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South Plaza and Santa Fe Islands

South Plaza Island is one of the most colorful islands in the Galapagos.  This is due to the many tall cactuses and a succullent ground cover that turns a beautiful red creating a velvety carpet.  This is contrasted with the black lava rock, teal ocean and the "polished white" lava rock.  Much of the lava rock on this island appeared white in color and polished to a glossy sheen - almost like marble.  It was hard to even imagine the rock was black lava.  The white color came from the sea lion excrement and the sheen from the polishing the sea lions gave it as they rolled across them.  The rock was so worn that it was actually very slippery with just the slightest bit of moisture. 

Here we got to watch the dominant bull sea lions ruling their territory and their heiroms.  This was their breeding season, so the bulls were pretty protective of their ladies!  The dominant bulls had a territory of approximately 50 meters.  They would patrol their shoreline and bark at anything that came into it.  If another bull got brave, he would venture into another's territory and proceed to engage in a fight.  These fights could get pretty rough leaving one or both with nasty gashes.  The bachelor bull usually had a better chance of winning because he was all rested up since he hadn't been patrolling or mating.  The looser ended up in the "bachelor pad" (an area of the island where only lone males were) to heal and recuperate and to plan his next attack.  We watched one bachelor in the batchelor pad (with a huge gash from his eye to mouth) venture to the edge of a cliff and jump off - this could have been a result of Edwin saying he was a BIG LOOSER!  It was amazing watching this 6-800 lb. bull move around and climb part way down this steep cliff.  He waited for the tide to come in just right before diving in to a lava pool.

We also watched a lot of pups nursing.  One pup was so young (less than 15 days) that the mother was moving him down to the water by putting him in her mouth and swinging him a few feet in front of her.  Then the mother would move in front of the pup and repeat the process.  It was so amazing the pup was unharmed since she was doing this across rough lava rock.  The mothers stay with the pups until they are about 15 days old, then she will leave them for a while and go fishing on her own while other females and males watch over them.  Since she was moving this pup, it had to be less than 15 days old. 

On the other side of the island, there were very steep cliffs.  Here we watched the swallow tail sea gulls (the nocturnal gulls with red around eyes), red-billed tropic birds, and other birds nesting and/or doing their mating dance.  We also could see schools of king angel fish and yellow tail mullet fish in the ocean.  The ocean was so clear and the fish so plentiful that we could see them from our cliff perch 100 plus feet away.  There were also lots of land iguanas waiting expectantly for the cactuses to drop a pad so they could eat.

We cruised on to Santa Fe Island where we anchored in a Carribean Sea lagoon/bay for some snorkeling and hike.  The lagoon we were in was spectacular with the sun shining creating a visibility in the water of 50 feet or more.  From the boat, we could watch rays swimming on the bottom.  We snorkeled with the rays, large schools of "Carribean Sea" fish, and played once again with the sea lions.  What fun! 

When we went ashore for our walk, we did a wet landing onto a fine white sand beach covered with sea lions.  We watched as a bachelor bull came and made himself comfortable snuggling with several females.  The dominant bull was patrolling in the water and did not see him approach.  When he did see him, he came flying out of the water chasing the bachelor around the beach and into the scrub brush.  It was a riot to watch!

Santa Fe is the driest island in the Galapagos.  It is covered with dormant scrub brush trees and cactuses.  We watched lots of land iguanas and lava lizards as well as a Galapagos hawk.  Another interesting experience!

This was our last night on the boat, so the crew dressed up in their dress whites and fixed us special drinks and dinner complete with a cake to toast our journey.  It was wonderful!  Our group retired to the upper deck to enjoy our last night.  It took us about 6 hours to cruise to San Cristobal Island where we would disembark the next day.

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