South Plaza
South Plaza
I woke up a little queasy from the boat motion. I decided to try a ginger capsule and it either worked like magic or I had a sudden spontaneous recovery. We got up at 6, had breakfast at 7 and departed on the small boats at 8. It was a dry landing on south Plaza Island. As we approached we could see lots of sea lions in the water and on the rocks and the beach. The landing was directly onto some steep steps from which went along a narrow wall top to the actual land. It is barren desert landscape covered in large patches of carpet weed. The carpet weed changes from green to yellow to red as it matures. Most of what we saw was red. There were also lots of large cacti – some with tree-like trunks. The tough trunks help protect the plants from being eaten by the iguanas. We saw many birds including blue-footed boobies, swallow-tail gulls, frigate birds, mockingbirds, Galapagos fly-catchers, and yellow warblers. We walked along the cliffs and watched sea birds hunting for food and swooping and playing in the thermals. We went back to the boat about 11 and had lunch at noon followed by a couple of hours to read or just watch the landscape.
Helen’s Journal
Tuesday, October 24, 2006