Plaza Sur and Santa Fe
This morning we arrived to South Plaza Island and it was fantastic and hot! The island was alive with color, plants, and iguanas. As we disembarked on a sea lion crowded dock, we were delighted by the land iguanas. We took a loop-hike around the island and we found cactus trees, sesuvium vines, and seabirds soaring along the steep cliff. The colorful swallow-tailed gulls, an endemic seabird, were nesting and taking a lot of the heat of the morning, with gray and black colors and red eye-rings and red feet. They are the only nocturnal gull in the world. Cactus finches were nesting and one was feeding the babies in the bright green Opuntia cactus.
After the walk we took a refreshing dip and had a diving/jumping competition in the “shark-infested” waters of the ocean! As the action was fast, I had a chance to teach our guests about the action settings on their cameras while we attempted to get the best photographs of the competitors…the choice was difficult in our search for a winning shot, because both the style of the jumpers and the clarity of the photograph had to be of the highest standards! Finally, two photographs were selected: Natalie Dalton and Elizabeth Bryan put on the show—and Cindy our expedition leader got the shots!
Just before lunch as we were left South Plaza Island, some dolphins topped off the interesting morning by bow-riding our ship. A siesta was in order, following lunch, and then we headed towards an afternoon for kayaking and snorkeling.
The kayakers enjoyed paddling along the coast of Santa Fe, while the snorkelers saw sea lions, rays, colorful fish, and sea turtles. Then the afternoon shore walks took place, with a long hike towards the scorching hot highlands, where we found only death and desolation. The day was called a success after everybody returned alive…and we enjoyed another day in Paradise.
