For the first time on the trip I rose early enough to see the sunrise and was rewarded with a brilliant orange grey sky. Soon after we went onshore to San Cristobel to finally see Blue Footed Boobies. Some were already settled on egg filled nests while others rocked from foot to foot, doing a dance that would find them a partner.

Also on the hunt for a partner were the frigate birds, who puff up a bright red pouch to impress the females. We were so busy looking at the birds on either side of the track that we would sometimes almost step on a sea lion or iguana that lay across the path.

Here we also saw the land iguanas for the first time, all of the others had been marine iguanas. The land iguanas are bigger, fatter and don’t have the line of spikes along their back. We had breakfast later than usual and then motored back to Baltra.

There was a bus shelter where we got off the boat, but both of the large bench seats were occupied by sea lions. And they weren’t even catching the bus.

After a short bus ride we were back at the airport. The airport terminal is like a large shed with half height walls on two sides, this allows a steady cooling air flow through the building, giving relief from the hot equatorial sun.

The sound of someone gargling in a bucket has just filled the air, meaning we will be boarding soon. We return to Quito via Guayaquil. Read the rest of this entry »