Mon Feb 17th
I woke up early to catch the sunrise; very beautiful. It’s our last full day on the boat...we’re exhausted but bummed that it is all coming to an end. Boo hoo!!
After the sunrise, I saw a pair of flamingos flying by. Flamingos look gangly and slow when standing in the water but they when they fly they look quick and graceful.
Today was very water oriented. After breakfast, I made sure to apply a good layer of waterproof, reef-safe sunscreen. My first activity was kayaking (Dave decided to join others on a walk on Chinese Hat Island or Sombrero Chino). While kayaking I saw reef sharks, sea lions, herons, pelicans, and a penguin. We kayaked along an island made of black jagged volcanic rock and some sandy shores. Me and the gal in my kayak spotted a plastic bottle cap in the water and decided to do our part to Save The Earth and retrieve it. Well...in the process of retrieving it, we accidentally tipped over. It was quite a scene. I was able to pop back up into the kayak but the gal with me had to wait in the water while the panga with the attached ladder came up from the Beagle. And while we waited a few reef sharks swam around us!! It wasn’t scary as they were relatively small. Afterwards I jumped in the shower to rinse off the salt water, condition my hair, and re-apply sunscreen.
Next was snorkeling and we saw reef sharks, tons of colorful fish, sea cucumbers, and several rays including one MANTA RAY!! It was enormous!! It was 10+ feet across...no kidding!!! It was huge and reminded me of a gigantic super-slo-mo moth. And so graceful. We had just crawled back into the panga to head back from snorkeling when it was spotted so we all quickly threw our masks & flippers back on and caught up with it with so we could jump back into the water to get a better look. Wow wow!!! After this, I jumped in the shower to rinse off the salt water and condition my hair again. At least I didn't need to put on any sunscreen for a while (so I thought).
Later when we were just about to lift anchor and head out, someone spotted a pod of Common Dolphins in the distance. Some of them were jumping super high completely out of the water. Now everyone gets excited each time we see dolphins even the Walter the guide, captain, and crew. We watch from a distance. Walter then says “Do you guys wanna swim with the dolphins?” and we’re all like HELL YES!!! So we all scramble to pull our still-wet swimsuits from the clothes line, put them on, grab our gear, re-slather on some reef-safe-sunscreen, and jump on the panga a head to the pod!!! OMG <insert high pitched squeal here> it was super exciting! We were all whistling and clapping and talking to the dolphins. The dolphins swam alongside the panga as we were getting into the right spot and Walter told us exactly when to slip into the water to swim with Los Delfines!! It was fantastic! When we were in the water we could hear the dolphins communicating with each other with their high pitch calls. After they swam by, we got back into the panga, got back in the right position where the pod was headed to us, and jumped back in two more times. Even the cook from the crew joined our dolphin adventure. Wow wow wow! After that we jumped back into the shower and rinsed off and conditioned my hair again. I decided on principle I wouldn't put on any more sunscreen today though.
Before dinner Walter did a recap of all the islands and places we visited, animals we saw, and adventures we had. Everyone got a chance to share a highlight - I couldn’t even select just one! Was it the Galápagos Sharks circling around the Beagle? Or the Hammerheads? Or the frickin Sea Turtles coming up to the beach to lay their eggs? Or swimming with dolphins??? Soooo much happened on this trip it’s just mind blowing.
Appreciate List
-- Life Jackets
Appreciate List
-- Life Jackets
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