Day 2 started really really early – a 6 am hike to see wildlife. Yup – 6 am, before breakfast for a hike around North Seymour Island. We had sailed through the night and were in Seymour when we woke up, and after a fair bit of b****ing and complaining about the early hour, it was really great to be out before the heat of the day. And really great to see the frigate birds with their red chins blow them up into the size of beach balls to impress the females that cruised overhead.   Again zillions of iguanas were just coming out of their holes to warm their bodies in the sun.   It was our first real look at the hundreds of sea lions and seals that line every shore. Surreal their numbers and how all of the wildlife showed absolutely no fear to us. The magic of the Galapagos is that these animals have no predators so they reproduce and thrive and evolve in these harsh conditions without fear of anything. So odd to see the many skeletons of dead animals, birds that died of siblingcide – one sibling killing another because parents only can raise one chick – some of these chicks are massive – seems everything here is supersized. Also skeletal remains of sea lions and seals and iguanas – no hawks or ravens or wolfs of vultures to clean up corpses, so the perfect little CSI Galapagos scenes are everywhere showing the insides of what we could see in quantities, outside. Cool – really cool.   And let me tell you that was the only cool thing around. It is hot here – really really hot – even by 7 am.   On the equator the sun is directly over us and it is the hot and rainy season in the Galapagos. The hottest time of the year, the wettest, and weirdly, also the sunniest. On some of the islands it does not rain for months – most of the terrain is volcanic, dry and arid – gigantic cactuses, iguanas, lizards and the succulent plants wait for these couple of months of rain to store the moisture to keep them going for the rest of the year.



We came back to the boat for lunch and as we ate we sailed on to Bartolome Island. It is this island that many of the photos of the Galapagos are taken – spectacular panoramic beauty of Sullivan Bay, towered over by the Pinnacle Rock. Here we had our first taste of snorkelling in crystal clear waters. So warm and beautiful. Not colourful coral wise but the beauty of the abundance of fish and the incredible visibility of the water made for a really special time.


Our group are mostly really keen snorkelers and that makes it even more fun as we could search for different fish and share our finds.  We were snorkelling with sea lions. Seals, rays – both Mantas and Sting Rays, giant turtles – it was everything and much much more than I girl could ask for. Shangri-la of diversity underwater. It is the most amazing experience to be on a private island with 14 friends, snorkelling in the most beautiful water and having a sea lion come up to you and roll his body under and over yours. At first it was terrifying, then it became absolutely exhilerating - a lifetime thrill. Each one has such a distict personality - they love to play with each other and are so curious. The little guys are hilarious - always looking for their moms. The moms have to leave their babies to go and fish and the kids stay on the beach and scream. Then they try and find their moms by approaching every single other mom, only to be barked at and away they continue. I could spend hours on the beach just watching the antics of these huge groups - always some drama going on, in and out of the water.

After this amazing afternoon snorkelling we came back to the boat, and I entertained myself by jumping off the back of the boat - staying close because pretty big sharks like to hang around the boat.


After that - a quick bite and then back into the Panga (zodiac) to head back to a different part of the island for a climb up a few hundred steps to a point overlooking the island. The weather was spectacular - cool in the early morning, smoking hot for snorkelling and just perfect for a sunset hike. Full day, but ohhhh so incredible.

Sorry - no bird names - they just became Frigates, blue Footed Boobies and all others.....lots and lots of huge birds.