Friday - Isabela
After spending the night in a hotel we had nice breakfast (at the hotel) and returned to the boat to pick up our snorkel equipment. We took a bit of a tour around the shores of Isabela on the boat, and saw some penguins! At first we saw just two, and one was molting and one wasn't (the molting one was really ugly, see picture), and on the same rock were some blue footed boobies and sea lions...quite picturesque! Just a little while later we saw a whole bunch - maybe 15 - swimming. They look just like loons when they are swimming...Galapagos penguins are pretty small.
Penguins on shore:
Penguins swimming:
We then stopped for a hike at a dock where there is a trail that leads to the home of many, many marine iguanas. They were EVERYWHERE. We also saw a white tipped shark and many sea lions here.
Marine iguanas everywhere:
We next headed to the snorkel location where I fond a massive sting ray hiding under a ledge and a big lobster above it. Dario tried forever to catch the lobster but couldn't with his bare hands. There was very little coral here but a lot of pretty volcanic rock. We saw a sea turtle swimming in the water as we headed back on the snorkel boat to the catamaran.
We had a great cerviche on board for lunch, and then set sail for the afternoon back to Santa Cruz. We saw some Albatrosses from the boat while we were sailing - they spend their whole lives at sea and live only on Espanoal island. It was a real treat to see them! Also, a big manta ray jumped out of the water, and we spotted a whale, just once!
Sailing back, Emily in the captain's chair and Mitch hanging off the front of the boat:
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