Sullivan Bay, Santiago and Rabida, Saturday 5 November

Photo by Lulu

I was still expecting the GoPro to be my main camera. I will announce when I have added the good stuff to this page. Fortunately Lulu got lots of footage.

The Galapagos trip ended up being a saga rather than a post. For links to the whole trip please go to the first Galapagos post.

Sullivan Bay and Santiago Island and Rabida Island, Saturday

Santiago is about as bleak as a hunk of rock can be. But still exhilarating. Here we started to see sea lions. And where we started snorkeling.

Rabida Island

Kay posted these photos

Rabida island is red. That is because the lava here has a high iron content. Iron turns red when it gets rusty.

Here we saw flamingos in a brine lake. You can see them in Kay's photos. Lulu told us about how the changing water levels and salinity made it possible, then impossible, then possible for these to be here.

Here is also where the GoPro started to get funky. I will write more on Rabida as I am able to access what ever media I am able to salvage.

I love the moon photo she managed to get.

You might have noticed the phrase "Wet Landing". This means the panga backs into where the water is about 8" deep. The driver sits inside, and the guide or other crew member stands in the water where we maneuver ourselves over the inflated side of the boat. This is not graceful. The side is a 20" inflated tube, damp or wet. I am not sure how the same piece of plastic can be both sticking to the skin and slippery at the same time.

As the boat is bobbing one jumps off into moving water that is trying to knock one down. I usually end up clinging to the guy standing in the water while he is trying to get the other passengers off. I managed to never once fall splash into the water, but never with grace.

This was not on Rabida Island.
But this story is about Sea Lions.

Here I had one of those weird adventures I seem to be prone to. One that I had to be told I had. The group split, one to go on a hike up the hill, and those that wanted to walk on the beach or do a bit of snorkeling. I chose snorkeling, of course. I had my usual guide fish. I swam along the cliff which is where most of the fishies hang out.

When I got to the shore Lulu and the other walkers were saying that it was so amazing, and did I see it? See what? It seems that there was a sea lion pacing me having a good look at what was going on.

And I never saw it.

That night we went north, crossing the Equator, and down the west side of Isabela island. The wind and the tide gave us a bit of a rough ride, but not too bad.

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