Newcastle Downunder

By jensphotos

Happy Feet

In the morning we arrived at Elizabeth bay and did a panga ride.  It was a pastel pink sunrise and we saw many penguins on a small islet.  It was then into a sheltered river where we saw Eagle and Golden rays and many many sea turtles.   We did a short motor and alighted to  walk on lava field and saw  white tipped sharks sleeping in a small pool (extra) and were then picked up by the pangas and did a tour to see the Mike Tyson iguanas (extra), many blue footed boobies and some more penguins.  There was a feeding frenzy of Boobys (the Booby dive is amazing) and Pelicans when we came back to the boat (more extras). 

I then had the most magical snorkel with sea lions who blew bubbles at me in amongst amazing shoals of bait fish and came right up to me several times.  Pelicans and Boobys were diving in, something to see from the water and there were more flightless cormorants and larger fish not to mention the inevitable turtle.  It was the highlight of the trip for me.

Back to the boat for lunch and then the long motor to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz leaving Isabela island behind.  
 
The trip on the way however was not without excitement.  I saw an albatross, Peter spotted a Minke  whale, and there was a massive pod of dolphins doing enormous leaps, a red billed tropic bird not to mention the usual assortment of petrels.
 
We passed the southern volcano Cerro Azul which was massive with cones all along it’s flanks.

I was certainly dancing with happy feet at the end of the day

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