Las Bachas, Isla Santa Cruz & Isla Bartalome, Galapagos 2011

Las Bachas, Isla Santa Cruz

We were up on deck watching the sunrise and pelicans, sharks and boobies feeding around the ship, when a boat came along side of the ship with supplies. (toilet paper, a mattress, tons of bottled water and LUGGAGE! There were 5 pieces of luggage for those of us that hadn’t found theirs yet. 2 of them were ours! We were so happy to have all of our things---snorkel masks that fit well and our own fins! Clothes to wear for dinner and everything we would need for the Peru portion of the trip. Whoo-Hoo!!!

Today we had another wet landing for a 2 hour easy walk searching for Flamingoes. We saw some quite close as well as Black Necked Stilts and White Cheeked Pintailed Ducks. We snorkeled from the beach after the hike.

me with my hands on my hips

another group ahead of us

Sandpiper

Lava Gull

Sandpiper

Marine Iguana

remains of barges (why the island was named Las Baches)

turtle tracks

turtle nests

Flamingos

the panga waits for anyone who wishes to return to the ship

Boobies were feeding

visibility was a tiny bit better here

bringing the pangas back on board...they do this at least twice a day since you have a morning excursion and an afternoon excursion. On the Kicker Rock day they did it 3 times. We had one stop that was all day and they only did it once.

We had an Oriental Buffet for lunch today. 2 Frigate birds drafted above the ship for hours. We spent the break laying on lounge chairs on deck and watching the birds. (OK, a bit of a catnap as well)

upper deck area

Isla Bartalome

We had a dry landing here for the Hike “To The Top” for fabulous views. 380 stairs! (0.8 mile) We had the opportunity to snorkel with penguins from the beach after the hike. Here we saw a few more penguins. One swam by Greg while snorkeling. He even managed to get a picture of it as it sped by him.

hike to the top!

Lava Lizard

Lava Cactus

Lava Lizard

the rock was light as air

almost to the top!

another group coming down

at the top

views from the top

penguins where we were snorkeling

Celebrity photos of penguins

penguins from snorkeling

me posing with them

this penguin sped by Greg at light speed, I don't know how he got the shot

Tonight, they had the “Crossing the Line” Celebration as we crossed the equator. King Neptune came aboard for quite a ceremony. (yeah, hokey and fun) We got certificates for crossing the equator. Greg has done that before, but it was a new experience for me!