We began our day with an optional early wakeup call to explore Espumilla for photography. During this calm outing, we saw diving blue-footed boobies, brown pelicans, and the nesting site of Pacific green sea turtles. Our iPhones were very useful to capture photos of the wonderful wildlife. We continued our walk over a mile-long sandy beach. We observed many ghost crabs feeding on plankton.
Back onboard for breakfast, our captain repositioned the ship to our next visitor site, Buccaneer’s Cove.
Later in the morning, we enjoyed a unique snorkeling. We also kayaked and went paddleboarding. Our glass-bottom boat was deployed, and we were lucky to see many varieties of fish.
This is a geologically surreal place. The rock formations are impressive, and the world famous Praying Monk captured our attention.
We enjoyed a well-deserved lunch and a talk on Charles Darwin by our naturalist, Bernardo.
Soon after, we visited Puerto Egas. We had an adventurous wet landing on a black sandy beach, where we enjoyed the beach to ourselves. We walked along the shore and intertidal pools of Santiago, and we observed marine iguanas, sea lions, shorebirds, and Galapagos fur seals. At high tide and under a new moon, the site became an impressive combination of landscape, waves, breezes, and unique wildlife.
After cocktail hour and a fun recap, a barbeque dinner followed.
Our expedition has reached its peak, and we have a wonderful feeling of coexistence and respect for one another, like a family.
