Galavanting throught the Galapagos: Day 2

This morning a gray inflated dinghy departed from our yacht at 8 am for an early morning penguin spotting adventure. Forty minutes and a couple penguins later, the dinghy dropped us off on the island of Santiago where we trekked across billowy, jet-black lava rock. The lava rock was amazing. Some of the rock was round, while other patches were twisted like black licorice. I crawled into a lava bubble for a quick photo shoot. Why not begin a modeling career from inside a lava tube out in the middle of no where? I´m sure that´s how all models make it big.

Later we suited up and hit the sea for more snorkeling. I had my wet suit half way up my legs when a bloody evil wasp the size of a mini-weiner pierced my thigh. Ouch. I froze—terrified that my leg was about to snap off. Luckily one of the fathers on the trip had a bottle of benadryl on him. He suddenly became my new best friend. I am still recovering.

The snorkeling was once again astonishing. We snorkeled around Pinnacle rock off the island of Bartolome, which borders the island of Santiago. We swam with fuzzy black and white penguins, kelly-green speckled sea turtles, and more sea lions. Some of the penguins posed for photographs on the rocks. I made sure to snap a couple. Overhead giant white pelicans dove into the water and devoured fish, while an occasional blue-footed boobie (a Galapagos native with pretty baby-blue feet) dropped by for a visit.

After snorkeling, I took a scalding hot shower to warm up. It´s either ¨agua caliente¨or ¨agua fria¨ on this boat...caliente is clearly the way to go.

In the afternoon we boarded the dingy for Bartolome island once again—this time to climb 372 steps to the island´s highest peak. I sure got my quadricep workout in. The view from the top was phenomenal: volcanoes, craters, and tiny islands scattered throughout the sea like crumbs on a linoleum floor. The Galapagos islands are completely uninhabited by people and there are only 83 boats allowed in the water surrounding the islands at all times. Once on the islands, there are very few places places for tourists to meander...if only the same were true for wasps.