North Seymour Island is a place brimming with activity. Every time I go there, I wish that I had audio equipment because the sounds are as enchanting as the sights. Birds are the main characters at this landing sight….frigatebirds (both Magnificent and Great) are displaying their courtship behavior this time of year, which means the males have their red pouches inflated to attract females, among other fascinating behaviors.
The blue footed boobies also are in their mating season, so
as the frigatebirds fly through the air and establish nests in the trees, the
boobies are on the ground doing their dance, whistling and showing off their
feet to potential mates. Also on
the ground, in stark contrast with the green landscape (which is rare), are the
yellow land iguanas.
A new island to visit yesterday….Rabida, with it’s red sand
beach. Flamingos fed at an inland
lagoon, but the reflections of the landscape on the wet sand was the most
beautiful sight on our short outing there.
Today we spent the day in my favorite part of the
archipelago, the western and youngest side, on the islands of Isabela and
Fernandina. Too many marine
iguanas to count in the morning. A
ride on zodiacs in the afternoon included close encounters with a pod of
dolphins and juvenile Galapagos fur sea lions frolicking in the surf.
A special and unexpected treat on this trip has been in some
of the people that I’ve met. I am
always looking to see where people are from on the first day and this time I
noticed that there were two women on the trip from Lampasas, Texas, where my
mom went to high school before moving to Ozona. When I met the mother and daughter pair that evening, I told
them that my mom had lived there.
Of course they asked who she was and the mother of the pair responded with a gasp when I told
them her name. Yes, they were
friends as teenagers! So, as I
spend this week traveling around the Galapagos, I end most my days with new
friends, listening to stories about my mom as a young lady over a glass of
wine. It really has been a special
time!
