Feb. 20 Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras
I was scheduled to hike up the volcano today, but they said it was a 8 kilometer/ 2 ½ hour hike just up to it so after some thought I decided to forgo the experience and concentrate my efforts on some nice snorkeling. The tour is included in my trip price so I went down to the agents’ office to move my time up and also add another day to my stay.
We were accompanied by a park service guide on the tour; he spoke both English and Spanish well and was very informative. We first motored around a small lagoon to take pictures of the wildlife as he explained a little about each one; I managed to get some more penguin photos and also a blue footed booby, the last on my list.

A penguin poses for a picture


The famed Blue Footed Booby

We walked through a trail on a “newly” (in geologic terms) formed bit of land which I can’t even call lunar; it was more like the landscape in the movie Armageddon, very sharp jagged rocks tossed about randomly and no vegetation at all.

The other worldly landscape that originally formed the Galapagos Islands

He explained how the lichen that was forming on the rocks would decompose as the rocks weathered and together they would eventually form soil in which plants could then take hold, the process could take a million years to complete. He also talked about how the currents that flowed from the south brought the penguins to the islands same as the ones from the north brought the iguanas. The marine iguanas of the Galapagos differ from other iguanas, some of who also swim, by the fact that they can dive and stay under water for extended periods of time eating algae off the rocks on the bottom. Their claws allow them to grip the rocks making it easier to stay down and their flat tails help them swim. Since their diet has so much salt in it they can often be seen spitting, which is how they get rid of the excess salt in their system.
After the walk we went over to a small lagoon for some snorkeling; there were many large sea turtles resting on the bottom and they didn’t mind if you swam in for a close up photo. I found a narrow canyon on the far side of the lagoon and glided through it using my fins for propulsion freeing up my hands to take pictures. I had seen the chocolate chip starfish in the animal guide and was happy to see several in the water along with the bright blue pyramid starfish. All in all it was a nice trip, the water was calm and pretty clear and there were no currents to worry about.

A sea turtle rests on the bottom, not at all disturbed by my presense


A chocolate chip starfish


A pryamid starfish


After the tour I went back to town and had lunch with a couple guys off a Spanish boat in the WARC; we ate at a local place where you can get a “complete”, a full lunch including soup, entre with rice and salad and a glass of fresh juice for $6, this is a pretty standard practice on the islands as we have found out.
I met up with some of the guys from other boats and we had a couple beers while chatting then took a walk to Concha y Perla, a small lagoon where you can swim and snorkel. The trail is a raised wooden walkway through the mangroves and there are many iguanas and some sea lions in the water and on the walkway as you go by. We didn’t have our swimming stuff with us, and the breeze blowing off the cool water made us regret not having it as we wanted to jump in.
I stopped for a coco helgada, a fresh green coconut that has been kept in the fridge, at a small house on my way back to the hostel; a little local rum agricole made it taste even better.
After a shower and change of close I went down to the Rosada Bar, which has become the unofficial happy hour location for the WARC crews, they have 2 for 1 drinks, beach volleyball and a good DJ who doesn’t crank the volume up too much. Around 8:00 I went down to Caesars, one of the nicer restaurants on the street, and had some very nice octopus in garlic sauce before heading back to Rosada for a few nightcaps.