Friday, January 13, 2017

Ecuador-Tuesday, December 20th: Santa Fe, Galapagos Islands

Tuesday we had arranged to go on a boat tour to Santa Fe Island for the day.  
We first stopped at a beach on the side of Santa Cruz island.  We took a walk through the mangroves, saw a lot of animals and played in the very fine sand.
We then went over to Santa Fe Island.  They took us along side the cliffs to spot the nesting birds: Blue footed boobies, lava gulls and flightless cormorants
We then got to jump in the water for some snorkeling time
We went to another side of the island where we got to see the baby sea lions and jump in for more snorkeling.  The water was so clear.  There were many kinds of fish, and also sea lions, eels and sharks to swim with.
Preston surprised me with how interested he was with snorkeling.  He rode on my back while we swam and would push my head under to make sure I could see the fish he was spotting.  He also loved sitting in this spot of the boat to be in charge of the ladder.
The boat tour included snacks and lunch.  Bananas, bread, crackers and jelly for snack and ceviche, rice and plantain chips for lunch.
Before heading back to Santa Cruz we got to do some fishing.
Ethan was so excited for this part, and he was beyond thrilled that he was able to catch this yellow fin tuna.  
When we got back to the docks the sea lions were hanging out on the benches.  Brielle made one mad as she accidentally bumped it while she passed by.  It started barking and chasing her.  She was terrified in the moment, but later thought it was funny and ended up getting a sea lion necklace charm as a reminder of the experience.
We walked down to the fish market before heading to dinner.  It is quite an experience to watch pelicans begging for the scraps.  At one point the worker was straddling the sea lion as she was cutting the very fresh fish for her customers.

In trying to find another recommended restaurant (it turned out they had moved locations) we found this place to eat for the night.  They were closing soon, but agreed to feed us. Preston was very happy to get a vegetable soup that was somewhat like the broccoli cheese soup he was requesting.  We enjoyed the empanadas and were surprised by the freshness of the pasta toppings as they were blending James' marinara sauce and Katie's basil for the pesto. 

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