Day 2: Plaza and Santa Fe

Darwin Yacht anchored off South Plaza

Male sea lion barking to show aggression over territory

After an early morning journey, we woke to breakfast with views of the Plaza Islands. The islands were a beautiful red desert with crystal clear waters in between. Our group went for an early morning walk passing sea lions, iguanas and crabs. Billy again sat us down to give us information on the area. He explained that the iguanas were in the processes of gaining color for their mating season so we would see them with varying degrees of yellow on this island. Billy also took the opportunity to describe sea lion habits and the different situations that make them aggressive. He said to be alert when swimming with them and that he would rather swim with sharks (information that would have been useful the previous day)!

One of the few iguanas on Santa Fe eating cactus

Darwin arrived to Santa Fe in time for lunch where we had another wonderful meal (not going hungry on this tour). After letting the food digest, the group headed out on the dingy for an hour snorkeling in the beautiful water. We saw large schools of fish, sea turtles, a sting ray and even a sea lion. Early evening, we went for a walk on Santa Fe where we found a beach full of sea lions, a Galapagos snake, and watched an endangered Santa Fe Iguana eat cactus.