Nov 17


We are starting the day with a hike and snorkel at Saint James (Santiago) Island. Most Islands have several names, thanks to all the different explorers who arrived way back when. The visibility was a bit better today and we saw tons of big turtles, rays and some fish. Twice, a sea lion swam right underneath me and flipped over to check me out, but she didn't stick around to play. Sea lions seem are my new favourite animals!


We also saw tons of sea lions warming up on the rocks on our hike. We saw baby ones playing and even one who seemed to be less than a month old. The young ones play in the tide pools while the adults go fish. If a baby sea lion approaches the wrong mama, it can be pretty nasty. Apparently adoption is not popular in the sea lion population!


The afternoon was spent hiking and snorkeling on Rabida Island. The beach was full of beautiful red sand, different from the black sand beach of this morning. The colour of the sand has to do with how the volcano erupted, and what minerals are in it. There were sea lions but we didn't really want to swim with them since there were males. They don't like you to be in their territory, and I don't think I would win a fight with a 400 pound bull!


Hard to believe that this is the last full day in the Galapagos. It has been a wonder filled week indeed. The crew will get decked out in their uniforms for a farewell cocktail, then we leave early tomorrow morning. It is going to be very hard to not snorkel everyday now...