We woke up to a radiant day in the “Enchanted Islands.” After breakfast early in the morning we set off to North Seymour, a flat, small island that lies north of Baltra. This is one of the highlights of the Galapagos, as it is full of marine birds. Here they find suitable nesting areas safe from predators and an abundance of food in the surrounding seas. One of the most striking resident sea birds of the Galapagos is found here: the ever charismatic blue-footed booby. We found a small colony of them in the early stages of a new breeding season, so we could observe many of them practicing their famous “booby-dance” and showing off their beautiful blue feet to one another. Two out of five species of frigatebirds occur in the islands, called the magnificent and the great. Frigates have the largest wingspan-to-weight ratio of all birds, and today we could observe many of them with their gular pouches inflated in order to attract females of their own species. Other bird species that inhabit North Seymour are the swallow-tailed gulls, brown noddies and brown pelicans. The shore was covered by Galapagos sea lions, and it was particularly delightful to watch several pups playing in the tidal pools.
Our ship weighed anchor towards midday and we navigated north to Rabida Island. It is small but very attractive due to its reddish lavas and sand, and it is covered by vegetation typical of the dry zone. In the early afternoon our guests had the option of a glass-bottom boat outing or snorkeling along the coast of Rabida. The underwater world was superb today, with large schools of striped salemas, razor surgeonfish, sardines, as well as other creatures like marine iguanas feeding under water, Pacific green sea turtles and white-tipped reef sharks. There was also an abundance of marine invertebrates, amongst which we spotted the red spiny lobster, chief rock snails, barnacles, chocolate chip and Panamic cushion sea stars. In the latter part of the afternoon we prepared for a wet landing on the red sand of Rabida Beach. We followed a trail to a viewpoint to observe the sun set behind the volcanoes of distant Isabela Island. The land birds were still scouting for food, lava lizards fought with each other over territorial boundaries, Galapagos sea lion pups played in the shallow waters… Everything looked so serene in this corner of the world, and we are very fortunate to be able to feel and witness the magic of the “Enchanted Islands.”
