Day two. I made the comment at lunch that we’d been in the Galapagos for twenty-four hours and everyone’s eyes boggled since it feels like much longer with all of the activity. The water was choppy last night, and the (only) downside of having the owner’s cabin became apparent as Audrey and I got tossed all over the place. Luckily everyone else has rooms in lower cabins and awoke in good health this morning to the sounds of Kenny G on the ship’s speakers. We snorkeled immediately at 6:00 AM, ate breakfast, roamed the beach near Isla Tortuga, and then did two more snorkels with fish and a group of playful sea lions. As always the sea lions were ridiculously fun, and Gene came away with video of a sea lion repeatedly swimming at him only to blast away at the last second in a puff of bubbles. At the end of the snorkel I was given the option of returning to the boat by panga or by swimming – not being able to face the possibility of any downtime on the trip I opted for some exercise. We still managed an hour-long siesta after lunch during the voyage to another location on Espanola.
The afternoon’s landing on Espanola is one of the highlights of the archipelago. During the landing we watched marine iguanas swimming out to sea and sea lions surfing in the waves (quite literally). Marine iguanas, sea lions, blue-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, and waved albatross all made appearances as we traversed the one and a half mile trail through the area. The evening meal featured Aaron and Scott’s expletive-replacement phrase “Mother of pearl!”, with interjections to discuss how the gun show could best be fit on a Galapagos t-shirt. Tomorrow promises a 5:15 AM wakeup and a visit to Floreana Island and its infamous Snail Hill.