Sharks, Sea Lions & Sangria

Sunset sea lion and her baby

After twelve days of non-stop activity, I finally rebelled against the 6:15 am kayaking session. The sensible, ok lazy, option was surely the 8:00 am Zodiac excursion. After all, both activities explored the same area, Buccaneer Cove of Santiago Island. Breakfast first, adventure later.

The morning began with a Nazca booby sighting, the largest and arguably most theatrical of the three Galápagos booby species. These birds are infamous for their ruthless streak with chicks often engaging in siblicide, pushing a sibling from the nest to ensure their own survival. Nature doesn’t do participation awards here.

No morning in the Galápagos would be complete without another round of snorkeling, and today’s brought a high-stakes game of chicken with sea lions. They torpedoed past with fearless precision, whirling and twisting playfully. I had to trust in both their agility and my own luck that we wouldn’t collide. Beneath us, a white-tip reef shark and a Galápagos shark cruised lazily through a kaleidoscope of reef fish. We surfaced to find warm chocolate chip cookies and freshly squeezed passionfruit juice waiting on deck. Going back to the real world was going to be tough!

Watching the 0615 kayakers return

Jason, naturalist, on the right. Washington, my favourite zodiac driver, sailor and local fisherman by family trade

I'm Australian I don't touch no jellyfish

The zodiacs hugged the coast to look at geology as well as look for animals

Apparently those little things were ghost crabs

One of the main reasons to come here

The Nazca booby!

Starfish

2 female frigate birds fighting in the air

Whatever this coffee flavoured dessert was, it was an amazing way to end lunch

Lunch followed and...miracle of miracles, an afternoon nap! Bliss was short-lived, though. Mal shook me awake at 3:00 p.m. for our hike on Puerto Egas, where we were greeted by a flurry of birdlife: American oystercatchers, Galápagos doves, Darwin’s finches, yellow warblers, mockingbirds, great blue herons, and yellow-crowned night herons. October marks the end of sea lion pupping season, so the shoreline was a nursery of adorable, noisy chaos - pups of all ages lounging, nursing, and playing.

It is worth taking a moment to highlight the staff and the efforts they go to to educate us. Jason, one of many amazing naturalists who was also the undersea specialist and photographers, had put together a video of all the creatures we had seen on our snorkels. No recycled footage from previous expeditions. Wow, our Gopro footage looked even worse than we previously thought. It also made us wonder how much we were NOT seeing!

It’s worth pausing to appreciate the incredible staff who somehow manage to educate, entertain, and wrangle a boatful of guests with effortless charm. Jason, one of the ship’s many brilliant naturalists — and the resident undersea specialist and photographer — had compiled a video montage of everything we’d encountered on our snorkels. Every frame was from our expedition, not recycled clips from past trips. All filmed whilst supervising guests and without diving. The result was equal parts awe-inspiring and humbling. His footage was so crisp and cinematic that it made our poor GoPro attempts look like they’d been filmed through a sock. It also left us wondering, with a mix of admiration and mild despair , just how much incredible life we’d been swimming past (or walking past for that matter) without even noticing.

Dinner that night was a BBQ feast on the observation deck that turned out far classier than expected. I may have indulged in one too many sangrias...The evening wrapped up with a talk by Rubén, another one of the naturalists onboard, on The Human History of the Galápagos. Fascinating, though I confess I absorbed about as much as a sea sponge at low tide. Another crash-and-burn ending to another unforgettable day.

Day13: Lazy morning, lively sea lions, and just enough sangria to make lectures optional.

This sleepy one greeted on our arrival at the beach

Different island, different microclimate

Galapagos dove. Bright red feet, bright blue ring around the eyes

Yellow crowned night heron hiding amongst the rocks

American oyster catchers. Super talkative and loud!!

My favourite bird, yellow warbler. Tiny but bright!

Pups private plunge pool

This older pup was yelling for mum to get food

Sally Lightfoot crabs everywhere

Great blue heron

Mum protecting her weeks old pup

Posing in the sunset

New friends. All the plus ones!

Alpha male with his harem of females and pups

Still sleeping when we left!

This strong concoction was the beginning of my downfall

Resorting to capturing photos from Jason's video because our gopro footage sucked!

Eagle ray. The one thing that we DIDN'T see today was the manta ray and this was their place apparently

BBQ on the top deck for dinner