Galápagos Islands – Day 7

We started the day with a hike at the Egas Port.    This used to be a salt mining operation.   We went looking for the Galapagos fur seal.  We found a family of fur seals, more sea lions, marine iguanas, and a hawk.  It was a nice walk.  We did not immediately return to the boat and snorkeled off the beach.

At that point, we had snorkeled many times, but this time was special.   We ended up swimming with 3 sea lions.    I bet that we were with them for 30 minutes.   One of them was big (probably a beach master).  They would swim around us, break up schools of fish and leap out of the water only to dive back in next to us.   We were snorkeling over a crevasse on the ocean floor.  The sea lions would swim into it, chase fish out, and then dart out towards us.   Others saw a shark, but I missed it.   I saw something that looked and moved like an octopus, but it did not have tentacles.

When we returned, Jimmy and Ivan made us a feast.  Marcos told us that it was in honor or Pachamama. Pachamama is basically mother nature.  It’s a word used in the Andes. The lunch was incredible.   There was a big piece of roasted pork, fish & octopus ceviche, mote pillo, and papas tortillas.  I appreciated it and actually made me a bit nostalgic for Ecuadorian’s cuisine.

After our final Galapagos based nap, the captain took Nemo III through Buccaneer’s Cove.   This area is replete with soaring rock formations and cliffs.  We parked the boat for some unstructured fun.  Holly and Spencer kayaked. Sam and I went swimming and then went to the jacuzzi.  Later we were told that a shark had been swimming near us while we were off swimming.

Next: Daphne Major and Baltra