Today was the second day of voyage and first full day of activities around the Galapagos Islands, and during the morning we visited an island called North Seymour.
This is an island that was uplifted due to severe magmatic pressure under the crust. The island itself is therefore very flat, with some areas full of sand produced by all the coral that deteriorated. Seymour is also located in the middle of the archipelago, which makes it a must-stop for sea birds like boobies and frigatebirds. We landed on this place, and our guests were overwhelmed by the amount of animals found on Seymour; male frigatebirds displaying to attract females, blue footed boobies courting and parenting their young offspring, land iguanas eating cacti and avoiding the equatorial sun and sea lions walking around and taking care of their pups.
The visit was very successful and everyone got to understand that the reason that so many people love to come to Galapagos is the proximity to such tame animals.
Later in the day we navigated to a different island called Rabida.
This island was formed by a very explosive eruption that happened thousands of years ago, in which there was a high concentration of iron. After being ejected into the air by the volcano and exposed to the elements of erosion and time, this caused the island to take on a red coloration. In fact, the entire beach where we landed is red.
During the afternoon, we started with the first deep water snorkeling of the week. Here we found baby sea lions playing in front of our faces, sharks, sea turtles and colorful fish. Later we enjoyed a short walk along the beach to find some more sea lions; moms nursing their pups and resting before they go out to fish again.
The day provided many new experiences for our guests, and more joy added to their lives.
