Day Thirty Six - Galapagos

We were up super early this morning for a walk before breakfast!! We had a dry landing at Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island at 6:15, it was a bit mizzly. We walked along a path and came to a channel where we saw tens of sharks sleeping on the seabed. They were white tipped reef sharks, varying from half a metre to three metres in length!! As we walked further along the channel, we saw more and more in larger numbers, some swimming around. They look so peaceful and elegant when they swim.

We continued along the beach and saw lots of sea lions sleeping on the beach. We managed to get relatively close to some of them, they've amazingly calm, unless there's a mum and a pup.

After breakfast back on the boat, we got the dinghys to another part of Isabela Island to go snorkelling. We walked along the jetty and then along a boardwalk covered by mangroves to a small lagoon just off the beach. It was a cool place to snorkel, quite shallow which was scary when trying to swim and avoid kicking coral at the same time!! A few of the group saw marine iguanas and some rarer water species, we saw lots of brightly coloured fish but sadly no iguanas or turtles!! This one was quite a bit colder than the previous day, so we cut it a little shorter!

Back on the boardwalk, we changed next to a couple of large sealions chilling out on one of the benches. A couple of our group and I stroked one of their tummies (probably a stupid ideas!!) but somebody from another group stroked their head and got a nasty barking response from the sealion! We walked further along the boardwalk to find our way blocked by another two sealions! Rachel and Steve (the Aussie couple) were at the front attempting the get past but they just kept getting flippered at by the sealions!! It was very funny! Eventually we managed to all get past and get back to the dinghys, where we watched four sealion pups in the sea playing together.

Back on the boat, we all fought to get to the hot water first for a shower, and then had lunch. There was this amazing tuna in creamy sauce with rice which was awesome!!

After lunch, we headed back to the same island, this time to walk around on foot to see some land wildlife. We saw a group of bright pink flamingoes. Our guide told us they get their colour from the type of food they eat, they eat shrimp who eat a bright pink algae, so when they have eaten lots of it, their colour deepens. This is the same concept with the blue footed boobies! We continued onto the propose breeding centre where we saw tortoises ranging from four weeks old to over a hundred years! They've managed to help keep the species in existence with their work, the work they do is fantastic.

We wandered back along the boardwalk over the marshland and towards the town. The sun had come out and it was a beautiful afternoon. Our guide took us to a local bar to get 'Coco Locos' which are coconuts filled with coconut water and rum. Not being a fan of either, I opted for a passionfruit daquiri, but was assured by everyone else they were very good!!

We watched the sunset as we rode the dinghys back to our main boat. We had a short briefing and then dinner. The food on the boat is very very good, Steve and I are just waiting for the night we have chocolate mousse for dessert!!!