Today we had our first official full day. We started our morning with some stretching sessions conducted by our wellness specialists Hilda. After we enjoyed a delicious breakfast, we went on land to visit North Seymour where we spotted the very popular blue footed boobies. These boobies are the most famous of the three different species of boobies that we have in the Galapagos. Their great blue coloration really gets people’s attention. At this time of the year we could spot a few couples doing the courtship display where the male is desperately showing his bright blue feet to get the female’s attention. Male frigatebirds with their inflated pouches were definitely a great thing to watch!
In addition, dozens of newborn baby sea lions were all over the intertidal zone playing around and waiting until their mothers came back from fishing. We got to see the amazing land iguanas and learn about all of their behaviors and adaptations to be able to survive to this hostile environment. Marine iguanas, finches, mockingbirds, and lava lizards were also part of our walk.
After we finished our morning walk we spotted dolphins close to land, so we called the Zodiacs, jumped in, and off we went to see them! We saw more than 60 bottlenose dolphins and two orcas! Our guests got amazing shots of these marine mammals, and of course, the experience was breathtaking.
In the afternoon during lunchtime, we had a short navigation to Rabida Island. Here our guests got ready for the water activities. A few groups went to the beach and the rest went deep water snorkeling with black tip sharks, Galapagos sharks, sea lions, blue-footed boobies plunging in the water and huge schools of fish!
We finished this great day with a stroll along the red beach of Rabida Island, watching the sunset. What a wonderful day we had!
