Fauna and Flora

Visitors to the Galapagos arrive on the islands for various reasons, but primarily they go to see the amazing variety of plants and animals. I was no different. Therefore it was a huge disappointment to discover that we were only allowed to go to one island, the one where Curare made landfall. Our choice of landfall was Isla San Cristobal which meant that I would not get to see a flightless cormorant, a Galapagos penguin or a waved albatross, all endemic to Isla Isabella, BUT I would get a chance to see the blue-footed booby, marine iguanas, giant tortoises, and Galapagos Sea lions. It was difficult to miss the sea lions, they were everywhere; swimming around Curare, lounging on benches and stairs at the ferry dock and sleeping on the beaches. Looking at giant tortoises required a bit more effort plus a taxi ride to the breeding center on the other side of the island, but once we arrived the tortoises were everywhere and I could have watched them for hours. Now I just had to see a marine iguana and blue-footed booby. These creature sightings are supposed to be easy at a place named Isla Lobos and our dive excursion stopped there for snorkeling so I was expecting great things. Just like many other times I did not get to see what I was expecting but I did get to snorkel with sea lions and as some famous person once said "you can't always get what you want....". On our last day in the Galapagos, with no expectations, I went for a walk to the nearby lighthouse to get some off-the- boat exercise. Too my delight I saw a pair of blue-footed boobies sitting perched on the rocks and then I saw the marine iguanas - they were everywhere, crouched on boulders next to the ocean. The marine iguana is the world's only sea going lizard and has a powerful tail for swimming underwater. It would have been amazing to see them while snorkeling but even on land they were impressive.