We packed up at Finch Bay hotel late morning after a great breakfast — and made our way back to the Baltra airport (small boat > taxi > ferry > bus). All straightforward in that there is only one option in terms of where to go for these things but there’s such limited development here that the idea of a bridge between islands would never happen. 

We met the rest of our passengers at the airport — a family of 4 with older children from the Seattle area, a father and his two sons from Chicago, a mother/daughter from Boston and a couple from Antwerp, Belgium. We took a very short trip to the dock at Baltra to board the Seaman – definitely a nicer Catamaran and a very friendly staff. Our plan for the first day was – a late lunch, a visit to North Seymour island and back on the boat for dinner and navigating to our next spot.  On N. Seymour we saw a colony of frigate birds who were mating along with other sea birds/iguanas and ended on the shore on the opposite side of the island to see some Sea lions playing. The rough part here is that Rawlings was possible a combination of sea sick and perhaps having eaten something bad and as we were walking around N. Seymour he was feeling bad.

We came back onto the boat at Rawls fell asleep immediately— we went to sit on top as the boat began to navigate away and the frigate birds were flying in sync with the boat!

We went down to dinner and let Rawls sleep through in hopes a lot of rest would help him few better. The crew had decorated the dining room in festive holiday mode when we had been out visiting the other island. 

After dinner we were briefed on the plan for the next day and went straight to be. Rawls unfortunately got seasick over night and we stayed awake from very early in the morning. The next morning though he started to perk up (phew!). 
We’d made our way to the island Genovesa – a bird island predominantly and the only one where you can see all 3 types of Booby (blue footed, Nazca and red footed). After breakfast on the boat, we took the dinghy to “prince Phillips steps” to walk up to the island. Upon reaching the top, the island was far different from anything we’d seen – the colony of Nazca booby was everywhere – so many babies and mamas to be seen. 

On the opposite side of the island we tried to find owls (they stayed hidden) and instead found a very nice couple we’d met on the Bartolome trip – Felix and Manon, honeymooning from Spain. 

After this visit, we came back to the boat to get snorkeling gear and went out to snorkel in Darwin bay. Admittedly snorkeling conditions weren’t the best – bit of a current and while we had wet suits, it was still quite cold. Proud of Rawls for trying but William took him in a bit early. We saw some beautiful fish (angel, parrot) and headed back to the boat for lunch. Each time we got off the boat, there was a fresh juice, water and a yummy snack waiting for us. 
After cleaning up and having a nice lunch on the upper deck outside, we headed back to the beach area on Bartolome.  We traded kayaking over to the beach area and then pulled up to shore, running into / yet again / Felix and Manon – ha! The beach area was very pretty with a dozen sea lions playing around. Rawls was anti-snorkeling at this point and we had some fun burying him in the sand while William and Shepherd saw a cluster of white tipped reef sharks while snorkeling off the beach. 

After hanging on the beach for awhile, we went on a walk into the island and saw so many birds – tons of red footed and nazca booby, swallowtail seagulls, frigates and tropical birds. 

We came back to the boat to shower, chill and to end the night, have a group dinner and briefing on the next day. Rawlings had a good day for most of the day and Shepherd seemed to be totally fine — but the transit to our island the next day was quite bumpy and he succumbed to some sea sickness right before bedtime – fortunately waking up the next day feeling totally fine. 
On Sunday morning, we woke up anchored at South plazas island (next to North Plazas – which doesn’t allow visitors as it is entirely a research center). South Plazas is known for its land and sea iguanas (and the opportunity to see a hybrid of the two) as well as a large sea lion colony, large cactus trees and tons of “Galapagos carpet,” a red growth all over the island. 

After this visit, we came back to the island and the boat navigated to Santa Fe Island (two hours). We had a nice lunch and then Rawls – feeling some travelers bug – decided snorkeling wasn’t for him (and honest a bit rough for him not being super comfortable). William and Shepherd swam up close and personal with tons of sea lions – really crazy videos. There was a sea lion who jumped over shepherd…! 
Just after we all went on a walk around Santa Fe – with a very large sea lion colony, mega cactus trees and we had a couple rare sightings – a cactus finch and a Galapagos mouse both up in a very large tree that made William look small. 

We had our last dinner on the boat with a send off cocktail from the crew. Our last morning wake up was going to be an early one – 6:30am breakfast as we arrived at our final destination island, San Cristobal – the political capital of the Galapagos. We visited first thing a Galapagos tortoises rescue and breeding center – great last chance for some up close and personal time with these guys. 

Animal spotting

Tiger shark

Galapagos shark

Blue footed booby

Pelican 

Manta ray

Spotted ray

Sally light foot crabs

Hermit crabs 

Frigate birds

Sea lions

Sea turtles – green pacific 

Jumping fish 

Nazca booby

Great blue herons 

Marine iguana 

Land iguana

Rainbow parrot fish

Galápagos penguins 

Galapagos mouse – Santa Fe

Cactus finch – Santa Fe

Lava heron – N Seymour

Yellow warbler – canary – San Cristobal

Fur seal – Genovesa 

Swallowtail seagull

Angel fish 

Red footed booby – Genovesa

White Cheek Pintail

Male yellow warbler

Galapagos mockingbird

Yellow crowned Night heron

Black necked stilt

Tropicbird

Shearwater

Galapagos dove

Gallinule 

Storm petrel 

Lava gull 

Other assorted Darwin finches