Galapagos, Seymour Island

Day 8 Sunday October 10

Up really early this morning for a 6:00 landing to see the nesting frigate birds on Seymour Island. Saw several males with their red throats inflated for display. Saw both kinds of frigates and their chicks.

Then back to the boat for breakfast, final pack, pay bar tab and tips. We were all boarded on the zodiacs and shuttled to the airport by bus. Very efficient except, now we have a two hour wait at the airport.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Galapagos. The boat and the crew of the Pelikano were terrific, very helpful and friendly. The other tourists were all great, like minded people, nature lovers, out to see the world and what it has to offer. The islands are beautiful, rugged and stark. The volcanic features of the islands are very interesting. The vegetation is sparse and quite different. The cactus trees and the reds and greens of the ground cover is beautiful. The animals are amazing, great variety and they have no fear of people. They are quite content to have us around and taking photos of them up close. The snorkelling was terrific. Although the water was a bit chilly, where else can you swim with marine iguanas, sealions, turtles and sharks! Plus there were lots of typical tropical fish to watch as well.

I only have two wishes, one which is really more of a surprise. I was surprised that the weather wasn’t warmer, given that we were at the equator, but the cold Hummbolt current, which comes from the deep south Pacific, moderates the temperatures this time of year. The temperature was okay, but it was cool and windy most of the time. The other comment, is also a surprise I guess, in that, the colonies of birds we saw were much smaller than I expected. I thought that there would be thousands of birds nesting together. Maybe that is somewhere else on the islands. However, I am very pleased with what I saw. Certainly glad that the unrest in Ecuador didn’t interfere with this trip, and given the chance, I’d love to come back again in a different season to see how different things might be.