Galapagos (Day 2)

Breakfast was at 7:30 and by 8:30 we were ready to hit our first island of the day: Rabida. On the bright red beach was where we saw our first blue footed boobie. There were also many sea lions and marine iguanas sun bathing.

Then we got to snorkel for the first time off of red beach. The water was pretty cold. But once you got over the initial shock, the water was pretty nice. We didn't see much. It was pretty boring with only a few tropical fish here and there.

We came back to the boat around 11AM and were greeted with cold iced tea and little sausage snacks. I can really get use to this!

After lunch we did some napping on the sun deck. Our second island of the day came around 2:30. Santiago island use to be inhabited by humans for the salt business. But the business went dry when it got competitive. The people left. There were a few abandon houses. When we walked around to the coast of the island we found a sea lion mother with her cub that couldn't have been more than a day old. The cub cried and struggled to find her mom's nipples to feed. We all watched in fascination for at least 30 minutes.

Little did we know 30 meters away there were a nursery of 5 cubs. Mother sea lions often leave their cubs for a week to hunt for food. So during that time cubs have to stay back on shore and wait for mom to back to feed them. There is usually a male sea lion that is keeping a watchful eye on them and make sure they don't go to sea and get eaten by sharks.

We came across more sea lions and even a dead one (the guide thinks he died of old age since it was a quite a large one).

Snorkeling again off of black beach on Santiago island. This time we saw a bit more creatures including orange looking koi-like fish and a big sea turtle.

We came back to the boat. Yes, more yummy snacks and cold drinks. The crew also turned on the "hot tub". Actually the water was just sea water and was heat up a bit the sun. But we still loved it and I asked myself again: why didn't we do the 8 day option?

The day sets as we watch the chef setting our dessert crepe on fire with at least 3 kinds of alcohol and topped off with a scoop of chocolate ice cream.

The day sets as we watch the chef setting our dessert crepe on fire with at least 3 kinds of alcohol and topped off with a scoop of chocolate ice cream.

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