4 Mar 2016
Last day in the Galapagos! 🙁
But we’ll make it a good one- today, we’ll be taking this boat:
Up north a bit to Mosquera and Seymour Islands (this is looking back as Santa Cruz):
we actually dove off the coast here a couple days ago
and today we’ll get to take this panga ashore!
Sea lions sleeping on buoys:
So many birds!
Our first stop was at Mosquerea Island, where we learned about the various sea lions of the Galapagos:
Mark and our guide, David, running back to move our stuff when the waves started coming up the beach:
Maintaining proper distance:
Naps on the beach:
He looks so peaceful!
Mom and pup:
Vertebrae:
Shell on the beach:
Wilson’s plover:
more plovers!
They’re rather photogenic:
Looking up:
and down the coast:
Sea lions playing in the waves:
Look at that little face:
and one sunning himself to warm back up:
So adorable!
Panga load coming back to the boat:
We cruised over to our next island:
hopped back on the panga:
and landed at this rocky area of Seymour Island:
Love this cactus!
Galapagos land iguana:
he’s got some serious claws!
There are a lot of birds on this part of the island:
Magnificent frigatebird, hunting:
Magnificent frigatebird, cleaning:
Just a bird flying over our group:
A male frigate bird bringing a branch back to help build the nest:
Juvenile frigatebirds:
Baby frigatebird:
They’ll lose their cute fluffiness as they get older:
Going from fuzzy baby:
to older juvenile:
They’re heads will turn black when they become adults:
Look at the wingspan on this guy!
Males have a red sac on their neck:
They can inflate it:
and hope to attract a mate:
Female frigatebird:
So many nests!
Farewell, frigatebird:
Hello, boobies!
A blue-footed booby!
I like when birds act derpy:
Marine iguana watching the crashing waves:
That cannot be a comfortable place to sleep!
This guy found some shade:
Spent some more time exploring the nests:
Mom and baby:
Derpy Magnificent frigatebird:
Great frigatebird:
The remains of a sea lion 🙁
Crashing waves:
Found another seal sunning himself:
I don’t imagine being craning back that far can be comfortable:
But he seems so peaceful:
Farewell, Seymour Island:
Back to the boat:
and back to port:
One of the barges here unloaded all these mattresses:
Waiting for our turn to cross the channel:
Found another finch:
and a crab:
Back in town, I finally got a picture with this tortoise statue we walked past every day:
After one last dinner, we turned in for the night:
Tomorrow, we begin the long trek home. Until next time, Galapagos!