Today we took a boat over to North Seymour, and viewed the variety of wildlife unique to the Galapagos. It was amazing because all the animals were right in front of us, unafraid of humans, lazing the day away. Although we had to stay 6 feet away from the animals, and on the path, the animals could approach us. It felt really special to be the only group of people on the island, surrounded by animals, and the water. There is actually a limit to the number of people that can visit the islands per year, which is noticable. I have visited numerous national parks and felt that my experience was dimished by the hordes of visitors. To feel completely isolated on such historic islands was such an amazing feeling. I saw blue-footed boobies performing their characteristic mating dance, land and marine iguanas, sea lions, Magnificent and Great Frigatebirds.
Male frigatebirds have a gular sac that inflates like a giant red balloon during their mating period to attract females. Plus, while walking the trail, a humongous land iguana walked practically right over my feet!
In the afternoon, we returned to Santa Cruz and visited Las Grietas. It was a slightly rocky hike to Las Grietas, a swimming area in the middle of a rocky gorge. Unfortunately, by the end of the day I had severe burns on my shoulders. Even with my frequent application of sunscreen, I had missed a some spots, and considering the strength of the sun in the Galapagos, by the end of the day my shoulders were bright red. This turned out to be very painful a few days later.
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