Today is our last full day! The National Geographic Islander dropped anchor early in the morning. We first went ashore to visit Punta Pitt, the most Southeastern site of Galapagos. Due to its location facing open seas, this place has a large colony of red-footed boobies. They feed far out in the sea and return home to Punta Pitt to tell fish stories to each other. After an easy wet landing on an inorganic beach that seemed to be made out of emeralds and getting into walking shoes, the hike began. We climbed a long, steep, narrow creek, trekking almost 300 feet. Once on top, the walk became easier. This place is dry and the plants that grow here are small, yet beautiful, adding touches of red and purple to this jagged landscape. Along the way we found marine iguanas and nests where some eggs had been laid. We also found some red-footed boobies on their nests, sitting on their eggs! It was a hot day, so most of us went in the water after the walk and a male sea lion decided to join the group. Fun!
During the afternoon the ship moved farther west to Kicker rock, our last snorkel site of the week. This tuff cone is in the midst of deep waters and holds a beautiful shape, which is the origin of a number of legends and its name in Spanish, Leon Dormido, the “sleeping lion”. Here we snorkeled among the sea lions in very deep water. We saw spotted eagle rays, invertebrates of many colors and shapes, very large fish hiding in small crevices, some schools of sharks, and some turtles, it was awesome!
The last great sunset was our farewell in paradise…
