Up early for breakfast at 7:00 before heading off to our first adventure of the day, a wet landing, a 2 hour hike followed by snorkeling on Santiago Island. 
We landed on a curving black sand beach and hiked out to Egas Point. On the way in our guide spotted a few Blue-Footed Boobies, a famous bird here for it's blue feet, of course. He navigated the dinghy in close to the rocks the birds were sitting on so we could get some photos. We came within a few feet of the rocks but managed to stay off of them and get our photos.
Ashore we headed out to the point where got up close and personal with a number of seal pups and their moms. One pup in particular was still attached to it's placenta and dragged it around while trying to get at it's mother to nurse. Other pups lay a
bout alone due to their mothers being at se
a eating. We also saw very tame mockingbirds, fur seals, plenty of Sally Light-Foot Crabs and more marine iguanas as we clambering over the aa and pahoahoa types of lava.
Back at the beach we had the best snorkeling experience of the trip. I swam over to the rocky point of the bay and the crystal clear water exposed the bottom some 40 or 50 feet or more in places. Fish of every color and size swam in small schools here and schools in the hundreds or thousan
ds in other places. Looking at the brilliant variety below me I nearly missed running into a lone sea turtle leisurely making it's way right in front of me. We swam along together for a while until I headed off towards my goal when to my surprise a sea lion as big as me swam by gracefully. We swam parallel with each other, the sea lion turning it's head to look at me and I her in a sort of double take. I continued to explore the view of the bottom amazed at the incredible variety of fish, the colors, shapes and sizes. I saw what looked like a Grouper come out from under a rocky shelf only to quickly dive under another out of sight. It looked to be about 3-4 feet in length and had a huge girth. I would guess it must have been at least 75 pounds or more. I swam back towards my starting point and sat on sandy ledge,allowing the cool Galapagos sea to wash over me. This was probably the best snorkeling I have ever had in all my diving experiences around the world. The clarity of the water, the variety of sea life and ease of access made it unforgettable!
Back aboard, exhausted, but happy, showers and lunch, then a nap. For me also, time to get caught up on this journal. We, disappointedly, had to turn in our snorkeling gear this afternoon. Only got to snorkel twice. Leslie three times. There was another opportunity this afternoon, but it was described as a deep dive and that didn't appeal to us so we elected to nap instead.
The afternoon adventure was on the small island of Rabida. This is known as the red island due to the iron rich lava that formed it. The lava then rust
ed giving the island it's color. We started with a panga ride up the rocky coastline. The turquoise water was so clear we could see the bottom 3-4 fathoms deep easily. Red cliffs rose ve
rtically in places two hundred feet or more. Cactus and scraggly plants clung to the cliffs. In other places the lava created island comes right down to the water. Here and there sea lion mothers and their pups basked in the sun clinging to a small outcropping of rock. Blue-Footed Boobies rested on other crags while others dive bombed into the water around us hoping to catch a fish. We also saw pelicans, cormorants, crabs and marine iguanas. We turned after an hour and sped back the way we came making a wet landing on a red sand beach where we were greeted by a small colony of sea lions and pups.
They allowed us to walk nearly up to them where we took photos. A short walk inland we came upon a salt water lake inhabited by three beautiful pink fl
amingos feeding on brine shrimp which exist here due to the higher salinity of the lake water. It was also near t
his lake that I was approached by a small brown speckled bird. It hopped and fluttered around me, jumping up and down, then staring at me it would begin it's antics all over again until it finally flew down on top of a small rock right in front of me and turned it's head to look up at me as if waiting for applause for the tricks it had done. I rewarded the little bird with a portrait and had a one way conversation thanking the little fellow for being so cooperative. He flew off and that ended our relationship.
Our group next walked back out onto the beach where we walked to the end of the beach where cliffs took over and we could walk no further. It was along that route that we came across more sea lions, pelicans, Boobies, all up close and easily photographed. By the end of the walk we were standing in the surf looking up a hundred foot red cliff while taking photos of another bird species or watching a sea lion come ashore. In the distance, our ship, the Galapagos Legend, sat off shore waiting for our panga to return us and the sun was slowly setting. Hues of orange, red and blue passed under the thin cloud cover and the sky lit up with a stunning sun set.
Our panga struggled to turn it's stern end towards the beach to pick us up.
The surf was getting rough. The stern end of the panga was yawing from side. As that was the end we needed to board, this yawing made attempting it dangerous. This was the motor end and the heavy 50 horse outboard swung back and forth as well. At one point a lady walked out to get on the panga and jumped up onto the pontoon just as the boat violently swung in her direction. Had she not jumped up at that moment she might have been knocked down in the surf and quite possibly pulled under the boat. I observed all this from the safety of the beach where I had insisted we move back to until the crew had secured the dinghy.
They finally started the motor, drove the boat off shore a few yards and then made a new landing attempt. This time they backed in, the surf abated just long enough and the last three of us quickly got aboard. The sea had picked as well. White caps and frequent swells made the journey back a quite bouncy. Water sprayed over the bow and made a few people a little nervous. The heavier sea also made disembarking a little tricky since the panga passengers had to scoot along the pontoon to the front of the little dinghy and then time their step off and onto the steps on the ship just right. Quite an adventure!!
As we boarded they let us know there was an ice cream party in the forward lounge so we headed up. Three flavors if helados with all the fixings were out. We created our own sundae and then sat down with friends to share stories of the latest shore excursion. Then we headed to our room to shower and prepare for the evening. An announcement over the speaker in our room let us know that at 7:45 there would be the briefing for tomorrow's outings followed by dinner at 8:00.
Dinner was beef bourguignon for me and Fish et Papillion for Leslie. This is fish and a few veggies wrapped in parchment or foil and sealed for the cooking process. It poaches in the package. It smelled awfully fishy to me which usually indicates to me it is not fresh so I was glad I had gone with the beef.
After dinner they held a King Neptune ceremony, a tradition when crossing the equator which, by the way, we had done four times during the cruise. Leslie went and said it was lame and then dancing started with the YMCA tune. Her ankle was bothering her so she returned to the room where I had gone. By the time she got settled into bed she was asleep in 5 minutes. I wrapped up my journal and did the same. Another big day tomorrow. Night!
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