Diving in the Galapagos!

---

Wow, so many sharks! Lidia and I were safely united in Baltra, and then we made the journey to Porta Ayora where we are staying for two nights. Even the wildlife in the town is awesome. There are sea lions, giant iguanas and pelicans all along the coast. We watched one pelican as it sought food in a hotel pool, while an iguana and sea lion lounged nearby. Then we went and watched the sea lions and pelicans waiting for scraps from the fisherman cleaning their fish at the dock! The sea lions were precious, they looked like dogs standing up at the counter with their little flippers on the counter! It was also cool to see how the pelicans "throat" hang down and see the food sitting there, while it waits to see if it can get more, and then when prospects dim, it tilts its head back and swallows the food.

Today we took a diving trip to two spots just north of the island. The first was Mosquera along the coast of North Seymour. The currents were very strong and it was the most difficult dive I have done. I was constantly tossed around and felt like my bouyancy changed with each wave, but it was well worth it. We spent a lot of time clinging to rocks and checking out eels and white and black tipped reef sharks. There was a white tip reef shark sleeping in a cave, then we came upòn 30 or 4o reef sharks 3-5 feet long!! They were playing below the surf and we held on to the rocks and watched them. They were passing on either side of us and it was very awesome, though maybe not as scary as I had imagined, possibly because they were not huge. The second dive was Gordons´Rocks, nicknamed "the washing machine." However, conditions were not as crazy as they often are. We were lucky enough to see one hammerhead, but unfortunately not a school of them. We did however see a huge school of snapper, which was cool. There were also a couple types of rays, sea turtles and lots of fish. The water was a little murky, but it was a great experience, until I fed the fish on the boat ride back 😞 It is going to be hard to find good sites after the Galapagos, Red Sea and Great Barrier Reef, I am VERY spoiled!

Tomorrow morning we are off to meet up with the Nemo II for a week! Can´t wait, though I will be taking Dramamine!

---

Photos

Sea Lion
Sea lion waits patiently for fish from the fishermen in Puerto Ayora!

Sea lion 2
The patience pays off, he gets his treat!

Comments

[Amanda]

sounds like fun
Glad you are having a good time. I had a mini heart attack today when I saw the news as they were having landslides by Machu Picchu. thank goodness you went there first or you might have missed. Stay safe and see you soon!!! Amanda