Cerro La Mora

As I waited for my taxi to leave the refuge, the water was delivered by tank after only!! 5 days.

Next episode: A 4 day boat trip, with nice company, on, as it turns out, the oldest tourist boat in the Galápagos and overdue to be decommissioned. The space was 'compact and bijou' and I shared a cabin with Mae, a young Aussie travelling the world as a digital nomad.

We met and swam with playful sea lions on Isla Mosquera, avoiding the aggressive male alpha. I was dive bombed twice by pelicans and saw a spotted Eagle ray.

I was smugly recognising and appreciating my privilege when the the open water waves got big and seasickness took over. In my Titanic analagy, I was in the basement with the smell of diesel, no fresh air and loud engine noise. The food was nice after weeks of limited fruit and vegetables and I desperately didn't want to be sick in our small communal toilet.

Having taken more than 4 times the dose of anti-sea sickness tablets, I was mercifully fine the next day. On Punta Vincente (Isabela), we saw Blue footed boobies (blue because of their diet), Nascar boobies, a Galápagos penguin and double-coated sea lions aka fake fur seals - previously on the verge of extinction due to the British fur industry.

The clear waters were perfect for snorkeling to see the myriad of tropical fish, sea turtles....and in one very deep cave, there were some strange looking dingoes I have yet to identify.

In Punta Espinoza (Isla Fernandina), I was swimming with the sea turtles, two penguins and alongside the large marine iguanas; also watching them eat the algae from the rocks.

We went ashore to see
Galapagos hawks, Mockingbirds, Frigate birds and the flightless cormorants.

Sadly, we also saw a very skinny baby sea lion, without a mum, and likely to die soon.... The guide was adamant that we do not interfere with nature....it was upsetting as the baby was trying desperately to suckle other young male sea lions, but they couldn't help.

We did see a few 1 week old baby sea lions and some 1 month olds, but in general, the number of babies so far this year is really low, due mainly to El Niño which has created warmer weather across the globe.

On the lava rocks, from the most recent volcanic eruption, we saw pioneer plants, which look like cactus.... And they are the origins of plant life on the islands.

The skies were clear this second night and perfect for star gazing... apparently I was looking at the Southern Cross.Read more