At 8am, we headed on to the panga and off to Punta Moreno to do a walk on lava.
The landing was slidy and rocky again, but there were loads of boobies to meet us, some crash landing on top of some very surprised friends. The lava was obviously tough on their feet as well, as there was a lot of dancing from one foot to the other, and it was not mating season!
The landscape was surreal – hundreds of metres of sharp rock left behind by volcanic eruptions, with pockets that had turned into tidepools teeming with life, grass, iguanas, pelicans and flamingos. amazing how things can live in what looks completely barren.
It was a very rough walk, no flat bits at all, with crevasses and fissures, some very deep and treacherous. And all the time Wolf Volcano towered in the background.
About halfway round we got to sit and relax (as much as you can on very sharp lava) and watch the flamingos,
and SS decided to become the new model for Timberland:
I can't say I achieved quite the same modelling status, but I blame the excess of camera equipment:
The posted pathways as always were very helpful - lots of directing people straight at crevasses, and then putting helpful stop signs where there is a convenient pathway!
Back on the panga, and a short boat ride
followed around the mangroves where we saw rays, cormorants, pelicans and a turtle. Between the mangroves and the boat were lots of boobies and pelicans fishing in the water with shoals of fish jumping around.
Only 45minutes before snorkelling, and even though I was not keen I am such a joiner that I went anyway. Was very glad I did. The water was the coldest yet. I sat so long on the edge of the boat that Alex said he would throw me in if I didn’t get off – everyone else had already jumped in and started squealing in horror. But once in it warmed up a bit, and then the turtles started appearing. Loads of tortoises. Kathy was snorkelling as well, and as she is not a confident swimmer, wore a lifevest as well as the wetsuit. This meant the easiest way for her to get around was to be towed, mainly by Dorothy. But we managed to get her in to see the turtles, as there was really no shortage of them around that day.
Only 45minutes before snorkelling, and even though I was not keen I am such a joiner that I went anyway. Was very glad I did. The water was the coldest yet. I sat so long on the edge of the boat that Alex said he would throw me in if I didn’t get off – everyone else had already jumped in and started squealing in horror. But once in it warmed up a bit, and then the turtles started appearing. Loads of tortoises. Kathy was snorkelling as well, and as she is not a confident swimmer, wore a lifevest as well as the wetsuit. This meant the easiest way for her to get around was to be towed, mainly by Dorothy. But we managed to get her in to see the turtles, as there was really no shortage of them around that day.
There was quite a lot of seaweed in the water, which was pretty but not so nice when it ended up wrapped around your neck unexpectedly...
Then more fish, diving cormorants, and to top it off – a couple of penguins swimming around!
Back to the boat, showered and hung out my wet things and then lunch was ready – very busy day.
Lunch was Ecuadorian themed, and WAY too much food. There was ceviche to start with with popcorn (sourpuss took one sip, said UGH and then ate half the bowl of popcorn). Then the mains were many dishes, including rice, roast pork, chicken in garlic, potato and cheese cakes with peanut sauce, an eggy dish, lentils, salad, and fried plantain which was delicious. We were all stuffed, and relieved to see that dessert was just chopped fruit – I picked out the pineapple and grapes and left the watermelon, papaya and cantaloupe – ugh.
The boat set off again, this time for Elizabeth Bay. We went to sit in the deckchairs to get some sun and read our book – I ended up burning my legs as it was hot but windy so I did not realise how strong the sun was. It was lovely sitting in the sun, with the frigate birds swooping around (no whales unfortunately tho).
We got to Elizabeth Bay at about 4pm, where we had a panga ride around the mangroves. To make more space, we took our usual hard dinghy, and the zodiac with 7 people on each. SS and I volunteered to be the “split-up” couple, and he went on the zodiac.
I got to go on the "hard" dinghy, which was much nicer for the entire trip as it had back support. I did start to look at all the other boats who used zodiacs all the time, and I did feel a bit sorry for them.
First we went around the reef off Elizabeth Bay which was lovely, seeing cormorants,
penguins,
boobies
and pelicans
all sitting on the same rock. The pelicans were dive bombing the sea all around us fishing which was fantastic also. They are definitely my favourite birds in the Galapagos. Huge wingspan that is spiky like a bat’s. They were getting towards the end of their day as well, and settling into the trees to roost and get some rest.
Frigate birds are funny to watch also – they steal fish from other birds, and their 8 foot wingspan cannot get wet – if they get waterlogged they are trapped and cannot take off again unlike the boobies and pelicans, so they rely on low swoops over the water and snatching fish out of the mouths of other birds.
The penguins went for a dip as well, to do some fishing.
Once we entered the mangroves, most of the movement was by oars to keep quiet.
We saw turtles, sea lions, but best of all, a huge “herd” of golden rays with white undersides –
they really did look like handkerchiefs billowing in the water. Absolutely beautiful. We stayed out until sunset and then the two boats raced back to the ship (unsurprisingly the zodiac won!).
A welcome sight on deck when we alighted was the chef with hot fried donuts (churros) and mugs of hot chocolate. I had 4 churros! Porker...
We got changed, and very soon dinner was called. The thought of more food, and constantly being on a timetable was starting to annoy SS – we pfaffed and so we were last to dinner and had to rearrange the settings to be seated on the same table. His little bit of rebellion :-) . Dinner was beef stroganoff, French fries (about 5 were left by the time we got to the buffet since the Americans and Canadians had got in first!), white asparagus and carrots and broccoli. Apple pie to follow (which we skipped).
After dinner we had some talks for a change, down in the library. Alex did one on hot spot theory and the formation of the islands through tectonic plate movement. Then another on the geology and the effect of the currents on the climate. Both very interesting – I would have liked more talks actually.
He finished at 9:40pm (late for us!) so I took my sunburnt body to bed and went to sleep.
We got changed, and very soon dinner was called. The thought of more food, and constantly being on a timetable was starting to annoy SS – we pfaffed and so we were last to dinner and had to rearrange the settings to be seated on the same table. His little bit of rebellion :-) . Dinner was beef stroganoff, French fries (about 5 were left by the time we got to the buffet since the Americans and Canadians had got in first!), white asparagus and carrots and broccoli. Apple pie to follow (which we skipped).
After dinner we had some talks for a change, down in the library. Alex did one on hot spot theory and the formation of the islands through tectonic plate movement. Then another on the geology and the effect of the currents on the climate. Both very interesting – I would have liked more talks actually.
He finished at 9:40pm (late for us!) so I took my sunburnt body to bed and went to sleep.
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