We had
booked a day trip on a boat to North Seymour Island to see the Frigate Birds &
Blue Footed Boobies and hopefully their babies. Our hotel had taken care of the
booking even before we arrived.
So on the
Monday morning of our trip we got up very early, packed our bathing suits, sun
screen, hats ( no towels necessary) and headed down to have the earliest
breakfast possible at our hotel- 6:30AM. We met the rest of our entourage on
the hotel water taxi dock at 7:45AM to wait for our boat. The tour was to last
until approximately 3:30PM and consisted of 20 people, Canadians, Americans,
Brazilians and one Australian and two bilingual tour guides.
The water
taxi took all of us to the town dock where we boarded a bus to take us to the
North Island marina. It was explained that if we took the boat from where we
were, it would waste several hours and a 45 minute bus ride would give us more
time to view the animals. Ok, no problema!
At the North
marina, a rubber dinghy took 10 of us at a time to our waiting boat.
The dinghy
coming back for the rest of us
The boat had
a glassed in middle deck, a partially open upper where we had great views and
bathrooms and change rooms below. There was coffee and water for self-service.
The trip from the north part of Baltra to North Seymour Island took
approximately one hour.
We could
also sit on the very front and enjoy the sunshine.
North
Seymour Island is totally uninhabited except for the birds and animals that use
it for breeding and nesting. It is very flat with scrub brush and walking paths
with volcanic rocks- most parts easily navigable.
The dinghy
again took ten of us with one guide to the island. It was a little tricky
getting off the dinghy as the waves were high and the rocks, though flat, were
wet. The guides were great in helping us older folks- LOL- get our footing.
Then off we
went in groups of ten with each guide. The guides were extremely knowledgeable
about the wild life there and explained everything we saw in great detail as
well as keeping us on the proper paths. We were told not to go any closer to
any animal than 4-5 feet- still very close- and none of the animals we saw were
the least bit frightened of us. To be exact, they all basically ignored our
presence.
First we saw
several nesting areas of breeding frigate birds. Did you know that frigate birds
raise their young for the entire first year of their life, even after they
learn to fly.
Frigate bird
babies
The father
bird looks after their one baby while mom hunts/steals fish
The many
bachelors still looking for mates puff out their red sacks and drum on them
using their peaks to attract a single female
No shyness
here in mating
Frigate
birds are the most aerodynamically designed birds with the biggest wing span
compared to body size and weight. Though widely known for stealing fish from
other hunting birds and fishermen, they are actually designed to catch flying
fish, their main source of food. Look how much I learned from our guide!
How close we
came to the nesting colonies.
Next we saw
many Blue Footed Boobies. Though part of the sea gull family, these birds have
the most interesting mating ritual.
First the
male holds his peak and tail towards the sky
Then he
raises one foot then the other
Then he
raises both wings while uttering a strange cry.
They will do
this over and over again to attract interested single females. They do not mate
for life and as soon as their one baby is raised, both sexes are ready to seek
new partners.
A male doing
his dance for an interested female
A mother
bird with a brand new baby
An older
baby
And of
course we saw more iguanas. These are land iguanas which are much more colorful
than their sea cousins.
This old guy
was busy digging a huge hole right in our walking path
Last but
definitely not least, we came to a group of momma sea lions. There were at
least a group of 5-7 females with cubs of varying ages.
And a very
proud papa who was none too pleased to see us taking all our hundreds of pictures.
The entire
walk around the island took approximately one hour and only one boat load of
people (20 in our case plus 2 guides) was allowed on at any one time.
When we got
back to the boat it was time for lunch. A hot buffet lunch was served on the
middle deck- chicken, veggies, salad, bread, fruit, cake, juice, pop and
cerveza for those of us interested. There were tables and seats for exactly the
20 paying passengers.
Then we were
off to a deserted beach back on the north side Isla Santa Cruz. After another
pleasant sunny boat ride leaving North Seymour, we changed into our bathing
suits and those of us interested in snorkeling received fins and masks. The
dinghy again took us into shore but this time we had to jump off the front into
maybe a foot of water- no big deal.
Our group
heading to shore- reminded me of one of my favorite shows ‘Lost’
An
absolutely gorgeous beach
No house, no
hotels, just us
Uwe and I
both did some snorkeling but due to the waves stirring up the sand near the
rocks where the fish hung out, we didn’t see much. We mostly walked along the
beach and swam .
And of
course saw more sea iguanas
And the
delightful Sally Lighfoot Crabs
All too soon
our trip was over and the bus took us back to town. Was it worth the $$ spent,
yes, but we wished we had taken at least one more day boat trip. We didn’t get
to swim with the sea lions or see the penguins.
There is nothing cheap about visiting the Galapagos. However you can do it much cheaper than we did as there are, of course, much less expensive hotels and cheaper boat cruises but we felt we chose well and had an awesome time. Of course, there is always next
time because after all, we live here in Ecuador!
