Well, this was easily one of the highlights of the entire trip. One of Alex’s most anticipated animal sightings were the Galapagos’ penguins, but we thought that wasn’t going to happen. We had heard from other travelers that a penguin had been seen on the rocks while they were on their boat. In the middle of our third snorkel someone screamed and pointed at the water. Then another. Penguins. All around us. Swimming amongst us in singles, pairs, and large groups. They would float on the surface and dart around the water, almost too fast to see. I realized if I watched the school of fish for sudden direction changes, a penguin might be on the way. This is the best picture I could get, but there are lots of clear videos I’ll post later. Then, of course, there were the sea lions. “But Michael, you’ve piled sea lion photo upon sea lion photo on us already,” you say? First of all, this is free, and why are you talking to yourself? Secondly, this time was different. I was swimming back to shore from the large, empty, deep, scary lagoon (where the eagle rays were spotted). Realizing that a) I was alone, and b) you know, maybe shouldn’t be, I forced myself back. As I stopped for a moment to catch my bearings, an enormous sea lion swam right next to me. It stopped, turned its head at me, and then swam right past me. It was within arm’s length (although I didn’t dare touch it). Trip around the world: warranted.
After getting past the crowded part of the marina where the boats were anchored, we came to a narrow point where the current coming from the lagoon was, shall we say, strong? It was sort of like I was swimming for my life…because I was? I was paddling as hard as possible and using both arms, which was not easy given the oversize underwater camera case. There were moments when I’d look down at the seafloor and notice I was actually moving backwards while swimming forwards. Oy. Well, it ended up being worth it just to spot these rays, which I would later learn are rough eagle rays. I was the only person to see them.
This was the longest and most dynamic of the three snorkel trips. We took a car back to the marina we had arrived at two days prior. There we donned our wetsuits and snorkel gear and waded into the marina. We swam by boats and anchors, and as you can see there were starfish, sea cucumbers, and LOTS of urchins (the green things). So, so much uni. The only negative part was when the current got super strong, but we weren’t supposed to stand up for balance because we’d crush the sea urchins. I’m not gonna lie…I sacrificed a few.
Leading up to the trip we were super excited about hiking the world’s second largest volcano. Early on the trip we were warned by other travelers that if people in your group don’t want to go to the volcano, you might not be able to. Well as we got closer to that day, we heard more and more dire warnings. “It’s muddy and uphill for hours.” “We’re not really supposed to dissuade the guests, but…none of the guides thinks this is a worthwhile activity.” “If there are any clouds, which there usually are, you can’t see anything.” So on and so forth. Instead, we slummed it on the beach (see previous post) and enjoyed ourselves this totally random [and free] lunch on an organic farm. We were dropped off by a pickup truck and collected again by it. The hotel staff wouldn’t let us ride in the back of the truck, but on the way back the driver smiled and gestured for LB and AO to jump in the back. Truck selfie! Oh, and that’s a chicken feeding a mouse to her children. I was like, “I just ate your grandfather!” Like the farm owner, the chickens  didn’t speak English.
Here’s where the middle toe met its fate, but it was worth it. The photos come close to describing the beauty, but not quite. Just to reiterate: this was steps from our resort in Isabela. It was practically empty almost the entire time. There were marine iguanas, fish, and all sorts of birds everywhere. In the mangrove I found this bird fishing. Just, amazing.
“More tortoises,” you say? Well here’s a whole f-ing lot more of them. Of particular interest on this, my final tortoise center excursion were the volcano-injured tortoises missing legs and an actual baby giant tortoise. That baby’s name? DONATELLO.
Playita is tucked away in the national park section of Isabela not far from our hotel. As you can see it was full of marine iguanas. We probably saw the largest reptiles at this beach. Our guide thought a few were probably several decades old. Marine iguanas are the only modern lizards that hang out in the ocean, and they are found in the Galapagos only. They dive into the water to eat algae, and during the day they return to the rocks to absorb heat. It seems like at Playita they can do both at the same time, and indeed we did see some of them eating. This algae was even more vivid in person. Oh, and several aged cacti were found here.
Lady Boy Time 