Santa Fe Island Visit (Day 4 - Red)

We woke up to the sounds of birds chirping, trees whistling, and alarm clocks buzzing loudly. Unfortunately, it was only 6:45. Exhausted, we stumbled into the bus as the sun glared into our eyes. The bumpy 45-minute bus ride had lots of turbulence and bounced through the Galapagos wild on a gravel road.  Finally, we arrived to the port to board the Santa Fe III. To get on the dinghy, we had to climb down a slippery ramp. We boarded the blue dingy, eight at a time. When we climbed out of the dinghy onto the Santa Fe III, we slipped off our shoes and explored the ship. The wooden accents lined the couches, tables, and chairs of the boat. On the bow, there were three benches, perfect for reclining on the two hour boat ride. Above on the top deck, there was a white plastic picnic table with chairs as well as cream comfy mats like the ones from preschool to lay-out on during the mini trip. When the engine started to rumble, we proceeded on our voyage to the wondrous island of Santa Fe! En route, we jammed to music and basked in the Ecuadorian summer sun. The waves jolted us back and forth like an angry rocking chair. A gull followed us, flying in circles above us and waiting to drop its scat. When we arrived in Santa Fe, we boarded the dinghy carefully clutching our cameras, GoPros, and shoes. Much to our surprise, the sea lions greeted us cheerfully with their playful noises and swam around us. We immediately scrambled off the dinghy, ready to meet our new friends. The sea lions honked at us as we photographed them. Some of them even posed! We had the opportunity to see a two-day old baby sea lion! Its mother nudged the baby to swim, gently nurturing it into the world. As cute as sea lions can be, they were also quite territorial which we learned about through their sounds. We got some angry glares from the alpha male as well as the others stretching out on the sand as they absorbed the sun’s rays. They looked like beefy brown sausages roasting on the yellow sand. After admiring the sea lions, we put back on our shoes and got ready for a short hike along the coast. However, just as we finished dressing, we saw The Placenta. According to our guide, Sandie, The Placenta was less than a day old. The vile aroma of the black and red placenta was a mixture of rotten fish, blood, and feces. After plugging our noses and carefully stepping around The Placenta, we continued on our walk and climbed up the steep, steel gray rocks. The sun beat down on our backs as we navigated our way through the beaten down path. On our journey, we passed sea lion carcasses that were from the sea lions that died of starvation due to El Nino. El Nino is weather phenomenon that makes temperatures rise above normal levels. We also saw yellow Galapagos iguanas that rested in the shade of prickly pear cactuses. Prickly pear cactuses in the Galapagos Islands can grow up to 50 feet tall! After our exploration on the island, we headed back to the boat to get ready for snorkeling. Dressed in our sun shirts and snorkel masks, we hopped into the cool, turquoise water. We followed Sandie along a reef that had many interesting types of fish including a rainbow Parrot fish. In addition to the Parrot fish, we also saw many different schools of small fish. The best part of our snorkel experience was getting to interact and swim with the sea lions.

Sea lion looking for friends with whom to play

One of the sea lions was especially playful and did somersaults along with other members of our group. It blew bubbles back at us and followed us around doing front flips and back flips! A couple people in our group had accidental brushes with the sea lions and got to the feel their sandpaper skin. After 45 minutes, we headed back to the boat and the Captain greeted us with spicy tuna and peppers on crackers and delicious fried fish, yellow rice, and a variety of vegetables. We then disembarked back to our home island, Santa Cruz. 

-  Caroline W., Katherine B., Sax M.