Thursday, June 20, 2013

Galapagos Galloping: San Cristobol


San Cristobal, Galapagos, is the land of sea lions who behave like drunks.  We took a boat for a day tour.  This is one of the islands where it's possible to rent a room and eat at restaurants.  On a future trip, I would stay on San Cristobal for a few days.


Galapagos sea lions behave like golden retrievers.  I counted 11 on these dock steps.


We drove inland and then to another beach, just ahead of a storm.


San Cristobal and Floreana were some of the more verdant islands.  This swamp was adjacent the beach.


February is a season of birthing and nursing on the Galapagos.  This sea lion pup was intent on nursing.


His mother finally relented.  (BTW we were seriously curious about where all these animal fathers could be found.  Was there some island off the map filled with papa sea lions, iguanas, frigates, etc?  Was it just trashed?  Seriously, we discovered that most papa sea lions were hunting.  I like our theory better.)


Boating away we caught this view of Kicker Rock.  We'd hoped to snorkel nearby but there was a conservation project in process that meant the area was off limits to tourists.  This is a common occurrence in the Galapagos.  Honestly, it's nice.  I'm glad that there are limits to tourist access and that significant attention is offered the land and animals.

We got plenty of snorkeling in as it was.  I nearly ran into a manta ray and Kevin swam with several marine turtles and a shark.


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