Iguanas & Sea-lions

The fumigation man arrived at 08:00 and we were banned from the boat for three hours. We set off ashore and found the post office for Emily's Colombian postcards. and then got talking to a French couple, Patrick and Clarisse from Paris, who seemed glad to escape the Americans on the cruise ship and speak French for a while.

Entrepreneurial Yoga teacher in Galapagos

Needing to stretch our legs, we walked out of the village to a beach about an hour away. It was a long road but bounded by interesting plants, with plenty of birds including the Smooth-billed Ani.  We passed a large mining operation digging out volcanic material. A truck with bales of cardboard waste passed us, but instead of chucking it all in the pit as I'd expected, they turned down the airport track. Perhaps it's flown out!

At the end of a very long straight road we arrived at the coast, bounded by great heaps of black boulders, with the swell breaking on them. Here we began to meet great black iguanas perched on the pitch black volcanic rocks, or on the sandy white path, like black holes absorbing all the purple edged shimmering radiation from a superheated sun. A couple of feet long with a spiny crest and pugnacious face they look quite daunting but sat still long enough for a few quick portraits.

Down on the little sandy beach were sea lions, and Emily swam out to meet large turtles which she videoed. I was trying to sketch when it started to rain lightly so I contented myself watching a marine iguana take to the water.

Sea Lions occupy the promenade benches at night

Mark "Attenborough" and Marine Iguana

Then the rain turned tropical and we had a long hour walking in torrents of water back to the port with the roads ankle deep in rivers.

I was expecting a refrigeration engineer at midday so we got back aboard just as the sun came out. Lunch, snooze, tea - no engineer. Mark and Justin swam to shore and back, Emily paddled out to visit a super yacht. (in a charming frock), and I poked around with a multimeter trying to understand the dodgy freezer.

Darkness fell and Emily produced tempura prawns (defrosted for some time) and then a dauphinoise and green beans (also defrosted for some time). Sadly the beans seemed a bit fermented, so those of us who'd enjoyed the prawns awaited any consequences uneasily. (All OK this morning)