Galapagos 2018 Day Four - Isabela Island





Today we headed off to look at Mangrove swamps from a zodiac boat.  This was quite a bit different from what we had been doing on the other islands because we were in the boat, but not really on the sea.  It was calm (thankfully for me as I am prone to sea sickness). 










Not the best photo but the only one that actually caught
a penguin instead of just a wake


The plan was to see penguins, and we did see them. Unfortunately all the penguins I saw were swimming, and these little fellas are amazingly fast.  Every once in a while they would pop up for a quick breath and even that was quick.  So – it was terrific from an observers point of view but somewhat lousy from a photographers point of view.







As well we saw more sea turtles from the boat, which also gave a neat perspective. 

Oh – and a sea lion sitting in a tree

 (yup!)

If you look really, really hard you can see a sea lion sitting in this tree.


Sea Turtles from above the water





















Later was yet another snorkel – this one specifically aimed at stronger swimmers, which luckily I am.  Again, fish everywhere.  We also came across a very playful sea lion, likely a young one, who would shoot towards us and veer off at the last second.  Slightly heart stopping.  Also got a look at one last penguin (the last I would see) perched on a rock.  No luck in getting a shot from the water – just too much movement.  Only managed this pelican.





As I mentioned the boat for our journey was a mid sized one, with room for 48 passengers (I think it was almost, but not quite, full).  The rooms could be made up as either 2 single beds or one large one.  They were very nice, comfortable with plenty of storage which was nice.  We also had a lovely large window which was a real blessing.  The boat itself also had a library just a few doors down from us which was a wonderful place to hang out in the middle of the night if you cannot sleep.  Oddly we seemed to be the only users of this space.  Not sure why.  The bar area was at the back of the ship and always busy (😊)






There were also two indoor lounge areas (one large one where meetings were held), and a deck on the top of the ship which held loungers and a hot tub.  I did not try the hot tub, but the loungers were quite lovely.  A young fellow (Canadian) was trying hard to run his business from up there.  I think he learned that no matter how available internet is all over the world it does not work so well in the middle of the Pacific ocean.

Both my friend and I experienced some level of seasickness, but nothing debilitating.  Those patches that you put behind your ears worked just fine, but it turns out that you are not supposed to drink alcohol if you are using them.  

Well, we are on vacation after all……  I did my best but then also got stung by a bee (on the boat oddly enough, bad luck) and got a reaction.  

So – since you also cannot take antihistamines when on the patch, that provided the excuse I needed to ditch the patch in favour of ginger Gravol which did the trick with no restrictions .

(Yay !!)



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