Galápagos Day 2, Part 2: snorkeling begins, and Rábida Island

After breakfast, we had our snorkeling safety briefing, then got all our equipment -- wetsuits, masks, fins, bags -- and then headed out for our first snorkeling session. We were anchored still off Bartolomé Island, and we would Zodiac in to the beach. Folks could stay and explore the beach, or walk into the water and snorkel. As it turns out, this would be our only beach snorkel of the week. 

  Figured I should take a picture. This is in my cabin, just before I grabbed my lifejacket, snorkel bag, and the waterproof camera. We all learned the "wetsuit shimmy" well. Actually, for most, it was much easier getting into the wetsuit. Once on -- and once wet! -- most of us needed an extra hand getting out, namely, someone to help pull the suit down over our shoulders. Especially those of us with wide shoulders. Yes, I wore a bandanna to help keep my scalp from burning. And sunscreen. Lots and lots of waterproof (and green!) sunscreen.

 On the beach at Bartolomé. Here, we walked into the ocean. The trick is to do it backwards. No, you can't see where you're going, but at least you don't trip over your fins. Tradeoffs.

 And literally, just a few feet from the beach, little schools of fish. It was really amazing how close they were. Or we were.....

 Mexican hogfish. Cool, huh?

 All of a sudden, I was quite a ways from shore!

 Same hogfish? Another hogfish?

 I think I've figured out what these red fish are -- a school of blacktip cardinalfish. They were pretty.

 The ever-lovely king angelfish.

 And talk about striking! These schools of razor surgeonfish not only were everywhere but also were stunning!

 Yup, more hogfish.

 Ah, this was fun. I managed to get a few folks' attention, but none of our guides saw this. These are bullseye puffer fish, about half a dozen of them. Odd that they were all together like this....

 Until you notice the diamond stingray! Very hard to see here, because the ray stirs up the sand, which in turn makes crustaceans and other tasty bits available. Hence, the "school" of puffers. This was incredible to watch.

Back on board, we became land dwellers again, and got ready for lunch. Needless to say, we'd worked up an appetite! And the amazing kitchen crew didn't disappoint.

Fruit display. Yes, we ate well, all the time. This day was a traditional Ecuadorian buffet and I was in heaven.

Over lunch we picked up anchor and sailed for Rábida Island. Rábida is very unusual. Not only are they trying to get rid of the invasive black rat population on Rábida, but it is the only island with this beautiful and stunning red sand. This sand is from lava, of course, but has a crazy level of iron oxide. Some folks went kayaking; some went deep water snorkeling. I was suffering from a sun headache, so lay down in my very dark cabin. But, I refused to miss the hike and the island.

A bleached sea star on the red sand beach. This is one of my favorite photos.

Our first sea lions! We were charmed and mesmerized.

A scapula from a sea lion.

Sea lion bones. They don't have many predators here, so this likely was a natural death.

Stunning. Simply stunning.

Mangroves. I didn't expect mangroves to be such a key species in the islands, but they were everywhere.

It's funny: I recall Rábida as being one of my favorite places, yet I have surprisingly few photos from there. Maybe it was the headache. Maybe I was just charmed and forgot to use the camera.