Floreana Island
Oh my, oh my, oh my. Despite overcast skies leading us to believe the day would be gloomy, by the time all had returned on board from Post Office Bay, had breakfast, changed anchorage, and lowered Zodiacs, the sun was brighter and the clouds had dissipated.
Champion lived up to its name once more. Despite choppy conditions on entering the water, visibility was excellent and the schools of tropical fish floated below us by the hundreds. We drifted along the coast at a steady pace, and soon enough came to the neighborhood of Champion’s young sea lions. Or rather they found us. As they seemingly delighted in our presence in their realm, so did we delight in theirs. Brown sleek bellies flashed by, whiskers and muzzles in a glimpse registered, eyes tracked us as they careened by. Streams of bubbles issued from their noses, possibly laughter.
Then suddenly I heard my name called again and again, urgently demanding my attention. One of our Zodiac drivers, Horacio, had spotted a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins around the corner of our very-same islet of Champion! There was a mass clambering aboard of the Zodiacs, and as soon as possible we sped over, and sure enough, they were there! Perhaps several dozen and amazingly enough, weren’t jaunting off quickly, but holding put in one place. Needless to say, with a few words of reassurance to all, we jumped right in. What hit us first, however, were the whistles and squeaks of such intensity that I knew they had to be close. And they were, just there, and over there, wait, right here!
After the dolphins left we sped back to spend time once more with the sea lions, and found a twig to be the coveted toy of the moment. A tug-of-war ensued between the pups, and at times we were even allowed a tug or two ourselves.
Lunch was followed by a sail over to Enderby Islet where we found a feeding frenzy of all three species of boobies found in Galápagos. For the first time ever in my twenty years of experience in the islands, I saw a small grouping of four individuals sitting on the water, of which two were blue-footed boobies, one red-footed booby, and one Nazca booby!
Devil’s Crown provided another opportunity in the afternoon to snorkel the blue waters as kayakers paddled the low lava islets off the coast of northern Floreana. We all walked the cinder path of Punta Cormorant where brilliant salmon pink flamingos rested or fed in the lagoon.
It was a full day which will require quite a bit of thought and time for absorption before we can fully understand what we were privileged to see, hear and feel today.
By the way, the entire complement of guests and crew celebrated the win of Ecuador’s soccer team in the World Cup play-offs against Poland, two to zero!
Oh my, oh my, oh my. Despite overcast skies leading us to believe the day would be gloomy, by the time all had returned on board from Post Office Bay, had breakfast, changed anchorage, and lowered Zodiacs, the sun was brighter and the clouds had dissipated.
Champion lived up to its name once more. Despite choppy conditions on entering the water, visibility was excellent and the schools of tropical fish floated below us by the hundreds. We drifted along the coast at a steady pace, and soon enough came to the neighborhood of Champion’s young sea lions. Or rather they found us. As they seemingly delighted in our presence in their realm, so did we delight in theirs. Brown sleek bellies flashed by, whiskers and muzzles in a glimpse registered, eyes tracked us as they careened by. Streams of bubbles issued from their noses, possibly laughter.
Then suddenly I heard my name called again and again, urgently demanding my attention. One of our Zodiac drivers, Horacio, had spotted a pod of bottle-nosed dolphins around the corner of our very-same islet of Champion! There was a mass clambering aboard of the Zodiacs, and as soon as possible we sped over, and sure enough, they were there! Perhaps several dozen and amazingly enough, weren’t jaunting off quickly, but holding put in one place. Needless to say, with a few words of reassurance to all, we jumped right in. What hit us first, however, were the whistles and squeaks of such intensity that I knew they had to be close. And they were, just there, and over there, wait, right here!
After the dolphins left we sped back to spend time once more with the sea lions, and found a twig to be the coveted toy of the moment. A tug-of-war ensued between the pups, and at times we were even allowed a tug or two ourselves.
Lunch was followed by a sail over to Enderby Islet where we found a feeding frenzy of all three species of boobies found in Galápagos. For the first time ever in my twenty years of experience in the islands, I saw a small grouping of four individuals sitting on the water, of which two were blue-footed boobies, one red-footed booby, and one Nazca booby!
Devil’s Crown provided another opportunity in the afternoon to snorkel the blue waters as kayakers paddled the low lava islets off the coast of northern Floreana. We all walked the cinder path of Punta Cormorant where brilliant salmon pink flamingos rested or fed in the lagoon.
It was a full day which will require quite a bit of thought and time for absorption before we can fully understand what we were privileged to see, hear and feel today.
By the way, the entire complement of guests and crew celebrated the win of Ecuador’s soccer team in the World Cup play-offs against Poland, two to zero!
