Upon until today, we had been spending all of our time on the island of Santa Cruz, but today we took a boat ride to some nearby islands!
The boat we took was just big enough for all our tour group, and we staked out some great spots on the bow. It was a bit cloudy and chilly, but a perfect place for sight seeing. First our boat went to la Isla Dapne Mayor where which looked like a huge mountain rock rising from the see and you couldn’t get onto the island, but it we boated around it, seeing tons of sea lions, crabs, and of course, birds of all types!
Let's keep a look-out for pirates!
Then we boated over to some nearby rocks that were good for snorkeling by. Luis Alberto informed us that the water was 16 degrees Celcius, but we figured that it wasn’t everyday you could snorkel in the Galapagos, so freezing our butts off would be worth it. So about eight of us from our group hopped into a small dingy and we puttered out to the rocks. After some moaning about how cold the water would be, we sucked it up and jumped in!
Looks like a quality snorkeling rock - just don't touch the rocks!
Though the water was chilly, Lake Michigan has broken me in, so it wasn’t too bad. Still, it was a bit wavy and I had a hard time getting my breathing rhythm down and I couldn’t see too much because the water was dark. Still, I got to see some fish! I guess those are good things to see in an ocean. Better than, say, antelope.
It's not easy to look cool in snorkeling gear, but I'd say we pull it off
After some snorkeling around, we climbed back in the dingy and puttered back to the main boat where we dried off as the boat headed onto the next island, where we got to do some more snorkeling off the shore!
There the water was a bit clearer, and as I was snorkeling, I thought that another snorkeler was by me, but when I turned, there was a huge sea lion playing next to me! I tried to stay still and just watch, but he didn’t seem to mind my presence. I could have probably reached out and touched it, but I didn’t really want to get kicked off the Islands.
After a while, we headed back to la Isla Santa Cruz. Once back on the big island, we drove to Rancho Permiso, where there are tons of giant tortoises in the wild. They didn’t look very wild to me since they walked at, well, the pace of a tortoise. It was incredible just how big they were! I probably could have easily fit into one of their shells. Well, except there was already a tortoise in it.
Hey buddy, I think that shell fits you just right
After making friends with the tortoises, we went to some more lava tubes, which were slightly more difficult to go through since you had to crawl in some places. Still, compared with the bat caves of the jungle, it was nothing!
I gotta remember, don't stand up, don't stand up
Later I got to got for a run to Tortuga Bay, where runners have to sign in at the main entrance before entering the path. I had to be off the path by 6 pm so I just made it to the beach in back before the Island FBI patrol came to get me. Well, maybe just someone would have told be I had to hurry back, but I didn’t want to risk breaking rules when they already limit the number of tourists in the Galapagos.
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