Galapagos -- Day 2
Six am wake up call this morning, and by 6:45 we were to meet on the upper deck to get our snorkeling equipment. Then it’s off to the dining room for our breakfast. Today we are at Bartolome Island, and our first adventure is a 372 step climb to the top of a volcano. It was not a difficult climb, as someone was nice enough to build a wooden walkway all the way up. Lola did a wonderful job of explaining volcanology to us and pointing out all the lava tubes and ropes, fissures, fumaroles and vents. And there was a nice breeze to keep it from getting too hot. The view from the top was spectacular.
As we made our way back down, we saw a pod of dolphins off shore. We hurried back to our Panga to try to get out there to join them. Unfortunately, they were a lot faster than we were. But we did see a colony of penguins playing in the water and were able to get close to them. We finally made our way to the nice sandy beach where we would do our first snorkeling. The water was warm enough that most of us didn’t need a wetsuit and the water was clear. We snorkeled out and followed the rocky coast to the left, where Augie and I came upon a couple of playful sea lions. Just as they got tired of looking at us and zoomed off, a large group of penguins zoomed right at us. There were enormous schools of fish of all sizes and colors and they didn’t seem to mind at all if you just joined right in with them. At one point as I was traveling in the midst of one school, a pelican dove into the water right in front of me and scared me half out of the water.
Mary Ann was the only one to see a white tipped reef shark, and she and one other person saw a large octopus. There were lots of large starfish along the bottom, and many different colorful fish to see. Everyone had a great time. It was probably one of the best snorkeling sites I’ve ever been on.
We went back to the ship for lunch at around 11:00 pm. We had some time to rest after lunch, as we would not be going back out again until around 3:00 pm. I guess they want to keep us out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day. While we’re resting, the ship will be taking us to James Island.
On James Island, we had another snorkeling adventure. But this time, the water was a bit murky and a little rough. Mary Ann and I had a sea lion swim up to us and pass under us at the beginning of the dive, but we didn’t see anything as exciting as in the morning. But back on shore, we did watch a mother sea lion and her pup playing in the surf and on the sand.
After everyone got out of the water, we went on a three and a half kilometer hike along the coast, where we saw so many marine Iguanas that you had to be careful not to step on them. These Iguanas are some of the most obvious examples of evolution on these islands. They are the color of the lava that they climb on, their tails have become thin to make them better swimmers, and their claws have grown longer to help them climb out the sea onto the rocks. Some of them are the color of the red algae they eat.
We also saw more sea lions and some fur seals, pelicans, lava gulls, lava herons, and Galapagos doves. The coast line was covered with lava, which had been shaped by the sea. There were lava tubes and blow holes which made for a beautiful coast. By the time we got back to the ship, we were all ready for another nap.
At 7:00 pm, we were called down to another briefing about tomorrow’s schedule, then dinner at 8:00 pm.
Six am wake up call this morning, and by 6:45 we were to meet on the upper deck to get our snorkeling equipment. Then it’s off to the dining room for our breakfast. Today we are at Bartolome Island, and our first adventure is a 372 step climb to the top of a volcano. It was not a difficult climb, as someone was nice enough to build a wooden walkway all the way up. Lola did a wonderful job of explaining volcanology to us and pointing out all the lava tubes and ropes, fissures, fumaroles and vents. And there was a nice breeze to keep it from getting too hot. The view from the top was spectacular.
As we made our way back down, we saw a pod of dolphins off shore. We hurried back to our Panga to try to get out there to join them. Unfortunately, they were a lot faster than we were. But we did see a colony of penguins playing in the water and were able to get close to them. We finally made our way to the nice sandy beach where we would do our first snorkeling. The water was warm enough that most of us didn’t need a wetsuit and the water was clear. We snorkeled out and followed the rocky coast to the left, where Augie and I came upon a couple of playful sea lions. Just as they got tired of looking at us and zoomed off, a large group of penguins zoomed right at us. There were enormous schools of fish of all sizes and colors and they didn’t seem to mind at all if you just joined right in with them. At one point as I was traveling in the midst of one school, a pelican dove into the water right in front of me and scared me half out of the water.
Mary Ann was the only one to see a white tipped reef shark, and she and one other person saw a large octopus. There were lots of large starfish along the bottom, and many different colorful fish to see. Everyone had a great time. It was probably one of the best snorkeling sites I’ve ever been on.
We went back to the ship for lunch at around 11:00 pm. We had some time to rest after lunch, as we would not be going back out again until around 3:00 pm. I guess they want to keep us out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day. While we’re resting, the ship will be taking us to James Island.
On James Island, we had another snorkeling adventure. But this time, the water was a bit murky and a little rough. Mary Ann and I had a sea lion swim up to us and pass under us at the beginning of the dive, but we didn’t see anything as exciting as in the morning. But back on shore, we did watch a mother sea lion and her pup playing in the surf and on the sand.
After everyone got out of the water, we went on a three and a half kilometer hike along the coast, where we saw so many marine Iguanas that you had to be careful not to step on them. These Iguanas are some of the most obvious examples of evolution on these islands. They are the color of the lava that they climb on, their tails have become thin to make them better swimmers, and their claws have grown longer to help them climb out the sea onto the rocks. Some of them are the color of the red algae they eat.
We also saw more sea lions and some fur seals, pelicans, lava gulls, lava herons, and Galapagos doves. The coast line was covered with lava, which had been shaped by the sea. There were lava tubes and blow holes which made for a beautiful coast. By the time we got back to the ship, we were all ready for another nap.
At 7:00 pm, we were called down to another briefing about tomorrow’s schedule, then dinner at 8:00 pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment