North Seymour Island

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Geo: -0.401009, -90.282

We cruised up here yesterday afternoon, past Baltra Island where the airport and bulk refuelling facility are located. Diesel for tourist boats is not subsidised and costs $2.80 per US gallon. On mainland Ecuador fuel is subsidised and diesel costs $1/gal.

The main viewing this morning was nesting frigate birds, blue-footed boobies and land iguanas. We had an earlier start because we needed to meet our allocated refuelling time window at 11am.

Feedback forms were handed out today, with a recommended tipping schedule of $25-30 per person per day for the crew, plus $8-10 pppd for the guide. At the top of the scale that would be US $480 per couple for the cruise. I don't think so. The ship is nicely appointed but the service was not up to my expectations. The opposite to our Kimberley cruise, really. Service on the Anakonda was also excellent.

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Photos

Male frigate
The males make a nest (sort of) and then display beside it to attract a female. If a male feels surpassed by a nearby competitor, he will try to puncture his rival's bag with his beak. If he's successful, the rival will have to wait till next year for his bag to repair itself. The main breeding time is Mar/Apr when the landscape is filled with nesting birds.

Call that a nest?
The frigate bird nests are a very precarious collection of twigs on low bushes. After a while the structure becomes more stable as the birds' guano tends to bind the twigs together.

Land iguana
The North Seymour iguanas are a little larger than the ones we have seen so far. Lowies, if you plan to visit here Carol's dislike of lizards may be mollified by the fact that they move verrry slowly.

Frigates on the wing
The birds were back again today. Not quite as close as before but in greater numbers. Apparently they like the air turbulence when the wind hits the ship, and so they glide around.