A Beautiful Morning

 This morning I awoke to the most beautiful sunrise.  We had positioned overnight to the seahorse shaped island of Isabela .  This morning’s activities started with a zodiac tour of the coastline.  We were able to see blue footed boobies, swimming and lounging iguanas, sea lions (there are no seals in Galapagos ), flightless cormorants, and various other birds.  This was my favorite zodiac tour so far.




We had a few minutes to get changed before the snorkeling tour for the day.  All of the snorkeling going forward is from the boat but this really is an easy option. The wet suits keep you afloat as you drift along the coastline.  Immediately upon jumping into the water we saw our first sea turtle of the excursion. This would the first of many turtles was would see both swimming and relaxing.  The water was a little more brisk this morning but still nice enough to enjoy the water.  We again saw an ocean teaming with life.  There was a little more coral here.  We also saw a straight wall drop-off at the end of the trip.  This was even better than yesterday!



after lunch at the Grill (apparently the happening place of lunch), we attended a lecture giving us photography tips for the trip.  While I’m fairly well versed on camera skills, I always pick up some useful tips at these .

Our afternoon visit on Fernandina was a lava covered island that had the most iguanas I will ever see in my life.  They were laying around in large groups, some on top of the others, sunning themselves.  And this wasn’t just one group, the whole island had groups of them everywhere.  In the little inlets, sea lions and their young frolic in the water while some rested on the shore.  It was a slow paced adventure but one not to be missed.





















The afternoon lecture was on the influence of currents on the islands.  Since Galapagos is on the equator, they are affected by the three main ocean currents which explains both their weather on the wildlife on the islands.  This was followed by a preview of tomorrow’s activities and dinner in the main dining room.

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