Galapagos Islands - Days 7 & 8

South Plaza

On our last full day we were at South Plaza on a mooring buoy when we had our 0730 wakeup.  At 0900 we had a dry landing and walk, seeing a cactus forest, land iguanas, red billed tropic birds, swallow tail gulls and a bachelor sea lion colony.  Returning to the landing site we saw several large bull sharks cruising along the shore looking for stray sea lions to feed on.

Cactus Foreston South Plaza

Swallowtail Gulls on South Plaza

Red Billed Tropicbird

Swallowtail Gull

Bull Shark cruising next to shore and sea lion

More cactus forest on South Plaza

North Seymour Island

Heading back north to North Seymour Island we tied off to a mooring buoy and headed into shore for a dry landing to look for the Magnificent and Great Frigate Birds, which nest on this island.  The Frigate Birds mate all year long and we were able to see the inflated neck pouches of the male birds.  We also saw more Boobies and Iguanas.  By the time we returned to the landing site, the wind and chop came up as we were leaving, making the return to the boat exciting.  Since the buoy was on a lee shore, the captain elected to leave and find some calm water for the farewell dinner.  We finally anchored near Baltra.  At 2100 we were underway once again, this time in heavy seas all the way back to Wreck Bay on San Cristobal Island where we anchored at 0600.

Male Frigate Bird

Putting on a show for the females

Baby Frigate Bird

Booby Chick

Juvenile Frigate Bird

Another Blue Footed Booby

Female Frigate Bird with chick

Final Morning in Galapagos Islands

Disembarkation took place at 0800, followed by a visit to the Galapagos Interpretive center, a walk around the town, and then the few blocks to the airport for the flight on Aerogal back to Quito.  We covered 385 nautical miles during the trip, landing on four major islands and several minor islands.  The only major wildlife we missed on the Southern Itinerary was the Flightless Cormorant, which is only found on the Northern Itinerary.  Due to a change in park regulations, we were also not allowed to land on Isabela Island and see the crater at the Negra volcano, but not a great loss compared to our own Mt. St. Helens.  The wildlife is heavily oriented to birds and reptiles, along with the sea lions, and the islands are more arid than we ever imagined.

Our suitcases heading for shore

Sea Lions on the main street on San Cristobal

We had an uneventful flight back to Quito and were met at the airport by the travel company, which took us back to the Patio Andaluz Hotel in the historic district.