which is very red due to the amount of iron in the volcano sediment. We went for a fantastic walk witnessing a wide variety of wildlife going about its daily business and then it was time to brave the waters again.
I learnt to snorkel yesterday so today (in the spirit of 'do more stuff') I thought it was high time I joined the expert snorkellers for the deep water snorkelling off the dinghies! It was like entering another world. I made friends with another sea lion and swam with all manner of tropical fish, some nearly half my size! Very cool.
Oh, and on the way back in the dinghy we saw a Manta Ray - it was HUGE! Almost worth the rather interesting sun burn I now have on the backs of my thighs. Sitting down tomorrow might be a challenge!
After lunch and a siesta (I've never slept so much or so well!), we went back out to the island of North Seymour which is the nesting ground for Frigates and Blue-footed Boobies. We saw the male Frigates blowing out their red pouches to impress the females and the Blue-footed Boobies feeding their young. And we were so close to it all that you almost had to duck to avoid being flown into!
We then wandered back along the beach where we encountered a very young sealion pup and its mother amongst the colony. I could have watched them for hours.
This evening has also been really special. We watched our first proper sunset over the water and had cocktails up on deck. I've been adopted by a really nice Canadian family who feel like old friends already!
Tomorrow, giant tortoises...!
No comments:
Post a Comment