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Our morning was filled with another trip to Cafe Hernan followed by some bathing suit shopping, flight change and a visit to the bank so we could pay the rest of the cruise. And again I had way more cash in hand than I really wanted, but being in the Galapagos with it is not so bad. As we waited in line at the bank tour operators were walking in and depositing thousands and thousands of dollards (all in $20 bills) and others were withdrawing the same. Watching the bank tellers count out $5,000 in $20´s for one woman was so bizarre, especially when she turned, walked out the door and strolled down the street as if it were nothing. There is just so much money moving through the Galapagos and walking down the street with a few grand in your pocket is no big deal. Quite a change from the rest of our trip where we try to be cautious with even one $20 bill.
With all the logistical stuff taken care of we took off for Tortuga Bay in the afternoon, a common spot you can visit by yourself without a guide. Somewhere around 90% the Galapagos is
off limits unless you have a certified guide accompanying you. We signed in with a park ranger and walked about 40 minutes to the beach. On the walk we saw tons of small lizards on the path and a catepillar. We enjoyed the volcanic environment, especially the large cactus that grew like trees.
We arrived at the beach and what a beach it was! Endless white sand, clear crashing waves, turquoise water as far as the eye could see. Sarah said it is the most beautiful beach she had ever seen. It topped the Darwin Research Center beach. Swimming was not allowed so we slowly strolled north towards the bay. On the walk somebody in another group ahead was pointing in the water and it did not take long before we figured out she was pointing out small sharks hunting in the shallow water. Incredible. They were about 1.5 feet long, so were of no threat to us, just the tiny fish they were hunting. We waded in to the water (especially me since Sarah was not convinced they were harmless), and tried to get some pictures. They were swimming in one foot or less of water and following
Shark at my feet
Looks much bigger than it really is from this closethe crashing waves and smaller fish in to the beach. It was as if the sharks were body surfing in the small waves. We were able to get some photos of the sharks after a bit and Sarah only ran screaming from the water once, when two had gotten close behind and surprised her. The sharks did not pay us much attention though they were probably unhappy that the little fish they were trying to catch were scared away by our shadows. I could have stayed the rest of the day, it was such a cool experience, but there was more to explore so we walked further up the beach.
A little ways up we came across a small pool where a baby sea lion was playing in the water. The sea lion was just having a grand old time darting around. He swum right up to us in order to check us out and then went back to playing. Perhaps he was chasing some fish?
Leaving the sea lion, we rounded the corner of mangroves and were startled by a huge black marine iguanas laying on the beach. We walked really close to the prehistoric looking monster
and he didn´t flinch. Just ahead there were dozens of the iguanas laying together under the shade of a tree.
We followed the short path that headed inland towards the bay where there about 20 people relaxing on the beach and swimming in the water. We went for a swim. The bay was quite large. The water warm, shallow and a bit murky with a slimey bottom in places. Only far off in the distance could we see the waves at the entrance to the bay. We had heard the snorkeling here was good but it must be closer to the wave break because we did not see anything.
On the walk back we tried to look for the sharks again, but the park ranger said the beach closed at 6 so we needed to keep going. The walk was really nice. At about 6:00 or so the sun sets and everything cools off. During the day the heat can be a bit much but the temperature at dusk is really nice.
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Barb
non-member comment
Beautiful! Awesome!