Shark Teasing - Galapagos II

Having arrived at the southern end of Isabela Is and after a talkative breakfast we headed off to a small island and got up close and personal with Marine Iguanas and Sea lions, both of which there are many. The Iguanas are not at their most lively in the morning, needing plenty of sun to get them active.You could easily tread on them as they just don't move and are well camouflaged on the dark lava rock..

By the way - the Islands all had English names until quite recently when Ecuador changed them (the scientists still refer to their names as they were in Darwin's time). 

These are only babies, we will get to the big ones later in the trip.

The Sea Lions are funny. When they are not asleep in the sun they look like they are playing the whole time. There were white tipped sharks in this particular inlet. These sharks are unique in that they only hunt at night so sleep all day. The Sea lions would swim past them and nip their tails and swim off, just to wake them up! They would spin round and do it to another one on their next pass.

Although the storm from the night before had stirred up the seabed we went snorkeling from the boat. It wasn't very clear and there were not many fish but a few penguins would swim past us tantalisingly close but we could rarely catch up with them (funny that with my swimming technique). We didn't have the luxury of the Sea Lions coming to play. Apparently they like to give your flippers a nibble (with less chance of retribution than from a shark).

Each day was organised by our resident, English speaking guide and generally was a walk on an Island followed by a snorkel and or a dingy ride close the the shore so we could see the wildlife. This afternoon was a walk across a recent (only 1,500 years old) area of lava. The volcano in the background was one of two volcanoes that produced this plateau. It is amazing how little life has invaded this area in such a period of time. The are some small tidal pools (with a few birds) that are created at high tides but apart from these there is only a few cactus, some tough red Sedge and a few grasses.

The water is so deep here that the Flamingo's have to swim and dip to get their food, leaving only a feathered arse sticking out of the water.

Another snorkeling expedition in to some deeper colder water which was much better as we saw many turtles, some of them huge but the best thing I have ever seen snorkeling was watching a Flightless Cormorant swimming past at speed chasing a fish under some rocks. The only thing you could see were its feet sticking out whilst it tried to get its fish. If your thing is Turtles, this is the place for you - they are everywhere and sometimes in large groups. They look at you in a very sleepy fashion but they hang around and don't disappear in to the gloom.

It was windy but sunny which was nice having had mostly overcast skies. The dinner was an elaborate affair as one of the crew had a birthday and we were "entertained" to a few local folk tunes and dances. I think the only one who really enjoyed it was the waiter who was clearly a frustrated performer. He ended the show with a striptease - thank god he didn't go the whole way (I am not sure my former room mate thought so).

Luckily the night sail, whilst lumpy was not too bad although a few were popping sea sickness pills - one of which didn't work as he could be seen hanging over the back of the boat feeding the fish.