North Seymour/Baltra

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We had to wake up quite early this morning so we could have a tour of North Seymour before the group got dropped off at the airport. We took the dinghy to shore right in time to chill out and watch the sunrise. The island was quite lively, because unlike the other islands it was mating season for the blue footed boobies. It was amazing to watch them prance around showing off their blue feet in a creative dance to attract a mate. The frigate birds were perched in the trees with their bright red beck bubbles puffed out to catch a hot female´s attention.

We headed back to the boat for a quick cruise to Baltra so the others could catch their flights. The airport in Baltra is one of three airports on the Galapagos Islands, and easily the busiest of these. It was built by Americans in World War 2 (with the permission of Ecuador) to better attack their opponents. This is why it is located such a far distance from the hub city of Puerto Ayora.

I spent the next few hours bouncing from place to place on the boat, trying my best to stay out of the crew’s way while they cleaned and prepared for the new group.

Finally the dingy boat arrived with the new passengers right in time for lunch. It was again a good mix of people, with my favourite being 2 young children travelling with mom, dad, and grandma. My new roommate was a fellow Canadian named Joanne who was also spending 4 months travelling Ecuador. With so much in common we hit it off right away! She is origionally from Nova Scotia, but used to work in Algonquin Park... and she knows EXACTLY where Combermere is!!! This is the first time I have ever met someone while travelling who knows where humble little Combermere is.

That afternoon we took the dingy boat to a beach called Playa Bachas to relax and swim. We hiked to some lagoons and were able to see flamingos. Do you know why flamingos are such a distinct pink colour? If you can imagine it is simply because their diets are so rich in carotenoid proteins.

That night our new guide (who was very energetic) got a few of us up dancing salsa and meringue. When you havn´t grown up listening to this type of music it is very hard to get a rhythm going!!

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