Day 5: June 24, 2007 Baquerizo Moreno to Seymour

  Seymour North, Ecuador
Sunday, June 24, 2007

Day 5: June 24, 2007 Baquerizo Moreno to Santa Fe to Seymour North

I got up at 6:30, dressed, and met Barbara for breakfast in the Comedor. I told her about the events of the previous evening. She was disappointed to have missed it but glad that we would soon be rejoined with the group.

Barquerizo Morena Rainbow

Barquerizo Morena Harbor

Edwin García, our guide arrived at 7:30 and took us to the dock where our group was ferried ashore, in pangas, Zodiac-like rafts, from the Spondylus, our yacht. We walked to the nearby interpretation center and learned about the interesting human history of the archipelago since its discovery in 1535. From there, we walked downtown. Barquerizo Morena is the capital of the Galápagos.

Edwin and the Sea Lion

Galápagos Islands Map

Barquerizo Morena

Todd and I sent some emails and then bought T-shirts and a Sunday morning beer. Then we went to the hotel to pick up Barbara's and my luggage.

The pangas took us out to the Spondylus and we were soon on our way to Isla Santa Fe. The sea was a little rough but not like yesterday. I got my sea legs back by the time we got to Santa Fe. We anchored in a sheltered bay on the northeast side of the island.

Isla Santa Fe

After an excellent lunch in a protected bay, we donned our wetsuits and snorkel gear and did a one hour swim along the shoreline. I saw a stingray and two 2 m white-tipped sharks at close range. I swam through a school of hundreds of surgeon fish with bright yellow tails. I told Todd about them and he went off to find them, eventually coming across six of them. They are passive creatures and do not seem to mind the incursions of snorkelers. At the end of the dive, three young sea lions joined us, approaching within 6" of my face. It was very cool! Next, we took a short hike along the north shore of the island and back to the bay where we were anchored. We saw several land iguanas along the trail. The beach was littered with loafing sea lions.

Santa Fe Cacti

Santa Fe Land Iguana

Santa Fe Sea Lions

The Spondylus at Santa Fe

Back on board, I got out of my wet swimsuit and the group met for the daily debriefing and posting of tomorrow's plan. Then we had a great dinner and everyone settled in to talking, playing cards, and drinking beer. All the while, the boat was sailing north over calm seas, to the channel between Seymour North and Baltra.