Hood Island
This is a wonderful time of the year in Galapagos. There is plenty of animal activity all over the islands. We began our day with an interesting -- really, an outstanding, morning! We hiked along a trail and found basking sea lions, and bright red marine iguanas warming up under a little bit of sun. As we walked through the dry coastal vegetation we had a funny experience. We observed a Hood racer (the endemic snake) trying to catch a lava lizard and being pestered by Darwin finches which jumped around the snake. They were so persistent that the snake was distracted and the lizard got away from the predator.
We had a delightful walk along the cliffs and watched as huge and extremely impressive waves broke on the shore. We were dampened and refreshed by the spray produced by those waves.
It was wonderful to find several waved albatross chicks waiting for their parents to come and feed them. These little ones will be ready to take off between December and January and they will head for the rich ocean realm off the coast of Peru. For an albatross, due to their large body weight, taking off is a difficult matter. This species becomes airborne by jumping off the cliffs of Hood Island.
The Nazca boobies were very active this morning as well; we found them preening their feathers or resting on rocks that are white because of the layer of guano. The afternoon was spent as one pleased: either snorkeling in deep water or from the beach, strolling, photographing, playing with sea lions, or building sand structures. The sand structures will wash away with the waves, but we all had a great time and the memories and joy of this day will last forever.
This is a wonderful time of the year in Galapagos. There is plenty of animal activity all over the islands. We began our day with an interesting -- really, an outstanding, morning! We hiked along a trail and found basking sea lions, and bright red marine iguanas warming up under a little bit of sun. As we walked through the dry coastal vegetation we had a funny experience. We observed a Hood racer (the endemic snake) trying to catch a lava lizard and being pestered by Darwin finches which jumped around the snake. They were so persistent that the snake was distracted and the lizard got away from the predator.
We had a delightful walk along the cliffs and watched as huge and extremely impressive waves broke on the shore. We were dampened and refreshed by the spray produced by those waves.
It was wonderful to find several waved albatross chicks waiting for their parents to come and feed them. These little ones will be ready to take off between December and January and they will head for the rich ocean realm off the coast of Peru. For an albatross, due to their large body weight, taking off is a difficult matter. This species becomes airborne by jumping off the cliffs of Hood Island.
The Nazca boobies were very active this morning as well; we found them preening their feathers or resting on rocks that are white because of the layer of guano. The afternoon was spent as one pleased: either snorkeling in deep water or from the beach, strolling, photographing, playing with sea lions, or building sand structures. The sand structures will wash away with the waves, but we all had a great time and the memories and joy of this day will last forever.
