At sea: Santiago Island, Galapagos 4 February 2009

Santiago Island was another we visited twice and both times were different thanks to the tides. The first time round, the tide was out and herons and pelicans were on the lookout



and baby sea lions were playing in the pools. These two were impossibly cute!



There were cool lava bridges over pounding surf





and I enjoyed just sitting there watching the water zoom up under the bridges and pound the into the rock at the end.



There were weird rock formations


Photo: JP Parenty


Photo: JP Parenty

and you could barely tell reptile from rock (I didn't notice the iguana at the top of the photo until I'd taken it!).



We came across more fur seal pups than we could count. Well, I’m not entirely sure if they were fur seals or sea lions but there were fur seals on this island (but not on any other) and either which way, they were so cute it didn't matter.


Photo: JP Parenty




Photo: JP Parenty

The frigates always make great shapes when they fly – it’s a shame they’re such awful birds, killing other birds and scavenging food so other chicks (like blue footed booby chicks) die. Their feathers aren’t oily so they can’t get them wet and have to stay on the wing or on dry land. If they get in the sea they can’t get out and drown and apparently it happens often to the younger birds. The frigates are amazing fliers and we would watch them for 10 minutes or more and not even see them flap their wings once. They reminded us of albatross in that respect. They are incredible birds and their names (the ‘Magnificent Frigate’ and the ‘Great Frigate’) are fully deserved we think.



This iguana seemed to be just hanging on for dear life!



This pelican looked decidedly pigeon toed (a bit like Keanu Reeves Pippy?).



and I think this photo is just superb.


Photo: JP Parenty

The second time we were on the island (into our 2nd week on the boat) the tide was in so while the rock bridges weren’t as impressive, we noticed things closer to the beach than we had previously and I have to say, having Ben the geologist there helped. This rock floret is a good example



and, as the narrow crevices were filled with water (rather than it crashing through them), seals or sea lions tumbled and played under the bridges. This one just lay in the water clasping its fins together, completely lazy and not giving a damn.



The iguana emerge from the sea looking like they’ve completed a marathon and I guess in many ways they have. Seeing the surf pounding in and the black shapes of iguanas being tossed around like tin cans before they latch onto a rock and cling on for dear life shows how durable they are and what they have to go through to feed.



We played around a bit taking more photos and were pretty happy to be back again



We were nearing the end of our time on the boat but, to be honest, as we were on borrowed time we were grateful for every extra day we had on board. I can’t express in writing what a magical place this is.