Today we had a very early wakeup call to start our amazing expedition, and we couldn’t be happier. First, we enjoyed a Zodiac ride along the coast of Bartolome Island looking for penguins. We had a very unusual encounter with a Galapagos sea lion feeding from a tuna on the rocks, literally tearing it apart. We were all very amazed and spent some time just watching him eat his very fresh breakfast! A white tip reef shark was around as well, trying to get the leftovers that were dripping into the sea. A Sally Lightfoot crab was also nearby, ready to get its portion of the meal. Penguins were swimming by during the feeding session, too.
At 7:00 am we started our walk up to Bartolome’s viewpoint, where we all took great photos of the morning landscape from the top of the island. Back onboard, we had breakfast and prepared for the rest of the morning. Beginning snorkelers went to the beach to learn and refresh their skills, while the deep-water snorkelers were lucky enough to swim with different species of fish, sharks, penguins, marble sting rays, sea turtles, and more. It was already an amazing day, and we still had the afternoon!
In the afternoon we had more great activities; the Global Explorers introduction, photography tips from our photo instructor, and after these, a visit to Dragon Hill on Santa Cruz Island. We started with a Zodiac ride around the Mangrove Ecosystem where we spotted baby black tip and white tip sharks, spotted eagle rays, blue-footed boobies and brown pelicans. We ended this fabulous day walking around the arid zone of this island where we encountered marine iguanas, Galapagos land iguanas, shore birds and the best sight of the day – three American flamingoes flying overhead while we were watching the sunset.
