After breakfast we snorkeled among playful young sea lions or, if you chose to stay dry, took a cruise in the glass bottom boat around Champion Island. As we had bird enthusiasts on board we made a dedicated effort to find the rare Floreana mocking bird and were wonderfully successful! We found twelve of these uncommon birds and got extremely close looks at them. Because cats were introduced to Floreana sometime in the 1800's the population of these mocking birds is greatly reduced and they can only be found on off shore islets such as Champion.
Lunch today was a glorious affair (and we were hungry too, after the morning's many and varied outings). The galley, who prepared many local delicacies (ceviche, roast suckling pig, "llapingacho" potato cakes with peanut sauce, etc.) and the hotel staff (wearing Panama hats - which have ALWAYS been made in Ecuador!) are pictured here alongside our traditional Ecuadorian buffet spread. A short siesta was in order after this delicious feast!
In the afternoon we attended a slide show and lecture about the geology of Galapagos and then took a hike over the volcanic terrain we had just learned about. In a shallow lagoon behind a greenish beach (where olivine crystals in the sand account for the unusual color) we found flamingoes! Lots of brilliantly colored flamingoes - we counted 43 of them. Another exquisite day in these magical islands!
