Wednesday 21 March 2012
As previously arranged, I met up outside the tour operator for 9:30 am, having had breakfast and made sure that I had plenty of water, being forewarned by Ramona and Dan that Isla de la Plata is very hot and that there may not be sufficient water provided for everyone.

We made our way to the beach where there were many male and female frigate birds wheeling and diving over the many fishing boats present due it being market day. The frigate birds usually nest on the Isla de la Plata. Ramona and Dan had told me that they had seen the birds stealing the fish from under the fishermen's noses and I could see how that could happen. There were also some other birds which seem to be scavengers (?) and looked like a secretary bird (from their walk) with vulture-like characteristics.

There was a fisherman there who had caught sharks and was busy cutting off their fins for shark fin soup for sale to Peruvians and Japanese, according to our guide. Being aware that there is supposed to be some campaign to prevent/reduce the killing of sharks purely for their fins, for shark fin soup, I asked if the rest of the shark was used or discarded and she said that they are used for ceviche.

We didn't set off, however, until 10:30 am, as there was a Ministerio del Ambiente inspection of the boat and we didn't know when it would be finished so we waited it out in the shade.

We eventually made it onto the boat for the hour-long trip to the island. Along the way we saw two turtles and stopped to photograph the second. It was swimming on the surface and its shell was covered in thick moss. The guys hauled it onto the boat and then scraped off the moss as well as barnacle-like parasites off its shell and underside. It even had a couple of small crabs living in the crevices nears its legs. After its cleaning, it was then thrown back overboard, where it immediately dived and we didn't see it again.

We disembarked at the Isla de la Plata, and the guide showed us the various walks available and we followed her on probably the shortest one (we had a family with two little girls, plus it was very hot: we arrived in the heat of the day: 12:30 pm). We followed the guide and saw a mocking bird, a tropical bird, a red chested bird, as well as the famous blue-footed boobies for which the island is known. We also saw a giant moth (the guide said it was a small hummingbird, but my blown-up pictures makes it look like a moth, not a bird) feeding on the nectar of some morning glory flowers (not all moths are nocturnal, either, confusingly, from what Alexandra at La Hesperia has said).

Dinner I spent in company with Leo, having bumped into him at the restaurant recommended for seafood. I ended up joining him at his table with his companions. It was very multicultural, everyone being of a different nationality: Leo (French Canadian), Alessandro (Italian, staying in Ecuador for a year to learn Spanish and take a break), a Portuguese fishing captain (who offered to take Alessandro on a 15 day fishing trip), a Swiss guy and a very drunk Bill (American?).

I had an enjoyable time although I had to ignore the very drunken Bill wandering in every now and then and upsetting Alessandro with his remarks about getting his (Bill{s) drink and cigarettes confused with his own (finished!) ones. I eventually left, though, when I started getting extravagant compliments (yeah, pull the other one) from the Portuguese and half/serious propositions for a night-time companion...