Early today we arrived at North Seymour Island in the center of the archipelago and right after breakfast we went ashore to explore the island. At the landing place, we were greeted by colorful Sally Lightfoot crabs and observed by a few Galapagos sea lions resting on lava rocks. The more we walked into the island the more wildlife we encountered. We saw magnificent frigatebirds with their bright red pouches fully inflated, while great frigatebirds juveniles waited patiently for their parents to return with food.
Along the path, we also spotted blue-footed boobies and their chicks in white coats of downy feathers. These birds seem to be thriving on the island and several were observed feeding along the coast. We also came across Galapagos marine iguanas and land iguanas, including a number of bright yellow males fighting over territory.
As we left North Seymour, we navigated toward Rábida Island, where guests could ride in a glass-bottom boat and snorkel in deep water or from the shore. In the water, we swam among sea lions, fur seals and green sea turtles. Some guests were followed by a persistent trio of juvenile brown pelicans. These pelicans swam among us and even tried to take away our flippers away before finally escorting us all the way back to our Zodiac.
After a fun snorkeling outing, we returned to the ship to get ready for our walk along the coast of Rábida. Here, we visited a colony of Galapagos sea lions and marine iguana enjoying the last warm rays of light. Our first day ended with a gorgeous sunset that we all enjoyed while being ashore.
